Akane Tendo woke up a new woman.  Her body, while still in the 
throes of puberty, had gained three centimeters in height, her bust 
line had expanded into the grey area between B-cup and C-cup, and her 
muscles had gained more endurance and strength.  She would be turning 
seventeen in a month.  However, that wasn't what was important.
	The important thing was that the mind, spirit and soul of Akane 
Tendo were not in Akane Tendo's body.  Because Akane Tendo had, in a 
moment of depression, wished upon a strange-looking star she could be 
someone else.  That wish had been granted.
	The person who's mind, spirit and soul was in Akane Tendo was a 
bit surprised, to say the least.  Mostly because she had been a he.  
And while his body had been wracked with various minor medical 
problems, he had no clue as to why he would be in someone else's body 
without dying and there wasn't anything wrong with his body to warrant 
sudden death.
	His mind snapped onto a horrible conclusion.  He had called that 
bad Thai food poisonous, but he hadn't been expected to be proven 
right.  And now he had been reincarnated as a sixteen year old girl.
	In Japan.
	The new Akane Tendo blinked.  She was certain in cases of 
reincarnation, one wasn't supposed to recall one's former life.  Or at 
least, it didn't normally happen.  Especially not so clearly.  And 
wasn't the soul supposed to-
	The new Akane Tendo halted.  Could the soul and spirit of this 
body have wished for death so greatly that he had been transferred into 
the body rather than being sent to the afterworld?
	What a sad turn of events.  She sighed.  Well, since this body 
was hers, she had to get to work learning about it.  First off, a name.  
She grabbed a notebook and looked through it for a constant name.
	'Akane Tendo' was a frivolous girl.  Instead of focusing on 
school, she drew in her notebook, and while it was better than her 
former self could do, it was pointless scribbles.
	"If I had to be reincarnated, I wish it HADN'T been into an 
airhead." Akane grumbled.
	She also took note of a lot of pictures of a man in his late 
twenties, early thirties wearing glasses, a black dougi, and a 
ponytail.  His hair was brown, as were his eyes.  Tofu Ono was written 
above his head with numberous hearts around it, as well as name 
combinations like 'Tofu Tendo' and 'Akane Ono'.
	Akane rolled her eyes.  He looked like a nice guy, but she used 
to be a guy.  And like hell was she getting in bed with any guy simply 
because her body's former soul wanted to.  Since she was now a girl, 
she'd have to score with some other ladies.
	She paused.  The calendar said it was the same year, even the 
next day.  In about a month and a half would have been her old self's 
birthday.  She shook her head.  She'd double-checked the calendar year 
to make sure she didn't wind up in the 1950s, where girl-girl 
relationships still occurred, they were just hush-hush.  Or so the 
rumors went.
	She found a family photo on her desk and looked at it.  Three 
girls and a middle age man were smiling in front of a cave.  The man 
had long black hair with a thick black mustache to compliment.  He had 
tanned skin.  She recalled his name was 'Soun' and he was her new 
biological father.
	The other two girls looked older than her, but not by much.  
First was a girl with long brown hair wearing pink shirt with yellow 
letter and purple slacks.  Her name was Kasumi.  The next girl had a 
short brown hair in a bowl cut, with a green blouse and a heavy white 
skirt.  Her name was Nabiki.
	Akane cursed her luck.  The girl with the bowl cut would have 
looked better in some tight jeans.  Too bad she was family.

	Akane was thankful it was a Sunday and one where her former self 
had no plans.  It gave her time to meditate and take in many of the 
memories that her body still retained.
	When no more relevant information was coming to her, she stood 
and began flowing gently through a kata the old Akane knew, something 
that she found relaxing.  Not surprising, given the old Akane's focus 
on martial arts, but she absolutely stunk at her own style.
	The old Akane did everything straight, hard and focused on power.  
The new Akane knew that was worth horseshit in terms of combat.  
Straight attacks were good and all, but the old Akane focused on the 
Martial part and decided to forsake the Art half.
	Gentle, flowing, and with patience.  Finishing quickly was not 
important.  Going through a kata in thirty seconds was fine, but if one 
made numerous errors, it was worthless.
	Soun watched Akane go through a form with calm and patience that 
Soun had NEVER seen the girl with.  Soun decided to comment, "Akane, is 
something wrong?  You aren't your usual self."  Soun left out how he 
felt this change was definitely for the better.
	"No, not really.  I just noticed I've been making a lot of 
mistakes in my katas, so I decided to slow it down so I could get them 
down." Akane responded as she continued flowing through her kata.
	Soun nearly burst into tears, but managed to reign himself in.  
