A/N: Just would like to say, some elements of Tenchi in this fic are fused between multiple continuities, or changed from other continuities. And now we return to your regularly scheduled fanfic.

Akane lay on her bed, looking up at the roof. She sighed.

Ranma was apparently a boy. Ranma, the girl she thought would be a good friend, the girl who seemed to like martial arts, was a boy.

It was hard for her to envision it even - Ranma seemed more like a girl than anly boy she'd met, even though she seemed to use the male form of speech. She was a tomboy, sure, but she wasn't any more of a tomboy than Akane was.

It still hurt. It hurt a lot.

She sighed. Rolling around onto her side, she clutched the soft pillow she had in her arms harder. She just didn't know…

After a few seconds, she sat up. Maybe having a bath would clear her head.

She stood up, putting the pillow down on her bed, and walked to her cupboard. She'd have to get some clothes to wear after her bath.

Ranma sat in the bathtub, trying to relax. For some reason, though, she just couldn't seem to do so.

Maybe it was because she was in an unfamiliar home, and felt like she was intruding on them. Maybe it was the fear of someone joining her in the bath without any of the illusions the clothes her pops had made to protect her had.

Maybe it was because she was a she.

She dipped her head under the water, holding her breath. Then she remembered she didn't have to now.

She surfaced and let out a pained sigh. Ever since Jusenkyo, everything had changed. Nearly everywhere she and her pop had gone for the first few days, she'd been treated like a monster. And after what had happened in Nyucheizu… she shivered. She probably deserved that title after that.

Thankfully, she'd gotten her powers under control since then. She didn't want anything like that to happen again.

A few days after the events in the Amazon town, she'd noticed her pop was starting to change. One minute, he'd act normal, the next she'd do something she could never see him doing before in his life.

And for a time, Ranma had almost felt like she was losing herself, too. Every day, she remembered herself acting a little bit different, or weird, doing something she'd never done before as a man. But then one day it had stopped.

That was the same day that her pop had changed completely. After that day, she'd stopped doing all the things he did before - like stealing or training her at the crack of dawn (but her pop did still train her) - and started acting like an entirely different person, sometimes doing things that just made no sense.

She'd still wanted to return to Japan, of course, probably because of the 'fiance' thing. Ranma almost felt like growling at that. She'd marry who she wanted, dammit, not be forced into it!

Something tugged at her memory for a moment, but she dismissed it, thinking about the marriage for a bit.

Although, being entirely honest, if she hadn't been afflicted by this damned curse and turned into a monster, she might have actually chosen Akane; she was fairly cute, Ranma could admit, even if she was a bit of a tomboy. She'd have to talk to her and see if she still wanted to be friends.

Still, she supposed, thinking of hypotheticals was pretty useless when they weren't going to happen. She was going to find a way to cancel this fiance thing, whatever the thing was, then she was going back to China to cure her curse, and then, well, she'd think of that later.

She'd have to find a way to keep the powers like floating and teleporting, though. The powers were cool, now that she had them under control. But everything else…

She reached up to her ears, feeling the almost pointed ends, and shuddered. It felt wrong, having those things on her head. She ran her tongue along her teeth, feeling the sharp fangs that had replaced her canines.

She pulled her right arm out of the water, turning it to view the gem she'd woken up with the day she'd started to feel like herself again. Running a finger over it, she could feel herself shivering. It wasn't cold to the touch, but it was filled with power - so much more power than she'd ever felt in her life before all this had started, almost an endless well of it.

And what scared her was it all felt familiar - too familiar.

She sighed and floated upwards, water falling off her body as she banished the depressing thought from her head. While the furo was nice, it'd probably be dinner time soon. While she didn't need to eat any more, she still liked to; her stomach being filled felt pretty good, and the speed training, while unnecessary, was still fun. She just wished she could taste again.

Just as she was about to float away from the furo, she saw the door to the room slide open. She froze.

