Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the property of Rumiko Takahashi and all associated licensers. The King of Fighters and it associated series are the property of SNK-Playmore and all associated licensers. This is not a work for profit. I claim no rights to the characters. This is a work of fiction.

Continuity for Ranma is mostly derived from the manga, with some of the anime sprinkled in for good measure. Continuity for the King of Fighters is a modified form of the current story, how that is should be explained in story, but I am willing to explain for those with further questions.

Enjoy!

Chapter 7

"Are you sure we're going in the right direction? I swear we just went past this building ten minutes ago."

"Sure I'm sure. What do you think GPS is for?"

"I don't trust machines. Machines lack proper spirit."

"You don't trust machines because you're a borderline illiterate who spent too much time getting hit on the head when you were a kid."

"You don't know anything Robster! I'm the one who lovingly put together my Harley from scraps! What did you do? Buy another Ferrari with your Daddy's money?"

"For your information this is a BMW. As I already said, you're illiterate. Plus that death trap on wheels you call a motorcycle would have never gotten through customs, which is why you happen to be bumming a ride from me. Also, don't call me "Robster" or "Bobbo" or any of your other weird made up nicknames."

"Yeah? Well, why don't you stop…"

"Don't even start with that one Ryo. You finish that sentence and I'm throwing you out of this car, and I won't bother stopping it before I do."

Ryo Sakazaki sunk back into his seat in resigned defeat. Robert had gotten the best of him this time. Stupid, conceited, fancy-pants rich boy, why had he ever befriended this guy in the first place? Why, if Ryo had not needed Robert to get him around Tokyo, he would have punched him so hard his father would have felt it back in Naples!

For his part, Robert was in a pretty miserable mood aside from Ryo's immature nagging. It was early Tuesday evening, not 72 hours since his fight with Kyo Kusanagi in Shinjuku. Kusanagi had been in particularly fine form that evening, as if he were more motivated to win than usual. It was a miracle that Robert managed to earn a draw with him, the odds had been against him to begin with, but the result was that Robert was still aching even now.

And here he was, chauffeuring around Ryo, and the blockhead had the gall to be ungrateful about it! They were not even supposed to still be in Japan, but Ryo had insisted he had unfinished business here before they could head back to the States. For a guy who often bemoaned his crappy luck, Ryo seemed to be getting a lot of things his way lately.

"Please make left turn at next light." The GPS robotically called out. Robert complied and made a smooth turn down a side avenue. It was a good thing he did have the guidance system installed in his car, he would have never been able to find this place otherwise. Nerima was a deceptively large place, really a city in its own right, but then again that could be said about any of the wards of Tokyo.

Ryo and Robert's destination was a small dojo located somewhere deep within the ward. Supposedly, it was where that Saotome kid was currently living; at least that was what the agents from the Garcia Foundation had told them. Robert hated using his family's resources for this kind of stuff, but Ryo had been so insistent, he would have never let it go until he got his way. As to exactly why he wanted to speak to Saotome, Robert had a good enough idea. Ever since they were young, Ryo had been of a prickly temperament. One moment he would be belligerent when his strong sense of pride was offended, the next he would be sorry that he let his anger get the better of him.

I warned him, Robert thought. He should have just let the whole thing with the kid slide to begin with, but he pushed it until it a fight would be the only outcome. Now he's got remorse for showing Saotome up, making him look bad in front of his friends and family. Should have thought about that before you challenged him Ryo, what are you going to do about it now? You don't know the kid, what can you do or say that's going to make a difference here? Just leave things be, like you should have from the get go.

Yeah right, like Ryo would ever listen to that argument. It was that stubborn desire to always do what he thought was right that made Robert admire his friend so much. Maybe the meeting would turn out badly, but whatever happened Ryo would see the business through because he would never accept ending it until the terms were to his satisfaction.