He'd seen how his daughters had reacted to losing their mother.  Kasumi 
had retreated to her own little world, Nabiki became their financial 
pillar but lost many of her morals, and Akane had grown more and more 
violent and angry.  So much to the point that Soun had deliberately 
stopped training her to keep her from hurting people in her temper 
tantrums.  He hadn't done anything to try and break them out of it 
because he himself hadn't quite worked through the pain and grief and 
didn't want to be too hypocritical.
	Now Akane was starting to calm herself and open to the true 
aspects of a martial artist, rather than the way of the petty thug.
	"Akane, I think you may be ready for more training... but I'll 
need to test you." Soun declared, causing Akane to stop in surprise.
	Akane nodded as Soun took up a ready stance across from her.  
Akane shifted from her stance in her kata into a fighting stance that, 
Soun curiously noted, was from a Korean Short Karate style.  Akane had 
focused entirely on Kempo to Soun's knowledge.
	Soun charged and leapt at Akane with a flying leap that the old 
Akane wouldn't have been able to dodge.  The new Akane was an expert at 
dodging and a better tactician.  She tucked and rolled out of the way, 
getting out of range of Soun's inevitable second attack, which was a 
clothesline attack for the students who simply dodged.  Most didn't see 
it coming.
	Soun turned and hastily blocked as Akane's fighting style flowed 
from her old brute strength form to Shorin-Ryu style karate to Sumotori 
to Korean Short Karate to... some style he didn't know.  Soun was 
caught off guard by the sudden double jumpkick and staggered back while 
Akane spun quickly, landing on her butt and rolling to her feet before 
the shock of landing could really set in.
	"End." Soun said hastily as Akane prepared another attack.
	Akane relaxed and began rubbing her sore butt.  WWF wrestlers 
made that technique look a lot easier, but then again, they didn't do 
the somersault to return to their feet quickly.
	"I'm impressed.  You've finally overcome the weakness that had 
been keeping you back.  You'd failed to notice the 'Anything Goes' part 
of our family style before now." Soun declared.
	"Really?" Akane inquired.  That meant the Anything Goes was 
closer to her old personal style.  How unfortunate she'd never known 
about it before the transference.
	Soun nodded, "I think you're finally ready for the advanced 
training..."

	Akane groaned as she eased herself off the bathseat.  Advanced 
training had been so exhuasting that she hadn't even had the time to 
explore her new body sexually.  Having been a hormonally driven male, 
seeing what delights a female body could produce would have been a 
priority (admittedly, lower than making sure she fit in), but Soun's 
training had killed any chance of enjoying that.
	Akane, despite being fairly fit for sixteen, was in agony.  Her 
memory couldn't find another moment when her muscles ached so much.  
She sighed in relief as she eased herself into the tub, the heat easing 
the sore spots perfectly.
	Her older sister Nabiki entered.  Akane found the ceiling 
interesting while she tried _not_ to have sexual thoughts about her new 
sister.  Nabiki was well-lathered when she turned to Akane, who had 
returned enjoying the healing power of the hot water she was in.
	"Anything new happen today?" Nabiki inquired conversationally.
	"Dad's finally training me up to master-level in our school." 
Akane spoke up.
	Nabiki arched an eyebrow.  She knew her father could do foolish 
things, but Akane learning the master level of the Anything Goes school 
was not something he did lightly.
	"Say, Nabiki, you were fairly good at martial arts, why did you 
quit?" Akane inquired.
	"Didn't have the time.  I have a social life now." Nabiki 
responded.
	"If you say so.  By the way, you can stop buyings bricks and 
stuff now.  I don't need that stuff anymore." Akane told Nabiki.
	Had Nabiki been drinking something, she would have done a spit-
take.
	"WHAT?!" Nabiki inquired.
	"I.  Don't.  Need.  That.  Stuff.  Anymore." Akane repeated 
slowly.
	"You?  Akane, that's almost like saying you don't need to eat." 
Nabiki stated.
	"Look, I simply have no need for them.  What good is it to gauge 
my strength by breaking boards or bricks?  A trained monkey can do 
that.  Hell, a monkey can do that without needing to be trained.  I 
don't need strength anymore.  I need focus and discipline." Akane 
responded.
	Nabiki suddenly hugged Akane, tears in her eyes as she blathered 
out, "THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!"
	"iiiiitteeeee!" Akane whimpered out as the hug caused most of the 
sore muscles to scream "I HURT, DON'T MOVE ME, BUTTMUNCH!".
	Nabiki didn't care, she was so happy that yet another drain on 
the family resources was now gone.  Even at secondhand prices, they 
were gouging a good portion of money from Nabiki's purse. (1)

	The next day, Akane woke up ahead of time and got dressed in 
record time, her muscles having mostly recovered from the advanced 
training.  Kasumi was surprised when Akane helped her make the rice for 
breakfast and didn't even make her usual mistake when she asked Akane 
to wash the rice.  Kasumi was especially thankful because it had cost 
quite a bit to have the washing machine fixed after that mistake and 
she hated to waste food.