Akane walked down the stairs, her stomach churning. She wanted to give Ranma another chance, she wanted to, but at the same time, Ranma was a boy before. A boy.

She shook her head. Hadn't she gone down to take a bath and take her thoughts off of this whole thing? Sighing, she continued down the stairs, stepping down to the lower floor.

Turning to the right, she walked through the halls of the compound. In less than a minute, she'd reached the changing room that lay outside the bathroom. Pulling off her clothes and undoing her ribbon, she grabbed a towel and started towards the bathroom.

She slid open the door and froze.

At first, she thought the girl floating above the furo was Ranma. But then she looked - really looked. The girl was beautiful, almost ethereal, but in a way that seemed inhuman. Her pupils were slitted like some sort of cat, and her ears jutted out of the side of her head like an elf's ears would.

After a few seconds, the monster that looked like Ranma slowly floated down onto the ground outside of the furo, her feet touching the ground a couple of seconds later.

Akane did the only thing she could: she screamed.

Or at least, tried to. Just as she'd opened her mouth to call for help, she felt a hand suddenly just appear over her mouth. The monster that had been floating over the furo was in front of her, just floating there with a panicked expression on her - no, its face, its head swivelling to and fro.

After a few seconds it shook its head. Then, it looked Akane in the eyes; for a second, it looked almost vulnerable, but that second passed and the vulnerability was replaced with a begrudging acceptance. 'Guess it's better that it came out now, before-' Its bitter voice cracked. 'Before any sort of huge misunderstanding.'

Akane's eyes widened. That voice… that was-

'Yeah.' The monster- no, Ranma, looked down. She scuffed her foot on the ground. 'I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry 'bout this.'

Soun Tendo stared at the girl in front of him, his mouth hanging open for at least the third time that day. Beside him, Nabiki and Kasumi sat, both showing their surprise in their own ways - Nabiki seemed calm and collected, while Kasumi had her hand over her open mouth.

Ranma was looking at the ground, a forlorn expression on her face. She wore a set of Chinese silks and long black pants.

Akane had gone to her room after bringing Ranma out to the main room; she had told her she just needed to think for a little. She didn't seem to be angry though.

Ranma hoped she'd be able to get a friend..

Soun was the first to speak up. 'So that spring didn't just turn you into a girl…'

'It turned me into a monster too?' Ranma's voice was quiet. 'Yeah. I mean, I'm pretty sure it was called "Spring of Drowned Silver-Haired Monster Girl' for a reason.'

'You're not a monster, just a very scared little girl in an unfortunate situation.'

Ranma looked up and behind her. Genma stood in the door there, a serious look in her face.

The silver-haired girl's eyes flickered to the side. 'I'm a guy.' Her voice was weak, without any of the fire she'd shown before.

Genma closed her eyes and massaged her eyelids. 'No, you're not. Not any more, at least.' She opened her eyes and gave Ranma a piercing stare. 'You need to realize that now.'

Ranma was silent.

After a couple of seconds, Genma sighed. She looked at the Tendos. 'I'm sorry this had to come out like this. If it was up to me, it would have been on my own terms, but unfortunately it looks like fate had other plans.' She gave a wry smile.

'So Ranma's just like any other girl?' Nabiki asked.

Genma nodded. 'Yeah.. She's quite the tomboy, of course, but given her origins, I'd be surprised if she wasn't.'

Ranma opened her mouth. After a few seconds of silence, she gave a sigh and slumped, her eyes trailing down to the ground.

'But anyway, don't treat her any different because of the way she looks.' Genma started to pace. 'Ranma's a human being, no matter how different she looks from you. She may have fangs and pointed ears, but she's got feelings and a heart, like the rest of you.' She stopped and gave the Tendos a piercing glare. 'Got it?'

Nabiki and Soun nodded (Soun rather frantically, Nabiki a bit less) while Kasumi gave a smile. 'Of course, Genma-chan,' she said.

Kasumi looked over at the clock, then blinked. 'Oh my!' She stood up. 'I'll go and prepare dinner, it's getting rather late.'