Within moments of turning down the street, the Tendo dojo came into view. It was hard to miss it. Japanese homes tended to be small, but the dojo and the attached house was large even by American standards. Were these Tendos wealthy or something? It would have been mentioned in the report. His people were nothing if not thorough, but there was always the possibility something was overlooked.

After parking across the street, Robert was about to exit the car when Ryo stopped him.

"I don't need back up on this one Rob. I have to do it alone."

"You sure about that? I got all dressed up for the party." Robert said as he adjusted the lapels on his designer suit. "Plus, with your famous conversational skills, you'll be lucky to get out of there in one piece without me covering your back."

"Very funny, but I'm serious about this. Just wait for me here."

"How long should I wait? I figure about two minutes and you'll be running for your life."

Ryo responded to this comment in the most tactful way he knew; he flipped Robert the bird as he exited the car.

As he crossed the street, Ryo checked to make sure his clothes was in order. He was dressed in a button down shirt and slacks, which for him was a level of formality that he was rarely comfortable with. Ryo preferred his training clothes over all other forms of dress; he would live in them if he could get away with it. After all his fashion sense, at least when compared to Robert's, was something less than optimal. Going to the home of an opponent however required diplomacy, and so he stepped out of his comfort zone for this occasion. He just hoped those lessons his father had given him in Japanese etiquette when he was still a kid would help.

Ryo screwed up the courage to walk up to the front door. He took a deep breath and rang the bell. He found himself waiting without any response, and so he rang the bell again. No answer, so then he knocked on the door, a soft rap at first, but after a few seconds it intensified into an all out pounding. Ryo was about to start shouting when it dawned on him that this was probably a bad example of etiquette, Japanese or otherwise. However, Ryo was far too stubborn to just walk away simply because he got no immediate response, so he waited.

The minutes past and still no answer came from the door. Ryo decided to sit down on the ground so he could rest his feet. Sure his pants would get dirty and it would look odd to anyone walking by, but at this point he was going to stay in front of the Tendo house until something happened. A random pedestrian walking down past the house glanced over at Ryo. The martial artist acknowledged the gesture with a slight wave of his hand. The pedestrian stopped for a moment and took a hard glance at the situation. Then he remembered just whose house it was, shook his head in resignation, and took off mumbling about how Nerima just was not what it used to be. Ryo was left very confused.

Still sitting in his car, Robert watched his friend as he continued his wait. It was painful. Sure, Ryo was a blowhard and slightly annoying at times, but he deserved better than this! Poor guy was making an honest effort of it, and these people could not even be bothered to open the door? Then again, Ryo did beat up their friend/relation/whatever. Maybe they were just scared of him.

"I say we should let him in." Kasumi pleaded. "Maybe he just wants to talk. No one dressed that nicely could possibly be that bad!"

"I agree Sis. Let him in… after we charge him an admittance fee."

"Nabiki!"

"What? I lost my big chance to strike it rich thanks to that grubby foreigner." Nabiki was truly angry about that one. Ranma fouled it up because he lacked what it took to win, but she would hold this Sakazaki fellow responsible as well for her misfortune.

"More than that my daughters, that man has sowed discord into our family. I simply will not let such a person past the door." Soun Tendo was practically weeping in sorrow as he spoke those words. He was also very afraid. What if that beast of a fighter decided to break down the door and simply destroy the house? It was not as if anyone was strong enough to stop him, the fight at Shakujii had demonstrated that. Well Happosai could fight him off, but that would be a cure worse than the illness itself!

"Well we have to make some sort of decision. Letting him just stand there would be plain rude." For Kasumi Tendo, there was no sin greater in the world than rudeness, well except maybe dirtiness, but it was a tough call. "What do you say Akane?"

Akane was extremely conflicted. The past few days had been rough, but about the last thing she would have ever expected was Ryo Sakazaki showing up at the door of her house. Of course seeing how weird her life had become over the past year, she should have expected it. Everyone that entered Ranma's circle of acquaintance seemed to become further drawn in, like some black hole.

