Chapter 14


"You're lying!"

Well, I can't say I didn't see this coming.

Ranma looked pissed, of course, he would. He actually had to pause, take a long breath, and visibly struggle in the last moment before he revealed Ryoga's secret. Now, I don't want to sound like I'm simping for the guy, because god knows I'm horribly biased, but it's in times like these that we can see glimpses of his true character; Ryoga is nobody to him yet he would have defended his secret with his life if I hadn't talked him out of it.

And Akane just threw that in his face. That's why people didn't like her in the show, she really makes it hard to see her side when she does shit like this.

"How dare you! Slandering Ryoga-kun like that just because he isn't here to defend himself, have you no shame!" Akane's words were like physical blows to my friend I could see that.

"I wouldn't lie about that!" Ranma finally found his voice. "Can't you listen to me for once in your life, you damn tomboy!"

That, of course, set her off, and the argument started in full.

Akane and Ranma argue a lot. Any casual observer would quickly figure that out. They don't do it all the time, but catching the two in a middle of a bickering match was a frequent occurrence for practically everyone that interacts with them. It usually happens because one says something that sets the other off, neither one backs down, and tempers continue to flare. After getting to know them, however, you can tell that normally it means nothing, and they go back to talking normally later, usually on the same day. I've seen that happen. Hell, I even got a sense that the two enjoy the fight to some extent.

This one though, this one is ugly, this one is serious; the kind that makes any witness deeply uncomfortable and wanting to evacuate the premises, the kind that fills the air with a powerful sense of emptiness and awkwardness, and provides nothing for anyone involved. It's a deeply emotional affair, too personal for anyone to butt in.

Normally, because if this bitch thinks she can talk to my friend like that in my presence, she has another thing coming.

I dropped down from the wall I was squatting on top off, squared my shoulders, and made my way towards the pair.

Before I could say anything though, Ranma knocked the wind out of me.

"He's sexually harassing you!" His voice boomed across the street.

The outburst took everyone by surprise; me, Akane, the nearby granny who was preparing to throw water at Ranma, even Ranma himself, I suspect.

Nevertheless, he continued on.

"You don't believe me, fine! I don't care! But throw some warm water at P-chan before you take him to bed next time. Do it to prove me wrong if you want, but do it!" He rasped a breath, seemly restraining himself for the first time since the shouting started. "Do it for yourself, you... you don't deserve to be fooled like that, it ain't right."

It was clear for everybody to see that Akane had absolutely no response to that. Perhaps for the first time since Ranma started living with her, she was without words.

I could see doubt and indecision dancing across her face as she shifted through a series of emotions. She made to talk twice but bit back whatever she was going to say before it came out. Finally, after a small eternity, she decided on a sharp "Humph!" punctuated by snapping her head to the side. Then, she turned on her heels and strode away.

I watched her go, feeling a bit unbalanced by what I just witnessed. Ranma practically deflated like an old balloon beside me.

"Well... um, you got your point across, at least. I'll even go so far and say you won this argument." I gave him a tentative smile and punched him on the shoulder. "And you used my own words too, good work!"

"I don't feel like I won anything." He grumbled.

"You did, believe me. Akane-" And most women. "-is like that. I bet there are few things she hates more than admit she's wrong after an argument." Or in general. "She'll probably approach you later to apologize in a really subtle and indirect way."

"That doesn't sound like something she would do." He pointed out.

"If she doesn't, and try to play this off like it never happened... then she's worth less of your time than you believe."

Ranma nodded, his eyes still tracking his retreating fiancé in the distance till she disappeared around the corner. "Thanks."

I shook my head. "I didn't do anything."

"You did a lot." He said and then pulled a deep breath, almost like he was inflating himself back up. God my allegories are weird today. "... Wanna ditch school and grab something to eat?"

My hand found my chest as a gasp dramatically escaped my lips. "Me, ditching school, me! You're a corrupting influence Saotome Ranma! Why, people will believe I'm some kind of delinquent or something. And what about Kuno, hum!? Poor guy much be perched over the school gate, sword in his hand and new nickname on his tongue ready to deliver us justice, it would ruin his entire week if we let him—"

"You wanna go or not?"

"Hell yeah, have I taken you to Hanna Millers yet?"

So the day began, not in the best way, but not in a bad way either. The water-throwing granny even gave us some sweets before we left. It was nice of her.

-0-0-0-

"You know somethin' Hiroshi, you're a massive pervert."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said as my eyes followed after another waitress with a dangerously short skirt.

"Sure you don't." He had the gall to roll his eyes.

"Oh, like I'm the only one. Don't even bother trying to hide mister, I saw where your looks tend to linger." Ranma choked on his drink.

"Shut it, it's just, the uniform here is damn tight."

That's right people; Saotome Ranma actually has a libido! He just doesn't consider it a priority and is also genuinely shy about it. A much better explanation than the one I remember the fandom coming up with; something about a eunuch pressure point and Genma being an asshole.

If you hang close to him for long enough you'll notice him casting some leering glares here and there, but he's very subtle about it, like, I openly gawked the first time I noticed him he looking at Class Prez as she passed – understandable, a lot of boys watch as she passes, we love to see her go if you know what I mean - earned me a punch at the time for being too smug.

He's being less subtle right now, because, well, because Hannar Miller.

And on the subject of things the anime never told the audience, maybe I could... Ok, here goes nothing. "Alright, if there's a good time for this subject, it is now." Ranma looked at me confusedly.

"So, Ranma, my friend, do you do it? Admire your female form in the mirror, I mean?"

"Arg!" Ranma flinched, nearly dropping his drink. "Are we really talking about this!?"

"I'm asking in completely good faith." I pointed out while showing my hands in a placating gesture.

The pigtailed martial artist stared at me with narrowed eyes a few seconds before sighing in resigned.

"... Yeah, I do. I don't know if you noticed, but I'm pretty darn hot as a girl."

I nodded, agreeing to that wholeheartedly. "I hear you, I hear you. You're pretty attractive as a guy, but your girl form, damn!"

"Dude!" He startled.

Hm? What? Wait, seriously, what did I say... Oh, right, this is the nineties... and this is Japan. Outside the pages of a shoujo manga, or a BL novel, men can't regard each other as anything more than drooling monkeys.

"What, have I forgot to add 'No Homo'?" I couldn't help but sass, even if the referenced flew right over Ranma's head. "Look, I'm confident enough in my sexuality to admit that you're a handsome motherfucker and mean nothing by it. It comes with sleeping with a kunoichi shaped like a sex goddess, believe me, so lay off."

It did not take long for Ranma to relax his suspicious look. The English curse word helped with that, they are good to lend a casual air to a statement if used correctly and Ranma had picked up a lot of them by hanging with me.

"Alright, man... You also look slightly better than the average delinquent."

Well, I certainly wasn't expecting a straight-up compliment like that— Then I remembered what 'the average delinquent' looks like. "Ha ha, very funny."

