Be my beloved enemy

You're pretty when you cry

Akane splashed her Mary Jane's in a nearby puddle, 'Just her luck' she thought as rain droplets hit her china face. A streak of lightning crossed the dim sky brightening her dark eyes and just after it, a clap of thunder echoed through the city streets bringing her hairs up in a panic state. Akane dreaded storms. The roots of this problem lied deep; deep in her subconscious mind but she wouldn't know the reasons for such an apprehension to arise in her. She closed her eyes, eyelashes shut painfully over her smooth red cheeks, hands in fists, pressing her nails on the tender flesh of her palms. She tried to breathe in and out so to sooth her racing heart just as her granpa had showed her to do.

Another lightning sailed the darkness above her, seemingly travelling into her very soul; shattering it, making her whole body tremble from fear. An electric feeling shot her being and she stifled a sound of pure agony. Her eyes opened at the breaking thud of the thunder.

Then another lightning iluminated the sky and she saw him.

His movements were languid but predatory, his eyes directed at hers as he stepped outside Furinkan high-school. An expression of utmost horror crossed her face as she stood there, rotted to the spot.

"Afraid of a little thunderstorm, are we?" he mocked her

"Sod off!" She snapped at him, though she had stuttered out of fear

"Feisty one, I see. That will do you no good" Ranma walked up to her and she trembled aware of their closeness. She had just met him today and she already hated his living guts. "Cat got your tongue?"

"I was just giving you time to understand the meaning of my words but it looks like they won't dawn on you anytime soon. Should I make it clearer for you? I said fuck you!"

A scowl formed on his face "I take no crap from no-one. And least of all from you" His eyes shot daggers at her and his hand flew to her thin neck pressing it. It was getting more and more difficult for her to respire. She struggled to free herself but to no avail. Akane could feel his harsh breath on her for the second time that day while he hissed…

"Bitch"

He snatched his hand away from her, span around and stormed away.

The colour of her face had drained as if her energy had been sucked out of her and she let out a throaty scream before passing out. Her unconscious body soaked to the bone laid in a mud-puddle.

Ranma jumped from one roof to another; the slippery wet tiles making his work a tad bit more difficult. Against his will, Ranma's speed reduced. When he had seen her in class his blood had boiled 'She was the girl; Akane' Genma had told him about his mother's death, about the war and about the Tendos.

He was not even four when he had been taught to hate her, despise her and wish her promptly death. They had not even met once yet he knew every single detail of her life. She didn't seem to mind him sitting next to her or maybe didn't know about their families' past; the last explanation looked like the most reasonable one.

His thoughts were brought to an end as he arrived to his new home. He stomped angrily through the door, his pace increasing until he suddenly came to a halt.

"What's with the face, man?" A tall young man around his age asked him.

"That's none of your damn business!"

"Hey, no need to bite. Jesus Christ, ain't we just a little snappy?" He smirked and his fangs could be seen through his thin lips.

"You better cut it out unless you wish your most precious manly part cut in pieces and then fed to you"

"Dude, you need to relax!"

"Shut it! Where the hell is the old man?"

"I'd say he's in his study"

Ranma turned around and started walking away.

"Wait up!" Ryoga ran after him into the corridor.

Ranma and Ryoga reached the door in less than a minute and without knocking they entered the dark room. The little fire on the fireplace cracked and lit the room only dimly. A manly figure could be made up sitting in a leather chair, feet up, resting on a wooden table.

Ocean eyes flashed with anger, voice scolding as he shouted in fury

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" the old man answered mischievously.

"Don't play stupid, though you do it really well"

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about"

"You wouldn't understand it"

"I wouldn't what? For your information I just met her today and she seems completely unaware of her past or at least she didn't seem to recognize me!"

"who did you see?" Ryoga butted in.

"Tendo. Akane Tendo"

Ryoga's smirk banished from his face and his mind blurred with stories he had been told as a child. The war between the Tendo's and the Saotome's had been long and was still not finished, but times had changed and they could no longer kill for honour. The last death had been that of his aunt Nodoka; she had died days after Tendo's wife. Ryoga and his cousin had been mere babies when Nodoka had passed away; both of them were not even one year old.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ranma demanded again.

"It's a long story" Genma's voice sounded tired.

"Then…enlighten me!"