	Akane _had_ asked a number of questions before doing the assigned 
task, but Kasumi was just grateful that Akane hadn't tried to force 
herself through the process.
	"It's nice of you to help out in the kitchen, Akane." Kasumi said 
sincerely.
	For some reason that she didn't truly understand, Akane felt 
incredibly proud when Kasumi said that, "It's no problem.  It's the 
least I can do, what with you making all our meals.  Once I start 
getting the hang of cooking in Home Ec, would you mind if I started 
helping out more?"
	"Not at all." Kasumi said, this time, managing to refrain from 
cringing openly.
	"Great.  I'll get out the bento boxes." Akane responded, beaming 
with a pride that she couldn't really understand.

	Akane couldn't believe a whole week had passed so well.  She was 
still trying to get it through to the daily Horde that she wasn't 
interested.  At Nabiki's request, she continued to fight through the 
Horde at top speed, but she'd told Nabiki to find another source of 
income because Akane wasn't going to tolerate that forever.
	Nabiki noticed, however, that while Akane was still disabling the 
horde, it was with stopping force, not pounding force.  She was 
sincerely pulling her attacks and still managing to beat the Horde and 
Tatewaki.
	Kasumi and Akane's Home Ec teacher were both pleasantly surprised 
as Akane began learning how to cook actual food rather than things that 
had to be thrown away, pot or pan included. (2)  Of course, they didn't 
come out looking right, but they didn't taste bad, nor were they 
secretly poisonous. (3)
	Akane returned home Saturday afternoon to see Soun reading a 
postcard.
	"Who's that from, dad?" Akane inquired, before taking note of 
both Nabiki and Kasumi's presense.
	"Akane, please sit down with your sisters." Soun answered.
	Akane quirked an eyebrow, but sat down anyway, next to Nabiki.
	"I just got a postcard from an old friend of mine, who's been on 
a ten year training journey with his son.  Recently, they've crossed 
into China and now they're coming back." Soun declared.
	"That's nice, so they're going to be houseguests for a while?" 
Akane guessed, grabbing a cracker and nibbling on it.
	"Sort of.  You see, it's been the dream of Genma and I to have 
our families unite.  So, if everything turns out all right, his son 
will be engaged to one of your girls." Soun responded.
	"So... what's he like, this boy?" Nabiki inquired.
	"I don't know." Soun replied.
	"You don't know?" Akane asked, staring at the back of her 
father's head with an intensity that if she had Superman's heat vision, 
she would have blown Soun's head off, destroyed a satelite and bisected 
a passing comet.
	"I've never met him." Soun declared.
	Soun was a bit put off as a partially eaten cracker bounced off 
his head, but the fact that it was thrown by Nabiki was more 
surprising.
	"What kind of idiot engages his daughters to a boy without 
knowing what he's like?!  He could be a food thief, obnoxious, rude or 
something!" Nabiki growled.
	"My cracker...." Akane moaned, looking at the ruined snack with 
heavy remorse in her voice.
	Kasumi headed to the kitchen to get the hand brush and dust pan.  
It was just then that the front door opened.
	"That must be him!" Soun exclaimed, hurrying to the door.
	"Come on, we should at least meet him." Akane told Nabiki, 
hopping to her feet.
	Nabiki grumbled angrily, but stood up anyways.  Then, Kasumi and 
Soun raced back into the living room, followed by a large panda and a 
redhaired person on the panda's left shoulder.
	"Knock it off, pops, you're scarin' 'em spitless!" the redhead 
said, kicking the panda while she pounded on it's head and back.
	[What kind of name is 'Pops' for a panda?] Akane wondered, having 
dismissed the panda as a trained pet.
	Then, as the panda set the redhead down in front of Soun, Akane 
took note of the large bulge in the redhead's shirt.
	"You'd wouldn't be..." Soun began.
	"Ranma Saotome, sorry about this." the redhead declared.
	"Oh well.  Looks like uniting the school is a bust." Akane 
sighed, before snickering at the pun.
	That caught Soun's attention before he could hug Ranma.
	"What?" Soun inquired.
	Akane sighed and walked up behind Ranma.  Ranma yelped in 
surprise as Akane cupped the redhead's breasts and hefted them, "Last 
time I checked, girls can't have children with other girls unless it's 
by adoption."
	Soun took note of Ranma's breasts as Akane stepped away, though 
Ranma noticed that Akane's hands seemed to linger.
	"Wh-where is your father?" Soun asked.
	"He's right behind me." Ranma answered.
	Soun glanced at the panda, then realized Ranma must've been 
speaking figuratively, "Coming later, eh?  Well, I guess we'll... just 
have to discuss this when he arrives."