He dared to snigger, the audacity of this bitch.

"Moving on... Fondling. Breast squeezes. Did you try it?"

Boy, it sounded so weird now that I actually asked out loud. My curiosity really takes me to some odd places.

"... Y-Yeah," My friend admitted after a while. "Sometimes. More in the beginning when they were new. I don't do it too often cuz they're, hm, sensitive."

"Sensitive?" I said as neutrally as I could, trying to show I wasn't trying to take this in a weird direction. Ranma searched for that in my expression before continuing.

"Gettin' punched there really friggin' hurt, like, almost to the level of gettin' kicked in the balls. And it's really weird because... because it's not supposed to hurt this much, you know, keeps throwing me off."

I could kinda see what he meant. Basically, he spent his entire life knowing how his body reacts to stimulus – like exactly how much tanking a strike on his chest hurt, to use his example - but now he got a different body that reacts differently to the same stimulus.

Localized case of body dysmorphia maybe? I'm not qualified to tell. Thankfully, he can actually come back to the body he's most comfortable with.

"It's a conflict of perspective, given that you can now see the world with a female or male eyes... That's kinda fascinating." I rubbed my chin in thought... Then I realized how that must have sounded and hurriedly added. "Not trying to diminish your situation to an experiment or anything, I mean, it must suck—"

"Relax man, I get it." Ranma waved me off. "It does suck. I don't like being a girl. It frustrates me how many times that happen during the day. But... But it's not that bad." He paused briefly after that, trying to find his words. "I mean... I mean, I could have ended up like Ryoga; one little splash and I lose my clothes, lose my thumbs and ability to communicate, and then I have to struggle to somehow find warm water while barely reaching people's ankles. So yes... 'Least as a girl I can still fight, or do things." I could see that the mention of Ryoga and the reminder of the confrontation he caused his mood to sour.

"I see." I cleared my throat to get his attention on me and out of the subject. "Going back to perspectives a bit. Did you notice any more change as a girl? Beyond the obvious I mean."

Ranma thought about that for a bit, thumping his finger on the table.

"Sweets taste better as a girl. Spicy things feel spicier. I think I can pick up scents better and- Oh, oh there was this one time." He leaned forwards a bit to tell the story; his fasciation was clear to see. "I was in China, right? Before comin' here, there was this red buildin' pops and I were spendin' the night. Well, it starts raining and suddenly the buildin' wasn't solid red anymore, but a whole collection of shades of red. Turns out girls can see more colors, man! Or can differentiate between colors better, I dunno. That was neat." He leaned back, then, seemly remembering something, grinned smugly. "Also, people give me free stuff, that's very neat."

That... is actually pretty damn interesting, but it wasn't exactly why I was asking. I wanted to hear the answer for that old fandom thing, maybe I should be clearer.

"So, are you faster as a girl and stronger as a guy?"

"What?" Ranma blinked; apparently, I knocked the wind off his sail.

"Sorry, was it a dumb question?" God damn it fandom! You're making me look bad.

"No?" He tilted his head, leaned further into his seat, and started to rub his chin. "You wanna know in terms of fighting right? Hm." He thought for a brief moment, and then his answer came firmly. "Yes. It comes down to weight; I'm lighter as a girl, so it's easier to move around, especially in bursts of speed. As a guy, I'm larger, heavier, and my muscles are way denser, so I can put more behind my punches. But..." His finger went on to scratch his cheek. "The difference is really small, like, it doesn't really matter that much. What affects me more is reach and balance. Reach because my limbs as a girl are way shorter, and balance because... well..." He made grabbing motions over his chest area. "Those damn things are friggin' huge and keep bouncin' all over the place while I'm moving, so I have to constantly watch my balance." He let out a frustrated sigh. "So yeah, in this case, I guess I'm easier to beat as a girl."

Someday, I'll stop being surprised when Ranma goes analytical genius when the subject of combat is on the table, someday.

Right now it feels like I should be taking notes. In fact, this feels almost like an interview. Heh, an interview with Saotome Ranma, somehow I can't see it.

Another, traitorous thought popped up in my mind, and oh boy that was pushing it, that definitely was pushing it, but my damn curiosity won't allow me to keep my mouth shut.

"Ranma..." I bit back what I was going to say and added first. "You can tell me to fuck off if you don't want to answer that, but have you ever... you know, in your female form."

"What?"

"You know." I made an unmistakable gesture. "That."

It was... curious, seeing Ranma's face shift from innocent confusion to horrifying realization, seeing it go from normal to white, green, and then bright red.

His arms rose in a cross.

"We're changing subjects." He said.

"Got it," I replied immediately.

That actually made Ranma paused in surprise and relax a bit. What? He thought I would insist?

"Kunoichi shaped like a sex goddess." He suddenly quoted my earlier words. "So you're actually sleeping with that ninja woman. Where is she by the way? Why isn't she following you around?"

So it is my turn to get gloomy.

"It's complicated." I sighed. How much can I tell Ranma? I trusted him with my life, but I don't know how sharing what I know would affect Rin. Plus, I'm sure as hell not going to do it in a public café. "Rin swore herself to me, but she still has ties to her old organization. They called her up for a mission so... yeah, now I don't know where she is."

That actually sounded worse now that I said it. With everything that happened in the past few days I hadn't really had time to check on her, or even figure out how to check on her, and it's been more than two weeks already.

Fuck! Now I'm getting nervous.

"Ninja organizations can be hardcore," Ranma commented while fiddling with some leftover fries. "Wait... she swore herself to you and has ties to her old place? How the heck would that even work, I mean—" He suddenly stopped, blinked a few times, and then an eager grin slowly spread across his face. "Hiroshi, are we going to fight a ninja village? Cuz it sounds like we're going to fight a ninja village."

"I don't know, perhaps, maybe." I scratched the back of my head. "I'm still figuring out."

It is reassuring as hell I know he'd have my back in case that happens though.

I could see his excitement growing as he worked the idea in his mind, but then his eyes widened a bit as if he suddenly realized something.

"Hey, Hiroshi? Do you love her?" He asked, catching me by surprise.

Still, it wasn't something I hadn't put quite a bit of consideration on.

"I do not love her. But I really like her. I wouldn't mind calling her my girlfriend, heck, I even told her that. But she—."

"Prefers to be a 'tool' for you to use." Ranma finished for me with a nod. "Lots of kunoichi are like that, it's cultural or somethin'."

That was a suspiciously good guess, and the familiarity he's displaying... "Do you know a lot of kunoichi, Ranma?" I don't remember anything like that from the anime.

He smiled in response, "Know them? I lived in a ninja village for a while. Hadn't I mentioned that, before?"

He didn't, though he did mention he had some ninja training and had met some ninjas before. This became even more obvious to see after Rin trained me for a bit; Ranma does have many tells of a ninjutsu practitioner.

