Suikoden One Half

by MadHat886

An encounter with a magic mirror sends Ranma to another world, leaving behind a broken past. Hey, who's the girl with silver hair? A Suikoden and Mega crossover. Is now officialy one of the longest Ranma Fanfiction on this website!

19. Aftermath of the Mall Battle Part 1

Suikoden One Half

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Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters here that belong to Ranma 1/2. The Ranma 1/2 cast belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. Nor do I own Suikoden 3 or any other characters that I put into this story except for my own OCs. Neither do I own any of the character in any of the crossovers I do. I'm just using them in this fanfiction and I have no money so don't bother suing me. You'll just lose money instead of gaining any.

Note: This chapter is exceptionally long, at 97 pages even, but do not expect all future chapters to be like this. Also, unfortunately school will interfere with updates so expect there to be long periods between new chapters. Sorry people, it can't be helped. Oh, and go ahead and send in any criticisms, praise, flames, whatever. The best of course is the constructive criticisms and praise as the both improve our work. Flames will be accepted, but will not deter us from writing this fic OUR way!

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Chapter 18 – Aftermath of the Mall Battle

After many hours at the police station -

Viki, Yun and a very tired Ranma arrived at the temple by way of Viki's teleporting magic from the police station. After another questioning for their parts in the battle Ranma was unluckily subjected to a repeat of what happened last time he was there. They had separated him from his sister because she had to stay with Sayo and Yamato so they could be questioned on their part of the mayhem. The women of the police station got VERY daring when they found him ALL ALONE in a room with only one exit. He's lucky he got out of there with most of his clothes on.

Ranma shivered when he thought about his meeting with Lt. Wen. The woman had got daring and straddled his lap after she had expelled all the other women out of the room. He owes Rally big time for getting him out of that situation.

The Gunsmith Cats and Jones instead of going with the three of them had opted to take the girl's car. They had left the station long ago so they should arrive anytime soon.

"Hi everybody! We're back!" Viki yelled out. Everybody piled into the room and greeted them, saying that they had seen everything on TV. Ranma's four girlfriends, one fiancée and one best friend/practically girlfriend almost bowled him over when they tackled him, raining down kisses and glomps as they showed their relief at seeing him alive. Even Kasumi had gotten into the action, but this time the other girls ignored it since they understood how she felt. They felt guilty since it had been their idea to send Ranma and Yun to the mall.

Piccolo cleared his throat to get their attention and ordered them to go to the dining room. The siblings haven't had anything to eat since leaving the temple earlier that day so they must be starving. Chris had prepared a welcome back feast for them with help from the other girls, including Kasumi who is pretty much done with the bed rest. Everyone headed towards the dining room with the intent of getting the whole story out of the two siblings as they ate.

That's when disaster hit.

Ranma had only taken two steps when he felt really, really dizzy all of a sudden. He slowed down until he's the last of the group heading out of the room. His vision got blurry and he felt like his body weighted a ton. He felt like he's back in the tree that contains the seal for the True Fire Rune. He tried to access his ki to help, but then his vision went black and he knew no more.

Everyone turned back when they heard a thump behind them. Their eyes widened in horror as they saw Ranma sprawled on the ground. They rushed to his side and checked him over. He's hardly breathing and his heartbeat is slow and comes in too far between beats.

"Edge! Call Dr. Tofu!" Piccolo shouted. The swordsman ran towards the phone as fast as he can. "Tina, start CPR! We have to get his heart rate back to normal!" She did so with Ranko helping her.

At that moment Jones, the Gunsmith Cats and the three ninjas walked in. They had parked their car far away and had Ayame, Watari and Sasuke sneak them into the temple. As soon as they saw what's happening they rushed to the group huddled around the pigtailed man.

Jones looked franticly at the pale face of his great-grandson. "What happened?" The Gunsmith Cats also nodded worriedly. Even the ninjas are pretty shook up. They had never seen Ranma look this bad before.

Kodachi looked like a wreck as she explained to them, "We don't know! We were going to the dining room when he just fainted! What are we going to do? What's wrong with him?" Becky hugged the hysterical girl as she started to break down in worry. Jones and the Gunsmith Cats each grabbed one of the girls as they watched Tina and Ranko try to revive their fallen boyfriend.

Edge ran back into the room. "Tofu and Kasumi are clearing out their clinic now! They said to teleport there in about a minute so they can get any witnesses out!"

Tina and Ranko are crying hysterically as they tried to revive Ranma with no success. "One minute could be too late!" they cried helplessly. Nothing they do is working.

Then Molly got an idea. "Ranko, give him a small shock! That might help!"

Ranko quickly turned her hair black and white. She shocked him a couple of times. Not enough to kill him, but it might jumpstart his heart to go faster.

It didn't work.

Molly looked up from her spot on the floor to the ninjas. "Get a pail of water, a hand towel and smelling salts!" They rushed off and returned with the items in seconds.

Molly took some water out and poured it over Ranma's head with no reaction from him. Then she tried the smelling salts. Neither worked. "Dang! I thought that might wake him up!" She soaked the towel and put it on his forehead, hoping with all her might it'll help even if she knew that it wouldn't do anything. Machines are her specialty, not people.

For a few more tense seconds the only sounds are of Tina and Ranko applying CPR and the hysterical crying of the females, especially Yun who is clutching onto Rico. Even Landis is looking a bit worried.

Piccolo checked his pulse and breath. "Oh god, his heart has stopped! Forget the witnesses, we'll deal with them later! Viki teleport us there NOW!"

Viki immediately ran out of Minnie's arms and went to Ranma's side. Everyone huddled around her as she started up her rune. They arrived in the clinic faster than she's ever blinked before.

Tofu and Kasumi are waiting for them as they materialized in the waiting room. The two of them gasped at seeing Ranma's state. Tofu quickly rushed to his side as Kasumi got everyone to back off. He checked the younger man for a second before lifting him up and running to one of the examination rooms with Kasumi following close behind. Before she closed the door she told everyone to stay in the room. The last thing Ranma's group saw is Tofu putting his pale and limp body on the bed.

For a whole hour they waited tensely for any news of Ranma's health. Viki had teleported Kodachi, Rally and Ayame back to the temple. Kodachi quickly instructed her pet to eat anyone who tries to enter the grounds while Ayame sneaked Rally out the back to her car so that they would have a partial alibi if this news were to get out. After Mr. Green Turtle seemed to agree with Kodachi Viki teleported the two of them to Ms. Hinako's place and then she teleported the three of them back to the clinic.

Finally, Kasumi opened the door and stepped out with a strained expression, making everyone's worries escalate. She raised her hand to quiet them as she explained the outcome. Everyone paled as she spoke.

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Downtown Police Station -

Reporters surrounded the downtown Shibuya Police Station as they tried to get answers from the police there. They had all seen the footage that Ellen was able to film. They had seen Tyrant, a monster straight out of a video game, rampaging and killing anything that moved in the new mall that had opened that day. Before the police were able to close the building off Ellen had gotten shots of the rest of the monsters, what's left of them anyhow. People who had played the Resident Evil series had recognized the monsters that were shown in the shots she took.

Afterwards when the cops had closed off the area and transported the bodies away from the site the reporters had all gone straight to the police station to find out what's being done about it. So far the police haven't said anything about what had happened at the mall and are refusing to comment on what they're doing about it. That didn't discourage news hungry reporters at all. They're not going anywhere till they get something to put in their paper or on their news station.

Inside the police station a day after the 'Mall Massacre' as it's now being called all of the heads of the police forces are meeting again as they tried to get some answers to tell the reporters outside the building. The meeting hall is closed to anyone that isn't of high ranking or already knows what's going on. Some higher ups from the army are there as well since the monster attacks have gotten worse. Currently folders are being passed to all of the people in the room on all the facts available that had happened at the mall earlier that day.

Mr. Kotobuki entered the room along with Ryo, Sakeo and Kaori. They took their seats at the front of the meeting hall and began the meeting. "As you all know there was an attack at the mall downtown yesterday. The death toll is 78 people dead and well over a hundred are now in the nearby hospitals from minor to critical condition. Before you ask it's true that the monsters are just like the ones found in the Resident Evil games."

"What? How can that be? Are you sure?" one of them asked.

"Yes, I'm sure about that," Ryo spoke up. "I was there firing away at the monster called a Hunter when I was in there."

The room darkened as the slide projector started up. It showed the monsters that had attacked the mall. "There were nine monsters that attacked the mall, all from the Resident Evil games," Kotobuki said as pictures of the Lickers, Hunter, Gamma, Bandersnatcher, Dac and Tyrant are shown. "There were four Lickers, two each of two different types. One pair had long claws while the other two had crab like claws. They also wore metal helmets over their heads to protect their exposed brains. They can climb walls easily and their tongues are like razor wire that can slice into flesh easy. My kids killed two of the Lickers when they were attacked. As for other two one was killed by Ranma Wild, although we barely have any parts of that one left. I don't think he was very happy to see it. The last one was killed by Dr. Indiana Jones who came to the mall." The Dr. Jones bit made them a bit more attentive.

"The Hunter that Ryo fought off looks like this," Kotobuki said as a picture of a Hunter taken off of a player's guide is shown. "The Hunter seems to have a major healing factor to it that explains why when Ryo shot at it with his gun the Hunter wouldn't stay down. It also did the most damage during the fight. It was finally killed when Minnie of the Gunsmith Cats threw a bomb down its throat, blowing it up from the inside out.

The picture changed to the remains of the Gamma. "The Gamma came out of the pond in the middle of the mall and was very frog like. Its skin is rubbery and has a protective slime coating all over its body. When it was shot at the bullets just bounce off of it. It was killed when my youngest daughter got its mouth open and my son fired into its mouth. It may be bulletproof on the outside, but it's vulnerable inside of its body."

Kotobuki pressed a button and the slide changed to that of the remains of the Bandersnatcher. "The Bandersnatcher, unlike the one in the game, had two rubbery arms instead of just one." Another button press and it showed the Dac. "Then there was the Dac. It's based on a monster in the book series instead of the games. Both of these monsters attacked people on the upper floors and grabbed them and threw them to the ground floor. The Bandersnatcher was killed by Mr. Wild when he cut it in half and the Dac was shot down by Rally of the Gunsmith Cats and Kaori finished it off after it crashed to the ground."

The projector got exchanged for the type that plays video. "Then there's the Tyrant." Footage of Tyrant is shown on the screen, the same footage that's on the news stations. "The Tyrant has inhuman strength and durability. A steel plate that is the same kind that's used on armored tanks protected its heart. The preliminary studies by the team in the morgue say that its remains are made up of nearly indestructible chemicals, hardened tissues and surgically implanted wiring." The footage switched to the scene of when the Tyrant is fired upon by everyone with guns and Minnie throwing a grenade at it. It blew up right in front of its face, but it didn't even slow the giant monster down. Afterwards the video showed Ranma Wild facing off against the monster. "Mr. Wild, after receiving a sword from Dr. Jones, sliced the monster into bits, killing the Tyrant for good. All of the bodies of the monsters are all being kept safe in an airtight and heavily fortified storage area for now. We don't want this to turn into a Resident Evil like situation."

Everyone felt relieved at that. A few of them are video game fanatics and remember how the police forces were overwhelmed in the second game. Ryo had also talked to one of the younger cops in the station to get a bit of info on the games. An airtight fortress is the best place to keep the body parts in.

"Good move. Having a zombie virus in a big city like Shibuya wouldn't be a good idea. Unlike Raccoon City in the game we can't close off the city to the outside world then drop a bomb to make sure that the virus won't spread to the rest of Japan," one of the police captains said.

"But still, how did all that happen? How did monsters from a video game show up in the city?" is the general question from the higher ups in the room.

Kotobuki answered, "The new crime lord is the cause of everything according to the reports we have. He has a long history in creating monsters to do his dirty work for him."

"So what's his name?" one of them asked.

"His name is Neclord. He came here from eastern Europe after his home base there was destroyed there."

"So where did you get this information from?"

"From Ranma Wild who is the head of the Dark Hunters of the Japanese branch," Ryo answered.

"'Dark Hunters'? What's that?" everyone asked at the same time.

Sakeo cleared her throat to get all the attention to her. "Our information comes from when Ryo went to the temple and talked to Ranma's group while he was bugged. The Dark Hunters organization according to Mr. Wild was started after Teddy Roosevelt shot and killed a werewolf while he was hunting in Europe. He saw the danger that the supernatural world has in store for a world that no longer believes in them. In order to counteract the chaos this could caused he created the Dark Hunters to hunt down dangerous creatures of the dark. Neclord, according to Mr. Wild, is the last of the Vampire Nobles that served under the command of the Vampire King during his rule 500 years ago. After vampire hunters killed off all of the other nobles he hid himself deep in the remote parts of Eastern Europe. He revealed himself when he tried to take control of the surrounding lands to create a kingdom of the dead. That's when the European based Dark Hunters attacked his base and destroyed it. Unfortunately he got away and came here where the demon hunters here don't deal with his kind very much, therefore making our country easy pickings."

"What is all this?" one of the army brass said in barely contained disgust as he looked over the file that Sakeo just read out loud. "A vampire? What kind of bullshit is this?"

Ryo's eyes narrowed as he said, "Well, considering what we have been dealing with lately is that so hard to believe?" He hated dealing with those types of people whose pride and status comes first before everything else.

Kotobuki also narrowed his eyes at the pompous jerk. "Besides, it's been my staff that's been dealing with these monsters. While my people have been dying your people just sit on their butts doing nothing," he said harshly.

"What? How dare you!" the army brass shouted.

Sakeo felt the same way as Ryo and Kotobuki. If the army had started helping out after the whole ballroom massacre the death rate for this latest attack would have been much less. They had asked for assistance, but were turned down. "He's right. It has been the police force that has been dealing with these monsters while your army guys just watched from the sidelines."

He growled at the three of them. "We can't just deploy the troops for every little thing you know!"

All the ones from the police force also sided with Sakeo. One of them said, "Too much red tape right. Or is it that you guys are hiding something?"

"Now see here!"

He was about to keep on shouting at them, but is cut short by Mr. Zen. "The fact is that the government does have some knowledge of the supernatural like most of the other governments around the world. However, they like to keep a tight lip on things like this."

Before the hotheaded guy from the army could refute this fact his superior, an older man with a much more open mind, told him to stand down. He then said, "Ranma Wild is the leader of this 'Dark Hunters' right? Maybe we should bring him in for questioning."

Kotobuki shook his head as he reigned in his anger. "That wouldn't work. The American government won't look too kindly on us for forcing one of their own to tell us about a hidden force in their government. Besides, he is the great-grandson of Indiana Jones and once word gets out about his treatment in an army style questioning things will just get worse than they are now."

Everyone eyes besides Kotobuki and Ryo's groups bulged and they all asked, "What! He's his grandson?" Jones is a big legend in the army and police forces.

Ryo nodded. "Yes. His real name is Ranma Jones. He changed his name so that people won't know who he's related to."

Kaori then added, "In other words we can't touch any of the household members of the temple without making us look worse than we are now."

"So what can we do then?" one of the police brass asked as everyone digested the new information.

Sakeo spoke up. "Simple. All the crime lords that we know of are working for Neclord. We can lock them up so that they won't be able to help out Neclord any time soon. That's what we have asked you to come here for."

"Besides, does any one of you people really want to be the fall guy if this gets more out of hand than it already is?" Ryo asked. Everyone shook his or her heads.

Kotobuki gazed around the room as he said, "We need to find out where his laboratory is. That lab probably contains bigger and stronger monsters and probably in large quantities as well. We need to find it and shut it down before things get worse." Everyone, even the ones from the army, nodded in agreement.

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In a forested area –

"YEAH! YOU SEE THAT! THAT'S MY SWORD CUTTING UP THAT MONSTER!"

Jura had invited all the friends and fellow blacksmiths she knew to her house when she heard Ranma's name on the news again. There are all in her spacious living room watching the defeat, more like slaughter, of Tyrant using the sword Jura had made for Ranma.

All the male blacksmiths that had said she couldn't do a good job since she's a woman winced. No matter what argument they make they can't refute the fact that a sword cut through a monster that bullets couldn't defeat. They all very reluctantly apologized for having doubted that a woman couldn't be a blacksmith while those who believed in her cheered. The few women who are also blacksmiths cheered for one of their own.

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Two days later –

Ranma woke up feeling like he had just run a marathon through China. The bright sunlight from the window caused him to wince while he tried to get his eyes to focus. After a few seconds adjusting to the light he tried to figure out where he is from his position of staring up at the ceiling. The last thing he remembers is passing out as they were headed to the dining room. He spent a few minutes gathering enough strength to sit up.

After he did so, with a lot of protest from his body, he recognized he's in a spacious white room with only a full sized bed and a small table next to it. There are white drapes on the solitary window and it's currently open letting in a nice breeze. 'Wow, so this is what the afterlife is like. It's pretty nice here.' He spent a minute or two just letting it refresh him before looking around again.

