Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½.

Author's Notes: For those of you reading this it is a Ranma and Akane pairing. I've written several different stories with different pairings but never a canon pairing so this is it. Also I decided not to caricaturize the characters as I did previously. If you want a nice story that follows the same fanfiction tracks that have been done to death than I apologize. That's enough of my psychotic author's rant so let's get on with the show!

Frozen Lake of Hell

Chapter 2

The Tendo home was an impressive structure to the Dragon's eyes for a "modest" family home. It was clear that this family held to the old ways and the strange sense of peace he had while looking at it said it was a home. He nodded his head approvingly as he followed the pigtailed young man into the house. The piglet in his arms was sleeping restlessly as the harsh nail seemed to be increasing his pain.

"I'm home!" Ranma called out to the house as he stepped inside, kicking his frozen feet on the floor to knock the life back into them. It still surprised him that he was still male but chose not to comment for fear he would become a girl. Kami had been somewhat kind to him lately so he let it go. The sleeping pig grunted softly and squirmed uncomfortably, causing the pigtailed boy's eyes to soften.

"Such concern for an enemy…" Ding murmured in amazement. Sure, Ranma had said he was a friend and all, but that didn't change the fact the fanged idiot tried to kill him. His estimation of the young man had risen drastically from simple respect to actual admiration. He smiled and gently patted his shoulder. At Ranma's questioning look he smirked.

"You may want to get that nail out." He suggested helpfully. The pigtailed boy simply nodded and lay P –chan down on the couch before taking off the coat and handing it back to Ding. The young Dragon carefully arranged the coat around the porcine patient and watched as his new friend went into the kitchen to apparently grab the first-aid kit.

-Kitchen-

Ranma was hunting for the first-aid kit as well as a pair of pliers to treat the injured piglet when a hand on his shoulder made him jump. The jump wouldn't have been so bad if his head hadn't been in the cabinet resulting in a loud thump followed by an "Ite…" as he rubbed his sore head.

"Oh my…I'm sorry Ranma but what are you looking for?" Kasumi asked as Ranma whirled around, clutching his chest in shock. How did she do that? He wondered for the millionth time but calmly put the matter aside for now. He continued to hunt for the items as he talked to Kasumi.

"I need the first-aid kit…ah ha! Found it!" he crowed triumphantly as he quickly made his way back to the living room. He barely registered that Nabiki and Akane had come downstairs and were watching him curiously.

"But what do you need it for? Are you hurt?" Kasumi asked in a voice as close to panic as she ever came. Rather than answer, he decided it would be best to show her. As the three sisters entered the room they gaped at the scene before them. In the living room was a strange young man gently settling P –chan in a nest made from his coat saying soothing things to the little piglet. Ranma made his way over and sat down, the clicking sound as the box came open snapped them from their stupor.

"What happened to P –chan?" Akane demanded angrily. She didn't know whether to be angry at Ranma or the strange guy with him. It had to be one of them or even worse, both! As Akane began to fuel her outrage, Nabiki set a hand on her shoulder. When Akane looked to her sister, the girl simply shook her head and made a silencing motion.

"Uhm…I met this guy…Ding and we uhm…found the little oinker injured. He stepped on a nail so I uh…was gonna remove the nail." Ranma became a little flustered as he waited for the mallet to drop but Ding shook him out of it.

"Concentrate or you could hurt the little guy." The young Dragon said while mentally trying to sort out why he would lie like that. When he noticed the piglet's relieved look, even with the nail, he reached the appropriate conclusion. They didn't know and the girl calling him P –chan meant he must be a pet or something. His eyes narrowed just slightly at this but he held his peace. It must be part of what Ranma blames himself for.

"Kasumi? Could you pass me the pliers?" Ranma asked as he gently pushed a pressure point to briefly numb the wounded limb. When the pliers were in his hand, after a steadying breath, he grasped the nail firmly and slowly pulled it out. He was treading a tight rope with how hard he should pull but he was used to being on the edge. Once the offending article was extracted, he asked for the alcohol and poured a little into the broken hoof, much to the pig's dismay even if it didn't hurt. Once he was done, he taped the broken hoof together before swaddling the leg with bandages. He guessed that Ryoga would be used to walking with one fore hoof with all the injuries he gets. Once he was done, he gave the piglet a slightly affectionate head rub before standing. The whole procedure took over half an hour and exhausted him. He sat down on the couch beside the wounded pig with a sigh. Akane had swooped in and scooped up the porcine wonder, holding him tightly but not too tight lest she damage the pig more.

"Oh that was great Ranma! You helped P –chan! I never knew you like him." She enthused. He cracked open a sleepy eye to regard his fiancée.

"That piglet is too much trouble. Try getting' somethin' easier to handle like a dog…or a cat." He said without inflection. The Tendo sisters recoiled slightly. Ranma would prefer a cat to P –chan? That was something new. The youngest grew frustrated.

"You jerk! Just when I think you're actually nice you pull something like this! Hmph!" she sniffed before flouncing from the room in a huff. The only thing that saved Ranma from a mallet trip was her precious bundle. If anyone had looked, P –chan looked strangely sad at the exchange. Ding shook his head to try and clear his cluttered mind but was brought back by a throat clearing.

"And who might you be?" Nabiki asked the young Dragon. Ding blinked at this extremely forward girl before giving her a roguish smile.

"I'm Ding Dragon. Wandering swordsman and warrior extraordinaire." He said with pride, briefly forgetting his defeat at the hands of Ryoga, but Ranma had to remind him.