As Kasumi walked off, Nabiki rolled her eyes and stood up, walking off to her room.

Soun had seemed to grab a newspaper out of thin air, and started to read it.

Genma's face brightened. 'Alright then. Now that that's over and done with, let's get to the matter of school.'

Ranma's head snapped to face the small redheaded girl. 'School?' She was on her feet in a flash, the fire that had been in her eyes before returning with a vengeance. 'You want me to go to school like this!' She gestured to her body with one hand, the other pointing at her face. 'I can't go to school like this! Someone's going to find out!'

'Oh, calm down, you'll be fine; I'll find a way to disguise your features that doesn't require a set of clothes.' Genma waved an arm. 'Anyway, we can't really enrol you to school as "Ranma Saotome", considering your school records and family registry have you as a boy, which you're clearly not.'

Slowly, a smile spread across Ranma's face. 'Ha! Then you can't enrol me in school, you old hag!' She gave a smug smile.

'Now, I didn't say that.' Genma wagged a finger, a gleam in her eyes. 'I said we couldn't register you as Ranma Saotome.' She reached into her left pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, holding it out proudly. 'Good thing I know a little about creating false identities, miss Hakubi.'

Ranma's eyes widened, then her face contorted in rage. 'Gimme that!' she snapped, snatching the paper out of Genma's hands. She pulled it up to her face, straightening it out with a small rustling.

A few seconds later, she looked up from the paper, glowering at the small girl. 'What the hell is this!' She waved the paper around frantically.

Genma's grin was almost impossibly wide. 'You like it?' She started to chuckle.

'I'm not gonna go to school with a stupid name like Ryoko!'

'Well, that's too bad.' Genma's smile was entirely too smug. 'I already enrolled you in one of the local high schools.'

'WHAT!'

Soun pulled the newspaper up higher, sweat beading on his forehead as he tried to ignore the two arguing girls.

'Yes, I did. I enrolled you into the local high school, Furinkan High.' Ranma was about to open her mouth when Genma continued. 'And don't even think about skipping. I'm going to be teaching there just in case you try it.'

'Oh yeah? How're you gonna teach if you don't have a teaching certificate?' The corners of Ranma's mouth curved into a smug smile. 'Besides, you look too young to teach; they'll just think you're a little kid.'

'Oh, you're not the only one I made a false identity for.' With a flourish, Genma produced from her pockets two pieces of paper. One of them was framed, and had a name scrawled on it in neat handwriting, while the other looked like the same type of sheet Ranma was holding in her hands.

Ranma's eyes flickered between the certificate and her father's face. 'What?'

Genma gave a saccharine smile. She bowed. 'Nice to meet you! My name is Washu Hakubi, and I'm Ryoko's mother and a science teacher for Furinkan High. But I prefer to be called Washu-chan… and you, Ryoko, can call me Mommy.'

Ranma rolled her eyes. 'Alright then, Washu.' The last word dripped with sarcasm. 'How are you going to teach the class as a little kid?'

'That… is a secret.' Genma winked.

Ranma growled.

Dinner was a sordid affair; Akane had been quiet and picked at her food, not paying much attention to anything, and while Ranma had kept up her speed training with her 'father', the silver-haired girl hadn't had as much fun as normal what with everything on her mind. So after she'd finished her dinner, Ranma had stood up and walked outside, before floating onto the roof, where she was now.

The stars above twinkled, each point of light in the sky almost a promise of a new world to explore. It was beautiful, yet at the same time it gave Ranma a sense of sad longing as she lay on the Tendo compound's roof.

Her feline eyes traced a shooting star flying through the night sky, her rough hands behind her head to keep it off the tiled roof. Ever since she'd been immersed in the spring, Ranma had found herself looking up at the night sky more and more often. She'd noticed, of course, but it was harmless - besides, she'd always looked up at the stars before. What was different about doing it now?

And why did her cheeks feel wet?