When he looked down at floor he saw Tina, Chris, Viki, Kodachi, Ranko, Kasumi and Yun sleeping on futons. All around them are used containers of takeout and some backpacks containing clothes indicating that they have been here for a while. 'Okay, never mind the being dead part.' He decided not to disturb them and reached for the glass of water on the table. After drinking the whole thing he put it back. He didn't get it quite right so it tipped over.

The sound of glass hitting wood is enough to rouse the girls on the floor. They looked around bleary eyed until Tina spotted that he's awake and yelled, "RANMA!"

She and the other girl's dog piled him on his bed, taking turns kissing every single inch of his face and hugging him as if they haven't seen him in years. Their sobs brought Tofu and Kasumi to their room.

Kasumi's eyes lit up as she saw her little brother awake and she practically bulldozed the others out of the way and hugged him fiercely. Tofu smiled at him as he came to the side of his bed.

"You gave us quite a scare Ranma-kun. I suggest you not do that again. You had everyone worried sick."

Ranma patted Kasumi on the back and smiled a bit at the other girls, one that they returned with happy and relieved smiles. Kasumi let go of him and stood beside her husband. The other girls took her place back on Ranma, each latching on to a different place with Yun having the prized location of his chest. "What happened to me doc? Last thing I remember is feeling like hell before I passed out."

Tofu's relieved face turned serious. "Ranma, you almost died." Ranma's eyes widened at that and the girl's hugs got even tighter. "You used a new ki technique that you haven't mastered yet that day didn't you?"

Ranma thought back to the fight at the mall. "Yeah, I did. It's called the 'Splitting Heaven'. What's that got to do with it?"

Kasumi took up the explanation. "Ranma, you should know that that technique took up a LOT of your ki. You haven't mastered it yet so you used up more than it should have used. That wouldn't have been so bad to cause you to be in that state. However, you suffered from a lot of stress right before you used it didn't you?"

He thought back to the event that happened before his fight with the big whatever it is. He didn't want to think about it actually. It's painful thinking about seeing someone you know die in front of you. "Yeah, right before that is when Nabiki died in my arms," he said sadly.

He then told everyone the whole story from his point of view. Tofu and Kasumi listened as well as they only had bits and pieces of the story. In the middle of the storytelling Nabiki arrived and did a super glomp on him as soon as she saw he's awake. She then stood by her sister and added in her own part to the story. Yun's part in the whole ordeal is also told. In the end Tofu nodded as he put together all the pieces.

"Ranma, the shock of seeing someone close to you die shook up you up badly. You went from hating Nabiki to hating the monster that they call Tyrant, then using that hate to fuel yourself as you shot Tyrant through the wall and faced off against what they call the Bandersnatcher. Then you went up against Tyrant again after having gotten control of your rampant emotions using the Soul of Ice. You then used a ki technique that you have only used once to kill Tyrant, draining you of a lot of your ki. This on top of all the stresses you have been under ever since you came back from the other world and more than likely the stress from having lived in Nerima has affected you greatly."

Kasumi continued on. "Basically, you overtaxed yourself. All the stress you've been subjected to and then the up and down of your emotions, then finally using an extremely draining and unmastered attack to top it off really messed up and drained your ki. Don't forget about you bringing Nabiki back from the dead as well. I'm surprised you were even awake while being interrogated by the police. Your body could no longer take everything and shut down. If we hadn't restarted your heart and got your ki stabilized you would have died."

Ranma froze at that. He never thought that stress would kill him. He's faced the Orochi, Herb, Pantyhose Taro, and even Saffron. Out of all the things he's been through stress almost killed him? He stayed that way for a few minutes digesting everything as he clung to his girls and his sister, his family.

He then looked up at Tofu and the Tendo sisters. "So, am I going to be okay?"

Tofu nodded. "Of course. By the end of this day you'll be back to your old self. However, as your doctor I have to give you one order, one that you must follow no matter what. It is vital for you to follow it since it will help prevent this from happening again.

Ranma and the girls on his bed turned up their heads to listen to the doctor's orders.

He smiled at them. "Go on a vacation."

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Many miles away, three days later -

The sun is shining brightly on the coastal beach resort of one of the small islands of the Japanese coastline. The beach resort, known as the Flower Inn, is one of the lesser known hotels in the area. The resort/inn island is twice the size of the mall that the monsters attacked. The entire island covered about four miles in all. The owners of the inn only had about 200 guests a year tops. It's was just enough to keep it in business. The place is in serious trouble of shutting down, but the owner of the resort knows that after word gets out that their special guest had stayed at the resort their business would bloom.

The resort is one of the oldest ones in the area and hasn't seen much business. It's mainly because the other resorts kept on stealing all of their guests. Only the people who still knew that the resort is even there go there anymore. The hotel is a five-story building that's still well kept even if there haven't been that many people who go there anymore. The hotel rested on top of a hill overlooking the ocean and there's even a small hot spring on the island. The rest of the island is covered with a small forest that's easy to get lost in. There are plenty of beaches to be found and even paved roads where you can go biking or rollerblading on. There's also a great pool area with lots of beach chairs and umbrellas and even a bar. There's even an old oak tree growing by the beachside. In all, it's a beautiful paradise. (A)

The owner of the resort is a young girl named Sakura Shinguji, 17 years old, whose family has owned the resort and island for years. She keeps her long black hair in a high ponytail tied with a red ribbon. She's dressed in a pink kimono like top, long red skirt and a purple sash that becomes a bow at the back around her waist. She's wearing a hakama, the traditional attire of kendo users. She wears brown leather fingerless gloves on her hands and she has white socks and black shoes on her feet. She always keeps her katana, the Spirit Sword 'Arataka', close by her side.

She tries hard to keep her resort running. However, with all of the big time resorts around they're lucky to even get one guest a month. Many of the bigger resorts are pressuring her to sell the island to one of them, but she keeps turning them down since her family has owned the island for years. She won't sell it at any price.

Today is her big break at last. She had just gotten a phone call from Ranma Wild asking if they had rooms for him and some of his friends. She had jumped on the chance since their business would take off after word gets out that Ranma Wild, hero of Shibuya, had chosen to stay at her inn instead of one of those bigger resorts. Everything needed to be ready for him and his friends that are coming along with him. They said they would get to the resort by around the afternoon.

Rushing downstairs Sakura looked into the inn's TV room where the rest of the hotel workers are sitting around the TV watching the tape of the fight in the clock tower that had happened some time ago. They still couldn't get enough of it. Besides, all of the workers in the hotel are all part of a demon slayers family. However, since their grandparents were all such good demon slayers when it was their turn to take over the family business there were no longer any demons left in this area to fight. Not even a ghost haunting for them to deal with. So they all ended up working at Sakura's family hotel resort since they're all close friends and have ended up here one way or the other.

Sumire Kanzaki is the manager of the inn who likes wearing tight fitting clothes to show off her body. She's a 16 year old who's just shy of turning 17 young woman who has shoulder length brown-reddish hair and a blue headband. Her favorite outfit is a purple kimono that she's wearing now. She's also a loud mouth and likes to speak her mind a lot. She constantly needs to be the center of attention all the time and is a bit snobbish. She also has a lot of business sense and is the main reason why the inn hasn't gone under yet. She's also a master of the naginata.

Maria Tachibana, age 19, is the second tallest person at the hotel. She has a cold, serious attitude and likes wearing a blue long sleeved shirt and long black skirt and keeps her short blonde hair in a way that lets a large clump of hair go over her left eye. When she's outside she wears a long black overcoat unless she's out training where she would wear her training clothes. She's cleaning her custom made .40 S&W M92 that she likes to call the Samurai Edge (1). Like most of her family she's a gun nut. She even makes her own bullets so she knows what kind of firepower each of them has. She also helps out with the repairs of the inn. Every now and then she would take her gun apart so that she could clean all the parts into working order.

Iris Chateaubriand at age 9 is the youngest of the inn's residents and also the shortest. She likes wearing a pink ribbon in her blonde hair and wearing a blue dress with a white apron. Her job around the inn is that she's the only one that knows how to work the old steamboat that the inn still has. She also has psychic powers that run's in her family. She's very powerful due to this and is a great ally to have in a fight. She also keeps a stuffed teddy bear she had named 'Joan-Paul' with her all the time. She's also a great actress.

Kohran Ri is the 16 year old mechanic of the inn. She has purple hair braided into two ponytails that went with her eyes. She wears glasses and wears overalls most of the time because she's in her workshop most of the time. If she isn't working she wears a red Chinese shirt and pants that's very similar to what Ranma usually wears only fitted for a girl complete with a hat. She keeps all of the machines in the inn in working condition. She also works on several gadgets when she isn't doing anything like the energy cannon that she made that has the habit of misfiring on her almost every time she tries to test fire it. And when she needs some help with testing a new invention her friends always seem to have something to do then help her out.

Kanna Kirishima, age 19, is the tallest of the inn residents. She's a muscular redhead woman who's a fighter. She almost always wears tights and a karate shirt. She's very into working her body into better shape, but is laid back most of the time. She does most of the heavy lifting in the inn since she's the strongest person on the island and also helps out with the heavy-duty repairs. Her skin is a darker shade than the others since she spends more time outside than the others do.

Orihime Soletta, age 16, is the cook for the inn. She's a young woman that is always into the latest pop culture. She likes to dress in the latest fads and keeps her long black hair in a high ponytail. She's a bit prissy at times and doesn't get along too well with Sumire. She's skilled in using weighted chains that she keeps in the sleeves of her clothes and can shoot fireballs, a trait passed down in her family. Like Kanna her skin is also a darker shade than the rest thanks to her mix bloodline.

Reni Milchstrase is the second youngest of the inn's residents at the age of 13. She's the one in charge of making sure that the supplies for the inn are all checked in. She's a little taller than Iris is. She's a calm, quiet girl that has short silver hair. Many people would have mistaken her for a boy if she wears the right clothes. She also thinks the most clearly of their group of friends. She's skilled in fencing and has a rapier that she likes to clean every so often.

Finally Lachette Altair, age 18, who handles the paperwork for the inn. She's a fairly tall woman the third tallest as Maria is just a bit taller then she is. She likes to keep to herself most of the time as she doesn't really say much. She likes to wear loose fitting clothes since she doesn't really like to show off her body. She also lets her long blonde hair down her back. She keeps the other girls from tearing into each other when they fight which happens at least twice a week. She's skilled in knife throwing and knife fighting. She keeps her knives inside the folds in her clothes. (2)

Sakura ran into the TV room seeing their inactivity. "What are you guys doing? Aren't you guys even ready yet?"

"Ready for what?" Kanna asked, still glued to the TV.

"What? None of you even remember?" She had shouted down to them that they're going to have some guests over today.

"Remember what?" Sumire asked as she watched Ranma taking down Nails.

"That our guests are coming today!" Sakura shouted, wondering why she's stuck with friends like these.

"Who is it again," Orihime asked nonchalantly. She doesn't really care since most of their guests are people who wanted a cheap place to stay.

Sakura sighed in resignation. "Oh no one really," she said seeing that her friends are too into watching the TV to even listen to her. It looks like she's doing everything by herself again! "It's just Ranma Wild coming over with some friends to stay here for about two weeks."

Sakura turned around and is about to walk out of the room when she suddenly felt like there's something behind her. Looking back she saw that all her friends had gotten up from where they were sitting and into her face in a heartbeat. How they all moved over to her without making a sound and that fast ran through her mind.

"HE'S WHAT!" they all shouted since they couldn't believe what they just heard. Ranma Wild is quickly becoming a pop idol with everything he's been doing in Shibuya. In fact, they all wished that they were in the Shibuya area to help out and make use of their demon slaying skills. They're really getting tired of having Yohko that so-called Devil Hunter and all of the other demon hunters of Japan saying that they're pathetic because they have never fought a demon before.

Sakura nodded, a bit creeped out at their now eager faces. "Yeah. He's coming here along with some of his friends in the afternoon." Her eyes bulged when she's treated to a sight that she has never seen before. All of her friends started cleaning the inn at breakneck speed getting everything ready for their guests.

"Wow. I wonder what they would do if I said that Wild had just bought the inn and is coming here to run the place, even if it's not true?" Sakura said as she watched her friends clean up the inn. Then thoughts of how they would have to treat their new boss came into her mind, mostly of them calling him master and how he'll show them, more importantly her, how much of a 'master' he is. She hit her head with the sheath of her katana when she thought of that. 'Bad thoughts Sakura! Bad thoughts!' Then she thought, 'Oh well, no harm in fantasizing right.' Her cheeks became very red as her thoughts went into the adults-only range as her friends went around her in their haste to clean up the place.

Hey, she's been on an island with people the same gender as her for a very long time. Now a total hottie who's a star and one of her personal heroes is coming to HER resort where he will stay for a good fourteen days. You'd act the same way too.

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In the Suikoden world -

Leknatt and Chaos are watching the action from the viewing globe. Toltiir had gone back to his place some time ago leaving the two alone again.

"Who are those girls?" Leknatt asked the cat sitting next to her.

"They're the girls from an anime called Sakura Wars. These girls are how they would be if they weren't born during the Demon Wars in the early 20th century that never happened in this world."

"So why are they there?"

Chaos looked up at her with an unreadable expression. "What? Never heard of analogs before? Just because this is one of the Ranmaverses doesn't mean people's analogs don't roam around you know. I didn't add anything or do anything if that's what you're thinking."

Leknatt blushed a bit since she had been thinking that Chaos had done something again to stir things up.

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Meanwhile -

At a port that's the closest to the resort island Ranma and the others had arrived and are waiting for the boat that they had rented for them to use. Piccolo and his grandfather are staying behind to watch over the temple and to make sure that Landis wouldn't go out. Someone also has to make sure that Mr. Green Turtle wouldn't get hungry and start to eat the pets in the neighborhood. Ranma had invited Ms. Hinako to come along too, especially since Yun really seems to like hanging out with her. Tofu and Kasumi would have come as well, but they are too busy at their clinic. Rally and her friends have come with them as well as they wanted some fun in the sun too.

There's another person with them as well, Shiori. Everyone had been teasing her and Fred, who had invited her, ever since they picked her up at her dojo. Even the ninjas are teasing the kendoist and the knight, much to the two's irritation. It had been so funny watching Fred act like a scared teenager when he had walked up to her and asked her to go with him (us he amended a second later, but everyone had caught his slip-up) to a resort island for two weeks. Their blushing faces looked really funny. When she had said yes you would have thought that he had asked her to marry him. Fred looked THAT happy.

He never noticed that Rico was the complete opposite of him at that moment.

Even funnier is when they had picked her up at her dojo that morning. Fred looked so nervous for some reason, probably because Rico had been watching the two of them like a hawk ever since that kiss in Molly's lab. She had been steamed when she had caught the two of them holding hands. Shiori had tripped on a loose rock and Fred had caught her hand to keep her from falling and held it until she regained her balance. They didn't notice that they continued holding hands until Rico had caught them.

Ranma felt really glad that it's about time somebody else got the spotlight for those types of situations. He had no problems holding the hands of his girls or showing affection so he joined in the teasing as well. The others are glad that he no longer seems to favor Kasumi all the time. Rather he's back to sharing time with them equally, a bit to Kasumi's disappointment. However he explained to her that it's not fair and plus she's back in shape. However, he still tended to treat her like a princess, just that he's doing it to the other girls now too.

He fingered his new hairdo as they waited for the boat to arrive. It'll take some getting used to.

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As he's walking home with Yun beside him he sees a hair salon on the way. For some weird reason he can't explain he looks down at his sister's hair. It's grown quite a bit since they've come here and is starting to become wild like his. "Hey sis, let's stop here for a second. You need to get your hair trimmed a bit or else it'll get out of control." He's a real expert at that considering he used to have a curse that made his hair grow out if he didn't wear a special whisker while in male form.

Yun looked at the hair salon before her eyes lit up in mischief. Ranma suddenly had a very, very bad feeling. "Sure! Let's go!" She dragged him into the salon. The glint in her eyes made him really, really nervous.

They went up to the receptionist who's currently looking at some papers. "Hi. My sister needs a bit of a trim please."

The woman behind the counter looked up at him, then down at the little girl. "Sure! One second." She's about to make a call on the intercom system when Yun stopped her.

"My brother needs a new hairdo too please!"

Ranma looked down in surprise at her. What is she talking about? Before he could refute her words the receptionist had already called over two of their employees.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I'm not here for a haircut! Only she is!" he almost screamed in panic.

Yun just giggled. "Please big brother! You really do need a new hairdo." She unleashed the one attack he can never hope to counter, the 'sad puppy dog eyes' technique.

He lasted three seconds before he relented. "Fine. Let's just get his over with." Yun yelled out in happiness as he sulked. He followed the one who is going to do his hair while Yun followed the other one to the opposite end of the salon. The receptionist chuckled a little then went back to work.

