Disclaimer: I own Ranma ½! Just kidding. Of course I don't own it. Rumiko Takahashi does. Anyway, the title of the story comes from the song, Here Without You by 3 Doors Down. The only thing I own is the plot and some characters that don't exist in the manga/anime.

Author's Notes: Yay! I come back for another update. I started writing the second chapter right after when I saw a reply which is from… Matrias! Whoever you are, thanks for dropping by and reading my fic. I hope it didn't waste your time and you would continue reading this. Thank you thank you thank you thank you! Also, a wonderful onechan of mine that I just met few days ago on ate Chette's forum, Akira aka ArchangelAki, left a comment. She's really awesome! Thank you very much as well! And Akira, because you gave me a review, here is another update.

Oh yeah. I figured there were some errors in the first chapter so I worked on it. I'm not so sure if it's completely free of errors. Well, please do bear with the typos you might see.

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HERE WITHOUT YOU

Chapter 2 – When Two Girls of Different Kinds Meet

As Tetsuya drove along the street, Hana couldn't help but think of what he said to her earlier. Her mind seemed to be confused. No, I don't love him. Her mind spoke as she thought about the young man whom she had met three years ago. But then, why was she doing this? Sure, it's because her son, Yoshi wanted to be with his dad so badly but she could just hire an actor who could act to be his dad. She's the daughter of the CEO of a multinational corporation. She surely could do everything she wanted.

Honestly, she was being nervous right now. She didn't know if they would be accepted or rejected. She hoped they would be accepted but what if they were rejected? She didn't care if she would get hurt emotionally but how about Yoshi? How would he handle this? She cared about Yoshi more than she cared about her own life.

Before, she used to hate her son when he's still in her womb. She even planned to have an abortion so she could get rid of him. She hated herself, being knocked up by a person she never really knew about and becoming pregnant at 16. Well, she knew the guy by face and name but never deeply knew who he was. She just found him in her house in Itabashi one night when she got home from a friend's party. When she found him, she was drunk and so was he. A couple of days after, she never saw him but she still remembered his face and name. She was so young and reckless at that time.

When Yoshi was finally, born, she had never been so happy. She was glad she didn't go for abortion otherwise she'd miss the most wonderful miracle she had just seen. More importantly, she's thankful for having him. He helped her become responsible. Since then, she promised that she'd take care of him. She proved that she could raise him alone, without the help of her son's dad but things began to change when an illness suddenly struck poor little Yoshi.

Yoshi tugged her mom's sleeve and looked up to her. "Mommy, are we there yet?" the boy questioned, interrupting her mom's deep thinking.

Hana looked down to him. "Not yet," she said, answering him. Then, she looked out the window to see where they were going and saw a signboard that said 'Tendo's School of Anything Goes Martial Arts' hanging beside a wooden gate. "This must be the house," she whispered as her heart began to pound.

"Miss Hana, we are here," Tetsuya said, pulling over the sidewalk. He opened the door, stepped off the car and slammed it shut. He proceeded to the side where Hana was sitting and opened the door for her. He saw her staring at the gate and not getting off. "What's the matter?" he asked, sensing that there's something wrong.

"I don't know if I can face him," she answered in a soft tone.

"If you want, we can just leave and go back to Itabashi or to America."

Hana let out a sigh to release the tension her heart was holding. "No," she said back and stepped off the car. Yoshi just followed her. "Yoshi, be a good kid okay? Impress your father. Show him that you've been a good kid," she told him, almost squeezing his hand.

"Yes mommy," Yoshi answered, nodding and smiling. He was so excited to see his dad for the first time.

Tetsuya closed the door of the car and led the way toward the gate. "Strange. The gate is open and no one seems at home," he said, taking a look through the open gate. He rang the doorbell but no one came.

"Maybe they don't hear it. Try again," Hana spoke, getting fidgety.

Tetsuya rang it several times but still, no one came to them. "I guess we just have to enter," he said.

Yoshi shook his head at them and said, "It's rude to enter someone else's house without permission."

"Yeah but," Hana said.

Tetsuya still entered, not minding what the kid said and the rest just followed him. They walked to the door and then found a note posted on it. "Akane's birthday party is held in the dojo. Feel free to come and celebrate with us," he read aloud.