	Ranma looked ready to say something, when Akane interjected, "We 
can at least be friends.  My name is Akane.  Wanna take a look around?"
	"I guess it couldn't hurt." Ranma replied.
	Akane took Ranma's hand and smiled, "Come on, I'll show you the 
dojo."
	Akane turned away before she saw Ranma's blush and led the 
redheaded girl to the dojo.

	"You've studied Kempo, right?" Akane inquired as she adjusted her 
dougi top.  Ranma's blush deepened as she noticed Akane didn't like 
wearing a bra underneath her top, which allowed the dougi-clad girl's 
breasts to fill out the fabric more.  Of course, Akane had changed in 
front of Ranma, so that had added to the blush.
	"A little" Ranma told her.
	"Any other styles?" Akane asked.
	"I think a bit of Wu Shu, but I don't remember a lot of the 
names.  It was pretty much just training in those styles.  Pops always 
told me to focus on the training, so I never spent much time memorizing 
the names until I was about ten or so." Ranma responded.
	"Would you mind sparring with me?  I may not be up to the level 
of someone who's been training for ten years solid like you, but I want 
to see how good we are." Akane begged.
	"Okay." Ranma answered.
	Ranma was a little surprised when Akane took up a karate stance, 
rather than one typical of kempo.  The two were similar, but Ranma 
could see the subtle differences.  Akane pushed off and seemed to glide 
across the dojo floor before delivering a strong punch.
	"You know karate too?" Ranma inquired as she dodged by bending a 
bit.
	"Some." Akane answered, backing away and reassessing Ranma.
	Ranma's dodging skills were impressive.  No solid hit was going 
to get the blue-eyed busty girl, so it was time to switch to her more 
nimble attacks.  Ranma was taken aback when Akane launched forward with 
a flathand thrust, then retracted her ring and pinky finger to chase 
after Ranma's form with her index and middle as Ranma bent away to 
dodge.
	Ranma realized she would get tagged if she didn't take action.  
She continued to bend backwards, snapping her hands above her head to 
touch the dojo floor as her legs seized Akane's arm and sent the Tendo 
girl flying across the dojo.
	Akane, however, controlled her spin and landed before she could 
reach the dojo wall.  Ranma returned to her feet and reassessed the 
Tendo girl.  She wasn't as bad as Ranma had originally thought her to 
be.  Most Dojo students were very bad, usually so set in their ways 
that the instant their opponent switched tactics, they lost instantly.
	"Not too shabby." Ranma commented.
	"I'm impressed.  I guess I need a little work to catch up with 
you.  You've got a lot of agility and speed, probably mostly an aerial 
style, right?" Akane inquired.
	"Yeah.  You know your stuff around martial arts." Ranma 
complimented her.
	"I gotta.  I'm the current heir to the Tendo school.  Wouldn't do 
if the heir to a school of martial arts sucked, ne?" Akane asked 
rheotorically before returning to her feet and smiling, "If you 
wouldn't mind, I'd like to see how you train.  To keep up with you, I 
suspect I'll need quite a bit."
	"I wouldn't mind at all." Ranma answered, smiling as well.
	A while later, Ranma found herself very impressed with Akane.  
She had real potential.  She had a lot of natural strength, but she 
could focus it properly and could very well become a worthy sparring 
partner in a month or so, once she got used to the acrobatics needed 
for what Ranma considered normal training.
	Not only that, but she got Ranma's little jokes.  A few were 
groaners, but in all, Ranma was finding herself liking Akane.  And that 
brought a bout of depression.  She knew Akane would freak out once she 
knew about the curse.
	"Akane, Ranma, I've drawn a bath so you can get cleaned up before 
dinner and here, I've brought you some clean towels to use." Kasumi 
said, presenting the towels to Akane.
	Akane took the towels and passed one to Ranma, "I can see why 
you're so good.  I'd be a lot better if I took to that sort of 
training.  Kasumi, why don't you show Ranma the guest room?  I'll bathe 
first.  I need it more."
	Ranma blushed as Akane loosened her top and fanned herself as she 
left the room.

	 Akane sighed as she put on a casual blue shirt and pants.  Just 
as she was exiting her room, she heard her father call, "Akane, we've 
got an important matter to discuss in the living room."
	Akane nodded to herself.  Genma had probably shown up, meaning 
the whole matter would be cleared up.  Hopefully Ranma could stay.  
Akane really wanted to work with the redhead towards attaining a higher 
level of martial mastery.  It didn't hurt that the girl was very cute, 
had a nice bust and a cute tush.
	Akane was beginning to wish she'd waited for Ranma before taking 
her bath, but she figured it would do better to start such a 
relationship in friendship first.
	Then they could play 'explorer woman' together.