He sat down at the chair the lady led him to, still sulking a bit at how easy he is to manipulate. The lady then went, "Oooohhhh! Now look at this! All this lovely hair, and so soft and shiny too!"

Ranma got a really bad feeling as soon as he heard the excited voice of the lady behind him. 'Oh god, don't tell me they gave me one of those crazy types?' He prayed to every god, deity and spirit he can think of. They didn't respond.

The lady squealed in delight as she touched his hair here and there. "Just what are we going to do with this hair! Maybe we should cut it all nice and short? Or maybe we should dye it so it's another color! Ooohhh! I wonder how you would look as a blonde! Or maybe a redhead! I love men with red hair! Don't worry honey, just leave this all to me!"

If Ranma had been scared before, he's frightened now. However, as soon as she grabbed his pigtail and he saw in her hands a pair of scissors he quickly grabbed her wrist before she can cut it. "The pigtail stays," he said in an emotionless voice.

The whole salon became eerily quiet. No one had ever done that before. She had a shocked expression for a little while before she nodded in understanding. Her face turned serious as well. "I understand." Then it went back to being hyperactive. "Don't worry, I know just the way to style your hair even with that pigtail!" She took off his bandanna before he could react. He almost panicked before he noticed she doesn't seem to even care that there's a 'tattoo' on his forehead.

He just sighed and bowed to the inevitable. He endured her working relentlessly on his hair for a long while. Eventually he relaxed after a while since she seems to know what she's doing. She wash, dried, cut, shaved and even added all types of chemicals to his hair. He just hoped his hair would survive after this.

After a good 45 minutes she's finished. "There! All done! Take a look at yourself now!" She turned his chair towards the mirror since she had it facing backwards, 'to make it a surprise' she says. The image that looked back at him surprised him. He looked…good.

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He fingered his now spiky hair. It's not that it's spiky as in it rises up like a punk rocker. More like it's clumped now into 'spikes' that points down to the ground and is artistically arranged. He even has a little antenna like 'spike' pointing upwards. His sideburns are totally gone and his hair is more controlled than ever. Combined with his pigtail it looks really good on him (B).

Yun had jumped up and down in glee when she had seen him when he went back to the waiting room. It cost him a LOT of money, but at least it looks really good on him now. His girls loved it, practically squealing as soon as they saw him. The night before in bed Kasumi wouldn't stop caressing his hair saying it looks really good on him. It doesn't even feel hard like when there's tons of hair spray and gel on it. Somehow the lady had been able to get it to become naturally like that. He doesn't know what chemicals she added to his hair, but now it stays like that indefinitely, only his pigtail being adjustable. In the morning even after he took his bath he swears he heard it 'spoing' into place exactly as it had the day before. No need to comb it or anything (C).

Anyway, he had made the reservations for the resort they're going to this morning since he had been planning to go somewhere else. His grandfather said that there's an inn that should still be around since he last came to Japan on the island they are going to. It's nice and quiet and away from big crowds and the island itself is absolutely beautiful. If they went to one of the bigger resorts they would never get a moment's peace so he changed the plans.

A few minutes later (or a few excruciating hours if you asked Shiori and Fred) the boat arrived. The boat is a large yacht that can hold all of them easily. A few minutes later they loaded everything onto the boat and started off to the resort. The boat's driver would drop them off there and on the last day pick them up. They could have just teleported there with Viki's magic, but then questions on how they had gotten there without a boat would come up.

"So we're just going to relax while Neclord is out there?" Edge asked as he looked over the bow of the boat. Next to him is Minnie and on his back is the Seven Star Dragon Sword.

Minnie nodded. "We do need some time off from fighting as well as getting away from all of those reporters. Besides, it's doctor's orders. You really want to see how those girls would take it if Ranma had really died?"

Edge shook his head. He too had been scared for his friend when Piccolo said his heart stopped. He can only imagine the devastation the girls would have felt if he really had died.

"Plus, we won't have to worry about any of the monsters following us since no one knows where we are. If we're needed Viki can just teleport us back," the sword said from his sheath.

"Yeah, we won't have to worry about anything for now. All we need to do is relax for the next few days," Molly said from behind them as she worked on a new kind of hovercraft using her bike as the base.

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Ranma stood at one side of the ship deep in thought. Everyone left him alone seeing how he's so deep into his thoughts that he's practically dead to the world. He's thinking about the conversation he had with Kasumi a few hours before he had been released from the clinic.

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"Ranma, can I talk to you for a second?"

The girls had left to go back to the temple to get refreshed and get some fresh clothes for Ranma to wear. Now it's just him inside his room. Nabiki had been with him to give him company until just a few minutes ago.

"Sure Kasumi. What did you want to talk about?"

She entered and sat down on his bed. She started off by asking, "Ranma, you would tell me anything right?"

Without hesitation he replied, "Of course. Why? What did you want to ask me?"

Her usual serene face disappeared and she adopted her totally serious one. "Ranma, Tofu and I didn't tell you something because the others were here and we knew you would be uncomfortable if we had said it in front of them. What I mean is that the stress you have been under lately, while different, shouldn't have been so much that it would get you to almost die. Please, tell me what is getting to you. When we checked you and you were, and still are, very, very stressed about something. Please, tell me what it is."

Ranma sighed heavily and leaned back on his bed. He looked outside his window getting his thoughts in order for a long time. Kasumi waited patiently for him, knowing that it has to be very big to have stressed him out so much.

Finally, Ranma finished and spoke without looking at her. "You remember what happened at the ball and the mall right?" She nodded even though he couldn't see her. "So many people died Kasumi. I don't know how many had died or were hurt, but they did die and they were hurt."

Kasumi's heart ached at the amount of pain Ranma's voice held. She became even more hurt as she watched two tears come from his eyes. He didn't seem to notice them. "Kasumi, do you know why they were hurt or killed? It's because I was there. Neclord is after ME. He doesn't care about the people that get in the way. All he wants to do is get to my rune. I can't let him get my rune, but still…"

Kasumi could feel the waves of despair coming from him. Ranma sometimes lets down the walls protecting his emotions whenever he's around people he really trusts and loves. Right now all she can see is pain. "If I haven't come back here, even if it was an accident, none of those people would have gotten hurt! It's because of me Kasumi! I'm the one that let them die!" He finally turns in her direction. His pained eyes and expression hurt her deeply and she embraced the young man before her.

"It's my fault Kasumi! I can't let him get to my rune because I know he'll kill even more people, but people are dying anyway! I want to help them, bring them back to life, but I can't! I'll cause a riot and get more people hurt if people knew I have the power bring people back from the dead! It's all my fault Kasumi! It's all my fault!" he cried into her shoulder as he let himself go and cried. Kasumi could feel heart-breaking sobs wracking his body as he released stress he's been keeping to himself for a long time. Nabiki and Tofu heard Ranma's crying through the door and they came to investigate. What they saw devastated them. They didn't know what caused it but the sight of Ranma, RANMA of all people, crying is something they thought they would never see. Even in Nerima he wouldn't cry unless he's forced in some way, either by potions or spells. Thankfully they are at the back of the clinic so no one heard Ranma's words. The two of them came up to him and gave their support to the breaking down pigtailed man.

After a few minutes Ranma is able to control himself and he pulled away from the four-way hug. He wiped away as much of his tears as he can and said, "Sorry. I don't know what came over me."

Tofu shook his head. "It's alright Ranma. Tell us, what's wrong?"

Ranma reluctantly told them what he had said to Kasumi with a little help from her. They remained silent for a few moments before Nabiki said, "Ranma, it's not your fault. It's this Neclord guy doing everything. From what you've told us he's like all the other challengers you've faced in Nerima that are bent on world domination. He cares nothing for the people getting hurt. Nothing is your fault." Ranma is about to refute this, but she stopped him with a finger on his lips. "Ranma, all you've been trying to do is save as many people as you can. You're right; you can't give him your rune. It's too powerful to be in the hands of someone like him. You are actually saving lives by doing that."

At his disbelieving stare Tofu explained it to him. "Ranma, how many people do you think will die if you failed to keep your rune from Neclord?" Ranma kept silent. "That's right, no one knows. However, we do know that it'll be a lot more people than the ones that were killed in those two battles." Tofu put a hand on his shoulder. "You are doing everyone a lot of good by fighting to keep Neclord from your rune. From what you've told us he's the cause of you being in this world anyway. YOU were just trying to keep your sister from dying by giving up your own life instead. Believe me when I say that you are not at fault here."

Ranma didn't say anything for a long while as he just stared at them, thinking about what they said. Finally, after a long while he gave them a smile and said, "Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me."

Nabiki and Kasumi just gave him another hug and Tofu patted his shoulder in response. They can tell he just released a lot of stress he's been dealing with for a long time.

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"We're here!"

He's cut off from his thoughts when he heard Rally call out. He just stared out at the water for a while longer before joining the others.

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At the resort -

Sakura and the others had just fixed up the inn at recorded time. The floors are mopped and waxed so shiny you can see your reflection in them and the windows are so clear you wouldn't know they're there unless you touch the glass. They wanted to make everything look good for him. Even Kohran had cleaned up her lab, which is a very rare thing for her to do.

Orihime had started to cook dinner for their guest as well. She's making a feast fit for a king. Maria and Kanna had fixed all of the things around the inn that needed fixing. The others are making sure that everything is in place and preparing the rooms. If things went as planned then their business would skyrocket when word gets out that Ranma Wild had chosen to stay at their hotel instead of the other hotels in the area.

"Hey!" Kohran shouted, making everyone stop what they were doing. "They're almost here now! Everybody down to the dock!"

They all ran for the dock as they saw a ship coming up to their port. They watched as the boat slowed to a crawl and saw the people on the boat. The women clearly outnumbered the men. Two children are with them as well. There are even three people that they could tell are ninjas on board. They studied each person, relishing the male ones for a bit, until the last one arrived on the bow. A few of them started drooling.

Ranma is dressed in a white shirt and swimming shorts. The shirt clung to him like a second skin much to their enjoyment. They can see the muscles on his firm and hard body as he looked over their island. He's wearing a black bandanna, an accessory he's famous for now. His hair is also different now, but really works for him. A pair of tan colored fingerless gloves is on his hands as well. Sakura liked him immediately as she too tended to wear those same types of gloves. In fact, almost all of them are wearing fingerless gloves. However, they dismissed that as important.

He smiled as he saw the layout of the island and liked what he saw. As for Sakura and the others most of them blushed seeing him smile like that. He had never smiled before when they saw him on TV. Now they can see what the world is missing out on.

The ship finally docks and the gangplank is put down. Ranma and the others got off the boat and approached the welcoming crew. Sakura's crew went up to them and bowed.

"Welcome to the Flower Inn! My name is Sakura Shinguji and I will be your hostess. Please enjoy your stay." Sakura smiled at their guest.

Ranma and the others bowed in response. "Thank you for having us as your guests," Ranma said.

"No, thank you! I'm Sumire Kanzaki." She eyed his body, thinking of how their business would bloom when word gets out that Ranma Wild stayed here. Well, that's how her thought process went anyway. Her hormones said an entirely different thing. She's the same as the other girls, having been on this island for a long time and hasn't seen a man in a long time. Ranma's girls eyed her suspiciously as well as a few of the other inn's staff.

Introductions are made between the two groups and what each of Sakura's crew does for the inn.

Then Yun saw that there's someone hiding behind the legs of Kanna. Running behind her she saw that there's a child around her age looking back shyly at her. "Hi! I'm Yun," she said to Iris. She knew that she would have more fun now since there's someone at the inn that's around her age besides Molly.

Iris tentatively looked back at the smiling face of Ranma's sister. "Hello. I'm Iris. This is Joan-Paul," she indicated her teddy bear.

"Wow! He's so cute! Hi, I'm Yun!" giggled Yun as she introduced herself to the bear.

Hinako smiled as she saw the two kids getting to know one another. "You kids have fun. We'll take care of everything."

Kodachi looked at their surroundings in awe and delight. "Look at that beach! Ranma, let's get registered and drop off our stuff in our rooms and then have some fun on the sands!" She grabbed one of Ranma's arms and practically dragged him up to the main office much to the amusement of everybody.

Ranko smiled as she grabbed the other arm. "Yeah! This'll be great fun!" Everyone laughed as he tried to get the two girls to slow down a bit. Kanna had already moved to get their bags from the boat. She staggered when she saw the sheer numbers of them. There are at least two dozens of them!

Edge came up her and said, "Well, what are you waiting for. Let's get the girl's baggage."

Kanna's left eye twitched as she jerked mechanically to turn to him. "What do you mean 'girl's baggage'?" she asked him slowly.

He pointed to another pile, one that is much smaller. "Those are the guy's bags. All the other bags belong to the girls."

Kanna twitched again.

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Later -

Ranma's group all went to their rooms to drop off their bags as he registered everybody. Lachette and Sakura helped him with the paperwork and everything else needed. The three engaged in a bit of small talk while Lachette processed the paperwork. After getting his key (the others had been let into their rooms by Kanna) he went towards his room.

'Wow. They're so nice here, especially that Sakura girl. I wonder why Lachette seemed so distant though. Anyway, I think I'm going to enjoy this vacation!'

After everyone had dropped off their things in their rooms and change into their swimwear they all hit the beach for fun and surf. Ranma is the last to get there as he had been the one to register everybody. Sakura and the other girls decided to join in the fun even if they are to pretty much the servants around here. Sakura got the impression that Ranma is the nice type of person and wouldn't mind if the help joined in on their fun.

Ranma soon arrived on the beach in only his bandanna and swimming trunks. He figures he can always explain his runes off as tattoos if someone asked. It's been decided that no one is going to wear gloves this entire vacation. He looked around the beach at what everyone is doing.

Yun and Iris are making sand castles near the water. The two of them are dressed in modest one-piece swimsuits. Yun's swimsuit is colored green while Iris' is yellow. They are getting along with each other even though they've only known each other for only a few minutes.

Edge, who's only wearing blue trunks, is trying to learn how to surf with very little progress. He's being shown the ropes by Rally who's dressed in shorts and a red bikini top.

Out in the waters he can see Minnie and Becky in wetsuits checking out the sea floor around the island. The two would occasionally come up and talk to each other before going under again.

Shiori is teaching Fred how to rollerblade. Fred is getting the hang of it as Shiori held his hands while he led him down the paved road a bit from the beach. Shiori is wearing an orange bikini top and shorts while Fred has on a t-shirt and shorts. Rico, who's wearing a t-shirt and shorts as well, is constantly watching the two while the two did their best to ignore her. He would have to talk to that girl later about loosening up a bit.

Molly is sitting under a sun umbrella working on her hover-bike. She's dressed in shorts and a white shirt and she's still wearing her top hat. Another person he would have to talk into learning how to relax.

Hinako is lying down on her back on a beach chair getting a tan. She's dressed in a one-piece red swimsuit. It has a space in between her breasts and three heart-shaped holes at the back. It shows off her body well and if she wasn't teacher and friend he knows he would have fainted from blood loss. (D)

Hinako spotted him and motioned him over to apply suntan lotion on her. He went over to her and she turned so her back is towards the sky. He lathered up his hands with lotion and started applying it to her. He doesn't mind doing this for her since unlike other guys his hormones are in check when he's around her. As he's applying the lotion he looks around the beach to see what his girlfriends are doing. When he sees them he unconsciously gripped Hinako hard and even started to massage her, oblivious to the moans coming from her and what he's doing. The more he stared at them the redder he got and the more perverted his thoughts became. Oh my lord! Obviously his hormones don't have any defenses when it comes to his girlfriends.

Ranko is dressed in that green and red one-piece with the low back swimsuit that he/she/they wore during the Watermelon Island thing. It looks really cute on her. He never really noticed before since 'he' had been the one to wear it before. He can see that she fills it out REAL nice as she has grown quite a bit.

Hinako is groaning a bit louder. 'Wow, suntan lotion AND a massage!'

Kodachi is dressed in a blue thong-bikini. It left nothing to the imagination except for the really private parts. Boy it's getting hot. (E)

"Oh yes! My back has been killing me lately!"

Tina is also dressed in a two-piece swimsuit that's purple with a white trim. Her top hat is still on her head and now matches a bit with her swimsuit. Ranma unconsciously licked his lips as he stared at his fiancée. (F)

"Wow! Who taught you how to massage like this! You squeeze a bit hard, but still! Oh, that's right! That's the right pressure!"

Kasumi is wearing a two-piece bikini that looks very, very good on her. It's a white bikini with a red trim. It's very tight so it shows off her impressive figure. He personally knows how each and every one of those curves feels like. He's never really noticed her breasts before. He is now! (G)

"Ow! What was that about? …Ooohhh. Never mind. I guess you just slipped up a bit and gripped a bit hard."