Regardless of that, what should she do? Akane felt certain that despite her father's fears, Sakazaki was not here for a fight. He just did not seem to be that sort of man from her brief interactions with him. Maybe it was foolish to assume, but she thought he has a real sense of honor. Ranma was out of the house at the moment anyway, so if she invited this guy in and he turned out to be full of it, she could remove him before he caused any trouble… at least Akane hoped she could.

"I think we should let him in." Akane said having come to a decision. "I'm sure Mr. Sakazaki has a good reason for being here, and I want to find out what that is."

"But we will charge him an entrance fee too, right?" Nabiki asked hopefully.

"No sister, we're not going to do that." Akane replied bluntly.

"You know sometimes, I wonder if we're even truly related." Nabiki said as she walked off to the kitchen to get something to drink. This was going to be a long night.

Kasumi, feeling vindicated in her decision, walked over to the door to open it up. Soun dashed to a nearby closet to hide (in case his worst fears were confirmed) while Akane prepared herself for whatever would come next.

"I told you to stay in the car and not come over here, do I have to beat that into to you thick head!" Ryo barked at Robert as he saw his friend walk over to him. Of course he was saying all of this in English, so Kasumi had no idea why the strange blond man was screaming as she opened the door. This combined with the fact that Ryo was only a few inches away (he had walked up to the door again while waiting) and had a generally angry look on his face meant that the normally composed and unflappable Kasumi was for once taken aback. Maybe it had not been such a good idea to let this man into the house after all.

"Oh, hello there to you sir, how are you?" Kasumi meekly said to Ryo as she bowed. She also noticed Robert walking up to the door and bowed deeply to him as well. It was Ryo's turn to be caught off guard. He had no idea who Ranma lived with and was surprised to see such a graceful young woman greet him. He quickly snapped out of his angry state and awkwardly bowed to her while profusely apologizing in Japanese for coming to her home.

"Would you like to come in sir?" Kasumi asked, slightly more confident now that Ryo had calmed down and acted with respect towards her.

"Uh yeah, that would be great. And please, just call me Ryo. I hate it when people get all formal with me."

"Very good then, Mr. Ryo, and your friend there is?"

"Robert Garcia. And I must say it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss?" Robert said with his customary Latin charm. Sure he was taken, but a fine lady like that? He was allowed to flirt a little bit!

"Kasumi Tendo."

Ryo was about to shoot Robert a sour look when he caught Kasumi's name. Sure, it was a common name for Japanese females, but whenever he heard that name it reminded him of Todoh's wacky daughter, always chasing him around to claim "revenge." Was this supposed to be some sort of bad omen or something?

"Well then Miss Tendo, if you would be kind enough to let us in, we can explain our reason for coming here." Robert then leaned in to Ryo and whispered, "This is exactly why you need me here in the first place, to smooth things out. See how well it's going?"

Ryo had to try hard to keep his temper in check. "Well from this point forward, you let me do most of the talking alright? Especially with the kid, understand?"

"Hey man, you're the boss here. I just made it all possible in the first place."

Kasumi led Ryo and Robert into the house. The Kyokugen pair took a good look at their surroundings as they walked through. The rooms were large and clean and tactfully decorated, not really anything like Robert had expected from what his sources had told him. Seriously, were these Tendos rich or not? What was up with that? And the panda in the corner…

Wait, a panda? Ryo and Robert looked at the beast lounging in a corner, completely at ease.

"Ah, interesting pet you got there." Ryo said as he tried to make conversation.

"Oh, that's not a pet. That's Mr. Saotome, Ranma's father." Kasumi cheerfully corrected him. Ryo and Robert raised their eyebrows in confusion. Akane's eyes got very wide as Kasumi made that remark. It was not a good idea to talk about the Jusenkyo curses at this point.

"Oh Kasumi you joker, telling our visitors a silly story like that, you see we actually named the panda after Mr. Saotome, as a joke." Kasumi looked a little offended at Akane's correction, but then it dawned on her why her sister might have done that.

"Oh yes, you know how I always like making jokes." She giggled.