	Akane was greeted with the sight of a husky bald man wearing a 
kerchief on his head and wearing a slightly tattered white dougi next 
to an unfamilar black-haired boy who was wearing the same outfit as 
Ranma.  The boy even had the same pigtail.
	Soun motioned her daughter to sit next to Nabiki and Kasumi.  She 
did so, wondering when Ranma was going to show up.  It would be 
interesting to find out if the boy and Ranma were related.
	"Go on, my friend." Soun mentioned.
	"Yes, you see, close to a year ago, my son and I swam to China as 
part of an endurance test..." Genma began.
	[SWAM to China?] Akane stared at the two.  Sure, the boy looked 
pretty fit, and she guessed the portly man's fat allowed him extra 
buoncy, but swimming the sea between Japan and China was a bit 
excessive.  The boy looked rather irritated and kept glaring at Genma.
	"We sought many esoteric martial art techniques and training 
grounds to prove ourselves.  Then, we researched and found the 
legendary cursed training ground of Jusenkyo." Genma continued.
	"Cursed training ground?" Nabiki inquired dubiously.
	Akane would have agreed, but it was no more ridiculous than 
waking up in another person's body.  She was going to give the tale a 
bit more credence.
	"I have to admit I was mostly to blame for choosing it, but I was 
of the same attitude as you, girl.  'What idiot believes in curses and 
magic in this modern day and age?' I asked myself." Genma responded, 
before adding, "The honest truth is that few people do, save for the 
ones who see it up close."
	"In other words, baka-oyaji here got us both cursed.  Hot water 
changes us back while cold water activates the curse." the boy 
declared.
	"Yes, but listen to yourself, boy, you're even beginning to sound 
like-" Genma turned to the boy, seizing him by the shirt before 
flinging him toward the koi pond, "A GIRL!"
	The boy landed squarely in the pond, but leapt out and splashed 
his father.  Akane, Nabiki and Kasumi STARED at the again-female Ranma 
and again-panda Genma.
	"SUCK ON IT, POPS!  You did this to us!" Ranma-chan roared, 
landing six punches on Genma before the Panda could retaliate with a 
paw swipe.
	"I.... see......." Kasumi murmurred.
	"Gahgah......." Nabiki managed to declare.
	"Oooooh...." Akane joined in, realizing the sort of predicament 
that would have resulted had she and Ranma shared a bath.
	Soun explained the finer details of the story while Ranma and 
Genma pounded the hell out of each other.  The daughter-panda smackdown 
was finally interupted when Soun stepped between them and poured hot 
water on Genma, changing him back into a man.  Genma winced, "Hot 
water, not boiling, Tendo."
	Laughing heartily, Soun patted Ranma-chan on the shoulder, "Well 
now, this isn't so bad."
	"Huh?" Ranma-chan asked.
	Soun guided Ranma back into the living room and pointed to his 
daughters, "This is Kasumi, she's 19.  Nabiki, she's 17.  And Akane, 
who's 16.  Pick any one you want, she'll be your new fiancee."
	"Akane, you both like martial arts and you don't like boys, so 
Ranma's perfect." Nabiki said, patting Akane on the arm.
	"Uh, why not give us some time?  I'm sure Ranma wouldn't mind 
delaying the engagement for a while." Kasumi interupted.
	"Hmm, not a bad idea." Soun noted.
	Genma spoke up, "No, the sooner, the better!"
	"Come, come now, Genma.  We shouldn't push the children." Soun 
answered.
	"Besides, Nabiki and Akane are still in high school.  We should 
at least wait until they've graduated." Kasumi said.
	Genma didn't look too pleased, but accepted it while he pouted.  
Kasumi noted that Genma looked a bit constipated.  High fiber foods for 
him.
	"Besides, I need to find a cure for this!  Not get a fiancee." 
Ranma-chan growled.
	"But Jusenkyo's been there for thousands of years.  And the 
spring you fell into was from at least 1000 years, right?" Akane spoke 
up, looking through the Jusenkyo Curse Handbook that Genma had given 
Soun, who had, in turn, shown to his daughters.
	Ranma-chan stopped, mid-step in the direction of the front door.
	"Then wouldn't the magic be incredibly potent?  Hazarding a 
guess, you'd probably need to find something just as powerful to even 
scratch that level of magic." Akane reasoned.
	"Akane?" Nabiki inquired, wondering how her sister knew about 
magic.
	"What?  I read about it in the book.  If Jusenkyo's magic covers 
all those springs and it's stayed around for more than 1000 years at 
the very _LEAST_, then it's not something that's just going to fade 
away on Tuesday.  In fact, if no one's tried to purify Jusenkyo, then 
it's likely for a reason.  Something to do with Karma." Akane explained 
before adding, "And you can't ditch karma that easily."
	"You're saying I _DESERVED_ this?" Ranma-chan inquired.
	"No, I'm not, but you might need it." Akane responded.