Chris is wearing a white two-piece bikini that shows off her long legs. The top half is held up by nothing but strings. He can't seem to stop staring at her legs though. It's so long and smooth and hair free. (H)

"Whoa! Ranma! Tell me when you're going to flip me over before you d…oooohhhh. Wow, and you're just spreading around the lotion too! I don't know what you're doing or how you're doing it, but keep going!"

Lastly, but not the least, Viki is dressed in a one-piece black swimsuit. However, what surprised him is that it's the most daring out of all of them! The material is see-through except for dark spots in the shape of leaves and flowers covering up the private areas! He gulped, hard. (I)

"OOOOHHHH! That's the spot! You're going to have to teach me that pressure point or whatever it is you're doing!"

All of them are currently setting up the volleyball court on the beach. He just can't stop staring, or fantasizing, or drooling. There's a bit of blood escaping from his nostrils as well. However, most of the blood is either under his skin helping with the tomato impression or…down below.

Hinako is practically trashing about under the unconscious ministrations of his hands. It's surprising that no one noticed. Thankfully that's because she's a bit far from the rest of the group.

Sakura and the others showed up with snacks and drinks dressed for the beach. Each of their swimsuits is in their favorite color. Sakura is wearing a pink bikini, Sumire is wearing a purple one, Kohran is in a green one-piece and Orihime a rose colored thong one. Maria's one-piece is black, Kanna's red, and Lachette is wearing a modest ice blue one. Some of them aren't as comfortable in reviling their bodies as the rest of their friends are. Everyone could see that their figures are all very impressive. Shampoo would have turned green in envy. Reni is pushing the snack cart over to their guests dressed in a blue one-piece modest swimsuit.

"Hi! We brought snacks for everyone," Sakura shouted out as her group neared their guests.

Ranma practically bolted from Hinako's chair and grabbed a cold water bottle much to Hinako's displeasure. "Thanks!"

Sakura and a few of her friends, namely Sumire, Orihime, Kohran and Lachette, all blushed a deep shade of red as they saw a Grade-A hunk in front of them. Maria has more control of her emotions and Kanna just smiled at the premier martial artist. Dressed in only blue trunks (luckily for Ranma they didn't notice anything…sticking out) and a black headband they can see that his body is marked with scars. He's rippling with muscles that any man would kill to have and any woman would kill to have on their man. Standing before them is one of the most beautiful men that they have ever seen. Even the patchwork of scars didn't detract from his gorgeousness, only serving to speak of the suffering he had endured in his short lifetime and giving him character. The scars on his body seem to enhance the muscular definition of his body, which made him seem more experienced and mature. All but Reni went into fantasy mode as they thought of what his shorts covered up. Even Maria and Kanna thought of 'that' before they could squish it a few seconds later.

Ranma suddenly upended the water bottle over his head. All of Ranma's girls and Sakura's crew suddenly felt really hot as they watched the water go over his muscled body. The water made his skin sheen in the sun. They licked their lips that are suddenly very dry. Perhaps Ranma wouldn't mind if they licked off the moisture going down his body?

"Ahhh! Thanks! It's pretty hot around here!" He really needed that to get rid of his…condition…before anyone noticed. He's going to have to get used to them looking like that or else he'll end up a father nine months from now. He wouldn't mind, but would rather put that off until much later.

Reni smiled politely at Ranma. "We have some watermelons and sodas in the cart if you like." She's the only one of the girls able to speak since the others are still off in dreamland. She hopes that when she gets older she wouldn't turn out like her friends.

"Thanks!" He reached in the cart and pulled out one of the uncut watermelons. "Hey guys! It's time to break the watermelon!"

"Throw it up in the air!" Kasumi shouted out to Ranma after having gotten control of herself. She then turned her attention to the three ninjas that are relaxing in the cool shaded branches of the oak tree. The ninjas weren't wearing their usual outfits today. Instead Watari is in shorts and a blue and white striped shirt. Ayame has on shorts and a light purple shirt that showed off her mid-drift, both very tight. What the others saw is that both their bodies are covered in scars as well. It showed the pain they went through in the Black Wind Clan. They even have their veils off, a rarity for them. Sasuke is wearing shorts and a white shirt, but is still wearing that red hood of his. "Get ready to catch the pieces!"

Ranma threw the melon into the air and Kasumi pulled out her sword out of her sub-space pocket like she learned from Ranma. She sliced the melon into pieces at the height of its accent. Her three fellow ninjas caught every single piece before they fell onto the sand and then placed them on the beach table. They grabbed a piece for themselves and returned to their original spot.

"Wow! They're good!" Sakura gasped at seeing people moving so fast. Even she can't slice things up in midair like that!

Kanna also nodded as she stared at the ninjas in awe. "Yeah."

"Hey! You guys aren't just going to stay up in that tree all day are you?" Molly shouted at the three ninjas.

Ayame didn't even bother looking down as she said, "Why not. It's nice and shaded here." Then a springing sound was heard and a water balloon that almost knocked her off the tree hits Ayame. She sputtered a bit as it had hit her on the face. She looked towards where it came from and saw that Molly has a cannon pointed at her.

"Check this out! My new invention, 'The Water Balloon Launcher'! It's perfect for hitting slackers and people you don't like!" Molly grinned.

Molly started laughing at the dripping wet ninja. Then when she opened her eyes she saw Ayame running straight at her. She got on her one wheeled bike that she had just finished re-fitting and hit a button on the dashboard. The bike then transformed into its hovercraft mode. The big wheel of the bike fell on its side and started spinning around. Soon the whole thing was hovering over the sand. She took off for the ocean while Ayame is running at full speed to get to her.

"Get back here!" Ayame shouted when she saw that she couldn't follow Mind when she got out over the water.

"It's time to test out my new Water Cannon!" Mind shouted as a cannon barrel came out of the front of the bike.

"Water Cannon?" Ayame sweatdropped seeing that big gun barrel aimed at her. She's knocked back as a stream of water came out and hit her on her chest.

Sumire's eye twitched a bit. "Wow. Looks like there's someone even better at inventing stuff than you are," she said to Kohran.

"Hey! I have to work what I got!" Kohran said in indignation. She wished that she had the money to buy the parts she needs so that she could make better inventions. Her energy cannon would be in perfect working condition if she only had the right amount of money.

"Well, at least we won't have to worry about things being dull while they're here," Sakura said. 'Maybe I can get Ranma to teach me some of those moves.'

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Meanwhile, in downtown Shibuya -

Neclord is overlooking the production of the new bio-weapons. These new monsters will be a lot stronger than the ones that attacked the mall. Baker had improved the designs making them much harder to kill and deadlier too.

"So how are the new troops coming along?"

"They're all going well. It will be a few more days till they're battle ready sir," Baker said as he looked over the stasis pods. These bio-weapons are much more advanced than anything that he had ever seen before. Even the ones he made for the mall attack weren't anything compared to these.

Then the doors opened and Mr. Ronize ran into the lab. "Neclord! The police forces are cracking down on all of the crime lords under you! I'm the only one left! The others have all been taken in!"

Neclord didn't even bat an eyelash. "Well, all that means is that you have more power now that all of the others have been taken in."

"Sir! Aren't you even worried?" Ronize asked in disbelief.

Neclord just shrugged. "Why should I worry? Besides, the only people that can kill me aren't even in the city now. Also, those demon hunters that came after me weren't that strong and were easy to beat." He remembered his fights with those demon hunters of this world and how easily they had fallen by his hands. Only that Devil Hunter and her partner had gotten away from him by jumping into the river to escape him.

"But sir! What about the others?"

"Well, I guess I should break them out and see how powerful my newest monsters are," Neclord said. "How about the buyers for our hardware?"

Ronize got himself under control and said, "They're all very interested in buying them and how they are made."

Neclord nodded. "Good. After we break the other crime lords out we have all the business we can handle." Neclord smiled as he turned his gaze to his newest monster. "Did you make the call?"

"Yes, I did. They will attack Ranma once we know where he is."

"I hope that these Berserkers are as strong as you say they are."

"Yes. Hammer Fist and his crew have been equipped with the latest weapons for the job."

"Good. Once we know where the others are being kept I will unleash the most lethal monster that has ever been release in the game!" Neclord smiled as he looked at the Bio-weapon sleeping in the tank just waiting to be let out.

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At the resort -

Ranma is really enjoying his swim in the sea. It's been a long time since he could swim at the beach without turning into a girl. The girls tried to get him into a game of volleyball, even showing off their shapely figures, but he said he's more in the mood to swim than play ball. Actually, the truth is that he doesn't know if he'll be able to control himself with all the…jiggling…involved in that game.

Yun and Iris are busy burying Sumire up to her neck in the sand. Kohran is talking with Molly as she looked over her hover-bike asking how she made it. As for the rest of the inn girls they're playing against Ranko and the other girls in a game of volleyball. Hinako is sitting on her beach chair watching to keep the score for the game.

Edge was still surfing with Rally as he had gotten the hang of it and was trying to out surf Rally. Minnie and Becky came back up from their dive with a basket full of blue crabs that can be found all around the island. After washing the crabs clean they began roasting them over an open fire for the others to have after the other girls are done playing around. Fred was still trying to get the hang of rollerblading while Rico got into it as well. She didn't want Shiori to show her up so she learned fast, really fast.

When another game started up Yun and Iris, who had just finished burying Sumire in the sand, took off to watch the game. Sumire was about to yell at them to dig her out when one of the crabs got out of the basket and crawled over to her. It first walked right by her, but then walked back facing her. It clicked its claws before crawling to her face.

Sumire panicked as the crab got closer. "GUYS, GUYS!" She shrieked just when it reached for her with one of its claws.

Then the volleyball that the others were playing with slammed down onto the crab before it's too late.

"Got it!" Kanna shouted as Yun picked up the crab to wash it off, and then gave it to Minnie and Becky. Reni and Iris began to dig Sumire out of the sand as she spit out the sand that was thrown into her face.

"Good shot," Lachettte said to Kanna.

"Come on! Let's play before Sumire starts blabbing about something," Orihime said as they began a new game.

Reni, who's not up for a game, went for a walk along the shoreline after getting Sumire out of the sand. After awhile she spotted Ranma swimming in the waters waving at her.

"Hi! Reni right? Care to join me?" Ranma shouted out to her as he swam to her. He walked up to her dripping wet.

"Well, I don't really know how to swim." Reni blushed red as Ranma stared at her.

Ranma chuckled a bit. However, it's not the mocking type of chuckling. It's one filled with a bit of mirth and understanding. "That's not a big deal. A lot of people don't know how to swim. I can teach you how if you like." He held out one of his hands to her with a reassuring smile.

"Really? You can?" At first she's a bit hesitant. She looked back at Maria who nodded for her to go. She took Ranma's hand as she walked into the water until she's waist deep.

Looking into his eyes Reni felt like she's looking at someone she should know. But she couldn't think of someone she knows that looks like him. Then a faint image of a tall man wearing a white uniform appeared before her, but then it disappeared just as fast. It became replaced by the image of Ranma in front of her.

"Reni, are you okay?" Ranma asked her a bit worriedly.

Reni shook her head to and looked up at him. "Yes. I thought I saw something, but it's gone now." Ranma nodded, being glad that she's okay. Reni took his hands as he began to teach her how to swim. She felt something inside of her change. It's as if she has always been meant to meet Ranma. She hasn't felt this comfortable since her parents disappeared many years ago. She cherished the feeling. Even if she had only met him for less than a day she feels that he will look out for her no matter what.

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Back in the Suikoden World –

"Is that your doing?" she as the cat next to her.

"You mean Reni? Nope. Not me." Chaos is actually stumped on this one as well. How can she become attached to Ranma so fast? Not in a romantic way, but everyone except the recipient can see the bond that she has formed with Ranma. It seems she's looking up to him like a little sister looks up to her big brother.

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Back to the beach-

Ranma and the others enjoyed their time at the resort. It's been a long time since they could just let themselves go. Four days have passed and already Ranma looks like a man redeemed. He looks and acts refreshed. The tenseness is gone and he's a lot better for it. He also seems a bit…different. They noticed that being on the island and meeting these people has had an effect on him. Those swimming lessons with Reni, which is daily now, practically whenever they're at the beach, seems to bring out an…innocence… in him that no one has seen before. They can't really explain it. He seems almost childlike, yet is still the man they know him to be. He switches back and forth whenever he wants. They called long distance to the Onos and they reassured them that it's probably temporary, just the relaxation getting to him.

He's not the only one affected. There's something about this island that just refreshes you. No one can tell what it is, not even the inn workers themselves. The whole Ranma crew feels like their batteries have been recharged. Even Rico, Molly and the ninjas are kicking back and relaxing. While they didn't get the…affliction Ranma has everyone is feeling great.

Ranma is also back to spending time with his girls instead of just favoring Kasumi all the time. On the first day after the swimming lesson with Reni he took Ranko out on a stroll through the forest nearby.

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"This is really nice don't you think?"

"Yeah. I've never really just walked through a place to appreciate it you know."

Ranma has one arm around her shoulder as Ranko leaned on his. The two had been walking in silence for the past 20 minutes just enjoying one another's company and the beautiful scenery of the forest. Both are still in their swimwear and sandals they had bought before coming to the island.

"Ranma?"

"Hmmm?"

"When do you think you're going to ask to marry me?"

"HUH?"

He turned to her with a shocked expression on his face while she glittered at him innocently.

"You heard me. I want to know when I can say that you're MY fiancé at last."

Ranma is hyperventilating. That's the last thing he expected to hear from her. How did the subject of marriage come up from just walking through a forest? "Um, err, I, that is, ahh…"

For the next ten seconds he can't make any coherent words come out of his mouth until Ranko bops him on the head. The force of the blow jars him back to normal.

He breathes in and out a few times to settle his nerves. Talk about impulsive! He closes his eyes to find his center, breathing slowly for a few seconds.

Ranko is starting to get worried. She didn't mean to try to stake her claim like that, it just came out for no reason. He hasn't said anything for the past two minutes already. Maybe he's…trying to figure out how to say no? She felt panic and despair run through her.

It disappears when he opens his eyes again and takes her into his arms. Without saying anything he gently kisses her. For along time the two just stay there in each other's arms until he pulls back a bit and rests his forehead on hers. The two just bask in the moment for a while. "Ranko, will you spend the rest of your life with me?"

She doesn't say anything for a good five seconds, too caught up in the moment. When she did she loudly vocalized her answer. "YES!" She kisses him as if she's trying to suck his whole head in through her lips. Even Ranma's a bit surprised at her actions.

After she releases him the two just cuddle together for a while. He then lifts his face to ask her something, but she puts a finger on his lips to shut him up.

Ranko looks up at him, understanding and love in her eyes. "I know, you're worried about the others right? I won't tell them, yet. You have to ask them yourself. Unlike me Viki and Kodachi will probably wait for you to ask them instead of doing something like I did just now. Chris, I don't know if she'll pull something like this or you have to ask her. I know, I know, I'm sorry for doing this to you. I just wanted to make sure if you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me as my husband. Don't worry, this isn't the first time you had multiple fiancées right." The two of them chuckle a bit to the reference of Nerima. Rather than let the past get to them while they are here they let it slide. "At least it's only two right now, me and Tina. I wouldn't mind having her as a co-wife. She's cool, being the one who can keep up with us and all. The others are great too in their own ways. You're going to have to figure out how you're going to marry all of us, or just…just pick one and leave the rest." Her voice breaks a bit at this. She visibly regains herself. "All we ask is for you to do two things Ranma, don't let us down and keep on loving us like you've been all this time okay. As long as you do that we'll love you too and stay with you until the day we die."

Ranma doesn't nod, nor does he shake his head or even say anything at all. He merely captures her lips again. He kisses her with so much passion that it takes her breath away. He then slowly caresses every part of her body, ALL of her body. He lifts her up and brings her over to a patch of flowers nearby. There he lays her down without breaking lip contact once. He molded his body to hers as he somehow increases the passion between them. He slowly, slowly goes for the strap holding up her swimsuit as she goes for the hem of his trunks. The two hands pull down on each other's garment. The moment the two have been waiting for has arrived.

Only to be broken by a shout. "Ranma-sama! Ranko-sama! Where are you two? You've been gone for a while now! Mistress Kodachi has sent me to inform you that dinner is ready!"

Ranko didn't know she could harbor so much hatred for Kodachi's ninja. The moment's ruined! Even if they avoid detection by him it's gone. Ranma is mad too, but not for the same reason. He lost control of himself for a minute there. If Sasuke hadn't come at that moment he would be deflowering Ranko right now, again and again if he had any say in it. That hormone attack at the beach really pushed his barriers down. He owes the ninja, big time.

Besides, if the other girls found out that they weren't his first they'd kill him!

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Luckily that scene wasn't repeated with the other girls. Of course he'd be willing to marry all of them, but how would that be possible?

He also made solid his relationship with Kasumi. Actually, more like the girls forced the two of them to admit it to each other.