"That... sounds really cool," I admitted. "Ninja village, like Kouga and Iga?" No way those aren't a thing in anime world.

"Yeah, those two aren't around anymore." Oh? "They disappeared someday and nobody really knows where they went. Most think they massacred each other, it's a bit of a legend." Ranma dismissed that with a wave of his hand. "Me and pops spent six months living with the Uzui clan when I was thirteen or so."

Nothing immediately popped up in my mind with the name. Though if Ranma had said Uchiha I'd have flipped. "How was it?"

"Flashy." Ranma chuckled as if remembering some inside joke. "They are seriously weird, but seriously good people. Some of them were incredibly strong too. Oh man, there was this insane one-eyed, one-armed old man that was just... " Ranma shook his head, training to rein in his growing enthusiasm. "Anyway, the less weird of the bunch was the chief's daughter." Oh boy. "We usually trained together cuz we're around the same age. I learned a lot there... 'till pops grabbed me someday and bolted." He frowned. "Damn pops, they were about to teach me some special clan techniques too."

Ah, so Ranma has a ninja girl fiancé running around. Good to know.

"He probably engaged you with the chief's daughter and run away with whatever they gave him," I told him because, really, why would I keep that a secret?

Ranma, who went through none of the trials and tribulations his once future self had gone through, snorted loudly.

"As if that would happen."

Ah, summer shines brightly over this carefree child.

As much as I wanted to just sit here, chat with Ranma, and appreciate some hot waitresses in tiny uniforms for the rest of the day – And I mean exactly that – there was something I must do, it wasn't urgent, but if we're ditching school it doesn't hurt to start now.

I waited till Ranma finished waving over for a waitress to bring us more food before bringing that up.

"It's about that prediction from the ero-squirrel right? Future monster attack?" Ranma guessed, hitting the bull's eye.

"It's in a week and a half from now. We have time to stop it, but I wanna check out the site, see if there's anything suspicious there or anything that would actually provoke that attack." I'm also considering the possibility of simply waiting for the monster to attack to see where it comes from. But that would mean putting someone in danger so yeah, I'm still considering. "I know you wanted to go kill zombies after this but-"

"Say no more. We're going monster huntin'." Ranma cracked his fists. "There's no way I'm lettin' you have all the fun again!"

"As I said, it's only a week and a half from now." I chuckled at his enthusiasm; "You do know the last one was a lion, right?"

"GUH! T-this one will be different! I'm sure of it." If it turns out to be a tiger, I gonna laugh my ass off. "Where is it, anyway?"

I sighed. "I'm afraid that another thing we'll have to find out."

Unfortunately, Semurahamaru's future sight seems to have some limitations – or the squirrel was messing with me, that's also a possibility – for whatever reason the second vision he shared with me was a lot vaguer than the first one. With the first, I knew Tōtōsai will be atop some millennium tower over a den of sin hidden somewhere around Shibuya's Golden Gai. With the second... it was more of a general area rather than a precise location; I knew it would be somewhere in Nerima, but other than that I only knew that the area had some trees, some large houses, and a mermaid statue of all things.

I related to Ranma the few scraps of information I had.

"That could be anything!" He fumed.

"No shit."

"The statue is the best lead." He continued. "You have a plan, right?"

"Of course," I confirmed, watching Ranma perked up considerably. "We hit the library." And his head thumped against the table.

"Whyyy!?"

"Hey, it's a legit way to get information," I stated the obvious. "How else can we find some random ass mermaid statue in Nerima if not by cross-referring guides and regional maps." My friend let out a pained grumble.

I actually feel a bit of his pain on this one. Just because it was my idea, doesn't mean I have to like it. Fuck, I can already imagine how boring that would be,

Oh, Internet, how I miss you.

"That's Meguro Daiko Street, right? The one with the mermaid statue."

Hm?

I glance to the side, and my eyes instantly zeroed in the nearly bursting blouse of the Hannar Miller's uniform. Holy cow! This pair is bigger than Ranma-chan's!

My eyes trailed upward and blinked at the set of reddish browns that also blinked back. It's the first time I'm seeing this particular waitress before, I thought I knew them all by this point.

Takeuchi Yuka
Heiress of the Neo Muntenkendou Karate Style
Level: 48

What kinda title is that! And her level is higher than Ranma's!? Was she listening in our conversation!? Who is she!? Is She a spy!?

Wait, why would anyone spy on us?

Silly question, there is always a reason!

"S-sorry!" She took a step back at the intensity of our combined stares, nearly dropping her platter, her face bright red. "It's my first day here, and you were talking about the mermaid statue so I couldn't help but reminiscent about—"

"You're a martial artist." Ranma interrupted.

"Ah, yes, yes I am." Her reddish eyes fell on Ranma, and as she scanned him, I could see her confidence growing. "You... You too." Now there was a steady smile on her lips.

That's one attractive-looking spy, I got to admit.

"Takeuchi Yuka, Muntenkendou Karate Style." The girl introduced herself.

"Saotome Ranma, Anything Goes Style." Ranma did likewise.

The average person would describe what happened next as the two aggressively checking each other out. Me, who spent all this time hanging with Ranma, saw that by what it actually was.

Dear God, they're battle maniacs.

"Wait, wait, hold on!" I cut in before fighting music started playing in the background or something. "Hi there! Ōe Hiroshi. Delighted to meet. What was that about Meguro Street?"

"Ah." The waitress blinked a few times as she shifted her attention from Ranma to me "Meguro Daiko Street, um, are you two new around Nerima? It's a pretty famous street where the really well-off people live. There is a mermaid statue there. The only one in Nerima, if I'm not mistaken."

... I fucking love anime world and its convenient coincidences!

"That's perfect!" I'm tentatively revoking her spy status for now. "Can you take us there?"

"I wouldn't mind." She cocked her hips to the side as her body moved in an unintentionally distracting display. Her rich, brown ponytail flapped behind her. Then, her lips formed a playful grin as she looked at Ranma, her eyes a lot sharper. "But you have to fight me for it."

I'm not even surprised.

"You're on!" Ranma met the challenge head-on. He looked equally excited.

Both martial artists visibly worked up at the prospect. However, before anything could happen, the Manager of Culture – because there is no way someone who allowed that uniform didn't have an enormous amount of it – sharply, and loudly cleared his throat.

The girl went straight as a ramrod

"After my shift ends that is!" The girl added quickly before transferring the content of her platter to the table and rushing away to get her next order. My eyes followed after her to confirm that yes, while she may have defeated Ranma-chan on the topside, my favorite shortstack still has an edge over her down below.

Looking away from the wonderful sight, I turned towards my friend, who was in the process of enthusiastically stuffing his face.

"What?" He asked once he noticed my stare.

I swear to god, martial artists need to be strapped to a table and studied.

"... Thought you say you're never eating that as a man."

And so Ranma looked down and discovered, to his adjacent horror, that he was eating a large, and particularly girly-looking parfait. Something none of us had asked for.