	Ranma-chan didn't know why, but she was very confused.  She liked 
Akane, but it almost sounded like Akane was insulting her, but not 
enough for Ranma-chan to get upset.  Akane stood up, walked over and 
touched Ranma-chan on the shoulder.
	"We're still friends, right?  You shouldn't try and deal with a 
problem like this head on and alone.  That's why you're both in this 
predicament to begin with.  I'm sure that if we stop and look, we're 
bound to find some solutions." Akane responded.
	Ranma-chan tried to argue with that line of logic, "All right, 
but if we don't find nothin', I'm going back to China to find that 
cure."
	Akane smiled, "And you won't go alone.  Boy or girl, it doesn't 
matter.  We're friends."
	Ranma-chan found herself blushing deeply.  She didn't know very 
many nice people and most of them hadn't known about her curse.
	"Okay..." Ranma-chan mumbled.

	Ranma arched an eyebrow, "High school?  Why do I gotta go?"
	"It'll do you good, boy." Genma answered simply.
	Ranma huffed.
	"Oh, come on, Saotome.  It'll do you good to have a few more 
things to do in a day besides train.  Besides, until this whole 
engagement is either finalized or refused, you're going to do something 
productive to help out this household.  Your father is looking for a 
job." Nabiki declared.
	Ranma sighed, "I suppose it couldn't hurt to see how dismal my 
scores are."
	"You're in luck, Furinkan isn't too high on the chart, but it 
isn't at the bottom, either.  Getting in shouldn't be too difficult if 
you've paid attention to class in the last two years." Akane joined in, 
teasing Ranma.
	Ranma grumbled at the knock to his ego, but he'd already 
committed himself to going to school.  He grabbed the pack and followed 
Akane out the door.
	"Where's Nabiki?" Ranma inquired.
	"She's already gone ahead.  She has things to do before we get 
there.  Extracurricular or something." Akane explained hazily.
	Ranma shrugged and they began walking.
	About a block away, Akane spoke up, "So, Ranma.  Your father and 
mine both have advanced training levels.  How far along do you think 
you are?"
	"Well, he said he's got a few techniques he's sealed away... too 
dangerous to be used, 'cept in an extreme emergency.  'sides that, I 
figure I'm pretty much just keepin' the old lardbucket in shape more 
than learnin' anythin'." Ranma responded.
	"Hmm, well, I just started on the advanced levels.  I know I'm 
probably not going to get up to your level any time soon..." Akane 
began.
	"Hey, now.  You're a lot better than what I woulda figured coming 
from a dojo'n'all." Ranma answered.
	"You really think?" Akane inquired.
	"Yeah, you got real potential.  I can tell you've been stuck in 
mostly power-based Earth or Fire style, but other than that, you could 
be a good sparrin' partner in about a month'r so." Ranma complimented 
her.
	"Thanks, Ranma.  That means a lot to me." Akane told him, smiling 
a bit.
	Ranma felt a faint blush rise to his cheeks, "T'weren't nuthin'."
	Akane began chuckling at how silly Ranma sounded using 
"t'weren't".  The mental image of Ranma in overalls with a stalk of 
wheat in his mouth spitting tobacco into a can, saying things like 
"Howdy", "Y'all come back now, y'hear?" and "I'll fix ya up a MESS of 
vittles!" hopped to her forebrain and refused to leave for a few 
seconds.
	"So, what did you do in China besides Jusenkyo?" Akane inquired.
	"Uh... well.... a lot of things.  Most of it had to do with 
fighting." Ranma responded.
	"Hmmm, you'll have to tell me about it sometime.  Hey, Ranma?" 
Akane asked, using a more serious tone.
	"What?" Ranma replied.
	"When we get to school, there's going to be a lot of boys there.  
They've got it into their heads that if they can beat me that I'll date 
them." Akane began.
	"But you don't?" Ranma inquired.
	"No, but I haven't lost even once, so it's a moot point.  I just 
felt I should warn you about that if you decide to help out." Akane 
told him.
	Ranma nodded.  They continued on in silence, but both found 
themselves liking the other's presence.

	Ranma arched an eyebrow at the scene and asked, "Every day?"
	Akane nodded as she snorted.  Holding back was actually the 
difficult part, but even that was growing easier by the day as her 
focus increased.  She doubted she would be able to break a sweat even 
if the horde were to double in number.
	Tatewaki was already on the ground, unconscious.  He had been 
trying to make an impressive entrance every day for the last week, but 
the new Akane wouldn't give him even that.  She always located him 
during the battle and dealt with him discreetly.  The last thing she 
needed was to be five minutes closer to being late.
	"Must get annoying." Ranma commented.
	"It does.  The worst thing is that if I keep fighting inferior 
opponents, my skills are going to start slipping." Akane responded as 
she and Ranma entered the school building.