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It's around sunset the next day. Everybody is gathered around a fire doing his or her own little thing. Ranma is looking around when he spots Kasumi looking at the fire giggling a bit. Her eyes are a bit glazed over as if remembering something. He stood up and sat down next to her. "What's so funny?"

That seemed to snap her out of whatever memory she was thinking about. "Oh! Sorry. Well, remember when I told you about the time I was on Zack's island?" He nodded. That seemed to be the only true happy time she had before they found each other again. "Well, one of my friends, Hitomi, used to go to the beach around sunset right. Whenever she thinks she's alone she would do this little dance. It seemed…I don't know, but it looked really fun to do. She moved her hips a lot back and forth. It looked really fun to do so a couple of times I watched her and did what she did. Eventually I learned how to do it too."

Ranma raised an eyebrow at that. Kasumi didn't seem the type to know how to dance. "Really now?" he said with much amusement in his voice making her blush a bit. "Well, we're just going to have to see this 'dance' won't we." Before she could stop him he bolted up and went to Kohran. He spoke to her for a bit and then she bolted as well. He then went back to the bewildered Kasumi.

"What did you have her do?"

"You'll see," is the only thing she can get out of him. A few minutes later Kohran returned with Kanna. The two of them are carrying a sound system and speakers. Everybody saw them as the two begin to set it up and gathered around to see what's going on. Soon they finished and Kohran looked at Ranma to get his okay. He nodded and then music started to play. He then stood up, taking Kasumi with him, and got her to stand close to the fire. With a glint in his eye he commanded, "Show us this dance Ka-chan."

Her eyes widened and she looked around in fear. "But, but, in front of all this people?"

"Yup! Come on Ka-chan, do it for me?" he said in his most pleading voice.

She wilted two seconds later. "Oh, okay. Stand back."

He went back to sitting down and everyone watched her. It became apparent that she's belly dancing after a while. It's especially apparent to Ranma as he can't stop staring at her. It seemed mesmerizing. For a long time his eyes won't leave her, much to the irritation of his other girlfriends. He followed her wherever she went. At one point she even danced right in front of him. At the end of the dance his nose is bleeding a bit and Kasumi is crimson red.

"So, how did I do?" she asked him a bit nervously.

Ranma is still in a daze so he replied, "Like a goddess." She blushed even more if that's possible.

Tina and the others got mad. "Okay, that's it! You two are coming with us!" All five of them dragged the two over to the forest for some privacy.

The inn girls got a bit worried and were about to follow them when Ms. Hinako said, "Don't worry about them, this is supposed to happen, right Yun?" She winked at the little girl.

Yun winked back. "Yup. Don't worry about them. This is for their own good."

The inn girls didn't know what's going on so they just let it go.

At the forest the five women have surrounded the nervous Ranma and Kasumi. Tina then said, "Okay you two, we know what's going on. You two are falling for each other. We've HAD it up to here with this!"

Ranma is about to say something is when he's cut off by Ranko "Don't even deny it! We know what's going on! We should be really mad at you, but we know she's your first crush so we understand a bit. So we're going to give you two, two options. Option number one: you chose one of us or her."

Ranma panicked, looking around at the six girls, not knowing what to do. Choose…one? Oh kami-sama, it's Nerima all over again!

Kodachi nodded at the fright in Ranma's eyes. "We know what you're thinking. It's Nerima all over again right?" He nodded nervously.

Chris sighed and rubbed her forehead. "We understand. We might not like it, but we understand. So this is where option number two comes in. Option number two is…we accept her as one of us," she said VERY hesitantly.

Kasumi looked around at the strained faces of Ranma's girls. It looks like it's taking every ounce of their willpower to do this. "Are, are you sure about this?"

Viki nodded. "Yeah. It's better than you just stealing him from us. We don't like it very much. However, if he DOES choose only one everyone only has one in six chances of being chosen, even worse than the girls back in Nerima. So, what do you chose Ranma?"

Ranma's totally lost and nervous. However, he has enough sense to make the right choice. "I'll…I'll take option number two. I don't want to lose any of you over this. Oh god, I don't want to do this. There has to be a better way, there just HAS to be. Please don't make me chose just one, I can't do it."

Their faces softened and they all went to group hug him. They just realized that they're stressing him out again. They don't want a repeat of what happened a few days ago so they'll make sure this is the best vacation he could ever ask for.

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From that point on things went great. They no longer have to fight with Kasumi for him. He's back to his normal, loving self who splits his time among them. Kasumi had been ecstatic with her first kiss that happened when the two went swimming at the pool. Everything's going smoothly. Ranma's in no danger of dying, there hasn't been any reports of Neclord's activities, and everyone is totally relaxed.

There's only one downside, Ranma has also been spending time with the inn girls much to the displeasure of the other girls. He just thought that he's being nice and he pointed that out to them. He noticed how lonely the girls are being stuck on this island for so long so he thought that maybe he can cheer them up. They can't really fault him for being nice, especially when he looks so relaxed and happy. He promised that he's not doing anything except being himself. All he wants to do is make friends with them and that's it.

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He likes fighting with Kanna in the mornings. They're having a sparring match right now on the other side of the island so that no one would interfere with them. On the second day he went out early in the morning to train a bit and saw her heading out. He joined her and the two have been sparring partners ever since. Well, more like sparring partner and teacher. Ranma's definitely a much better fighter than her and she's being taught how to get rid of the mistakes in her fighting style.

Since she's taller than him she has a much longer reach. She's almost as strong as pig-boy is and a bit better skilled as well. Ryoga tended to use brute strength and runs on rage most of the time. Kanna keeps her cool and fights smart. He also saw that she's good, but she hasn't really fought against opponents that are after her blood. She said she fought in tournaments around the mainland whenever one started up and she had never lost a match.

When Kanna fights against Ranma she always finds herself outmatched. He can easily move around her attacks just like now. All he does is dodge every attack she threw at him. After a good five minutes of her just trying to hit him and he just flowing around her punches and kicks she got mad.

"Come on! Fight me!" Kanna shouted as she tried just to lay a finger, one measly finger on him.

"Sorry. Until you get one decent hit on me I'm going to keep dodging. This is to improve your accuracy and speed. Come on, stop trying to hit me and hit me!" Ranma shouted as he ducked under her right hook.

Kanna suddenly got an idea to make him stop long enough so she can punch him. She's seen how he seemed to freeze whenever one of the girls in his group of friends pulled the same stunt. She took off her shirt, leaving her in her bra and showing her quite impressive chest. Ranma froze for a second wondering 'what the hell is she doing!', more confused than anything else. Then she gave him her left hook, sending Ranma flying back.

"Ahah! Got you!" Kanna shouted seeing him flat on his back.

"Now that wasn't nice," Ranma said getting back up. The punch didn't hurt too much, but that still pretty low. He smiled as he figured out a way to get back at her. He rushed forward and grabbed Kanna's right breast.

Kanna's face contorted into rage. How dare he grab her like that! She's about to punch out his lights for grabbing her like that, guest or not, but then she felt her whole body lock up. She couldn't move any part of her body from the neck down.

"Sorry Kanna, but that low move you did deserves another in turn," Ranma said to her grinning the whole time. "Don't worry it'll wear off in about an hour or so. You'll be fine."

"So how am, I going to get back to the inn?" Kanna asked with venom in her voice. She couldn't believe she looked up to this guy! However, she became bewildered when he put back her shirt on her. Then Ranma lifted her up on his back. "Ranma? What are you doing?"

"Since you won't be able to move for a while, I'm just going to have to carry you on my back," Ranma said as he walked back towards the inn.

"Hey! Don't! It's embarrassing!" She tried to struggle but her body is still frozen.

He just waved off her protest. "Ah, come on. It's all right. No one's going to make fun of you if I tell them I froze you using pressure points."

"Of course they will you jerk! How dare you grab me like that?" Kanna shouted in his ear.

Normally Ranma would have gotten nervous at the amount of anger she's exuding. Four days ago he probably would have thought she's another Akane and wanted nothing to do with her. But all this time on the island has made him calmer, more relaxed. "Oh, come on. It's only because the pressure points are there. You should have seen Ayame's face when I pulled the same stunt on her! Boy was she mad!" He goes on to tell her of what happened then and the time he had saved her life and got smacked for it because he didn't notice where he grabbed her since he's too busy trying to keep her alive. He tells her a few of the adventures he's had. All the time he's smiling and talking to her as if they've been friends all their lives.

Kanna couldn't believe that Ranma's treating her like this. No guy ever treated her like this before. It's mostly because the guys around here and the few times she went to the mainland are intimidated by her height and they have to look up to meet her at eye level. But Ranma is different from those guys. He's not put off by her height at all. He just looked at her and saw a woman, not some towering Amazon. In the time she's known him he never seemed to mind looking up at her. He hasn't made a single derogatory remark on her height. Now he's talking to her as if he's been part of her gang of Sakura and the others for a very long time. He even occasionally looks back to smile at her as he talks to her about anything and everything he can think of.

Only her friends here on the island aren't put off by her height and tomboyish ways. Even her parents were put off by her height and attitude. No one knows where she had gotten the genes from since they're pretty short themselves. They're also into business all the time. Not as successful as Sumire's parents are, but good nonetheless. You can see the shame they have for such a daughter. They had expected her to be like them. You can imagine their horror when she started working out all the time and learning martial arts.

Only her grandparents encouraged her. They along with Sakura and the other's grandparents were demon hunters who had gotten rid of all the demons in their area. Afterwards they lived in peaceful times. Eventually their children who are hers and everybody else's parents pulled away from their demon-hunting lineage. Only this generation kept up their demon-slaying ways. Even then they've never even face one demon yet.

It made her pretty lonely to have only Sakura and the others as friends. She's always ignored or ridiculed for her height. She left home when the pressure they put on her to start learning business got to her and she came here to Sakura's inn. Here she befriended the other outcaste children of the demon slayers families.

She'd never thought about how nice it would feel to have someone be your friend. First he's a sparring partner and a teacher. Now after today she can tell their relationship has changed, all because of a little harmless prank. Now he's a friend, one you can tell will never betray you for anything.

Kanna felt for a long time that she needed to find someone like Ranma to make her complete. Maybe not in a romantic way but in a friendly way, (well maybe something could developed later on between them) as if he's the piece that's always been missing from her group of friends. She relaxed and started to respond to some of his stories. If he ever calls for help she would be there in a second.

And that she could feel his hard firm muscles as she pressed herself to his back didn't hurt either.

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After having dropped off Kanna in her room Ranma walks into the dining room to find Iris there. She's just sitting there with her bear on the table looking at her food as if expecting it to do something besides staying on her fork. He looked at her bewildered for a while before deciding to talk to her. Tina and the others won't mind if he's a little late. He's been wanting to get to know Yun's new friend. In his book any friend of Yuns is a friend of his.

"Hi Iris. What are you doing?"

Iris just looked up at him, not knowing what the man wants from her. "Eating. Why? Do you need me to take you somewhere on the boat?"

Ranma just shook his head with a small smile on his face. "No, no need to. I just wanted to talk to you, that's all."

Iris just continued to look at him. She then put down her fork and stood up. She gathered up her things and left.

Ranma just stared at her as she walked away, wondering what he did wrong.

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Some time later -

Lachette was throwing her knives at her target. She always likes to keep her skills from getting rusty. She really wishes that her grandparents and their friends had left some demons behind for her to fight. If they had she and her friends wouldn't be stuck on this island just waiting for nothing.

Next to her is Maria as she aimed at the targets with that gun of hers. She and Maria got along well with each other since neither of them really likes talking that much. Maria is trying out some new bullets she had made. She called them 'Safe Bullets', which are designed to spread out on impact. They're called "safe" because the bullet wouldn't go through the target and injure anyone else. It made them perfect for a close quarters fight so that Maria wouldn't have to worry about her bullets hitting any of her teammates by accident.

But there isn't really any point of sharpening their skills like this since there aren't any demons left for them to fight. The only reason they do this is because they want to keep up the tradition that their parents had abandoned. The two destroyed a few more targets in rapid succession.

Then they stopped what they were doing when they heard a clapping sound. Turning to where it's coming from they saw Ranma. He's been watching them for a while now. It surprised them a bit as they didn't feel him there until they looked in his direction. Must be why he's so good at killing those monsters.

Ranma stood up and went over to them. "Nice work girls."

"Thank you," both of them said at the same time.

"So you two up for a little bit of sparring?" Ranma asked them with a smile.

"Sure," Lachette said grabbing two wooded knives that she uses to spar with.

"I'm game," Maria said and she pulled out a clip full of paint balls.

Lachette then asked him, "What about your friends? Aren't they going to get worried?"

"Nah. They're off playing volleyball again. Kasumi just LOVES playing volleyball so she's always getting the other girls to play against her. I've played at least 15 games of it already so, I left after our last game. So come on, let's fight!" He charged them.

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Twenty minutes later –

Lachette is huffing and puffing as she tried to regain her breath. No matter how many times she tried to nail him with her knives he would throw it back at her, forcing her to dodge. If she tried close-quarters combat, well, it's best not to go there. She's now on the ground, her muscles felt so sour not even letting her move a finger.

Maria is still trying to hit him at least once. The whole field is littered with paint of all colors. The only paint on him is under his sandals when he steps on the paint on the ground.

Even Maria's cold exterior is starting to break down. She's never missed before in her entire life! Now this guy is dodging all of her best shots at him, and he only look's a bit winded! How does he manage to dodge her and Lachette attacks at the same time?

Ranma is having the time of his life. Before coming here training has always been about improving himself. Now he's just having fun! He decided to end this now as it's been going on for a while.

Maria finally looses her cool. "DIE!" Her shots went rapid fire as she tried to hit him. He went around her shots and somehow got behind her. He disarmed her and put her arm behind her.

She lost! She can't get out of his grip no matter what she does. He finally let's go of her and she faces him, her face full of rage.

She's met with only his smiling face. "Thanks! That was really fun!"

She can't believe he thought of that as fun. She wasted more than four dozen paintballs! She stomped away, forgetting that Lachette is on the ground.

Ranma wondered what did he do NOW. He shook his head and went over to Lachette. "Are you okay?"

She's still breathing hard, but is recovering. "I'll be fine…ow!" She tried to get up, but her muscles protested against it and made her lie back down.

Ranma just shook his head and chuckled a bit. "You overextended yourself. Your muscles are locked up now. Here, if you let me I know some shiatsu that'll help."

She's a bit hesitant at first. No man has ever touched her before besides her father. After a while she nodded.

Ranma got to work immediately, talking to her as he does. "Hey Lachette, how come you don't talk to me very much? I don't mean to be rude or anything, but did I do something wrong? You won't speak to me unless you really have to."

She blushed a bit. "I'm sorry. It's just that, well, I'm not really the talkative type, that's all. It's not something you did at all."

Ranma beamed. "Oh! I thought I did something wrong. Well, if you don't mind can I talk to you some more. You're a really nice person and I like you."

Lachette blushed crimson. He…liked her? "You do?"

He gave her his best smile. "Sure! You're a real nice person. I don't know why you try to hide in all those baggy clothes though. I can tell you would give supermodels a run for their money. Oh! There you go, I'm done! Try sitting up."

She didn't know people could turn so red when he compared her to a supermodel. Not many men approach her considering how she keeps to herself all the time. Now here's a guy she barely knows and he's smiling at her as he helps her up. However, her muscles, while no longer locked up and painful, are still tired and she plops back down.

Well, almost. He catches her before she hits the ground. "I guess you're a lot more exhausted than I thought. Here, I'll carry you to your room okay." He picks her up princess style.

She panics. "W-w-wait! Don't! I'll be fine, just let me down!"

However, he just looks at her with concerned eyes. "Please let me help you. I really did overdo it by dodging all the time. It's my fault you're like this. Please, let me help you okay."

She hesitates for a while. However, she can't get the good feeling of being in his arms out of her mind. After a while she gets used to the feeling of being treated so nicely. "O-okay."

He's back to beaming at her. He carries her all the way back to her room with all the care and compassion one has for a loved one. It's miraculous that no one saw them. When they got there he set her down gently on her bed.

"Okay, I'm going to get one of the others to get you out of your sweat-soaked clothes okay. I'll get Orihime to bring up some food too. You just rest now okay." On an impulse he kisses her forehead and then walks to the door, not noticing the crimson blush on her. At the door he hesitates as he gets an idea. Maybe it'll get him a friend. He walks back to her and holds out his hand.

"Hi! I'm Ranma. Want to be friends?" It worked on him, maybe it'll work on her.

She doesn't hesitate to take his hand and shake it. "I'm Lachette. Yeah, let's be friends." The smile on her face would have put Akane to shame.

He makes sure she's comfy before leaving, happy that he's made a new friend, and oblivious to the fact that she will never leave his side.