The girl had messed up our orders.

-0-0-0-

"My, my."

He's going to continue to do that, isn't he?

"My, my, my."

Fuck!

"Stop that!"

Steady now, do not show how creeped out you are, I'm pretty sure he feeds on it.

"Young master! It's such a delight to hear from you! I expected you to call much sooner."

I uncomfortably shifted my weight around my feet. As if his judging gaze was bearing down on me at that very moment.

"A lot of things happened..." No, there is no excusing this. "Look, is Rin alright?" Oh god, please.

"I can confirm that she's safe and sound."

"I... Ok..." Whatever I was going to say next was pushed aside by a relieved breath that forced its way out. A lot of built-up tension I didn't know I had melted off right there. I had to lean on the payphone to keep my balance. "Can I talk to her?"

"Ku ku ku."

Boy, let me tell you, nothing jolts you to attention like a creepy man's laughter dripping down your ears.

"What the kind of response was that!? Have you done something to her!?" At the continuing silence that I swear felt smug, I pressed. "Tell me!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, young master." That better be an unintentional reference.

"Hayate, I'm ordering you to tell me what have you done to Rin," I commanded.

This made him lose his creepy, playful edge. When he spoke next, his tone was serious and professional.

"I take pride in fulfilling every order given to me to the letter, young master. But in this case, I cannot, for my silence was ordered by the master himself."

"Master?" I mumbled out loud.

"Your father."

That was the last push needed for the realization to come

My father.

Ōe Hiroshi's father.

The past memories of the life I've taken for myself came packaged in a manner that I could only describe as 'strange'. I remember everything that I needed, but only what I needed. It was... laser-focused; if I needed to know, say, a past birthday present, then I would remember all my birthday presents but only get vague impressions of the things related to it, unless I also needed to know that. It was like pulling threads of information in an instant rather than organically remembering something. It wasn't natural, but it was reactive and precise, ensuring that I always remember the right thing at the right moment.

I never really needed to dive deep into all the memories I have available to me, and, admittedly, there are some things I was putting off, the members of my new family, complete strangers that I now have to accept as my close relatives, are one of them. So all I had of my parents were impressions.

Until now, when I remembered my father.

"What the fuck!?"

"Language, young master. You were raised better than that."

I... Fuck I don't know what should I do with that!

Ōe family patriarch was a... a surprisingly good dude. Distant but never cold, considerable, supportive, very stern when needed, a genuinely good father by all accounts. His only failing is that he spends a little too much time away at work, though not nearly enough to not be a presence in his sons' lives.
If it was only that it would be a nice subversion of the whole 'trillionaire dad' trope, especially in a place like Ranma ½, but his appearance.

"Why does my father looks like Sephiroth!?"

"... Pardon?"

Fuck, oh fuck, this world is crazy enough for him to be Sephiroth! Wait no, no, no he's not Sephiroth, he's not obsessed with spiky-haired boys and is actually capable of speaking without twenty layers of subtext and riddles. He also doesn't look exactly like Sephiroth; his hair is a bit darker, and, dare I say, a little longer, and his eyes are... golden yellow and cat-like, fucking hell!

I know him, I know him from somewhere, he's an old anime character I'm sure of it!

"Young master?"

"Ah, s-sorry, I got distracted."

Right! Focus! My first priority should be my kunoichi lover possibly being held hostage by my creepy butler at the orders of my Sephiroth father.

How do I get myself in these kinds of situations?

In the end, I decided to just be direct. "I want her back."

Will I have to wage war against my own family, I wonder; Ranma will have a blast at least.

"Noted, she will be back with you in a couple of days."

That nearly made me hit the ground. Was this bastard doing that on purpose!?

"What!?"

"Oh, young master." He sighed in a way that made me feel like a petulant child. "Your father's intention was never to separate you two. Give him some credit."

"Right." I rubbed the bridge of my nose. This talk is getting me a headache. "So you won't let me talk to her, but you'll be releasing her soon."

"Ku ku ku." The bastard laughed rather than confirm it, of course he did. "Was there anything else, young master?"

His creepiness was quickly being dialed back up I see.

"No, I..." I closed my eyes and slowly exhaled. "Thank you for keeping her safe."

"Of course, young master."

All things considered, this might be the best interaction Hayate and I ever had.

I stayed by the payphone for quite a bit after the call ended, just tapping my finger over the green metallic surface and thinking.

A Sephiroth-looking trillionaire with a private army and a man like Hayate in his employ...

"They're up to something, aren't they?"

I passed a hand over my face, rubbing my eyes. Can I do something about that?

I don't know, heck, I don't even know what it is, I just learned about this, so... so one thing at the time. Focus on what is front of me now, and sit down and properly investigate my past later.

Pushing out for later... I've been doing this a lot, even after everything that happened. That's what I do, just push things out, make a half-ass attempt to solve whatever it is, and only get off my ass to do damage control when things inevitably go to hell. Fucking pointless, useless, I can't even—

No, no fuck that teenager line of thought; I'm not some shining paragon of justice here to solve everybody's problems in the quickest and most efficient way possible, I'm doing my best with what I have, I'm preparing myself for the future, helping out where I can, and also living my fucking life. I have to keep things in perspective.

But I do need a longer reach, more resources, better means to act, so I can deal with whatever bullshit this anime world throw at me.

But right now I should keep my focus; I have a job to do.

Wrestling back control over my mood, I slipped my hands into my pockets and left the payphone behind. Turning over the corner, I retraced my steps over the short path from here to the empty area behind Akukin Constructions' main office.

Ah, looks like there is a small crowd of spectators now. Not that I blame them it was a sight to behold.

Two combatants locked in a dance of flaring limbs that was just as brutal as it was beautiful. It had the artistic rendition of the human body moving in complex, mesmerizing stances Kung fu action movies wish they could capture while having a sense of the raw, dangerous intention of two people doing their best to break one another.

Takeuchi Yuka shredded my idea that Karate was a rigid and restrictive fighting style by using it to become a highly efficient machine of bodily obliteration. There was simply no motion from her that was easy to follow; her punches and kicks were like gunshots and machineguns, and the way she shifted, reacted, adapted to her opponent's attacks was mindboggling. You just got the sense of extreme polish from her, taking a familiar and well-studied fighting style so far to the next level it was hard to see where it started.

Saotome Ranma was fucking Saotome Ranma, and by god he finally managed to fully integrate that Dance, Dance Revolution technique he grew so fond of into his normal style, shattering any distinction between them. If he was hard to hit before, now it was nigh impossible. He seems to roll and slip away from everything you threw at him, usually at the last second to add salt to the wound. Beyond that, there was his devastating mobility and ability to attack from every fucking angle without compromising his speed and strength.

This was a no tricks, no bullshit here, just a straight-up fight between two martial artists of similar levels, and it was clear that they both were loving it.