	"It might.  But at least you keep sharp when it comes to danger 
sense." Ranma noted.
	"Barely.  I doubt these guys would actually work up the nerve to 
deal any real damage.  They probably think my defense is so weak that 
they shouldn't 'break' me.  Please.  I've taken worse lumps on 
playground equipment than anything those dorks would ever deal to me." 
Akane huffed.
	"I think you're right.  I've seen younger sumos and they were a 
lot faster and more forceful in their attacks.  The ones you fought 
seemed to be doing their 'teach the younger students' level." Ranma 
agreed.
	Akane nodded.
	"See you later, Ranma." Akane told him as he headed to the 
administration office and she went to class.

	Akane had not expected Ranma to be in her class.  Then again, 
given that he'd spent most of ten years on the road, the fact that he 
was in high school at all could have been surprising to those who 
thought less of people that travelled all their lives.
	Akane was not one of those people.  Ranma was introduced and sent 
to the seat to the left and behind Akane.  After that, school 
progressed fairly well.
	Until lunch time, when Akane found out that either Nabiki had 
blabbed something (something that occurred with the frequency of a 
lightning bolt hitting someone who was peeing through an electric fence 
onto an electric generator) or Nabiki had sold the information on 
Ranma, which included the thing about fiancees.
	One way or another, Tatewaki charged into their room the instant 
lunch started and roared, "RANMA SAOTOME!  I SHALL NEVER ACCEPT YOUR 
ENGAGEMENT TO AKANE TENDO!"
	"TATEWAKI KUNOU!" Akane roared back almost instantly, having 
expected this sooner or later.
	Tatewaki, not used to be roared at, halted.
	Akane cleared her throat and began clarifying, "First of all, 
this is neither the time nor the place.  Secondly, Ranma has an open-
ended engagement to me, Nabiki or Kasumi and he has not chosen any of 
us.  Thirdly, he did not arrange this, my father and his did, and that 
was back when they were still in training.  And lastly, it doesn't 
matter if you accept the engagement, because YOU ARE NOT OF THE TENDO 
CLAN AND NEVER WILL BE UNLESS YOU MARRY KASUMI!"
	Tatewaki staggered backwards, staring at his tigress with wide-
eyes.
	Akane continued, "You are loud, boorish, petty, vengeful, and so 
chauvinistic that you have not once taken me seriously, in either a 
potentially romantic, martial or platonic manner.  You would likely 
start chasing any other girl that fit your fancy than stay true to any 
one woman, and even if I _DID_ consider you a potential romantic 
interest, your non-kendo habits and the fact that you basically tossed 
any possible affection to the rabid horde that pursues me every morning 
would no doubt drive me to reject you and everything tied to you."
	"I-i---......" Tatewaki's mind was seeking a hint of hope.
	Akane folded her arms across her chest.  She knew Tatewaki _was_ 
a generally nice guy, once someone got past the extravagances.  Her 
memories indicated that he was capable of fulfilling his 'noble 
samurai' image on occassion.  Not that she would be willing to date him 
in a million years, but he could be made to improve himself.  Keeping 
that in mind, she told him seriously, "Should you ever reform your 
behavior, I may reconsider my statements, but until then, you are 
completely unacceptable to me."
	Tatewaki took a while, but he finally returned to his present 
state of mind.  The rest of the class would take much longer.
	"I understand, Akane Tendo.  I shall leave and strive to make 
myself a better man.  Than I shall return to you." Tatewaki answered, 
exiting the classroom and heading out on a spiritual journey.
	"I hope I didn't totally devastate the poor guy.  He's okay, but 
he's got too many bad habits." Akane muttered.
	"So, you think you might like him if he did change?" Ranma 
inquired.
	"No.  He made too much of a bad impression for too long.  But 
hopefully, Tatewaki will take those words to heart and change himself.  
Then, he'll be suitable for any other girl that he may fixate on." 
Akane replied.
	Ranma arched an eyebrow.
	"Besides, it was getting a tad too ridiculo-" Akane began.
	Then, the mob of girls, no longer in shock from Akane telling 
Tatewaki off, swarmed Akane, demanding details about if she and Ranma 
had gone a date yet, what Akane thought of him and if Akane would mind 
if Ranma took some of them out on a date.
	Ranma noted that Akane had apparently taken swimming at one point 
as she thrust a hand with one digit up.  Her arm sank, then thrust her 
hand up again, with an extra digit extended.  Her arm sank once more.  
Ranma sighed.  Time to save his potential fiancee from 'drowning' in 
the sea of girls.

	Akane stretched as she headed to the bath.  A nice workout 
between her father's advanced training and Ranma's training had caused 
some of her muscles to jump straight to aching and sore.  She needed a 
nice soak in the tub, dinner, then bed.