She brought a hand up to her face, wiping it clean. Unbidden, a name came to her lips - a name she remembered from her childhood, back when she was still a boy.

'Ten...chi...'

She grew quiet and thought back to those times that she'd had with the other boy as a kid at that shrine in Okayama - all those times she'd played with him. They'd hit it off real well, and she'd always felt safe around him for some reason. She didn't remember the details of their games too well - she would probably be able to, if she thought about it, but she didn't really feel like it at the moment.

She didn't even know why she was thinking about the boy. He'd probably forgotten her ages ago, back when she was still a guy all the time. Besides, she didn't get introspective - she was Ranma Saotome, greatest martial artist of her generation. A cocky grin split her face, and she banished the unwanted thoughts from her mind.

She thought back to dinner. The table had been mostly quiet, aside from the fighting over food between father and son - speed practice was pretty fun, she had to admit. But she still didn't know how Akane felt. After they'd finished, she'd tried talking to Akane a couple of times, but the girl had just kept staring forward, like she was in a trance or something.

Maybe they'd be able to talk tomorrow.

After a couple of seconds, Ranma sighed. She didn't need to sleep any more, at least as much as a normal human being - she'd discovered that not too long ago - but she preferred to. It was better than staying up all night and doing nothing.

The silver-haired girl melted through the roof, floating down towards the futon that had been laid out for her. She settled down on the futon, pulling the blanket that had been placed there over her body, and closed her eyes.

Before the darkness claimed her, her last thought was of the young man who was her childhood friend.

Akane looked up to boy-turned-girl, who was walking on the wire fence at her left; she was wearing the Furinkan High uniform, and had a backpack with that same odd picture of a crab on it on her back. They were walking through the streets towards Furinkan High, Nabiki traipsing along on their right; it was another overcast day. She still didn't know how to feel about Ranma, but she supposed she'd give the girl a chance.

Or at least she'd try to. If she kept complaining about school, though, Akane would probably snap.

'I still can't believe that I have to go to school,' the bright-silver-haired girl grumbled from her perch atop the fence. 'I coulda just gone back to China and found a cure for this thing, but nooo, apparently I have to go to school.' She crossed her arms over her chest with a humph. 'What's so important about school that the old man's forcin' me to go now?'

Akane couldn't help it; she snorted.

Ranma blinked, turning her head towards Akane. 'Huh? Why'd you do that?'

'It's just, you keep calling your dad an "old man" when it seems like he almost wants to be a little girl.' She shook her head disdainfully. 'He's more of a pervert than anything.'

Ranma's lips creased into a smile, and she laughed. 'Yeah, pops is a pervert, alright. I've lost count of the number of times he's been slapped by a woman for starin'. Though, recently,,,'

Ranma trailed off and her smile faded, leaving an uncomfortable air of silence between the two. After a couple of seconds, though, the silver-haired martial artist shook her head; she wasn't just going to let things stay as they were. This time, she was going to take action. She jumped down off the fence in front of Akane, giving the black-haired girl a hearty smile. She stuck out her hand.

'So, my name's Ranma Saotome. Let's be friends, okay?'

For a few seconds, all Akane could do was stare at the other girl dumbly. But soon, the corners of her mouth turned up, and she found herself smiling; it was a pure, wide smile. 'Sure.' She brought her hand out and shook Ranma's. It wasn't especially traditional or common, but it was better than nothing.

After the handshake, the two of them just stood there awkwardly, smiling at each other.

'You two had better hurry up, or you'll be late for class.'

They spun around to face Nabiki, who was wearing a coy smile. 'Unless you'd prefer to play hooky, Akane?' Then she turned to the silver-haired girl, and her smile turned mischievous. 'Ryoko?'

Ranma's mood fell right away, and her eyebrow twitched. 'Quit callin' me that!' she snapped.

'Oh, I'm just helping you get used to it, Ryoko. After all, it'd be a shame if someone started calling you that at school and you freaked out, wouldn't it?'

Ranma just growled.