"Maybe they are in the dojo. Let's check it out," Hana said and the three of them walked around and went to the dojo.

As soon as they got there, they entered. It was rather dark, having the lights turned off but there's a spotlight directed to the center of the stage. They looked around and saw silhouettes of people. They just stood by the entrance.

Moments later, there was a sound of a horn and the curtains were pulled up. A girl in ridiculously black coat and pants, white shirt and black ribbon with matching black hat showed up the stage.

"Good evening, everyone! I'm Nabiki Tendo, your host for tonight's party. How is it going?" Nabiki said, making a nice introduction. Almost everyone cheered in response. "Before we get this party started, let's give it up for Shampoo, Ukyo Kuonji and Kodachi Kuno!"

Silence fell in the dojo. The people set their eyes on the stage as three lovely girls made their entrance and Nabiki walked off. Akana seemed to be surprised as she thought Shampoo had no idea about the party and yet she's there onstage and going to perform as if she prepared for it.

Before the three could start, Ukyo cleared her throat and made some intros. "Hello there! I'm Ukyo, and these two here are my rivals, Shampoo and Kodachi. Well, we're here to sing a special song for another rival, who is other than the birthday girl Akane," she said.

"Yeah. We kinda decided to forget first our rivalry to make Akane feel that even though we fight her to get Ranma, we still love her as a friend," Kodachi added.

The music soon began and the three girls swayed along the tune. They clasped their microphones in their hands and brought them up to their mouths. Soon, they began singing.

Akane was actually enjoying. She was touched by what she known to be her rivals. As the performance was going on, she sang along silently. She liked the song very much. It was the same song she and others sang during the Christmas party.

It lasted for almost 3 minutes. As it ended, the audience made a standing ovation as if they had just watched a concert. Shampoo, Ukyo and Kodachi exited after their performance.

By the entrance, Tetsuya, Hana and Yoshi saw the whole thing. They, too, applauded along with the others.

"That's pretty good. I'm amazed," Hana complimented as she clapped. "Did you enjoy it, Yoshi?"

"Yeah," Yoshi said, clapping his little hands.

The dojo became quiet again as Nabiki went back onstage to go on with her hosting. Hana wasn't really paying attention as she's thinking about the three girls she had just seen and the girl whose name was mentioned by them. So, Ranma has so many girlfriends, doesn't he?

"The next performance will be of two men who are close to Akane's hearts. Any guesses who they are?" Nabiki asked, interacting with the audience. She looked as if she's a professional host or something.

Everyone cheered again in response.

"Okay. Without further ado, let's give it up for Soun Tendo, me and Akane's dad, and Genma Saotome, who is Akane's fiancé's dad!"

Music began and Soun and Genma made their entrance from both sides of the stage, doing some funny acts. Soun grabbed a mic and started speaking. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen!" he greeted as he raised his hand. Genma raised both of his hands too.

"We're not singing, just to let you know. But, we're doing something different tonight."

There was a mixture of boos and cheers among the audience.

"Instead, we're gonna dance!" as soon as Soun said that, some funky music played and the two began to dance.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the number. Well, it's really fun and amusing as they were doing well at it. The two waved their hands up and down to the beat and moved their hips left and right. They did some rolling too! Who would have thought Soun and Genma could do it especially at their age?

Akane cheered, supporting her parents. "Go daddies!" she exclaimed as she clapped.

"Mommy, that guy is so funny," Yoshi said, tugging his mom's hand and pointing at them.

Hana heard this and asked, "Which one, son?"

"The guy with the glasses," he answered.

"Oh. That guy," she said. She studied Genma's appearance as she tried to remember who he was. She was pretty sure she saw him before. Few seconds later, she finally remembered. Mister Saotome, we meet again.

After the performance, the lights were finally turned on.

"Very nice, isn't it?" Nabiki said, walking onstage. She expected an answer from the audience and the audience didn't disappoint her.

Later on, the party continued. Kasumi and the other girls served the food to the visitors and Akane went to help them. "That won't be necessary, Akane. It's your party and you have to enjoy it. Leave the rest of the work to us," Kasumi told her with a smile.