I've been entranced by the show during the first five minutes of it before I sneaked away to make the call. But given what I could see now, I've arrived at the last stretch.

Got to see the last moves though. As Ranma stepped up the pace of his hit and run tactic, putting Takeuchi-san at a clear disadvantage, as she seems to rely heavily on close-range engagement and solid posture. Not helping was the fact that the ground beneath her feet, which was a fairly standard earthy field before I left, now resembled a no man's land right after an artillery bombardment.

Though when she managed to get a counter in she usually made them count. The last one seeing her literally grab Ranma's ankle midair and turn the momentum of his own kick to slam him hard against the ground. Both reacted at the same time, Ranma with a rising kick as he attempted to jump away and Takeuchi-san dodging at the nick of time and driving a fist into Ranma's gut.

The next flurry of movement had them literally rolling around like a wheel of flesh, both taking advantage of whatever leverage they could to lay down and redirect what I knew would be deciding strikes. Their proximity made the display look positively vicious, but, ironically, that was the part the normie witnesses saw less, because it kicked up a whole lot of dust as the poor abused, grounds around them started to shatter even more.

The fucking dust cloud turned into a dust whirlwind by the time it started obscuring my vision. By that point, I had to cast a few mana bolts against some flying wreckage before they could crash against the onlookers. At least they had enough sense to turn tail after that.

I waited for the sounds of the battle to die down completely. Then, waving a hand through the fading dust cloud, I slid down the four meters hole they somehow drilled in the middle of the field to where I could finally see the victor.

"I lost, huh." Murmured Takeuchi Yuka, incredulously. A bloodied and battered Ranma was pinning her down with a raised fist aiming directly at her face. "That hasn't happened in a while."

"Phe!" Ranma exhaled the air he was holding and dropped off her, moving to sit on the side and get control over his panting.

The girl just continued to lie there, staring at the clear skies.

A pity she changed her ill-fitted uniform – apparently, they didn't have one that fitted around her chest – to a more casual jeans ensemble. In the state she's in, I could tell it would have made for an interesting sight.

"So, all good?" I asked, looking between the two.

My friend immediately snapped an accusatory finger at the older girl.

"You held back!"

That stirred her out of her musings, and she pushed herself to a sitting position. "So did you." She countered before raising herself the rest of the way up.

To my astonishment, she looked better off than Ranma, just a little bit.

"Thank you." She offered a hand to her fellow martial artist. "I needed that... In more ways than one."

Ranma held his frown for a few moments. Then he sighed and accepted her help. Once the two were up, he spoke again, his voice brimming with determination. "You won't be able to hold back next time."

Takeuchi-san giggled at his challenge. "Oh, we'll see about that."

Two peas in a pod, these two, no wonder they hit off so well.

I cleared my throat loudly enough to cut through the growing atmosphere. "Sorry to break the moment there, but do you remember our deal, Takeuchi-san?"

"Of course, a deal's a deal, especially now that I lost." No idea what she meant but the way Ranma nodded his head knowingly in the background told me this was probably a martial artist thing.

"I was actually thinking we should stop by a clinic on the way."

"Eww, why is that, Hiroshi?" Ranma grumbled, with blood visibly dripping from his forehead.

My eyes twitched.

"We did get a bit carried away, tehehe." At least Takeuchi-san admitted.

None of them had the decency to show any signs of the pain they must be in. The nerve of these meatheads.

Then again it's not like I have any grounds to complain about that.

-0-0-0-

After a visit to Tofu's and the two martial artists not looking like they lost a fight with a lawnmower anymore, we set out to this mysterious Meguro street where a mermaid statue would be marking the land for a future monster attack. Hopefully, I could get something from this one, something related to their existence I mean.

"It occurs to me that I've been rather rude," Takeuchi-san commented as she led us through a widening sidewalk. The cozy, labyrinthine sprawl of central Nerima slowly turning into the newer, more standard urban picture that is modern Tokyo. "I'm sorry for that."

She did overstep her boundaries quite a bit, acting rather forwardly from the moment we met, the Japanese part of my brain identified, the other parts, however, shared Ranma's opinion, which he helpfully vocalized.

"Eh, Don't worry about it."

I nodded in agreement, my face set on a grin. "You were really thirsting for a fight, weren't you?"

... My double meaning was, of course, wasted on these two innocent souls.

"I hadn't had a good fight in a while." She started to drift off but shook her head back to focus. "And you, where in the world did you come from, Saotome-san? There is no word of a martial artist of your level in Nerima in the circles."

Ranma frowned at that, hopping off from the fence he was balancing on to level with us on the sidewalk. "Circles, what circles?"

Going by the trend, probably underground fighting circles.

The girl disbelievingly searched Ranma's expression for a moment, and then looked genuinely sheepish when she saw he really had no idea of what she was talking about.

"Oh, hm, Tokyo martial art's scene has this... not exactly a community, but a web of common contact. Bars and restaurants that use their establishments as meeting places, tournament organizers, dojos, gyms, other martial artists. Um, It's really helpful to keep up with the news or search for good opponents."

"You mean there is somethin' like that in Japan too!?" Ranma exclaimed. At my questioning look, he clarified. "In China, there is a lot of that. Practically in every city."

"Make sense." I addressed Takeuchi-san before her confusion had a chance to grow. "Ranma and his father were in a decade-long, hyper-focused training trip. He must have not plaid attention to these 'Circles' before they became relevant."

To be fair, I hadn't considered something like that either. But it doesn't surprise me that it exists, if the supernatural had a super-secret community lurking underneath normal society, why not martial artists?

"That explains it." I kinda love how easily Takeuchi-san easily just up and accepts the reasoning; in another world, this would have got me only blank looks and crazy labels. The girl opened a smile and charmingly raise a finger. "It's actually a very good way for wandering martial artists to find support. Medical care, cheap renting places or vacated lots where you can discretely camp, work opportunities, they can hook you up with basically everything you need!"

"Sounds seedy," I commented. But Ranma snorting a "Duh!" besides me told me that's to be expected.

"Gah, I, hehe." The girl embarrassingly scratched the back of her head, just below the large ponytail. "I've put that in a weird way, sorry. Um, I won't lie; there are some seedy elements on it. B-But if you keep away from them you'll have a good experience, I promise."

"Relax I'm just being a shithead." I waved off. The girl stuttered a quiet gasp that told me she at least had a cursory understanding of English but didn't tell me why she reacted the way she-

Ah, some confusion in Japan's weird rules of conversation and etiquette. You see, there are a lot of ways to structure a sentence in Japanese, added words, shift in pronunciation, the usage of certain expressions; you point might be the same, but the way you convey that point – plus other things like posture and mannerism - must change according to the setting you are in, or the person you are talking to.

Takeuchi-san has been very casual when she first met us, basting her way through a 'proper' Japanese first meeting with a stranger –also customer interaction now that I think about it – and delivering a fighting challenge of all things. And then she kept going well past that point till she realize how she's been acting, and now she is trying to create a proper, polite distance.