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Akane woke up to a warm sensation on her cheek, her whole body ached and her mind was reeling. A tall young man around her age stood there, he pulled her in his lap, kissed her forehead lovingly and wiped some of her sopping-wet hair off of her face. She cracked one eye open and felt herself being carried away as the young martial artist jumped from one roof to another.

"Shinosuke"

"Don't move" his deep voice demanded.

She felt her whole body relax as her eyes started to close once again and sleep claimed her.

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"Both of you know the story of Kimiko's death, Tendo's wife. Though, none of you were aware of her state. She was pregnant when she passed away." Genma drawled.

"And what does that matter now? We knew there was still one Tendo left" replied Ryoga.

"You better shut up now if you want to hear the rest of the story"

Ryoga immediately shut his mouth and so Genma continued with his narration.

"What you don't expect is for Nodoka's death to be related to hers. When Kimiko died trying to stop both Tendo and me, Nodoka felt that she was bound to finish what Kimiko had started. I know this may sound strange to you but she wished peace for both families."

"How does that concern me or the Tendo girl?" Ranma inquired.

"Nodoka made a blood sacrifice at Kimiko's tomb; a very old and archaic source of magic, if you ask me. She used the same knife Tendo had used to open her wife's death body as to save her daughter's life and with this simple act, she cursed both you Ranma and her. I still don't know what the curse involves but I can only tell you to stay away from the Tendo girl; I might not be able to kill her but I can damage her pretty badly"

" …I still don't get it though. What's the point of me being together in the same class? Wouldn't that be worse?"

"Have you learnt nothing, boy. They say keep your friends near but keep your enemies close"

"Is that all?" Ranma questioned. He hadn't bought that the only reason for him to have moved schools was to keep an eye on her. He knew the man better than that. He was a sneaky man and Ranma was sure there was more to it than what he was letting go.

"Yes, it is. You may go now"

Ranma wouldn't press the subject but sooner or later he'd get the answers he so wished to have. He turned to leave followed closely by Ryoga but not before his father's last words could echo in his brain

"Remember what you've been taught my boy. She is nothing. You'll hate her, make her life a living hell and you'll treat her like the scum she is"

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The night cold breeze filled Akane's room; she had been adopted by Shinosuke's grandfather and despite him being younger than her, she thought of him as a big brother. He was ill and that caused him to skip many classes in order to attend Doctor Toffu's office. Akane was laying on her bed as Shinosuke shocked her a little.

"Akane?" he asked softly

Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him questionably

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I was hit by a spaceship" she laughed.

'At least her sense of humour has not been damaged' Shinosuke thought.

"you need to eat something" The boy told her while he looked down, on his lap stood a bowl full of rice.

"I'm not hungry" she said groggily.

"I didn't ask you" he said.

She sat on the bed and snatched the bowl out of the boys extended hands to shove some rice into her mouth. The bowl was finished after a few minutes. Shinosuke sighed as he put the bowl away.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"There was a storm and I fainted as usually" She skipped the part of Ranma scaring the hell out of her. She knew her brother way too much and she wanted to work things out herself.

"I'm sorry I was not there before. As soon as the storm started I left doctor tofu's and ran to get you. When I reached you….oh gods, I had never seen you look so terrible before. You were chocking pretty badly; I was dead scared"

"I'm ok now. I just need some rest, that's all"

"Then I'll leave you now. If you need something just call me" He bent down and kissed her forehead "Good night Akane"

"Night" she told him.

She heard her door shut close and suddenly all the emotions she had felt during the day burst out and tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. She cried out of pain and helplessness but most of all, of fear. Unaware that she was being observed she crawled into bed again crying softly onto her pillow as she drifted to sleep.

A pigtailed man had witnessed the scene, his feet hung on the roof above her window and his head peered inside her room. He didn't know how he had got there, it was as if a strange force had pulled him to her and unknowingly he had finished finding her room. He balanced himself and entered inside the cozy space. Her breath was uneven and her face, though streaked with tears, seemed awfully relaxed. He lowered himself, regarded her intently and then, out of the blue, his hand caressed her cheek.

"You're pretty when you cry" he told her. But she was too deep asleep to realise.

He moved his hand away, feeling empty at the loss of contact and standing up he walked to her window. He checked on her again, keeping her every trace in his memory before he ran away.

A.N: I hope you like it…as always, I'd appreciate if you let me know what you think of this. If you've any suggestion let me know.