In English, Ryo whispered to Robert, "That doesn't seem like a very funny joke to me."

"If you're a smart man Ryo, you'll always laugh along with a lady." And so the two men politely laughed along with the Tendos.

It was around this time that Soun decided it was safe to come out of the closet (not in that way) and greet the visitors. Genma chose to grunt and roll over, hoping he could still fall asleep despite the racket. As far as he was concerned, his idiot son had already gotten what was coming to him, there was no need to get involved any deeper in all of this as it did not seem to have any relevance to Ranma and Akane's relationship. Besides, if he did bother to butt in it would probably just end up with him getting yelled at or beaten up anyway.

As Soun began to walk over, Ryo again had to do a double take. While he quickly realized Soun was not Ryuhaku Todoh, he swore the older man could pass for Todoh's long lost brother. In the very short period since he had entered the Tendo home, Ryo had been bombarded with one strange thing after another. His brain went numb for a moment, and he almost forgot to bow in greeting to Soun until Robert prompted him. Suddenly he was happy his friend had decided to come with him into the house after all, he had no idea how he might have managed otherwise.

Once everyone else was seated comfortably (Nabiki had decided to rejoin the group out of sheer boredom from her homework), Kasumi went off to prepare some tea. Finally able to get down to business, Ryo cut straight to the point.

"Is that Ranma kid around? I don't want to be rude, but the primary reason I came here was to speak to him."

"Ranma is out right now." Akane responded coolly. To be honest she had no idea where Ranma was. He had spent most of the past few days moody and insufferably rude to everyone around him.

He had never taken defeat well of course, but this time it was at a whole new level. Akane had nearly taken his head off the other day when he started screaming at her over dinner, and even Ukyo and Shampoo had been rebuffed when they offered food to him at school. And Kuno… he was lucky not to have ended up in traction after he mocked Ranma about his "comeuppance." At it stood the kendo captain had decided to avoid his rival the next day, which was very unusual behavior, and a sign of how just much Kuno now feared Ranma. After school Ranma took off for only God knows where, and nobody was willing to follow him. Not that Akane was going to share any of this information with Ryo, but it did put her in a tough spot. What would Ryo do if Ranma did not show up soon?

"Why do you want to talk to Ranma? Do you want to apologize?" Kasumi asked as she reentered the room with tea. "I have to say, it was very mean how you beat him up in the park." Her smile as she said those words seemed benign enough, but there was something distinctly unsettling about it.

Ryo was again taken aback. Was this young woman that naïve? Or was it just a cover for her true, more cunning nature? It made him uneasy just thinking about it. He fumbled to find the right words to address her.

"Well, it's not that simple. He insulted my school you see… and I had to defend it. Now that I feel that our differences have been settled in combat, I was hoping for a… a… a settlement you see. I mean… he's a talented martial artist, this kid, your friend, and I was hoping…"

"I understand Mr. Sakazaki, thank you very much for explaining." Kasumi interrupted. Her smile was still as wide as ever, and it just made Ryo even more uncomfortable. Blasted women and their passive-aggressive ways!

Robert broke out laughing. "Oh man, she totally got you there Ryo. You still have a ways to go my friend."

Ryo was not amused. "You got a problem with me Garcia? I'll pound your head into meatloaf, right here, right now!"

"Come on, not in front of the ladies Ryo, that's just tasteless. And come up with some better threats already! Meatloaf? Where are you getting this stuff? 30's gangster's films?"

"You two seem like really good friends." Kasumi said, still beaming. It snapped the duo out of their argument, and left both Akane and Nabiki lifting their eyebrows at their sister's choice of words.

Ryo coughed for a moment before responding. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. Rob and I have known each other since we were kids. It's been more than twenty years now, right?"

"Seems about right. Our dads were friends, and mine managed to convince yours to train me at your family's dojo. That was the first time I ever saw America too." Robert smiled as he thought back to those more innocent days.