"But sis, I really wanna help. I can enjoy the party and serve at the same time, can't I? Don't worry about me," she said and took a tray of sushi and sashimi.

"Okay. Suit yourself," Kasumi said.

As they were serving, Akane saw unfamiliar faces standing by the dojo's entrance. Carrying the tray, she approached them and gave them a warm welcome even though she had no idea who these people were.

"Good evening!" she greeted enthusiastically. "Welcome to my birthday party."

Tetsuya, Hana and Yoshi bowed at her, showing respect. "Good evening as well. We're so glad to be here," Hana said.

"Oh yeah. Please come in and join us," Akane said and began walking, leading them to a table. They followed her with no hesitation. Yet, Akane hadn't found a vacant table so she led them to her family's table instead which was unoccupied at the moment.

"Thank you very much," Tetsuya told her gratefully.

"No problem. Here's your food," she put three plates of sushi on the table. "I'll be back with your drinks," she said and immediately left.

Hana looked at her as she walked off. She must be Akane Tendo. I believe she's one of Ranma's girlfriends.

Yoshi just stared down at his food with chopsticks beside it. He couldn't start eating as he didn't know how to use chopsticks. Never in his life had he used chopsticks as there were no chopsticks back in America. And when he and Hana went back to Itabashi, he still didn't use them. "Mommy, where's the spoon and fork?" he asked.

"I don't think there's spoon and fork here. Let me teach you how to use these," Hana said as she got her chopsticks. "You hold them like this and pick food like this," she demonstrated.

Moments later, Akane came back carrying a tray of glasses and put them on top of the table. She took a glance over the child and saw him having difficulty in using chopsticks. "You don't know how to use chopsticks, do you?"

"He doesn't because he only uses spoon and fork," Hana replied.

"Well then, I'll get one for him. You guys might want spoon and fork too."

"Yes please."

"Okay," Akane went off to get spoon and fork and it wasn't long before she came back with them. "Here you go," she said, putting them on the table. "Do you guys mind if I sit with you?" she asked. Hmmm… Who are these people? Maybe they're Ranma's friends.

"Not at all. After all, this is your place," Tetsuya answered as the others began to eat.

"Okay then," Akane sat beside them. "I believe we haven't met before. I'm Akane Tendo," she said, introducing herself to them.

"Yeah we know. I'm Hana Fukui and these are Yoshi and Tetsuya, my bodyguard," she said politely, introducing them and her self. "It's nice to meet you."

" Fukui?" Akane repeated. The sound of that name seemed familiar to her. "Are you related to Ishijima Fukui, the CEO of Fukui Cars Corporation?" she questioned again. (A/N: I just made it up. Fukui Cars Corp. doesn't exist nor did it exist in the past.)

Hana nodded, amazed to hear that her dad had gone famous. "He's my dad," she answered. "How do you know about him?"

"Well, since I'm studying business, I have to know about CEOs and business-related stuff as part of my coursework. Anyway," Akane paused as she glanced over the kid who was eating and sitting beside Hana. "His name is Yoshi, right? Your brother is so cute! He kinda looks like Ranma but Yoshi is much cuter than him," she complimented, noticing the slight resemblance.

"Oh," Hana couldn't say more. She couldn't tell her yet. She had to tell Ranma first before she could tell her.

"So you guys probably are Ranma's friends. I never knew he had other friends," Akane said.

"Ummm yeah," Hana carefully responded as she didn't wanna break the news suddenly. "We are his friends. Speaking of whom, where is he?"

"I don't know. He kinda disappeared."

What they didn't know was Ranma was in the backstage, practicing what she's gonna say to Akane. "Akane, here's my gift for you. It's a ring," he uttered but whenever he did, he couldn't help but blush and feel nervous. What the heck! Come on, Ranma! It's just Akane. How come you can't tell it to her directly? It's so damn simple. His mind scolded him.

Yeah, it was a simple thing to say to girl but for some reason, he couldn't say it in front of her. He took a deep breath.

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Author's Notes: How is it going so far? I'm sorry if my chapter titles kinda suck. Anyway, please don't forget to review on each chapter before you leave. I wanna know what you guys think of my fic. Comments and criticisms are always welcome. Well, the constructive ones of course. More reviews make me wanna write more. Thank you for reading!