Chapter 3: Ranchan Goes To School!
(Meanwhile: At Furinkan...)
As the teacher droned as he usually did, Akane just remembered something important.
"Oh, stupid, stupid me! I forgot all about Ranchan! It's just well...I guess I still see her as Ranma. I HAVE to break myself of that habit, and..."
Just then, someone knocked on the classroom door. The teacher stopped his lesson and looked up.
"You may enter."
Slowly, the door slid open and a voice shyly asked in a barely audible voice,
"Is...is...Ranma Saotome is this class?"
"Why, yes is is. Ranma, you have a visitor." the teacher said.
"Me?"
Slowly, the girl walked in, and everyone began whispering excitedly. Ranma gasped and blushed.
"What the...! What are YOU doing here!"
"RANMA!" Akane yelled.
Ranchan looked as if she wanted to cry, but she simply smiled and the teacher asked,
"Excuse me miss, what exactly IS your name?"
"Oh, my name is Ranchan! Ranchan Saotome."
All of the boys began muttering excitedly and one guy said,
"Wait a second...I though that was what Ranma looked like as a girl!"
"Yeah, me too!" another girl said.
Ranchan smiled and said,
"No, Ranma is my Big Brother! Ranma, I made your lunch!"
She walked over to Ranma's desk and handed him the cute lunchbox wrapped up in red cloth with ribbons on it, and then walked over to Akane and said,
"Akane, thank you for helping me! I made your lunch as well, that way, you can save your money for something you'd like."
"Oh, why thank you, Ranchan."
"No problem! Well, I guess I'll be going now."
Just then, Ranchan turned around suddenly bumped into someone!
"Oh! I'm so sorry, I should have..."
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?"
"Huh?"
Ranchan looked up and saw Ukyo of all people!
"Oh, good morning, Ukyo. How are you this morning?"
"Hold still for a sec..."
Ukyo pushed Ranchan next to Ranma, and said,
"NO WAY! It's impossible! Girl, aren't you..." Ukyo began asked.
"Big brother..." Ranchan began saying.
Ranchan locked onto Ranma's arm, and he blushed. Ukyo asked,
"WHAT GIVES! If YOU'RE Ranma, HOW can he be standing right there!"
"But...I'm NOT Ranma! I'm Ranma's twin sister, Ranchan. The only reason I call him "Big Brother" is because I came AFTER him, even though we're twins. But he's still my Big Brother." Ranchan smiled and hugged Ranma's arm.
"R...Ranchan!" Ukyo asked.
Ranma chuckled nervously and said,
"Sound familiar?"
"DOES IT EVER! What bussiness do you have taking the nickname I gave Ranma! Are YOU his new fiancee? Answer me!"
"I..."
Ranchan winced as if she'd been hit, and Akane began to see the tears about to come. Just then, out of nowhere, Ukyo slapped Ranchan as hard as she could!
"Ranchan!" Akane gasped.
Everyone gasped, and Ukyo said,
"Just listen now, because I can see right THROUGH that little act of yours and believe me..."
Just then, another slapping sound pierced the air, again! This time, it was Akane who did the slapping. Ukyo put her hand to her cheek in complete shock and Akane yelled,
"SHAME on you, Ukyo! How DARE you talk to Ranchan like that! And hitting her like that as well! If you lay another hand on her, you'll be REALLY sorry! You've really got some nerve!"
"I..." Ukyo gasped.
Then Akane turned on Ranma and said,
"YOU should be ashamed most of all, Ranma!"
"Me? What did I do!"
"NOTHING. That's EXACTLY what you did! How can you just stand by and let Ukyo slap your baby sister like that?"
"HEY! She AIN'T my sister!" Ranma yelled.
Ranchan looked down, her cheek still red and Akane took her hand and said,
"C'mon, Ranchan, let's get you some ice for that."
"O...okay, Akane."
Just then, the bell rang, and Akane led Ranchan out of the class, and towards the nurse's office, leaving a very shocked Ranma and Ukyo.
"Ukyo, you're not hurt are you?"
"I...don't know. Ranma, I'm sorry."
"Huh! What did YOU do?"
"I had no right to hit your sister like that."
"SHE AIN'T MY SISTER!" he yelled.
"How can you sit there and tell me that? Ranma, she looks just like you!"
"But that can all be explained, if you'll just listen!"
"Huh?" Ukyo asked.
(Meanwhile: In the Nurse's Office...)
"Here, this should help."
Akane gave Ranchan the cold rag and she pressed it against her face, small reminats of tears still visible on her face.
"Thank you, Akane."
"Ranchan, I'm SO sorry."
"For what? You didn't do anything. I'm the one who disturbed you and Big Brother's studies."
"No, it's my fault for forgetting our lunches. Then maybe Ukyo wouldn't have slapped you the way she did."
"It's alright. I..."
"No! It's NOT alright! Ranchan, you need to stand up for yourself! It's obvious Ranma isn't going to be..."
"Um...Ranchan?"
Akane and Ranchan looked up and saw Ukyo standing there.
"U...Ukyo!" Akane said.
"Ranchan, I..."
"Don't you think you've said enough, Ukyo?" Akane huffed.
Ukyo looked down and said,
"I just wanted to say that I'm...SORRY for earlier."
"Huh!" Akane and Ranchan asked.
"Yeah, Ranma told be about what happened, and to really prove I'm sorry, Ranchan, you can eat anytime at my resturant! Free! Promise."
Ranchan was quiet for a few minutes and then she looked up and smiled.
"Thank you, Ukyo."
"Well, I guess...I need to be getting back to class."
"Wait, Ukyo!"
Just as Ukyo had opened the door, Ranchan ran over to her, and gave her the cold compress that she was just using and smiled.
"I hope we can become good friends."
"Ra...Ranchan..." Ukyo smiled.
Ranchan turned around and looked at Akane and said,
"I guess I should be going, now. I'll see everyone later. Bye, bye!"
"Oh, see ya, Ranchan." Akane smiled.
"See you later." Ukyo smiled.
Akane and Ucchan watched as Ranchan walked out of the door. Akane smiled and said,
"Isn't she just the sweetest thing?"
"Yeah, she's...so innocent. The TOTAL opposite of Ranma."
"Yeah...Ukyo, I'm sorry for..."
"Ah, don't worry about it. After what Ranma told me, can't say I didn't deserve it."
Akane and Ukyo headed back to class together, where they saw Ranma being interogated by all of the boys in his class about his "Little twin sister". Ranma huffed and said,
"Look, she ain't my sister. Let's just leave it at that."
Ranma then opened up the lunch Ranchan had made for him and blushed. Everything was so perfect, and neatly cut! And it smelled great! Then, one of Ranma's friends said,
"Yeah, from that lunch she made you, I think she's more of a wife!"
Akane gasped as it then hit her with a full force. She'd never thought of Ranchan being a rival for Ranma's love, because she saw him as her "Big Brother".
Akane walked over to the window and saw Ranchan leaving the campus, smiling warmly as the sun touched her skin.
"She DOES only see him as a big brother...doesn't she?"