Basically, girl too hungry for battle to care about social conventions is now trying to re-establish them to salvage how rude she must have been coming off.

Luckily for her, guy with half the head of a barbaric westerner and guy raised in the wilds by dirty panda-man don't give a flying fuck about that.

"You can call me by my first name if you want, Takeuchi-san."

This might be one the most clique lines there is, especially in an anime world. But it is a quick and easy way to say that I didn't mind if she skip formalities. The Japanese custom of conveying your true feelings using indirect words is quite lovely if it's not used for bullshit reasons.

"Call me Ranma. Saotome-san sounds like you're calling to my pops." Ranma followed my lead, though I had no idea if he got the true reasons. He probably just likes to keep things casual.

"Ah... thank you, Ranma-san, Hiroshi-san. Please feel free to do the same." Yuka responded with a smile, some of the building tension finally easing up on her body.

This does not mean we are now good friends or anything like that, but it made for a better foundation and cleared the air before any awkwardness had a chance to settle in.

Where were you when I needed you, high-class etiquette lessons, and high charisma stat? Do you know how many problems I could have avoided being this socially aware back in my old life!?

The urban growths forming around us were now giving way to a more greenish landscape. It's not like we were leaving the city behind, goodness no, it's actually the opposite giving the direction we were going. It's more like the more packed parts of the city were spreading apart to let a pocked of parks, monuments, wide walkways, and huge residential areas rest undisturbed by the inconvenience of city life.

This is the wealthiest part of Nerima by far, while the Kuno did not live here, deciding to reside on their ancestral home by Nerima's center, this particular edge is where people like the Kuno's live.

God knows what these filthy rich anime people do behind closed doors, I whipped my eyes around suspiciously, after Sephiroth dad and the Kunos I don't trust any wealthy person to not be an eccentric weirdo.

Wait... I'm not a wealthy eccentric weirdo, aren't I?

Aren't I!?

Horrifying self-realizations would have to wait, for the fabled mermaid statue finally made its appearance.

It was... a statue? A normal statue of a lone mermaid perched on top of a jagged rock, a surprisingly happy expression on her face as opposed to the usual melancholy associated with the character. It was well made, well kept, and it looked nice against the warm orange of the late afternoon sky, but there wasn't anything particularly special about it.

Someone had stolen the plaque containing the name of the piece and the sculptor, dick move.

"There it is, just as I remember." Yuka stepped forward and gently passed a hand over the base. "My father used to own a construction company, he did some work around here and I..." She trails off then shook her head, the almond-colored ponytail swinging from side to side.

Then, she swung back around to face us and gave us a cheerful smile. "So! We're here, just as promised! Why did you want to come here again?"

"We're lookin' for info about a monster attack foretold by a future-seeing squirrel who is also a pervert." My heart filled with pride as Yuka literally tumbled to the ground. That was beautiful Ranma, simply beautiful. "Oi, Hiroshi, what now?"

"Working on it." With a proud smile on my face, I closed my eyes and concentrated.

In the background, I could hear Yuka's bewildered follow-up, but let Ranma take care of that. Ahhh, is this what parents feel like when their children leave their nests?

Focusing now.

My Spiritual Senses skill had leveled up quite a bit since the last time I used it for something critical. Its sheer utility and importance to the kind of world I now live in gave me plenty of reasons to cultivate it and learn whatever I could about it.

I've become good at feeling the supernatural is what I mean. At first, the skill just gave me a general feel for it, and I could reasonably notice if something was up to no good if it was obvious enough. But now I could pick up subtle differences and tones that I simply couldn't before, without the source of it flaring it carelessly I mean.

This was good because, as I come to learn, the supernatural was everywhere.

It was nothing like the insides of an Illusion barrier, where there is so much that the skill was practically useless, but everyday items, locations, even people had at least something a little bit supernatural about them.

Thankfully, Rin was there at the time to explain the context to me, otherwise, I see myself bunking down for some days due to sheer paranoia. Turn out, it's quite common for objects and locations to accumulate energy either from the people close by or from the world itself; these rarely lead to anything beyond giving false alarm to some of the more sensitive mediums out there, which apparently I counted as given my ever-growing skill for it.

As for people, well, any type of supernatural encounter, no matter how quick or innocuous, could leave something with a person that makes them stand out from the rest, that's why there is a saying that if you encounter the supernatural you will start attracting more of it. This is truer than most people believe; you, yourself becomes a bit supernatural.

Or your ancestor boinked something other than human and now you have a bit of oddity in your blood, for Japan, that's actually the most common reason.

Anyway, as I spread my spiritual senses as far as I could until I could feel every supernatural peak around the statue and the streets leading up to it. Before I wouldn't have noticed anything, or I would have noticed everything thus have nothing to show for it. Now, I noticed a particular bit of weirdness on a particular spot that was worth investigating.

"Follow me," I said as I began to walk towards it.

Ranma sent Yuka a bit of a smug look due to some interaction that I missed, the older girl, for her part, looked confused and conflicted before finally deciding to stick around.

The street stretching behind the mermaid statue – apparently, the Meguro Daiko Street Yuka talked about – neatly fit with the district's standards. The houses were smaller than the others that we encountered but that was clearly because they were going for a 'western suburban' flare and were constructed to look like something out of a gated community.

Modern style western houses on both sides of the streets, not something you see every day in 90's Japan, both martial artists behind began to shift uncomfortably by the sheer unfamiliarity, I just ignored it and strode toward one of the less garish and odd-looking ones, standing by its, ironically, white picket fence.

"This one. There is something weird about this one."

"They all look weird as hell." Ranma countered.

"You know what I meant."

"Ano, Hiroshi-san, I don't think I follow," Yuka mumbled.

Ranma squinted his eyes at the property, probably trying to feel for anything, or see what I was fussing about. Meanwhile, I turned to face the older girl.

"Yuka-san, we only met today so this will make little sense, but there is something me and Ranma need to check in this house. It's probably nothing and we'll just embarrass ourselves, but there is a chance it will be dangerous so, um..." I fidget awkwardly for a bit. It's not that I'm worried about the possibility of her fighting a monster, not after the level of strength she displayed against Ranma, but this is our first meeting and dragging her into a dangerous situation was terribly impolite. "Nice to meet you? I would genuinely like to hang out more, Ranma too, so... see you next time?"

Some of the awkwardness of my goodbye attempt reflected on to her, but she soon hardened her posture and expression.

"If you say that it could be dangerous, Hiroshi-san, then I can't let you two to face it alone. My apologies for intruding again."

"But-"

"Cut the crap, Hiroshi." Ranma interrupted me from where he was leaning against the fence. "If she wants in, she wants in."

Well, when he puts it like that. "I suppose more backup can't hurt."