"Wait, you're not American?" Nabiki asked Robert. "What are you then?"

"Italian."

An Italian man. With the last name Garcia. Then it all hit Nabiki like a ton of bricks as she remembered something from her business journals.

"You're one of those Garcias? Like from the Garcia Foundation?" This was one of the few times in Nabiki's life where she could say she was genuinely caught off guard.

"Who are we talking about here Nabiki?" Akane asked. She was confused, what was the big deal?

"Well you see Miss Tendo; my family runs a few businesses. Not to brag, but we've done pretty well for ourselves."

Ryo could only groan as he knew what was coming next.

"Pretty well? You guys are the second largest business conglomerate in the world! You're worth tens of billions of dollars!" Nabiki was still in shock. Akane went into a sort of daze from the revelation, but Kasumi and Soun remained surprisingly calm about the whole thing.

"Forty-two billion dollars in personal assets at last count. And trust me when I say we won't be number two for long." Okay, Robert did like to brag about it sometimes.

"And yet you have devoted yourself to the martial arts, fascinating." Soun said as he finally decided to join in the conversation.

"That's all you have to say dad! This guy is loaded! His family owns a private island in the Mediterranean the size of Nerima!" Nabiki screamed as she turned pale, her composure completely broken. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever believe such an outrageously wealthy individual could be sitting in front of her. It so completely boggled her mind that she could scarcely contemplate of a scheme to try to gain some of that wealth for her own.

"Hey, rich people are still people miss. We don't always jet around the world in search of the next big party. My big passion, outside of business, just happens to be martial arts. And the island's not as big as you make it out to be. If you want I can fly you out there sometime to judge for yourself." Robert flashed a million-dollar smile. The poor girl would never be able to respond to that one.

"But you… you… you could…" Nabiki simply could not understand how someone that rich could be hanging around dirt-poor deadbeat martial artists like Ryo and Ranma!

"Well I feel very happy for Mr. Garcia, but I think we should talk about other things." Kasumi said, hoping to steer the conversation towards a more comfortable subject. All people in the room fixed their attention on her (the panda had fallen asleep). Kasumi was good at that.

"Yeah, I agree with that." Ryo said, thankful that things were moving away from Robert's wealth. "Did you have anything in mind Miss Kasumi?"

"I must admit I am extremely curious about your background Mr. Sakazaki. You are an American, but you have a Japanese name and speak our language so well. And your hair, it's so light, but your face looks Japanese. How is that?"

"That's an easy question to answer. My old man is Japanese, but my mother was American, and I favor her appearance in some ways. I was actually born here in Japan, and moved to the States when I was four."

"Really now? Your mother must be a beautiful woman then." Kasumi seemed fascinated by the whole thing.

"Well…" Ryo began, old memories stirring up as he prepared to talk about one of the few truly painful experiences in his life. Far more painful than any blows he had experienced in his countless fights. Robert noticed the darkening mood in his friend.

"Oh you're one of those haafu huh?" Nabiki spat out as she regained her senses. So this guy was a mongrel she thought, no wonder he was so screwed up.

"Nabiki! That's an awful thing to say!" Akane yelled at her older sister. What was so wrong with Ryo being half-American? After hanging around Ranma for so long, it was downright passé!

"It's just a word, what wrong with you?" Nabiki responded defensively.

"It's all right." Ryo said as he decided to rein this topic in before there was another flare up. "I grew up in America anyway, and that's how I see myself. But to answer the other part of Kasumi's question, I learned Japanese from my dad as part of my training in the martial arts. He wanted my sister and me to always be proud of our Japanese heritage, even if we were citizens of another country."

"You have a sister?" Akane was really interested in that. She had assumed that with his personality, Ryo must have been an only child like Ranma.

"Yeah, my younger sister Yuri, she's back in America with my dad waiting for us to come back."

"Anything else you'd like to add about your sister Ryo?" Robert added slyly. "You only seem to remind me about it every ten minutes." The Tendos were confused by what he meant.

