AN: I acknowledge Rumiko Takahashi as the creator and owner of Ranma ½ and in no way claim any form of ownership.

Thanks goes out to Computerfreak CK, dunkleself, ursineus, pavillion8866, Hiryo, Richard Ryley and RCPMione. The response to the last chapter was much better than I was anticipating, so hopefully we can keep it up!

NOTE: Just because the premise of my story is Ranma being able to better understand, express and act on his emotions does not automatically mean the relationships will flow smoothly. These things will take time to build up.

A Touch Of Fate

Chapter 1

It had been a strange feeling to wake up inside a house that I was supposed to be living in after 10 years on the road. When I had first woken up, I had actually wondered if something was amiss just due to the sheer strangeness of it. However, it was not meant to last, as the old man decided that it was the perfect oppourtunity to once again test to see if humans can fly. The end of my path of flight? The Koi pond, of course.

Getting out of the water as quickly as I could, I charge back towards the old man and we begin our fight in earnest. Though Soun is watching us, chuckling to himself about morning spars, the reality is that this is really not a spar. This was just another way for the old man to try and keep me off-balance, as well as a reminder of his "dominance". He did this under the guise of training; when I was younger I believed him, until I noticed that when I was not doing as he said they would turn into something much worse than otherwise.

For me, these fights were about something different. I fought for my anger, for revenge for everything he had done, as well as, though I loathe to admit it, my self abhorrence. I could not help but feel that the old man was right every time he called me weak, because I was. Had I not been weak I would have been able to solve my problems. If I was not weak I would be able to get away from him. If I was not weak I would not fear him. Though I could now fight him on equal footing, after all the "training" I could not help but fear nearly as much as I do cats. It was him that threw me in that pit after all.

With a particularly strong passion today, I throw myself in the fight, putting my everything into every strike I sent at the old man. Today I refused to be on the defensive. Jusenkyo, and now this engagement had pushed me beyond furious. The old man needed to pay.

I can see the shock in his eyes as he realizes just how serious I am today, when we are called for breakfast by Kasumi, and with that the old man runs off instantaneously. Grudgingly, I force myself to calm down and follow after him, well aware of the fact that food had always been a higher priority to him than I was, and he would never fight my for real with food on the line. Suddenly hating my belief in not fighting an opponent that was not focused on the fight, I also head out for breakfast.

I eat in silence, not feeling up to bothering to talk to anyone until I was shaken out of my reverie by Akane calling out to me, "Come on Ranma, it is time to go school."

I jump up, startled by this announcement and turn to the old man and ask, "What is the meaning of this?"

Giving me a serious look he says, "We are going to be staying here for a while boy. It is necessary to get to know Akane. Besides, you need to do something while we are here."

Arching my eyebrow, I respond, "Doesn't Nabiki go there as well? Why do you assume that I will end up engaged to Akane? Right now she is the one that I am least inclined to want to be with!"

Getting up angrily, the old man growls, "Boy, that is no way to treat your fiancé!"

Akane decides to add her ten cents at this point, interjecting, "It is not like I want to be engaged to you either! I would never marry you! You proved you were a pervert last night!"

Sighing tiredly, I mumble, "Shouldn't we get going then?"

Glaring at me, she bites out, "Fine." And with that we set out to head to her school.

As we make our way to school, the water magnet part of the curse decides to make itself present once again, as a get splashed by an old lady as we walked by her home. Looking at Akane I ask, "I don't suppose you know of any places where I would be able to change back do you?"

Hesitantly, she nods and tell me to follow her. She ends up taking me to the clinic of a doctor of some type. As she went to go fetch me some hot water, I sat waiting in the doctor's office wondering what it was that he could possibly, until I felt something touch my shoulder, causing me to jump up and turn around to find out what it was that had caused it. Looking, I see and young man with glasses.

"I apologize if I startled you. The skeleton is named Betty. And I am Tofu Ono. Who is it that I have the pleasure of meeting?"

Offering a smile, reply, "My name is Saotome Ranma."

He smiles back and says. "Nice to meet you Ranma-chan."

Giggling Akane step into the room and says, "I think you are using the wrong honourific, Tofu-sensei."

"What do you mean?"

Suddenly I feel myself being showered in hot water as I revert back into my male form. Then I hear, "I stand corrected. Nice to meet you Ranma-kun. Mind explaining what that was exactly?"

I was about to answer, when Akane breathlessly starting speaking, causing me to be surprised by her enthusiasm about answering. After a moment, I realize it is not the question that made her excited, but rather who it was that was asking the question. Smiling softly, I decide to let her talk to her hearts content with Tofu.

As we continued to school I couldn't help but notice the stark contrast in how she acted with him compared to me. Curious about it I ask, " I thought that you don't like boys?"

The smile that had been on her face abruptly evaporated, being replaced by an increasingly angry as she ground out, "I don't like boys at all. Tofu is different. I HATE BOYS!"

By the last part the school had come into sight, and with it quite the spectacle.

As I stood outside of the classroom with Akane, I had found myself growing more and more sympathetic to her and her situation as time passed. Standing outside the classroom, I found the silence deafening, and I knew I had to say what it was that I wanted to say. So I called out to her, "Hey, Akane?"

She turns her head to face me and whispers, "What is it now?"

"I just wanted to apologize to you about last night. I had thought you were over-reacting, but given what I saw this morning, I can see why you feel the way you do. One slip up, and who knows what those perverts would do?"

She turns her whole body to me now, looking genuinely surprised as she nods in acceptance of the apology. "You don't have to remind me about the potential dangers, Ranma. But I am glad that you do understand how serious it is. I don't even want to think about what could happen if something actually did end up going wrong."

I can't help but inquire, "Is it really necessary to dislike all boys though? We are not all like that."

Her look turns cold again, and I can see that whatever had caused her momentary thaw was over. She replies, "It is not a bias, it is the truth! You even proved it yourself last night! I saw it. You are just as much of a pervert as them!"

Sighing, and not wanting to fight a pointless battle, I just give it up.

I started to settle into a bit of routine at the Tendos', now that my life on the road seemed to have finally come to a close. One thing that was usual to me was people noticing me practically wherever I went. This led me to want to know why. Apparently Kuno was rich and a well-known Kendoist, making him well known throughout the area. News of his daily defeats to me, now on top of Akane had spread like wildfire and had put me on the radar in town. I really didn't like it, but I learned to ignore it.

A few weeks after starting school, the relative peace that had been established in my life was shattered when I arrived at school and was greeted by someone waiting for me. I noticed the strange person with Kuno, when Kuno pointed to me and the person lunged at me with a giant spatula, shouting, "Ranma Saotome! You will be punished for you did to me! I will never forgive you!"

AN: Now we can finally get into my telling of Ranma and stop borrowing from Rumiko so much! Please review folks!