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Fifth day, early morning –

For some reason he woke up a lot earlier than usual. It's even earlier than the time he wakes up to go sparring with Kanna or on the off chance one of his group. Only he trains daily ever since they came here since it's ingrained in him. He can't go back to sleep so he gets up and leaves Ranko and Yun on his bed. He kisses Ranko's lips softly and she mumbles a bit in her sleep with a smile on her face. He then strokes his sister's hair. Her coming to his room had been a surprise and a blessing last night. Or is it a curse?

Ranko had been really, really…'in heat' last night. She couldn't stop kissing him and is totally all over him. While he's not complaining he had a relapse of what happened in the flower field. He had been THIS close to making love to her. He had been about to take off her panties when there came a knock on the door, which made them hurriedly dress more appropriately. Yun came in asking if she could sleep with the two of them tonight. It's a bit cold that night so she went to her big brother's room hoping to sleep there. She had never done that before, but there's a first time for everything. After getting permission from him (Ranko just grumbled about 'danged bad timing') she jumped on the bed and went to one side of Ranma while Ranko occupied the other.

He silently thanked her for the close call she saved him from. He got dressed and headed out taking along his sword to practice for a bit. Not even the sun is out yet.

He deeply breathes in the air. It's fresh and has the scent of the sea and flowers. There's also a hint of the pool's chlorine since he's a bit downwind from it. He just stares out at everything even though it's still dark.

This place has really invigorated him. He really needed this after all the stresses he's had to deal with. Here he can act a bit childish if he wanted to. The people he's here with are great as well. Having his friends and family here is different from when they're at the temple, probably because they didn't have to deal with any chores or anything. All they have to do is just relax and have fun. The inn's girls sometimes join in as well.

He really likes Reni. That girl is so cute, especially when he's teaching her how to swim. For a girl that's surrounded on all sides by water he's surprised that she doesn't know how to at least even float on her back. Still, at least he gets to teach her. He's beginning to feel the bond he shares with Yun form with the silver haired girl.

The others are nice in their own ways with some better than others. Kanna is a fun sparring partner to have. At first it's all about martial arts. However, since yesterday she talks to him more and acts like a friend. He doesn't know how he turned from guest to sensei then to a friend, but he's not complaining.

Lachette is also nice. She's asked him a few of his opinion on how she should dress and talks to him more. Sometimes the two of them would talk in English. He didn't think his complements about her having a great body would get to her that much. He was just pointing out the obvious. Still, he wasn't kidding when he said she's a nice person and wanted to be her friend and supermodels would envy her. Her friends almost had a heart attack when she came down wearing a skintight dress with a very short skirt. He thought she looked good in it. What's wrong with trying something new?

It's the others that still confuse him. He can tell Kohran is a lot like Molly is. That's about all he knows of her. Sure she's energetic and stuff, but he really doesn't know her.

Iris is also a mystery. She won't open up to anyone, not even Yun. Sure they play together, but that's it. She'll treat you politely, but she won't get to know you or let you get to know her. He resolved to try to figure out what's going on with her. There's something under the surface he just can't get to.

Maria is a lot easier to understand. Something happened to that girl for her to have such a cold attitude. It's a lot like Nabikis when she's dealing in business without the greed. She's also apparently a sore loser. She won't talk to him unless it's necessary ever since he beat her in that sparring match. Oh well, the only thing he can do is try.

Sumire he's a bit hesitant to get to know. She seems to have almost the same ego problems he did. She's outspoken, cocky and a bit spoiled. While she's not a mean person her mouth can get her into a lot trouble of trouble if she doesn't watch it. Boy does he know how that goes! Maybe he can get her to tone it down a bit and befriend her.

Orihime is a lot easier to get along with if you can get pass all the talks of fashion and stuff. Thankfully he has a bit of experience in that when Tina and Chris were still at that stage. She's also a great cook. Not as good as Chris but still great. He loved the feast that she cooked for them when they first got here. She's a bit prissy, but you can tell she's a good person at heart. However, she seems to be a bit hostile to him for reasons he can't tell.

Sakura, now there's a girl he wants to get to know. She's optimistic, friendly, determined and very formal. She's a bit clumsy, but she'll apologize, a lot, if she breaks something and gets to fixing it. She's also a fellow katana user like himself. Now there's a person he wants to befriend. Maybe they can teach each other even if he is still learning his great-grandmother's school.

For some weird reason he's compelled to make friends with the inn's girls. His instincts scream out to get to know them better and befriend them, and his instincts are hardly ever wrong. They do seem a bit lonely here so they could use a friend. He'll also get his own friends and family to get to know them as well. The fact that all of them are fighters except Iris will make it easier to befriend them.

He then hears the undeniable sound of a sword going through the air. 'Huh? Who's awake at this hour besides me?' He heads towards where the sound came from.

At a semi-secluded patch of trees he sees Sakura on the ground. She's sitting on her shins perfectly still with her eyes closed and her sword on the ground next to her. He's about to go up to her to ask what she's doing when she suddenly springs into action. She takes out her sword so fast that he can barely see it and slices a leaf that was falling to the ground. She then twirls her sword and puts it back into her sheath and resumes her meditation.

He walked up to her. That was pretty cool! When he's at sword distance to her she suddenly takes out her sword and slashed at him. Only his reflexes kept him from getting a deep wound on his chest.

Sakura finally comes out of her trance to see Ranma with his katana blocking her own. If he hadn't stopped her she would have killed her guest! "Oh my god! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I was just…"

"Whoa! Calm down Sakura! It's okay. You probably just didn't notice me. Umm, do you mind not trying to kill me now?" He indicated their locked swords.

She 'eeped' and put her katana away quickly. "I'm sorry! I should have noticed you were there and…"

He interrupted her by saying, "Cut it out already will you. I said it's okay. So, mind if I sit with you?"

Sakura blushed a bit. "O-oh course!"

"Thanks." He sat down next to her. To Sakura it's way too close. She can practically feel him sitting next to her. "So this is how you train huh."

She nodded without looking at him. "Y-y-yes. I wake up every morning around this time. I meditate for a while, and then when I feel a leaf or even a drop of water coming down I would slice it. I didn't notice you coming up to me so when I sensed the movement I attacked. Everyone knows not to bother me at this time. I should have told all of you, I'm sorry!"

He just waved it off. "Nah, it's all right. I'm not hurt so it's okay. Say, you want to spar a bit?"

She turned to him a bit excitedly. She hasn't sparred with anyone in a long time. "Sure!"

Ranma gave her a grin that made her blush again. "Great! Let's get away from here though. We might wake up everybody." He stood up and held out his hand to her.

She took it and let him lift her up. 'Wow. His hands are so warm and nice.' The two then walked away towards the other end of the island.

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45 minutes later –

The slumped form of Sakura can be seen lying against a rock, gasping for air. Ranma, while not as tired, is also trying to get his breath back. 'That was intense!'

The two had fought none stop the whole time. Sakura proved to be just as good as he thought she is. While not as good as he is she put up quite a fight. If she had gone through the things he had he didn't doubt that she would probably have defeated him. When she had made her sword glow blue he got nervous until he saw that she's powering her sword using ki. The two almost went all out at a couple of times until they realized it's only a sparring match. They couldn't stop fighting. It felt great to have someone to spar with that uses the same weapon as you! Ranma proved to be the victor when he was able to disarm her by locking their swords then twisting it around until she loosened her grip and he threw her sword away. As soon as that happened the two slumped down to the ground. They dragged their tired bodies to one of the big rocks that lined the clearing they are in. Ranma's the one in better shape so he's better off than her.

"That was (gasp) great Sakura! (gasp) Where did (gasp) learn how to (gasp) fight like (gasp) that?" Ranma asks her.

Unlike him she motioned for him to wait first so she can get her breath back. "Learn it from my father. He runs a dojo on the mainland."

"Really? That's good. Say, you want to do this again and maybe even teach each other?"

Sakura beamed. She has a really nice smile he noticed "Sure! I haven't done this since I left the dojo to run this inn!"

Ranma looked over at her. "Why DID you come here? No offence but you're a bit young to run a resort don't you think."

She then went on to explain, "This is my grandparent's inn. They were getting too old to run it so, I came here to do it for them since my parents are too busy to do so and no one else could do it. One by one my friends came to help me run the place. When, I came here it was already like this. Too many of the big resorts are around the area and not many people come here anymore." She then sighed. "To tell you the truth, I don't like it here too much. It's a great place and all, but it gets really dull after a while. Oh! I'm sorry! I shouldn't have said that! I didn't mean to bother you with my problems!" She looked a bit panicked.

Ranma just chuckled. "It's all right. Say, you've known everyone here for a while now right?" She nodded. "Do you think you can tell me what's wrong with Iris? She seems so…distant, you know. It's like she doesn't like us or something."

Sakura sighed sadly. "She's had quite a few problems in her life. She doesn't have any parents anymore. She has a…special problem. I'm sorry, but it's not my place to tell you what. Her mother is from around here while her father is from France. After the two got married they went to France and became famous actors for plays and such. During that time they had Iris. For a while it looked like Iris is following in her parents footsteps. Iris became a great actress like her parents are. That's when her 'special problem' came up. It's hereditary on her mother's side. That's when things went bad. Her father tried to cope with it, but couldn't. He died when he choked on his own bile when he drank too much. Her mother tried to support the two of them, but couldn't keep up being an actress and a mother at the same time. The two became homeless for a while and her mother died of starvation. Iris went to an orphanage for a while until her grandparents, the ones from Japan, found her. They brought her to their home and took care of her for a month or so. However, they couldn't take care of a child at their age. During that time they taught her all they could of how to control her 'special problem'. After that is when she was brought here a year ago. Her grandparents and ours were all demon slayers. In fact, all of our grandparents are and they knew each other. She opened up a bit to us, but not fully. I think she really misses having parents."

Sakura sighed again and unconsciously laid her head on Ranma's shoulder. He almost flinched when he noticed her sad expression. He let her stay where she is and even took hold of her hand when it started trembling. "We do our best to take care of her, but we don't really know how to get her to open up to people. She's also legally not ours. The paperwork never got through so she's still legally an orphan. A couple of times someone came to get her, but somehow we convince them not to. We've also tried to adopt her ourselves, but we don't have the resources necessary. Maria and Kanna are of age, but neither of them have any considerable money. I want to help her so much, but I don't know how." She started to softly cry.

Ranma took her into his arms and let her cry on his shoulder. She sobbed that she does her best to keep everyone's spirits up, but she just doesn't know how. Her friends are hurting and here they are managing a falling apart inn that's practically broke. For a good five minutes she cried her heart out on his shoulder. He rocked her back and forth and whispered soothing words to her. When she came to she realized what she's doing and tried to apologize.

Ranma wouldn't let her. "Shhh, it's okay. I understand. I don't know what I can do, but I'll try my best to make her my friend and get her to open up more. I promise." He knew it's dangerous to make a promise like that, but he felt in his heart he has to at least try.

She thanked him again and again as she stayed in his arms. After a good while the two separated, but she still had her head on his shoulder. The two just stayed there, letting her get control of her emotions.

Out of the blue he then looked down at her and say. "I know we don't know each other much, but do you want to be friends?" He held his right hand to her.

Sakura only thought about it for a second before putting her left hand in his. "You're a really nice person Ranma. Sure, I'll be your friend."

The two stayed there for a little while longer. They can tell this is a friendship that'll last a lifetime.

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Sixth day, noon -

"Come on, I know it's here somewhere!"

"Yeah, yeah. Hold on for a minute will you. It's not like it'll get up and leave you know."

Ranma and Chris are headed towards the hot spring that Lachette have told them about. Problem is finding it of course. It's a bit into the forest and that's where they are currently looking. They must have turned the wrong way or something because they should have gotten there by now.

'I hope I'm not turning into Ryoga.' He knew they shouldn't have gotten off the path, but Chris pointed out it seems to be going in a certain direction but zigzags so they opted to just walk a straight line. They should have gotten there a minute ago, but to his girlfriend who's never been in a hot spring before that's one minute too much.

The two then heard the sounds of giggling. The two looked at each other bewildered. From where they are they can't see where it's coming from and they couldn't recognize it. They followed the sounds and realized their heading towards the hot spring. They can smell it now.

When the two arrived their eyes widened when they saw who's in it. Fred and Rico are getting quite cozy with each other. They're just lying there, NAKED, talking to each other with Rico next to him and his arm around her. The two stared wide-eyed for a while before woodenly leaving. When they're an appropriate distance they finally recover from their shock.

"Wow. Those two sure are getting along," Ranma stated.

"Hon, I think that's the understatement of the century." Chris felt a bit miffed that she can't do that with Ranma now. Looks like Fred was making up to Rico of spending all that time with Shiori big time.

Ranma shook his head and tried to forget about what he saw. He did wonder though, who's the one who made the first move? While it doesn't look like the two made love the two of them have went from total strangers to that stage of a relationship? Whoa. "Let's just go somewhere else okay dear."

Chris nodded. "Sure," she purred. "There's a small waterfall on the island on the other side that I've been dying to show you. It's nice and secluded and I have just the swimsuit to wear there." She indicated the small bag she has.

Ranma gulped. She has that glint in her eyes again. It's that same glint she had when she had dragged him into her room after their first date. Then he thought, 'Where is she going to get dressed?' Then he figured it out. 'Oh.'

He then looked into the bag. 'She's going to wear THAT? Where the hell did she even got it?' (J)

He then looked into the bag again. His eye twitched when he saw what she wants him to wear that's lying next to the swimsuit she's going to wear. 'A speedo?'

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Sixth day, sunset -

"Hey Orihime, how's things going?"

"EEEKKK!"

The sound of a thump met Ranma's ears. The girl had been trying to sneak away without making a sound, but her perfume is a dead giveaway. It smells really nice and she happened to be upwind from him at the right moment. He's sitting down on the dock watching the sea when he smelled the girl heading his way. She suddenly stopped for a second when she's only a few feet from him, then turned around to head back. He wouldn't let her leave on his account so he greeted her, not expecting her to react like that.

Orihime had been heading to the dock. It's her favorite place to sit down for a while and think. She's done this so many times that its second nature to her. Everyone knows not to disturb her when she's there. Of course, she wasn't expecting someone to be there. She didn't even notice he's there until she's only a few feet from him. She blushed as she almost bumped into him. She turned back and used every single trick she knew to get away. She didn't expect him to actually greet her so she got surprised and fell on her butt.

He went up to her and put out a hand to help her up. However, she slapped his hand away and stood up herself. She then went over to where he was sitting and sat down. "If you're done, I would like to sit here by myself if you don't mind."

Ranma's about to leave when he felt compelled to stay. He went over to where she's sitting and just stood there. He heard her teeth grind a bit. What did he do to get her so ticked off? "What did I do to get you so mad at me?"

She didn't bother to look at him. "Nothing. I didn't mean to be rude to you," she said in an emotionless voice.

'Oh boy, this girl's a bit like Maria, but only to me. Why is that?' Ranma wonder to himself.

The two just stay there for a minute when she comments, "Considering what you did in Shibuya, I bet that your family's honor is very high right now." The silence is getting to her so she had to say something. It's the first thing she could think of considering her past.

"Don't you ever mention the words 'family honor' to me!" Ranma hissed with a lot of venom.

The amount of heat in his voice surprised her and she turned to him. "What? But with all the things that you do your family must be very proud and have much honor. Why don't you like family honor?" It's a commonly known fact that the Japanese take honor very seriously.

Ranma frowned as he spoke. "I don't believe in any kind of honor but my own. I HATE people judging me with their own views of honor! I gave up in trying to gained honor through someone else's eyes a long time ago. I couldn't care less about how other people perceive me. As long as, I believe, I'm doing something right, I'll do it."

Orihime's opinion of him went up a notch. "Wow. I wish that my father was like you." She brought up her knees and hugged them to her. For some reason she feels she can open up to this person now. "My father was Japanese and my mother an Italian. The two of them met when they were teenagers. They fell in love, got married and soon had me." She sighed sadly. "That's when things went wrong. My mother's family had a…problem that's passed down through the generations. She never told him about it though. After many years, I came to have that power as well."

She chuckled mirthlessly. "After a year he went back here to Japan and took up the arranged marriage my grandparents of my father side had intended for him to have before he met my mother. He said that honor had to be fulfilled and he had no choice. He's always been like that, being honorable and stuff. It's just that he ignored the arranged marriage until he couldn't take the shame anymore. It devastated my mother. Her work as a fashion designer went down the drain and eventually she became nothing but a broken shell and eventually she died. My grandparents from my mother's side took me in. They taught me about demon slaying and how to control my 'problem' before sending me here when they got too old to take care of me. That's why I was rude to you. I don't like Japanese men because all they care about is honor."

"Your father is a fool and the disgrace," Ranma said in such a cold tone that it made Maria's seem perky. "He left you for honor, bullshit." The disgust he put into his words scared her a bit. "That's not honor, that's running away. He already had a wife so why would he go back for that!"

He then notices that he's scaring her a bit. "Sorry. My father was a bastard too so I'm in the same boat as you." He put a hand on her shoulder and squeezes gently. He also gives her his best reassuring smile. "Seeing how lovely you are now he's nothing but a fool to leave you behind. You got all of your good genes from your mother's side. Leaving someone like you I would never do."