I focused on the house again. Of the rows of houses there, this was the one that stood out, there was nothing dark or malicious about it, it was just different than every other in some slight ways. Kinda like a goat among sheep, if you didn't look carefully, you wouldn't see it, but when you see it, you can't unsee it.

Normally, something this small wouldn't arouse any suspicion, but when there is a prediction that the area will be the site of a monster attack...

Yeah.

"Can you see a good place for us to hide?" I asked Ranma.

"Hide and wait!? Screw that! Let's get in through that chimney."

"No, it could be a trap. Look, Rin taught me how to make some small shikigami, we can send that first."

"Hum..." Yuka interjected, "How about we just knock on the front door."

I frowned. "Because..." I closed my mouth.

Actually, not a bad idea, it could be a trap but why would it be, we are just three normal... relatively normal kids who were just curious and decided to check out around the neighbors, even if they slam the door on my face because delinquent we would see who lives in there and could begin to plan... Oh, you got to be kidding me.

A loud slap echoed as my hand met my face. "Urg, why did I fall for such stupid gag!?"

"That was pretty stupid of you, Hiroshi." Ranma, the fucker, commented with a straight face.

Yuka just laughed awkwardly, probably already regretting sticking around.

The classic 'Ding Dong' of the bell was almost nostalgic to hear, you really don't get much of those around Nerima for some reason. The three of us stood by the sizable porch, anticipation and tension slowly growing as the seconds ticked by and the door stayed unanswered.

Before finally.

"Yes?"

A very attractive girl pulled the door open. Small-statured, nicely curvy, wearing a pink, puffy dress, and with a virtual cloud of curly, chestnut-colored hair falling slowly to her back. Huge light blue eyes regarded each of us with blinking confusion.

Shiratori Azusa
Klepto Princess of The Figure Skating Martial Art
Level: 23

That's one weird-ass title all right. Klepo, like, Kleptomaniac? And what in the flipping hell is figure skating martial art? Well, at least its sounds like something we would find in Ranma ½.

Holy shit it is something that we would find in Ranma ½! That's crazy ice skating girl from that one arc right in the beginning of the anime. I can't believe I even managed to remember that.

Feeling a bit surer with myself, though with more questions popping up in my mind, I open my mouth to greet her and... and...

"Azusa...-san?"

The incredulousness in my voice drew the attention of my two companions, but I was a bit lost at the moment.

I know her.

Ōe Hiroshi know her, I have memories rushing in from their multiple interactions and I— Shit, what is with today and dragging out this guy's past!?

"Oi, Hiroshi what is it?" My reaction made Ranma raise his guard, expecting the girl to sprout claws and jump at us or something similar. Yuka, who was completely unfamiliar with our usual bullshit, got a clearer picture.

"Do you know her?" She asked.

"Yeah." I found my voice. "We are... childhood friends, in a way." To Japan's lofty standards that is, to everywhere else we're more like childhood acquaintances; two children forced by their parents to interact during the boring adult gala parties they were dragged in because they're of a similar age, and to quote; 'look so cute together!'. As far as I know, she's not actually my fiancé or anything... as far as I know.

With my thoughts in order, I cleared my throat, finally addressing the girl we were rudely ignoring. "Hello there Azusa-san it's been a—gah!"

Shiratori Azusa decided to remind me that she was an actual, trained martial artist by stepping into my guard and... grabbing my head with both hands, and pulling me to her. Due to our differences in height, it was quite a bend.

Despite the impression she gave, she didn't go for a kiss, instead, she kept my face leveled on hers, inches apart. Her large, light blue gaze suddenly analytical, sharply darting around as she took in the details.

"U-Um?"

Then, like a switch had been flipped inside her, her adorable expression of intense concentration twisted into one of pure, unrelenting heartbreak. Her eyes, her most distinctive feature, once so clear and luminous immediately clouded with tears of raw anguish. My chest clenched in sympathy for the sheer hurt she was displaying,

W-what the hell!? What happened between us to leave her like this!? I don't remember—

"EUGENE, YOU AREN'T CUTE ANYMORE!"

Eh?

It was like a dam breaking.

For me, at least.

Memories, more interactions with Shiratori Azusa, but of a different type, a different darker type, trigged by that terrible, terrible name they came, rasping open a wound in my soul I'd thought closed.

Every time, every single encounter, always that name being squealed, always being dragged around by a smaller source of overwhelming strength, and, and being made to wear dresses! And make up! And the tea parties, oh lord so many tea parties, oh yes Francine I would love another sugar cup! Oh, indeed Margaret you look lively in that dress! Oh, I'm having fun, are you having fun; we are having fun so much so much so much somuchsomuchsomuch-

A small, delicate hand grabbed the collar of my shirt with a grip that would have dented iron.

"I'LL FIX YOU, EUGENE!"

No.

Anything but that.

"GUYS!" Someone was screaming, who was screaming? Me! I was screaming like a bitch! My lord! It appears that I was being dragging into hell now, probably should do something about that. "HELP!"

Ranma burst out in a loud fit of laughter, Yuka just looked at my demise, horrified.

"HELPPPPPP!" I screamed as I was pulled through the threshold of hell itself.

Yeah, no.

Fuck. That.

I am not the old Ōe Hiroshi. I have his body, I have his memories, but I am not him. Whatever old traumas the old Ōe Hiroshi had have no place in the life of the new Ōe Hiroshi, and I refused to be pulled into anime high jinks I want no part in.

So I planted my feet on the ground, grabbed hold of her wrist, and stopped her. Because despite being a martial artist with superhuman strength – that explains so much! – I was stronger than Shiratori Azusa.

"Now listen here, Azusa." I began sternly to the whining girl trying to pull herself from my grip for once. "I am not going to tolerate your behavior anymore, so you better... you better..."

From the inside the house, the supernatural feeling was different than anything I ever felt before.

It wasn't like the Cardians, no I faced two of them by now and was pretty sure I could pick them up if they show up again, it wasn't like Semurahamaru the squirrel kami, the few yokai I met and saw around Nerima, the monsters I summoned by my skill, or even the blood golem created by Nezuko. This was completely different.

Dangerous, is a word that I'd use to describe, but that would be incorrect, it wasn't dangerous per se, not like the danger that I get from an enemy about to attack. It was more like a... deep sense of wariness, an instinctual impression that something was wrong here, just enough to leave you uncomfortable, but not enough to trigger a fight or flight response.

To my surprise, my mind made a connection to something that I felt before. It wasn't the same, it wasn't even similar, hell, it wasn't even close to being similar, but my mind made the comparison anyway.

The feeling Rin sometimes gave out.

"Eugene, hey Eugene... Oi Hiroshi." A hard poke on my ribs dragged me back to reality. What? How long I was- I turned to look at Ranma.

My friend was discretely gesturing with his head, his eyes shifting between me and whatever was in front of us. He also had... a faint blush on his cheek? "Erm, You might wanna..." I noticed Yuka behind him; she was looking forwards with a frozen smile and a bright blush.