This morning, her pops had sprung the news of their fake names on the rest of the Tendo family. Akane and Kasumi had taken it in stride, but ever since then Nabiki seemed to be out to annoy the living crap out of her. She was like a shark - one who had smelt blood in the water.

'Oh, and that uniform looks great on you; I don't know what you were talking about earlier.' With that, the brown-haired girl turned around and walked away.

Ranma glared at Nabiki's retreating back, clenching her fists. Mentioning the uniform was crossing the line, in her opinion; she hadn't liked wearing dresses already, so the idea of having to wear a school uniform was something that she hated with a passion, especially a girl's one. She almost felt like hurting the girl.

Almost. But Nabiki wasn't a martial artist; she was just a normal human being.

And even then, with Ranma's new powers and the temper she'd developed in the past two weeks, she had to have more control. Her fist slowly unclenched, relaxing.

'Ranma?'

The silver-haired girl looked over at Akane. 'Yeah?' Her voice still held an edge to it.

'I… I think Nabiki might have a point.'

'Whaddaya mean?' Ranma tilted her head.

Akane sighed. 'Well, since you're using the name Ryoko at school, won't it be a bit suspicious if every time you're called by that name, you get angry? I know she was being annoying there, sometimes even I want to punch her, but even I have to admit she has a point. She's probably actually trying to get you used to it.'

Ranma's face fell. After a couple of seconds, she sighed. 'You're right.' She shook her head. 'We'd better get going if we wanna get there before school starts… Akane? You okay?'

Akane's face had darkened, and she shook her head. 'No. No I'm not.'

Ranma stared at her for a couple of seconds, then looked away. 'I'll ask later.'

The two of them took off at high speeds.

While they ran, Akane took a look at Ranma. 'Hey… how do you look like that?'

'Eh? What are you talking about?' Ranma asked, her voice confused, but then her eyes widened. 'Oh, yeah! You mean like a normal human.' She gave a grin. 'Well, pops gave me some sorta device that he had me press into the gem on my wrist; he said it'd make me look like a normal human as long as I wanted it to. Too bad it's only an illusion.'

Akane's attention was caught for a second by a clinic, which flashed by at the speed they were running. She found herself thinking of Doctor Tofu for a couple of seconds, but banished the thought right away; they'd get to school soon, and given what happened there, she didn't want to be distracted.

Soon enough, they found themselves in front of the entrance to a high school. The sign on the side read 'Furinkan High School', and as Ranma continued to run forward, she noticed Akane's expression morph into a scowl.

She heard the black-haired girl, who was still barrelling forward at high speeds, mutter something under her breath.

'I… hate...'

And then she saw it.

A crowd of people - all boys around her age, all dressed in different sorts of outfits, all shouting Akane's name or something about dates.

'I... hate... men!' Akane's voice rose above the noise of the crowd, and Ranma could hear the pure loathing in the words. She almost winced.

Just as the horde was about to reach them, Akane and Ranma jumped - Akane into the fray, and Ranma over the horde and onto the fence behind them.

Landing gracefully like a cat, Ranma simply watched as Akane masterfully dismantled the large crowd all on her own. If she were being honest, Akane was good like that - much better than her, at least. At least, before the spring. Still, she'd stay there and watch, just in case Akane needed some help.

'Ryoko!'

Ranma's head snapped towards the person saying that. It was Nabiki; she was standing on one of the high school's balconies a few stories up.

The odd thing was, this time, Nabiki didn't sound mocking. She sounded genuinely concerned.

'But-'

'Don't worry about Akane!'

Ranma looked back down.

Akane was standing there, in a field of unconscious bodies. She flicked her hair, clearly annoyed. 'Every morning! What a drag.'

'Truly, such a boorish lot.'

Ranma stiffened, looking over towards the source of the voice; out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Akane doing it too.

Standing there was a man she could only really describe as, well, something out of a shojo manga. He wore a white uwagi and a black hakama, and had short black hair; he held a rose up to his mouth in one hand, while in the other he held a bokken. His eyes were closed.