She blushed when he called her lovely. "You mean your father left you as well?" she asked so maybe he won't notice her red face.

"No, but he did use honor against me too. He would use the word honor whenever he wants something, and then totally ignore it if it gets in his way. He did other things to me too, and if you don't mind I'd rather not talk about it. Orihime, you can't do anything about the past. The best you can do is let it go and work on what's ahead of you. I know you have a prejudice against us 'honorable Japanese men', but we're not all bad. I won't treat you like those other people do because you're not pure Japanese. Heck, I'm not one myself. I don't care about people's ancestry. I care about the PERSON. I'll let you think on that for a while."

He walked away from her. Five steps away he turns around and says, "If you ever need help come to me. I know we've only met a few days ago, but if you let me I'll protect you with my very life. You're a great person Orihime. The world could use someone like you. You know what," he chuckled a bit. "You're also a great cook." He then turned around and walked away for real this time. He just remembered that Viki wanted to see the sunset with him.

She watched Ranma walk back to the inn. She never thought that he's like that. She had expected him to be a stoic and 'honorable' person. While she had seen that he's fun to be with when he's with his group of friends she thought that it was a façade. She's encountered enough men to know that most Japanese men are too stuck in the old ways to care about how they treat people or are the types of men who try to get into your pants then leaves after they do. She's only known those two types. Also as soon as they find out she's half Italian they tended to ignore her. She heard quite a few of them say they didn't want anything to do with half-breeds.

She can tell Ranma's the brutally honest type. When he said he would protect her even if she had only known him for a couple of days she knows he meant it. The two of them both had fathers that used honor against them. He's also the first Japanese man that doesn't care about other people's views of honor. He's not like the guys around here since he doesn't take his family's 'honor' to the extreme like her father did. When he first came here she had been attracted to his body, but made assumptions that he's just like all the other men she knows. Now…

Too bad he would leave again after their stay is over. Ranma would have made a great friend. She resolved to be extra nice to him for the duration of his stay and get to know him better.

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Seventh day –

Maria, as always, is out training and toning her body even if it's already nighttime. Currently she's jumping rope near the beach. A light glean of sweat is on her face. "158,159,160,161,162…."

"Wow, that's a lot. But don't you think it's time you stopped with the training."

She's not expecting anyone to be around and so looked towards where the voice came from, practically right by her ear. "HUH?"

In her surprise she doesn't stop jump roping and so she trips on it and somehow gets tangled in the rope. "Dang! Stupid rope!"

As she's struggling to get out of them she felt another pair of hands helping her. "Whoa! Calm down! The more you struggle the more you get tangled up!" She looked up at the one talking to her and saw Ranma.

She stopped struggling and allowed him to get the ropes off. In no time she's free. She nods at him in thanks. "Thank you. However, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be out having fun?" she asked in a monotone. She's still a bit mad at when he beat her.

Ranma shrugged, not affected by her tone at all. "I'm just looking around. That's not a problem right?"

She nodded. "Oh. Well, I'm going to continue training. If you don't mind…" She starts to jump rope again.

However, a hand stops her from progressing. "Oh come on! Even, I don't train at night if, I don't have to!" He takes her rope from her, snapping it to him before she can get a grip.

"Hey! Give that back!"

"Nope! If you want it back you gotta catch me first!" Ranma ran from her down the beach laughing all the way.

"Hey! Come back here you!" She ran after him full tilt, which to Ranma is about jogging pace.

The two ran around the beach with Ranma slowing down every once in a while to let her catch up to him. Then when she's about to get him he would sped up. All throughout the chase he's laughing, but not in a mocking way. It's the laugh he has when he's having good-natured fun. Sometimes he would go by the water and splash her a bit, then run away after he allows her to splash him a bit in return.

At first she's mad, steaming mad. The guy first beats her, then interrupts her training session and gets her all tangled up in her rope. Then he actually takes her rope and runs away with it!

However, his carefree laughter is contagious. He seems so happy just playing around with her, trying to get her to loosen up as well. After a while instead of a scowl on her face she's smiling a bit. She's no longer trying to catch him to get her rope back. Rather, she's trying to catch him for the hell of it. It's also fun to splash each other with water. She hasn't had this much fun in years!

After a long time, how much neither of them knew, they sit down on the beach. She's breathing a bit hard while Ranma is only a bit winded. "Ahhhhh! Now wasn't that fun?"

Maria actually surprises herself when she giggles a bit. 'I haven't giggled since I was a kid!' "Yes. I have to admit that was a bit fun." She leans back on her elbows and looks out at the sea. The two of them just sit there in silence until she turned to him and asked, "Why did you do this? Shouldn't you be with your friends or something?"

Ranma shrugged. "Why not? I've noticed you're the most depressing one out of your group and also the loneliest. Don't give me that look. You know what I mean. You hide behind that cold exterior because…well…I don't know why. You have to loosen up a bit or you'll kill yourself. Training is great, but too much of it will gain you nothing."

She looked at him with an expressionless face, but if you look closely you can see a bit of irritation. "What do you mean by that?"

Ranma seemed unaffected. "Training is great. However, it can take a lot of your time, time you could spend with your friends. I'm not saying you should stop training, just to manage your time so you spend equal time training yourself and equal time with your friends." He looked seriously at her. "I learned that lesson the hard way. I used to think only about martial arts and that's it. It got me nothing but trouble. I left myself lacking in many areas besides martial arts. There are other things in this world besides training you know, friends and family being the most important. Sakura and the others are your friends, but if you treat them too coldly or never spend any time with them they might think that you don't want them anymore and leave."

Maria thought about it for a while. She can't really refute his words however. Her life only consisted of three things: guns, training and her work here at the inn. Could it be that she's pushing her friends away by training all the time? While there are no demons or anything around here that doesn't mean she should slack off on her training.

Her thoughts are derailed when she feels Ranma's hands messing with her hair. "What are you doing?"

She's about to grab his hands, but he gives her a look that somehow freezes her. When she made no more moves to remove his hands he nods and his face turns back to the friendly one that he has had ever since he came. "I'm just fixing your hair. If you are really serious about all this training for battle and stuff then you can't afford to loose your sight. Every little bit counts and all an enemy has to do is get you in your blind spot, which is your left eye because your hair gets in the way."

She nods in understanding. Who better to know about these things than a guy who has been in battle with monsters? She has always kept her hair like it is because she likes it that way. Perhaps a new style would be nice.

Ranma puts his hands down. "There! All done! Wow, you look very cute like this." She blushed a bit. A man has never complemented her before unless they wanted something. She would have thought that he's complimenting her to get in her panties, but he doesn't seem to be. "You really should keep it like this. You have really nice eyes. Here, let's go see how you look!" He grabs her hand, not noticing how her blush is getting progressively redder, and brings her to the water. He makes her look down at her reflection, the moonlight letting them see in the dark.

Maria stares at her reflection like she's never seen it before. Her hair is now parted a bit so that her left eye can be seen. While not her usual style it made her look…nice?

Ranma patted her back a bit. "There. What do you think? Personally, I like it. You really should let people see your face more. You hide it behind your hair so people can't really appreciate it. You're very beautiful. I don't get why you have to hide that."

She can't believe someone is actually saying all this to her. Many men have found her attractive, even with her cold attitude. However, she could tell that they just wanted to have sex with her. She knows all the signs, both subtle and obvious, of when a man wants to get her in bed. No matter how good an actor you are she could tell within a few seconds.

However, Ranma doesn't show any signs of it. In fact, if she read him right she can see that he wants to be her…friend? She's never had any friends except for Sakura and the others. People are too scared of her to try. She looked up a bit dazed at him, then back at her reflection. Maybe she can actually have a…friend…besides Sakura and the others?

Her parents are real gun nuts. For a long time the three of them traveled around the world, just looking at the different guns and buying quite a collection. But after awhile as she got older her parents started getting tired of dragging around a child with them all of the time. It's always hard to get into a gun shop without having to convince the owner first that she's not any trouble. When she turned 13 she got dropped off with Sumire's family. She hasn't seen her parents since.

That's when she adopted her cold expression. Maybe if she kept people at a distance they couldn't harm her. Because she learned that at any moment someone close to her would leave her when they have gotten tried of her. Only Sumire and the others have ever been able to get pass her barriers. They are in the same boat she is. Parents gone, not wanting them around only working at a resort that's close to bankruptcy.

The only thing that kept her sane is the stories of her grandfather and grandmother. The two have told her of the great adventures they've had killing the demons of the area. She had wanted to do that as well, but there are none.

She tried to go out into the world, but that required money. Also, most of the places with demon activity already had demon hunters. She had no choice but to stay with Sumire and the others. Then when Sumire's parents had to go on a business trip they thought that if they let Sumire manage Sakura's inn she'll get some valuable experience, her age not withstanding. Maria went with her naturally.

But Sumire's parents never came back for her. They're too busy to come pick her up.

She kept herself in tip-top shape in case she ever needs to be in a fight. She thought that she has everything she needs. A few friends, a roof over her head, and her gun is all she really needs. However, she always felt that she's been missing something. It's not something she can put her finger on. She thought it might be friendship, but she has that with Sumire and the others.

Now, however, staring at the man in front of her that missing piece seems to be filled in. She can't tell why, but she has the strongest notion to stick with this man and guard his back. Perhaps she can also be his friend. It's so strong she feels as if she can drown in the feeling.

Ranma, however, does not know of the internal battle going on inside the blonde's mind. He just patted her on the back and stood up, offering her a hand up as well. "Come on, let's go back to the others and show off how you look now." He gave her a smile.

She looks at his hand for a bit then steels herself. She took his hand and let him lift her up. "Alright, let's go." She nodded at him and smile, a genuine one that only Sumire and the others have seen, and even then for only a split second. She would guard his back, just as he would guard hers. If he ever needs help she'll be there. When they are not in battle they would be friends.

The two walked back to the resort side by side, Ranma oblivious to the fact that he's probably made a friend and partner in battle for life. All he knows is that he's cheered up someone and that's enough to cheer him up as well.

A few of her friends fainted when they were actually able to see BOTH her eyes and a genuine smile on her face.

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Eight day –

"Molly! Molly! Where are you? Tina is looking for you!"

"Coming! Sorry Kohran. Got to go!"

The door Ranma was passing by suddenly opened wide and a purple streak went past him. That was Molly all right. He then looked inside the open door and spotted Kohran working on a machine. He stood outside her door and addressed her.

"Hey Kohran. What're you working on?"

She turned to him and smiled a bit. "Hi Mr. Wild. Come in. Welcome to my workshop!"

He stepped inside and went to her side. "Please, just call me Ranma will you. You've been calling me that since I got and it makes me feel old."

She scratched the back of her head. "Oh. I'm sorry. So, what do you think of my work Ranma?"

He looked at the…thing…that she's currently working on. "Errr, what is it?"

She looked a bit miffed. Can't he tell what it is? "It's a pair of jet boots of course! This will allow you to fly for a few seconds as soon as I'm done making it!"

He looked more closely at it. Doesn't look like any boots he's ever seen. It looks more like a robot's legs that was chewed up by a dog or something than anything else. "Ahh, okay. Sorry for not knowing what it is."

She sighed sadly. "I know it doesn't look like much, but I try. Come on, I want to show you my greatest creation!" She took his hand, trying desperately not to notice how warm it is, and dragged him over to her energy cannon. "So, what do you think?"

He looked it over. It looked kind of like a sci-fi bazooka. There are knobs and buttons all over it and a pull out screen much like a camera has. There's a glass bubble case at the very top as well. It's definitely the best out of her other works. "Now this one is nice. So, are you going to tell me what it does or am I going to have to guess?" he asked good-naturedly.

She giggled. "It's an energy cannon that I've been working on for a long time. I still haven't gotten it right though. Every time I try to use it, it fires without me even pressing a button, fires as I put in an energy source, or just doesn't fire at all. I haven't gotten all the bugs out yet, but with Molly's help I'm sure I can fix it!"

He smiles and pats her on the back. "That's great! I'm sure you'll fix up so it works like a charm!" He then looks her over. She's wearing her work clothes and is covered in grime and oil. She's also pale for a person living on an island with lots of sun. "Say, you spend all your time here don't you?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, I work in here if I don't have anything to fix at the inn. Why?"

He nodded. An expression of pure determination settled over his face. "Not today you're not. Where's your shower and your room?"

She pointed the two rooms out with a bewildered expression. He took her hand and practically pulled her to her room. "Hey! What are you doing?"

He stops and turns around. The steely determination on his face made her stop struggling. "Kohran, it's a beautiful day outside. It's way too good to be stuck in here all day. I'm not leaving this building without you, in a swimsuit, all ready for some fun on the beach."

"But I have work here to do! I have to finish the jet boots and…"

He silences her with a finger on her lips. "Come on, just one day is all I'm asking. Please?" He puts on his most pleading expression on his face.

She's racked with indecision. While it would be great to take a break she really should finish up with her work here. However, seeing how pathetic he looks made her wilt. "Oh alright."

He practically bounced in happiness. He dragged her to her room, grabbed the nearest swimsuit he saw (a two piece string bikini) and pushed her into the shower room. He waited outside the door for twenty minutes for her to finish. While waiting he spotted a bottle of suntan lotion and grabbed it. When he heard the shower turn off he waited for a few minutes for her to step out. When she did he wordlessly took her hand and led her to her bed. He indicated the bottle and had her lay out on her bed. He quickly spread it on her and then brought her outside to the beach and to his group of friends, including the inn's girls.

The whole day he would not let her go back to her workshop. If she tried to he would drag her back and do something new. Whether it's volleyball, swimming, making sand castles, he kept her in a constant flurry of motion.

At the end of the day she's exhausted and has a slight tan. However, it's not the usual exhaustion she feels after she's worked on her inventions for a couple of hours. This is the good type of soreness. It's the type that you get after a whole day of fun. She can't get the grin off of her face as she plopped down on her bed. She resolved to herself that she's going to keep having fun with Ranma until he leaves the resort in a couple of days. Now that she thought about it he's the first male friend she's ever made. She giggled girlishly and went to sleep without changing.

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Ninth day -

Ranma is walking around the inn after having spent some time with Chris in the hot spring. At first she couldn't take the heat or smell, but after some time she really enjoyed herself.

As he's passing one of the rooms he hears the voice of Iris. He peeks inside and sees her on top of a table. She's half kneeling, half lying on the table sideways and seemed to be reciting lines from a play and making gestures with her hands. He's mesmerized at how good an actress she is and how she's able to make you feel like you're in another world.

"Do not close you heart. Water your heart, or else no one's words will reach you. You will no longer be able to see those you love. Oh, your heart will dry up like a desert. Do not close up your heart. In the heart, dreams…"

She stretches her hand out, not noticing that he's there. He quickly decides to go in and takes her hand. Without consciously knowing it he lifted her from the table and set her down on the ground. She then starts to dance like an angel. He did what he supposedly is supposed to do and let her drown in her daydream.

After a long dance session she snaps out of it. He clapped enthusiastically at her performance. "That was great Iris! Where was that from?"

She went back to her usual face and curtsied. However, there's a hint of a smile on her lips. "Thank you. That was from a play called 'The Rose of Arabia'. Is there something you needed?"

Ranma shook his head. No way is he going to give up on her and let her brush him off. "No. I was just walking past and saw you in here. You stretched out your hands and I thought that you wanted me to help you so I did."

"Oh. Thank you." She sat down on a couch next to her bear, Jean-Paul. Ranma got an idea and went up to the teddy bear.

"Hi. You're Jean-Paul right?" He heard Iris say 'yes' without looking at him, just staring at the floor. He then went back to talking to the bear. "My name is Ranma. Say, do you think Iris really likes acting?"

"Yes, she does," Iris replied for the bear.

Seeing that he's getting somewhere he sat down next to the bear. "I bet she must be a great actress, don't you Jean-Paul? Do you think she knows any more plays?"

Iris nodded. She then stood up and faced him. She had her eyes closed for a minute before her face changed into an angelic expression and her eyes opened. She made gestures with her hands and spoke more lines of the play.

"I am surrounded by a forest of hazel saplings, taking the sunlight filtered through the trees in my hands. Even today, I am absorbed in the alchemy of words, and the birds sing to me with voices like a dew of light."

Ranma clapped again when she finished and she curtsied again. "That was great Iris!"

She didn't look any different from her usual face except for the ghost of the smile on her lips. "It was nothing special. Everyone can do the same thing."

He shook his head in the negative. "No, not everyone. You have a gift. You can make people 'feel' that they are in the play. You make them feel happy, sad, delighted, any and all emotions just by what you say and do. Not many people can do that." When he saw the smile widening a bit he got an idea. Akane would've killed him if she found out. "Say, do you know Romeo and Juliet?"