I finally turned around to watch the scene that had arranged itself while I was lost in my own head.

Azusa was sitting by the corner, looking sullen and pouty and properly reprehended for being rude to the guests. Standing now before us was.

God Damn~

Now, among the many memories of Shiratori Azusa I had the pleasure of immersing myself in, was the memory of her parents, more precisely, memories of her mother. Unlike her daughter, Shiratori Makiko was a kind, beautiful soul who was wonderfully considerate of others and generally a joy to be around. The old Hiroshi never got why she was frequently the center of attention on the parties his parents forced him to attend, but that's because that boy had no culture to speak off before I came around.

She was drop-dead gorgeous and had a body women would murder for, pure and simple. The only downside was that she was the kind of lady who dresses really conservatively, so her prodigious curves couldn't be properly appreciated.

She does not dress conservatively at home, it seems.

"Ara, ara, is that you, Ōe-kun? My, look at how tall you've gotten!"

Hair of a lighter shade of brown than her daughter, silky rather than curled, facial features that were a near-perfect mixture between motherly and aristocratically, perpetually closed eyes that somehow conveyed an air of gentleness that would give Kasumi a run for her money, taimanin-sized breasts barely contained within a sweater shirt that showed so much cleavage that the top of her areolas were clearly visible, tiny biker shorts that might as well be painted on with how tightly it bit into her suppler flesh, boldly displaying a plump cameltoe that just made me want to bit my fist and hmmm. The gap between the shorts and shirt left the tantalizing sight of a stomach that had just enough of pudge in it to enhance the overall look rather than detract from it. I could also see the thin strings of her underwear rising up from the bike-short to circle above her hipbone, leaving no doubt as to the type she favored.

Ok, hum... Hot, very hot, very fucking hot, like, hot enough that I'm afraid to burn myself if I get closer. But, and I hate to admit it, the look did not fit her. With her face and her body she'd be hotter in a tightly fitted sundress or a naked apron, though I do appreciate the sheer brass she has to dress so slutty at home, the neighborhood's kid must line up by the window to watch her go about her day.

I actually opened my mouth to tell her that, and I nearly punched myself to stop it. Luckily, I was able to pass the action as me wiping a bit of drool, it wasn't far from the truth anyway.

"H-hey there, Shiratori-obasan. Yeah, it's been a while since we last saw each other." I managed to sneeze out. No! No little Hiroshi! Don't get up! You're too big to be concealed by pants! Fuck I'm gonna need a place to sit and something to put over my lap fast! Ranma too, for that matter.

It was at that very moment that my eyes instinctively flicked upwards, something I've been doing for every single person I meet.

What I saw instantly set my alarms going and filled me with a dreadful realization.

Shiratori Makiko
The White-lily Priestess
Fallen Hime-Miko
NOMAD High-class Sex Slave.
Level: 66

This...

This isn't good.


A/n:
Me: "I'm thinking about doing a really wholesome school chapter, remind people a bit of the characters I've put together there, werewolf boy is going to become important soon."
My Muse: "HAH!."

Now, I'd like to take a moment to go over something I believe will be a point of contention in this chapter. That is Takeuchi Yuka's level and why it is higher than Ranma.

I'd like to present my logic so you can at least understand my point of view and what I'm going for before discussion start.

First, Takeuchi Yuka is the protagonist of Variable Geo an old fighting game/Ova series. If you go look it up at the source it will become quickly apparent that there is no way in hell she, or in fact, most of the characters from her series can stand a change against Ranma, even at the start. But here is the thing; this is not exclusive to Variable Geo.

Ranma ½ martial art is insane there are random character there can do or shrug off things not even masters of other more grounded series can handle, the martial art Ranma ½ shows are at the very peak of bullshit compared to other series.

But I'm working with a multicross here; if I just place them together as it is, you'd have a beginning series Ranma showing the same physical capabilities of a Ryozanpaku grand master, able to easily overpower Ragnarok, Yomi, and anyone below master levels right from the start. And that rings true for most other martial art series I try to add to the mix, if I put it against Ranma ½, they come off short, unless I use Xianxia or something which I'm not planning. This is fine if you want to write a comedic rump, but this isn't what I'm going for.

The solution I come up with, as I'm using Ranma ½ as a base, was to pull every other martial art series to Ranma ½'s level, this does not mean I will change their own rules, it only means I will be raising their standards. I will present what they have, pass it through the rules of Ranma ½ then adapt it the best I can. At face value this means that every single character from any series that is presented like a decent martial artist will have at least Akane's level of strength and resilience. This, of course, doesn't mean Ranma is now weak to his pears, it just mean that if he meets, say, a master character from another series, they will actually feel like a master rather than another mob he can easily overpower.

Passing it through the rules of Ranma ½ is exactly what I did with Takeuchi Yuka and Variable Geo. The reason I placed her where she is are three fold.

First, her character; she was canonically born with an enormous amount of ki, have great talent for martist arts, actually honed that with a lifetime of training, and is constantly pushing herself by getting into tournaments and fighting against strong opponents – who, may I remind you are all pulled to Ranma ½'s level - the whole reason she entered her game's tournament in the first place was because she wanted to fight against strong people and prove herself. She's also two years older than Ranma so she's been doing this for longer.

Second, this one is because of a Variable Geo mechanic that actually gives them a edge against Ranma ½; you see, the authoress of Ranma ½ never really tried to explain the exact mechanics for ki and their martial art, so I'm going with what she showed us and making educated guesses to build this story, one of guesses I'm working with is about the nature of overt ki manifestation. In Ranma ½, overt ki manifestation was a big deal. There is a whole arc behind Ryoga learning Shishi Hōkōdan and Ranma coming up with Mōko Takabisha in response, and they certainly could do anything like it before that point. So I choose to interpret that as overt ki manifestation (Techniques like beam attacks, that giant thing Happosai pulled off, basically if the fucker is shining he's using his ki in an overt way) is a highly advanced technique that the martial artist needs a considerable amount of talent and effort to learn. Now going back to Variable Geo, it is a fighting game, and as is the case with every fighting game, every character can use some kind of beam attack from the start, which in Ranma½ case means that they all can use advance techniques that the Ranma cast initially can't, all including Yuka. Translating that, means she's further in Ki development than Ranma currently is.

Lastly, I admit I'm actively cheating here, I made an small addition to Yuka's vague, fighting game-style backstory that connected her to another series and also made her a bit stronger than her cannon self. This is the 'please trust the author I swear it'll make sense in sense in the future' reason, fell free to ignore that if you want.

So these are the reasons why I made Yuka start at a higher level than Ranma, in summary; she's older, wiser, more experienced, just as well-trained, have extremely high reserves of more developed ki she knows how to overtly manipulates, and have a similar knack for martial arts. (Though she doesn't have as much potential as him, I went over that in the comments in the past.)