"Oh how could I forget? You and Yuri are both "In Love", that is until she regains her sanity and throws you to the curb." Ryo turned to the Tendo sisters. "Robert's a player, but don't worry girls, I keep him in check… with these fists!" Ryo jumped out of his chair and pumped arms in emphasis.

"Oh my." That was the only reaction that Kasumi could give to such a display.

"Freak." Nabiki muttered under her breath, Akane did not bother censuring her this time.

"Yeah, well… "Ryo came out of his euphoria. "Getting back to the point, we actually made a special trip out of our way to come here. Do you at least have some idea when Ranma will return?"

Akane looked at him rather uncomfortably. "Well as I said to you earlier Mr. Sakazaki, I really don't know where Ranma is right now, or when he will be back. I'm sorry if that inconveniences you."

Akane now felt sympathy for Ryo. She had not been quite sure what to make of the man before, what with all of the craziness surrounding his fight with Ranma, but she found herself liking him a lot more during the course of their conversation. He seemed to have a lot more sense than she would have given him credit for originally. It was strange, rarely could Akane say she felt a sense of admiration for a person she had just met, but Ryo might possibly be one of them. Of course he might also have some sort of horrible dark side. He was kind of weird, and she had met plenty of men, who seemed nice enough at first, and then…

"Uh, you okay there Miss Akane? You seem to be a little distracted." Ryo was concerned. The girl had said something and then just spaced out on him. Weird, not the weirdest thing he had ever seen in his life (or even the Tendo household) but still weird regardless.

"Oh sorry! Yeah, I lost my place there for a moment." Akane was thoroughly embarrassed for herself. Kasumi chuckled lightly at her sister's discomfort. Her younger sister was so cute when she got like that.

"I hate to crash the party here Ryo, but we can't stay here all night." Robert said. "Our hotel is all the way back in Shibuya. We'll never get back in time to prepare for our flight out tomorrow morning if we don't go soon."

"No, give the kid another half-hour. I'm confident he'll be back in that time. Call it a premonition." Ryo coolly replied. The Tendos (sans Nabiki) seemed to be impressed by Ryo's confidence, but Robert knew his friend was just posturing. It would really kill him if they had come out here for nothing, and he was desperately stalling for time. Well, Robert owed his friend enough to at least give in on this request. That kid was probably off sulking somewhere anyway…

"What the hell is wrong with me?"

Ranma was sitting on a bench in Shakujii Park, unusually glum. He, or she as was the current case (the ladle lady had struck again), prided himself on the ability to work through any hardship, and he had plenty of that in his short life. But ever since his defeat by Ryo near this very spot just a few days before, he had fallen into a deep funk. And the worst part was he did not know why.

For the past few days, Ranma had been treating everyone around him like crap. He could not help himself. It was driving him crazy. Every time Akane, Ryoga, Shampoo, or even Ukyo tried to talk to him, he lashed out. Genma was worthless for this kind of stuff, and Ranma was terrified of approaching his mother in his current state, even if they had been more open with each other recently. Treating his friends and family like that made him feel even worse, and it just reinforced his foul mood.

Was it really because he lost? No, Ranma had lost plenty of fights in his life before. Mostly practice bouts with his father when he was younger, but still he had learned to cope with defeat. Or had he? He was so confused, and he had never been someone who had given much to introspection, which complicated things further. What was he missing here?

"Hey young lady, you okay there?"

Ranma turned up to see a middle-aged man looking at her. She held in her reaction to smack the stranger for approaching her, and simply glared daggers at him.

"Wow, no need to be so hostile! I just saw that you looked troubled."

"What's it to you?"

"Nothing really, just trying to be a good neighbor."

"Huh?"

"I figured you wouldn't recognize me, since this is the first time we ever really talked. I'm Mr. Tanaka, from down the street. You're that girl who lives with the Tendos, right? You're related to that Ranma kid, right? I always see both of you coming to and from that house with the younger Tendo."