She nodded and started to do the balcony scene by herself. However, before she could reverse her role to Romeo Ranma stood up and did it himself. He said the words perfectly, his acting almost as good as hers.

Iris became delighted at having another person to act with. None of the others knew any plays at all. They did the balcony scene together (without the kissing or any of that kind of stuff of course) and a few other scenes that Ranma knew. She then directed him on different plays, teaching him the lines, showing him the actions and even the dances. At one point they somehow ended up outside in a clearing.

The whole afternoon the two did various plays oblivious to everything else. They didn't know they had acquired an audience. Everyone watched the two with astonishment. The inn's girls are especially astonished at Iris. They had never seen her happier in the whole time she's been here. Her smile reached her eyes and she enthusiastically showed Ranma the ropes.

At the end they received a thunderous applause. The two were quite shocked, but nonetheless took it in stride. They 'exited' stage right and went back to the room they started from.

"Thank you. That was the best time I've had in a long time," Iris said to him. Her eyes are sparkling and her body radiated energy.

Ranma patted her head. "You're welcome Iris. I'm just glad to see you happy. Maybe we can do that again sometime. What do you say?" She nodded happily.

He stepped away from her and walked out of the room, waving on the way out. She waved back and whispered, "Bye, oniichan."

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Tenth Day, early morning -

"So what did you want to see me for Orihime?"

The two are on the other side of the island deep in the forest. She had asked him to come with her after breakfast and followed her all the way here.

She turned around and faced him with a determined expression. "Ranma, would you be my friend?"

His eyes widen significantly, and then he ran up to her and hugged her tightly. "Sure! I'd love to be your friend! Is that what you brought me out here for?" He made another friend! Yay! Yay? What the hell's wrong with him?

'Why is it that this man makes me blush so much?' she thought to herself. She then shook her head to answer his question and also to get her center back. "No, Ranma. I brought you here to ask that and if you said yes to reveal a secret that very few people know about. I've seen the things you have faced in Shibuya and that is my hope that this won't be too weird for you." She looked at him a bit nervously. "Can, can you keep a secret?"

He can see that it's taking all of the willpower she has to do this. He gives her his most reassuring smile and takes her hand to calm her. "Of course. On my honor I will never reveal your secret to another soul."

She knows he will keep that promise since he's put his own personal honor on the line. She nodded, a bit relieved. She turned to one of the big rocks and pointed her palm at it.

Ranma became mesmerized when a fireball formed at the end of her palm and shot at the rock. Since rock is not flammable it didn't burn. However, it did melt a little. "WOW! That was so cool!"

Orihime turned surprised eyes to him. "What did you say?" Even Sakura and the others had been a bit creeped out until they had gotten used to it.

Ranma nodded enthusiastically. "I said that was so cool! THAT'S your problem? That's not a problem, that's a blessing!" She seemed totally astonished at him. Hmm…why not? "Here, since you showed me yours I'll show you mine."

Orihime wondered what he's talking about until he pointed his own palm at the partially destroyed rock. Her eyes widened as his hand glowed black and he yelled out "Chaos Wave!" The rock suddenly turned white for a second before disintegrating.

"W-w-w-what was that?" Sure she knew that Ranma is a master swordsman and all, but he has the power to destroy things by making them disappear?

Ranma turned to her and put a hand on her shoulder. He squeezed gently to get her to calm down. Doing that seems to always make her calm down. "You revealed a really big secret to me. I saw how much willpower it took for you to even bring me here so I figured that the least I can do is show you MY big secret."

He took off the bandanna on his head. She looked fascinated at the tattoo on his forehead. She looked into his eyes and asked with her own if she could touch it. He nodded his permission and she touched it, wondering what it has to do with his power.

As if reading her mind he said, "That is my rune. It's called the 'Chaos Rune' and it allows me to do what I just did."

She looked at it wide-eyed. A 'rune' has the power to destroy things like that? "Is this what you used at the clock tower, the ball and the mall massacres?"

He shook his head. "No. I couldn't use it or else people would have gone nuts and thought, I'm a monster too. No, I used my own abilities even if I had this and my other two runes." He showed her his Gale and Chimera Runes and what they did, well, the Gale Rune anyway. He explained to her that the Chimera Rune doesn't do anything anymore and he just keeps it there because he likes it and has sentimental value.

At first she's a bit skeptical. First she said that there's no way these things could have destroyed the rock so he gave her another demonstration. He pointed out that the runes glow when it's being used. Sure enough they glowed when he used them. Then she's a bit skeptical that perhaps he used this at his fights. That's when he showed her how high he can jump and how fast he can run. The whole time he showed her his runes, which weren't glowing. He understood her skepticism. He would have done the same thing.

"Why are you showing me this?" she asked him softly.

Ranma looked her straight in the eyes and said, "I don't know. All, I know is that when, I got to this island and met you girls, I felt as if, I should get to know all of you, befriend you and basically watch over you. I don't know why, but my instincts have never failed me before. There's just…SOMETHING about this island. I didn't feel this way towards any of you when I was still on the boat, only when I set foot here. I asked the others, but none of them are the same as me. I don't feel any sort of romantic feelings towards any of you, but rather I feel as if I should be a friend that all of you can trust."

"Does, does that mean that as soon as you leave you won't feel this way?" While she's disappointed that he doesn't feel anything romantic for them it's good enough that he wants to be their friend. She can work her way up later.

"I think I will still feel this way even if I do leave. I don't know why, but it's ingrained in me now. Perhaps I'll show my secret to the others, perhaps not, all I know is that I can trust you to keep this to yourself." He lifted his fist, pinky finger extended. "So, do you promise?"

She recognized the gesture and put their fingers together. "I promise, my friend."

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Later that day-

As if today is the day for revealing secrets wasn't enough Iris also showed him and Yun her secret.

"So what did you want to show us Iris, Sakura?" Since yesterday Iris had been calling him 'big brother'. He felt as overjoyed as when Yun had called him that the first time.

Sakura held Iris' hand as the two stood on one side of the clearing they are in and him and Yun stood on the other. Ironically they're not too far away from where Orihimihe had shown him her secret just a few hours ago.

Sakura spoke first a bit tentatively. "Ranma, Yun, Iris wants to show you something. It's her biggest secret and I hope that you won't get freaked out by it."

The siblings merely smiled at her. Yun walked up to her and took her hands while Ranma kneeled down to look her in the eye. He spoke softly to her. "Iris, there's nothing you can show me that I won't get 'freaked out' about it. It's okay, just show it to us okay."

Iris seemed to be internally debating with herself on this. Sakura put her own hands on her shoulders. "Iris, it's up to you if you want to show them. Take your time and decide."

As the blonde little girl is debating on this Sakura looked into Ranma's eyes and mouthed, 'Please, please don't be scared and accept her.'

He shook his head and mouthed, 'I won't. I really meant it. Whatever it is I don't care. I'll still like her and treat her as if she's my little sister like Yun is.'

That seemed to satisfy her and she gave him a thankful smile. At about that time Iris finally decided and nodded her head. She motioned for the two siblings to step back.

Ranma's eyes widened when she pointed at a rock. 'Don't tell me she has the power to create fireballs too!' However, instead of making a fireball she lifted up the rock into the air to the amazement of the Wild siblings. She then teleported to right on top of the rock and stood there as she moved the rock to right in front of them. When she's about a yard from them she made the rock drop to the ground. She then jumped in front of them with her head bowed, as if expecting the worse.

Sakura explained what just happened for the two. "Iris' whole family is comprised of very powerful psychics. She can move things, teleport, blow things up and a whole range of other things. There are only three people left in her family and that's her and her grandparents. Please don't be…"

She's about to ask them not to be frightened when Yun suddenly rushed up to her and glomped her. "That was so cool Iris! You have powers too!"

The blonde and the kendoist went stiff, shocked. First it seems Yun is taking it extremely well, and then she says she has powers too!

They became even more shocked when Ranma chuckled and said, "That's great Iris. But just so you know you're not the only one with powers." He led the still frozen two to the edge of the clearing. He then walked up to the rock and punched it. The rock just exploded into bits! They raised their arms up to block the debris heading towards them when Ranma, who was standing at least twenty paces away, is suddenly in front of them. His hands went really, really fast and caught every piece headed towards them.

Before they could get out of their astonishment he threw the rocks into the air. With a cry of "Hand of Chaos!" a black beam of energy shot out from his hands and destroyed the rocks.

"W-w-what was that?" Sakura yelled.

What followed is the explanation of his rune, his martial arts abilities and even Yun's future sight. At the end Iris is ecstatic that the two accepted her. She yelled out in happiness and glomped Ranma who returned it. She kept on sobbing out that she didn't want to scare them off, but she knew if she kept it a secret they will feel betrayed when she finally reveals it. Ranma reassured her that it's okay and he's glad that she revealed it to them. Afterwards she also glomped Yun while Ranma talked to Sakura.

"Thank you," she said from the bottom of her heart.

He just smiled and waved it off. "It's okay. I know it took her a lot of courage to do that and I admire her for it. Come on, I'm hungry!" At that his stomach made a very loud noise. They all laughed and headed back towards the inn for some food cooked by Orihime. Iris rode on his back while Yun and Sakura flanked him while holding hands. Yun noticed that her big brother and Sakura are acting how Ranma and Ukyo would have acted if they didn't have that engagement hanging over their heads, like real best friends are supposed to act. She felt glad, and relieved that Ranko and the others aren't going to kill him.

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Twelfth Day, afternoon -

Ranma walked into the TV room to get some rest. Why do they have to insist that he has to learn how to rollerblade? It's just as bad as skating is!

As he plops down on a chair he notices Sumire looking through a catalog and sighing a lot. She doesn't seem to notice he's there. Next to her on the table is a stack of catalogs. They range from clothing to furniture all the way to imported chocolates. She's also making a list, a really big list, on a piece of paper. 'That's a lot of things to buy. Is she ordering something from all of them?'

He watches her for a while as she flips the pages of the catalog and writes down something on the list after looking through almost every page. This goes on for a while until she reaches the end. She puts it down and got surprised that she's not the only one in the room. She had been so into what she's doing that she wouldn't have noticed if a volcano went off and destroyed the island.

"WHOA! Don't scare me like that!" she yelled at him. She glared at him.

Ranma scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Hehe, sorry, I was just sitting here getting some rest when I saw you there. You seemed to be in your own little world so I didn't want to bother you."

She nodded in understanding. She then noticed he's looking at her list. "You wondering what this is?" He nodded. "This is the list of things I'm going to buy when I make a lot of money. My parents are very rich. While they haven't come and picked me up in a long time they send me regular deposits of money that I use to keep this inn from going bankrupt. However, all I have to do is keep this place from going under and soon they will send me a lot of money. This is more of a test really. While my grandparents taught me how to use a naginata and our old demon slaying ways my parents are teaching me how to make lots of money."

She grinned a bit snobbishly. "My family owns one of the biggest companies in Japan and I will receive my share when I become of age. Every year they send me a billion yen on my birthday. I use it to buy whatever I want and put the rest to keeping this dump open. No offence, Sakura is nice, but this place should have gone under long ago."

His eyes narrowed at her. "So all you really care about is money?"

She snorted. "Of course not. Haven't you seen what a gorgeous body I have?" He has to admit for someone still young her body was to die for. "There are not that many women who are better looking than me and I'm still growing. I will grow to become a great woman, smart, beautiful and rich."

"Don't forget a snob and ugly on the inside," he said a bit testily.

She growled at him. "What did you say?"

He stood up straight and walked over to her. Since she's sitting down he towered over her. However, instead of staying standing up and intimidating her he kneeled down so they are at eye level. He gave her his most fearsome glare. It made her flinch.

Sumire couldn't believe what's happening. She looked up to this man. Rich, powerful, famous and is totally hot. Now he's glaring at her and insulting her. However, her thoughts got derailed with what he did next.

His expression softened and he's now wearing a caring and understanding face. It's NOT what she had been expecting and sent her into a bit of shock. "Sumire, you can be the richest, most beautiful person in the world, but that's only used to attract people's attention. You know what's used to keep it?" She shook her head bewilderedly. He then put a palm over her heart. "This. People are attracted to you by your beauty. You really are beautiful. However, they STAY attracted to you by your personality. Right now you sounded like a spoiled brat, no offence," he added when it looked like she would explode.

"Sumire," he took her hands to get her attention and calm her down. "I used to have an ego problem too a long time ago. I used to believe the world revolved around me. My head was totally into the clouds. But you know what, people hated me for it. If it weren't for my friends I would have kept on believing I'm the only thing important in the world. If I did that I would be totally alone. It took me over four months to get over my ego problems, and I'm the better for it."

He felt a compulsion to kiss the inside of her hand, which sent shivers up her spine. "Sumire, I can tell you're a good person at heart. But the thing is you're letting your ego and your beauty get to you. Don't. You're a better person than this. Don't let it get to you or else you will grow to be stuck up snob who can only be beautiful through a face-lift. I know this sounds crappy, but I can tell your soul is good, just a bit tainted. Please Sumire, think about what I've said. You're too beautiful to let greed and overconfidence take over your features."

He kissed the inside of her hand again and left the room. He wondered what the hell made him say all those things and actually KISS her hand like that. He wondered what made him do ALL those things with the inn's residents. 'Probably one of those things I'll never be able to understand. I swear there's something about this island that makes me act all weird. I hope it doesn't make me act TOO weird.'

Meanwhile Sumire is at a state of total shock. Her…soul is tainted? She's turning into a snob? She never thought of it that way. She leaned back in her chair and thought about it for the rest of the day and night.

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Suikoden World –

"Doh! Stupid! Of course that's why! Why didn't, I see it before?" Chaos said as he slaps his forehead.

Leknatt is surprised at the sudden yell of the cat next to her. "What do you mean? What is it?"

Chaos pointed a paw at the scene. "That's why they latch onto him! There's someone missing from the Sakura crew, Ichiro! Maria is an okay leader and to an extent Sakura, but they really DO need someone to lead them and keep them together. Ichiro served as that. He was their captain, their glue, their confidant and lifelong friend. ALL of the Sakura Wars groups are like that. In the worlds they don't have someone like Ichiro they break up and sooner or later get killed. Individually they're strong, but together they're practically invincible. However, without someone to keep them together as a group they can't function at their very best. Not just anyone will do though. They've met a lot of people, but none of them latched onto anyone. Now Ranma comes in and in the span of a few days they all decide to stay with him and stick by his side no matter what. I guess he just fits the bill, whatever it is."

Leknatt scratched the back of her head. This thing is getting chaotic, even for her. "Err, whatever. Don't you think there are too many girls fixated on him?"

Chaos shrugged. "I think MOST of them see him as a good friend right now, not potential boyfriend/husband. Just look at Sakura. He's her new best friend even if they had only known each other for a few days. Besides, he needs all the help he can get anyway. Take a look at what Neclord's making."

Leknatt's eye twitched. Ranma really DOES need the help.

Chaos saw what she's 'looking' at. "Not that." He directs her 'gaze' to what's behind it. "THOSE are the ones I'm talking about."

The twitch got worse.

Chaos then had the globe sweep over the rest. "Don't forget those." He then went over another bunch of tubes. "Those too." The globe swept over even more rows of tubes. "He's going to have a lot of trouble dealing with those!"

She gave up twitching and just shook her head. Ranma needs an army, not a bunch of inexperienced demon hunters.

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Next time – The Amazons make their move against Ranma and the inn girls. Bring some unwanted guest along with them. And Neclord makes his move against the police station.

Author's/MadHat886 Notes

1 - It's a special weapon in the game.

2 - Guess what anime I got her and her friends from. Oh, and they are NOT exactly the same girls from the anime or manga. They never joined Flower Division or anything like that. They are just girls from demon slaying families who hasn't seen any action yet. In short they are analogs of the girls from Flower Division. Don't be surprised if they act OOC since they never went through the things the original Sakura Wars characters went through AND they are younger here. Also, don't be surprised about the different ages or history either.

Co-Writer/glazedlookineyes101/ilikesecret Notes

(A) Think of Zack's island from DOA Extreme Beach Volleyball without a volcano and that really big, fancy hotel and that stupid statue of Zack.

(B) Look in Negima Volume 2 and look for Negi's picture when he's eighteen near the end of the manga. Ranma's hair looks exactly like that only with a pigtail since that's practically Ranma's trademark.

(C) Before anyone says anything this is a fic you know. It CAN happen that way.

(D) Wild Frau from DOAXBV collection, Ayane.

(E) Lapis Lazuli from DOAXBV collection, Christie.

(F) Nymph from DOAXBV collection, Ayane.

(G) Daisy from DOAXBV collection, Kasumi.

(H) Altair from DOAXBV collection, Tina

(I) Emu from DOAXBV collection, Lei-Fang.

(J) Venus from DOAXBV collection, Lisa.

I hope that the creators of the Dead or Alive series don't mind me using their swimsuits in this fic. Please don't sue me!

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