In other words, he looked ridiculous.

'Evidently, each of them intends to ask you out, Akane, on the dawn that he finally defeats you.'

'Good morning, Upperclassman,' Akane said. Her voice was almost bored.

The upperclassman looked over to Akane, opening his eyes as he flicked the rose towards her; it landed in her hand, and she caught it. 'Now, Akane Tendo, will you fight with me?'

Ranma jumped off the wall, landing next to Akane. 'You're pretty popular, aren't you?' she asked conversationally.

'Stay out of the way; you'll just get hurt.' Akane stepped forward, holding her book bag behind her and the rose in her other hand.

'...I don't understand what's happening.' Ranma's voice had a questioning tone to it.

Akane snorted, not taking her eyes off the upperclassman. 'You'll see.'

'You, silver-haired girl!'

Ranma blinked at the bokken pointing at her. 'Eh? Me?' She pointed at herself.

'Yes, you! You are being quite familiar with the fair Akane Tendo.'

Ranma leaned over. 'Tell him, Akane.'

'Tell him what?' Akane asked, glancing at Ranma for a second.'

'Who are you, boor?' the Upperclassman shouted, his voice loud enough to bring the two girls' attention back to him. Then his brows furrowed. 'Ah! But is it not tradition for one to give their own name first? Fine then! Mine I shall give!'

Ranma's face twisted, and she leaned back. 'W-well, if you want.'

The upperclassman was calm again. 'My name…'

He looked up, his eyes boring into the silver-haired girl. Thunder rumbled in the sky. '...is Upperclassman Kuno. Junior. Group E.' His eyes blazed. 'I am captain of Furinkan High's Kendo club, and the undefeated new star of the high school fencing world. But my peers call me…'

Lightning struck a nearby building. The flash lit up his face with an eerie glow. '...The White Lightning of Furinkan High.'

Up on the balcony next to Nabiki, one of the girls standing next to her wore a confused look on her face. 'White Lightning? That's the first I've heard of it.'

'Last I know he was still calling himself Burning Blaze,' Nabiki said, eyes half-lidded.

'Well, I'm staying at the Tendo dojo…'

Tatewaki's eyes flashed. Within a second, he'd moved in close and swung his bokken at Ranma. 'Such degeneracy under the same roof as Akane!'

The silver-haired girl's eyes widened, and she jumped to avoid the strike. In midair, she continued. 'I'm heir to the Saotome school of Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu…'

She pivoted into a graceful fall, a grin on her face and sparkle in her eyes. Pulling her backpack off in midair, she threw it towards Akane, shouting 'Catch!'

Stunned, the black-haired girl barely caught the bag as Ranma landed, not even in a stance. The grin on her face was clearly visible, though. 'My name's R-' Her grin faltered for a second as she remembered the false name she was given, but she plastered it back on her face and continued. 'Ryoko Hakubi, and I accept your challenge!'

'Wow! Some punk chick's taking on Kuno!'

'Kuno? That's crazy! She'll die if he takes her seriously!'

From the corner of her eye, Ranma noticed the balconies of the high school she was going to - all full of people, chattering incessantly about the fight that was about to start.

Lightning struck. The ground shook as thunder rolled over the area. The odd gleam in Kuno's eye turned into a blazing fury, and he held his bokken above his head. 'I, Upperclassman Kuno, shall bring you to justice… and show you the error of your ways! And then, once I have done that, you shall date with me, your mind free from whatever devilish influence it is under!'

'So who's hounding anybody?' Ranma asked snippily.

'Kuno, I don't know what you're thinking, but she's only staying with us!' Akane's voice was pleading.

Tatewaki's eyes flashed dangerously. 'Silence, devil!' he roared, good holding the bokken above his head. He charged forwards, towards Ranma.

The silver-haired girl's eyes narrowed. She pushed her feet up, propelling herself upwards, and twisted to land on the tree next to her. The kendo enthusiast sliced his bokken through the fence behind her, cutting through the bricks like paper.