"We're cousins." Ranma said bluntly. While she was hardly in the mood to start lying, she figured this Tanaka fellow, who she had never even known existed until all of a minute ago had no need to know her secrets.

"I figured something like that. You know, it's strange I ran into you here of all places."

"And why would that be Mr. Tanaka?" Ranma asked in a flat tone.

The older man seemed encouraged, despite the coolness of Ranma's response. "Well, you know I saw the oddest thing earlier when I was walking over here to the park, although I guess it was not all that strange in context, but still…"

"Spit it out already man!" Now Ranma had lost whatever little patience she had.

"Well, I saw this fellow in front of your home. Real odd too, he had blond hair like a gangster! He was knocking on the door…"

"Wait! You said a guy with blond hair? Tall? Brawny?" Ranma was practically frantic.

"I guess so. He looked tough, and I thought about calling the police on him, but I figured your house was home to some of the finest martial artists in the ward, and they could more then take care of any unwelcome visitor."

"Mr. Tanaka, how long ago was this?"

"About a half-hour ago, maybe forty minutes."

"I have to go!" Ranma got up off of the bench, her mood noticeably brighter. "But really, thanks! Hey, if you're a neighbor, stop by our home sometime! Maybe Kasumi can cook you a meal!" With that, Ranma took off at full speed, desperately trying to get back home as soon as her feet would take her. Only one thought occupied her mind: confront Ryo Sakazaki.

Still standing near the bench, Tanaka watched intently as Ranma ran back towards the Tendo house. Without warning, he dropped down to the ground. He quickly staggered back onto his feet, and started looking around, very confused and disoriented.

"Hey, this isn't the market! What am I doing in the park?" He scratched his head.

Off in the distance, hidden in one of the park's innumerable leafy trees, a young-looking woman dressed in fur with short black hair stood perched on its branches. She moved her fingers deftly as she recalled her strings.

"Ah, that worked just as I had expected." She crowed softly to herself. Normally she would not waste her talents on such trifling matters, but Mukai had insisted it was in line with their master's plans. Still, Mukai owed her for this one. After all, how else would that Saotome boy ever have learned that Ryo Sakazaki was at his home?

"Enough of this, I have more important work to attend to." And with that, Botan disappeared back into the space between dimensions.

"Ryo, it's almost seven, we can't wait any longer." Robert hated putting his friend on the spot, but come on already!

"Ranma, you jerk!" Akane growled under her breath. Look at how he was embarrassing himself and her family at the same time. And she had thought he was growing more mature too!

"Okay, let's go." Ryo now seemed resigned that a meeting was not to be. He and Robert both got off of the couch they had been sitting on, and started walking back to the front door.

"Mr. Sakazaki, Mr. Garcia will you both be coming back in the future?" Kasumi asked as she followed them, a small frown forming on her lips. She did so enjoy for once having houseguests who did not try to wreck the house.

"We won't be back in Japan anytime soon." Ryo said regretfully. "But if you really want, we can try and stay in touch."

"That would be very nice!" Kasumi smile came back full force. Nabiki gagged in the background.

"Well then, I guess this is goodbye." Ryo said, giving a small bow to the Tendos. He turned back to the door and reached out to grab the knob when…

"Aaaaaaaaah!" Ranma gave out a scream as she thoughtlessly plowed through the entrance. She smashed into Ryo, knocking him clean off his feet. Robert narrowly managed to avoid getting tangled up in the confusion, and look on with astonishment alongside the Tendos.

Ranma was lying on top of a stunned Ryo, her legs straddling his chest. The Kyokugen master recovered his senses, but his eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets as he realized that some strange (if oddly familiar) girl was on top of him.

"Ryo Sakazaki, we meet once more!" Ranma boldly proclaimed.

End Chapter

Not that much to say about this chapter. Writing the interactions between Ryo and Robert was a lot of fun though. The story is moving along nicely as well. I have another chapter ready for next week, so you won't be waiting very long to see how things work out. Until next time, take care!