"I didn't see how he fought but when I came to he had got buried by the pigheaded idiot." The pigtailed boy said with a smirk causing the young Dragon to snarl softly. Kasumi frowned prettily but kept her peace however Nabiki had no such problems.

"Way to keep friends Saotome." She congratulated him mockingly as the Saotome lad flushed slightly. A terrible noise filled the air, disrupting the degenerating conversation. Ding tried to identify the bizarre sound while the rest of the house merely grimaced. In from the cold came the patriarchs of the clans with a diminutive man leading the way. The singing raised in pitch horrifyingly. A mustachioed man with black hair was supporting a fat man in a dirty gi and a bandanna covering his bald head.

The little man with them suddenly stared in Nabiki's direction with blatant lust in his eyes before leaping onto her cleavage, or at least that was the plan. Instead of the warmth of a bosom, he was suspended by the seat of his pants dangling in front of the face of an irritable Dragon.

"What are you?" Ding asked in a bored tone.

"Show some respect for your elders boy! I am Happosai the Grandmaster of the School of Anything Goes Martial Arts!" the shrunken pervert proclaimed proudly. It might have been more impressive if he wasn't still dangling upside down.

"That's a big title for such a shorty." The Dragon remarked snidely before giving him a negligent flip. When he finally looked around he noticed the horrified and fearful looks they were giving him. Something dropped out in the pit of his stomach as the looks registered. It was a lot like how people look when viewing a condemned man.

"Why you little punk…if it's a fight you want…" Happosai snarled in fury before whipping enough explosives to level half a block at the startled young man. Ranma began immediately doing damage control as he literally grabbed the explosives out of the air and chucked them clear out of the house, but a few still slammed into Ding's chest. With a silent prayer, he muffled the boom with his body as he tackled the bombs. It should have worked pretty well except that he just condensed the blast before getting blown out into the yard. Ding crawled to his feet, hand walking up his body into a proper standing position painfully.

"Ouchies…" he muttered as he took stock of his situation, relying on his natural healing abilities to help him just as the Grandmaster leapt out into the snow. He went to reach for his sword in weapon space only to see the little pervert holding his blade before giving it a casual flick, embedding it in the stone around the koi pond. He dropped into a ready stance, barely noticing as Ranma leapt into the fray as well, turning female in mid flight but this time with shoes on. The busty redhead glared holes through the pervert.

"How about you go away." Ranma said frostily.

"How about you wear a nice frilly teddy?" Happosai asked cheerfully before going back into battle mode.

"Good lord you're a freak…" Ding muttered despairingly as he prepped himself for battle. Kasumi looked to Nabiki.

"Two to one says they fail." Nabiki said.

"I'll take that and a counter bet of five to one that it's Ranma who deals the finishing blow." Kasumi responded.

"Alright, but I also throw in another provision that something strange happens near the end." Nabiki said. The two girls shook hands on the deal before turning back to the battle.

At an unseen signal, the three combatants exploded into motion. Ding's reckless frontal assault was easily redirected by a simple pipe strike the sent him flying into Ranma who was charging in from the rear. The two warriors ended up flying into the snow, but unlike how the master expected them to get tangled up, it didn't happen. The young Dragon hit the ground first, hands locked on Ranma's wrists before twirling, and with amazing dexterity shown by both, touched the bottoms of their feet together before hurling the redhead as a cannonball towards the old freak. Happosai had a split second to acknowledge the turn in events before being blasted from the sky by a powerful downward kick into the ground.

"You'll pay for that!" the old man shouted before vaulting at the still falling redhead only to be nearly blindsided by the blue haired boy. His momentum was great but such things are easily redirected, in this case with a kick to the face. Ding's speed made the kick all the more vicious. However, the old pervert neglected one little fact that brought a smile to Ding's hurting face. Just as the Dragon raced by his embedded weapon, he grasped the hilt and managed to wrench the sword loose at the same time using the halted momentum to regain his footing. He looked back just in time to notice Ranma unleash a tremendous Moko Takabisha at the crazed pervert. The old master simply stepped out of the way and into the path of a powerful downward sword slash that blew snow and ice in every direction, blinding the freak and hurling him back towards Ranma. The redhead smirked viciously before pummeling the little pervert into a coma with the Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken.

"Ha…damn you pervert…" the redhead smirked maniacally much to Ding's chagrin.

"Calm down. You're sounding as homicidal as Ryoga." He deadpanned causing his new friend to snap her eyes to him with a speculative gleam. Her mischievous eyes danced as an idea ran through her head.

"Let's spar." She stated simply.

"What was that?" Ding asked intelligently.

"Let's spar." She repeated.

"I dunno…" The Dragon hedged.

"Wahoo! Let's do it!" Ranma exclaimed cheerfully before leaping forward at beyond impressive speeds. Just as she was about to reach him, a bucket of water was splashed over the confused boy's head. In surprise, the two collided amidst the sound of Happosai chuckling in sadistic amusement. Ding looked up from his position on the ground to the diminutive master before looking to Ranma. The redhead looked woozy and was feeling something strange before her blue eyes met Ding's green.

A feminine shriek split the air but it wasn't from Ranma.

"Pay up." Nabiki told a dumbstruck Kasumi.

End Chapter

Author's Notes: I had to do it. Such a fun opportunity and I had to do it. This sort of makes it a victory for Happosai so stay tuned to see what happens next! Ja ne!