She would have thought it was kind of impressive a couple of weeks ago. But now, it barely registered on her scale

Kuno blinked. The lack of an opponent that was split in half in front of him could mean only one thing - the cur had dodged. He looked around and a flash of silver caught his eye; he whipped his head to look towards it, and saw the cur standing - standing! - on the tree to his right's trunk.

He swung his sword, shearing through the tree like it was a stalk of bamboo.

Ranma jumped off the tree, almost feeling like scoffing. Kuno was pretty strong, all things considered, but he wasn't anywhere near as strong as her - even without the power that was in the gem in her wrist.

Which she didn't even dare to think of using.

He was also really annoying - jumping to a patently ridiculous conclusion that would have made her pops snort at it, back when he was still the way he used to be.

She landed on the ground, a twitch starting to develop in her eyebrow. 'Now hold on!'

In a flash, she moved - not teleported, just moved - in front of Kuno, glaring at him. 'Let me make this perfectly clear!

'I don't even know what you're thinking, but I am not planning on getting in some sort of romantic relationship with Akane! She's a friend, but nothing more than that! Got it?'

Kuno's eyes narrowed, and in a flash he sliced his bokken towards Ranma at blistering speed. 'Your lies shall not fool me, cur! You shall not take the fair Akane's hand, if Tatewaki Kuno has… anything to say about it…' Kuno trailed off, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.

The fair Akane gasped from nearby, and up on the balconies, his adoring fans erupted into loud chatter.

That cur Hakubi was holding his sword in one - one - of her hands, and looked almost bored. 'Is that all?' she asked, picking at a nail with her other hand, her eyes on that hand instead of him. 'I thought you would've been stronger than that, considerin' all the shit you've been talking. But nope.' She looked up to meet his eyes, her eyes slitted like a cat's. 'Just a weak idiot who doesn't know when he's outmatched.' She squeezed.

Lightning lit up the sky, leaving Ranma's face in shadow aside from her glowing eyes, and thunder rumbled. The bokken shattered, fragments of wood falling onto the ground.

Kuno staggered back, his eyes wide and full of fear. 'D-demon,' he whispered, falling to his knees. Drops of rain started to fall from the sky.

Ranma turned to Akane, her eyes crinkling as she smiled. 'Hey, we'll be late for class if we don't get going…' She trailed off, and a mischievous spark lit up in her eyes. 'Actually, hold on; gotta do something quickly.' Then she turned around to face Kuno again.

She walked towards the boy, who was frozen there like a statue. 'Oh, Upperclassman?' She leaned in towards Kuno, an innocent smile on her face. 'Could you make it so that those boys lying around on the ground stop coming after Akane? Actually, could you leave Akane alone too?' She opened her eyes and mouth, still smiling, but it sent off warning signs in Kuno's head; she looked more like a shark than a human. 'Otherwise, that bokken won't be the only thing in pieces.'

She stood up, smiling more innocently again, and turned around to face Akane. Walking forwards with a spring in her step, she caught up to the other girl, who was staring at her like she was crazy. 'Come on, then. Let's go.'

Akane just kept staring at her.

She blinked, tilting her head. 'Akane? What's wrong?'

'...You're an idiot.' Akane grabbed on to the other girl's arm, and started walking forward towards the school, dragging the silverhead along behind her through the grassy field; Ranma didn't fight back.

'Hey! What'd I do?'

Akane slammed the door to the girl's bathroom, before turning around to glare at Ranma who was leaning on the wall of one of the stalls. 'Do you even know what you just did?'

Ranma arched an eyebrow. 'I beat some jackass who was trying to force you on a date with him, and made him stop tryin' to do that ever again?'

Akane's anger evaporated, and her face went blank. 'You… you really don't know, do you?' she asked blankly.

Ranma's expression morphed into a look of confusion, and she stood up straight. She shook her head.

Akane sighed. 'Kuno was the one who got those boys to come after me in the first place. One day he just told them that if they wanted to date me, they had to defeat me. From that day on, every morning, all of the boys would attack me to get me to go out with them. Needless to say, he isn't very bright.' She paused. 'Actually, that's an understatement. Kuno is a complete and total delusional idiot, who won't even be bothered by a display like that one you put on there.'

'Well, he seemed pretty bothered to me.'

The black-haired girl snorted. 'Trust me, he's not. Tomorrow he'll come up and act like nothing ever happened. He'll probably start chasing after you, too.'

Ranma blinked. Then her face twisted in disgust. 'Ugh.' She shivered. 'Even if I liked guys - which I don't, by the way - I wouldn't even touch that idiot.'

'Now you know how I feel.' Akane nodded, clearly pleased she'd gotten her point across.

But then she glowered at Ranma again. 'But that's not the only reason you're an idiot!'

'Eh?'

'When Kuno attacked you with his bokken, you blocked it one-handed and shattered it, but the fact that you blocked it anyway makes me wonder if you've got a death wish!'

Ranma blinked. 'Whaddaya mean?'

'Did you see how easily he cut through that brick wall like it was nothing? And that tree?' Akane's voice cracked..'Imagine that happening to your hand or body! If I tried something like that, I wouldn't be standing here to talk about it with you!'

'...Oh.'

'Yeah, "oh"!' Akane shook her head, her eyes glistening. 'I-I thought you were going to die!'

Ranma opened her mouth, about to say something along the lines of 'I knew I could take him,' or 'Good thing I'm harder than I look'. But she stopped. She closed her mouth.

Akane had started to cry.

Hesitantly, she did something she'd never done before herself, but that she'd seen done a couple of times before: she wrapped her hands around the other, shorter girl, pulling her in close into a hug. 'Sorry,' she said lamely.

For a while, Akane just cried onto the taller girl's chest. For Ranma, though, it was kind of uncomfortable, since Akane was just tall enough that her head was level with Ranma's breasts.

Ranma didn't like being reminded she had breasts. But she didn't want to be rude, so she just let the other girl stay there, occasionally giving her a small awkward pat on the back.

After a couple of minutes, Ranma lifted her hands off the other girl, pulling away gently, and spoke up. 'Um, shouldn't we be gettin' to class now?'

Akane froze. Then without warning, she grabbed onto Ranma again.

'This is starting to feel kinda familiar,' Ranma thought as she let the other girl lead her along.

Akane stopped in front of the classroom, breathing lightly. 'This is our class,' she said, gesturing towards the closed door. Above it there was a sign that read '1-F'.

Ranma blinked. From behind it, she could hear a bunch of voices chattering. She heard some people talking about Kuno, and mentioning 'the weird new girl'.

She pulled the door open, and the chatter stopped.

'Oh? Akane-kun?' From behind the desk at the front, the person who was obviously the class teacher looked towards the two girls standing at the door. He was an average-looking man; not too tall, and not too short If you were to look in a crowd, he was the type of person to fade into the background.

Then his eyes widened, and he pounded a fist into the other. 'Oh, yes! That's what I forgot!'

Turning towards the class again, the teacher cleared his throat. 'We have a new transfer student to our class coming today.' Looking over towards the two girls who stood there, his eyes zeroed in on the taller one. 'Why don't you come on in and introduce yourself?

Ranma stared at him.

'Come on, don't be scared.' This time the teacher was beckoning her towards him.

With an internal shrug, Ranma walked over towards the man. She stopped next to his desk, and turned to face the class.

A bunch of curious faces stared back at her.

She grit her teeth for a couple of seconds, then smiled. 'My name is R-' She paused, and corrected her train of thought. 'Ryoko Hakubi. It's nice to meet you all.' She bowed, hoping by the kami that it looked convincing.

The teacher looked over towards her again. 'Oh, by the way Ryoko-kun, before I forget, you and Akane-kun are on bucket duty for being so late.'

Ranma felt like swearing.