	She entered, washed herself well and had just stepped into the 
tub when she finally noticed Ranma sitting in the tub with her.  She 
hadn't noticed that he was already in the tub when she'd entered.
	"Hi...  guess you didn't notice the sign." Ranma began.
	Akane blushed a bit, "Sorry.  I should have looked.  I was too 
busy focusing on getting clean."
	Ranma was doing his best to cover himself while looking away.
	"Okay, come on, Ranma.  It's not like you haven't seen a naked 
girl before." Akane chided him.
	"You seen a naked guy before?" Ranma inquired.
	Akane didn't want to have to explain that the original Akane had 
never looked at anyone's groin on purpose, but that new Akane knew all 
about the male genitalia.  So, she lied.
	"Yuka's got quite the collection of Yaoi Doujinshi." Akane 
responded.
	"What's 'Yaoi' mean?" Ranma asked, his eyes wide with innocent 
curiosity.
	"If you don't know, you probably don't want to.  I've seen enough 
that I'm pretty much desensitized to it." Akane told him, not about to 
shock the poor boy a day after he first arrived.
	"Oh." Ranma answered, then slowly brought his arms up from his 
hard member to rest on the rim of the bath in a manner similar to 
Akane.
	Akane spoke up, "Hey, Ranma?  Can I ask a question?"
	Ranma nodded.
	"Did you make any friends on your training trip?" Akane inquired.
	"Yeah, why d'ya wanna know?" Ranma shot back, in a curious tone.
	"Well, since you're going to be staying here for a while, I 
figured you could take this opportunity to send letters out to your 
friends." Akane replied.
	"I don't remember too many friends... wait!  I can write my 
buddy, Ucchan.  He lived down in Kyoto.  Then there was Haruka, she was 
a buddy of mine..." Ranma said, papping a hand into his other.
	"'Ucchan'?  How'd you meet him?" Akane asked.
	"Well, we were kinda poor, so pops made me steal from his cart.  
His dad didn't seem to mind much.  I think he thought it was good 
training for Ucchan.  Anyway, Ucchan's the only friend I can remember 
that I used to play with outside of school or training and I knew him 
the longest.  We spent close to a year down there, which was longer 
than most of the other places we stayed." Ranma answered.
	"You sure he still lives down there?" Akane inquired.
	Ranma faltered.
	"We can have Nabiki check on it.  She can get info on a lot of 
things.  And she can probably find Haruka for you as well." Akane 
announced.
	"Really?  Thanks, Akane." Ranma said.
	Akane smiled in return.  And Ranma blushed again.

	Ranma caressed her silky hips.  Akane looked at him with 
apprehension as Ranma positioned his member at her entrance.  Easing 
himself into her, Ranma felt himself release instantly.
	Ranma burst awake.
	He wasn't completely stupid when it came to things relating to 
sex, but he'd never had a wet dream that was so intense.  His rigid 
member was still releasing his fluid into the fabric of his boxers.
	Ranma blushed.  He'd barely known Akane for more than a day and 
he already had one of the most intense orgasms he'd ever experienced 
just thinking about making love to her.
	He knew what sex was about.  Back in Junior High, he'd hung out 
at a buddy's house and he'd seen Urutsukidoji back to back with Angel 
of Darkness and Demon Beast Invasion.  Despite the trauma and 
declaration that he'd never watch anime again (at least until he saw 
how tame Sailor Moon and Tenchi Muyou! were), Ranma had wondered what 
it would have been like to be on the receiving end of those horrible 
slimy tentacles.
	Which was why when he'd acquired his curse, he'd spent as many 
days fully awake as he could with a club in his hand, just in case evil 
demons possessed his father or the Jusenkyou Guide.
	Regardless, he knew about sex.  It may have not been the worst 
possible introduction to the world of sexuality (though it was 
certainly in the top ten), but he knew.
	To keep himself from growing tentacles or anything weird like 
that and going to hump Akane's brains out, Ranma found a glass of cold 
water and went to sleep as a girl.
	Ranma-chan felt hands on her silky hips.  Looking down, she saw 
Akane as the dark-haired girl slid her body up against Ranma-chan's 
until they were face to face.
	"Why the hell is THIS happening?!" Ranma-chan demanded.
	"Because you stupidly thought Cool Devices was about giant mecha 
and La Blue Girl was a story about Shogunate Era romance." Akane 
replied.
	"Oh yeah." Ranma-chan noted to herself.
	"And shame on you for even watching Akiko." Akane said.
	"I know, but how was I supposed to know the sound effects would 
be horrible, the script atrocious and the plot was wrought with lame 
hentai cliches." Ranma-chan inquired.

=======================================================================

(1) And WHY hadn't anyone else ever noticed this?  Naughty fanfic 
writers.
(2) All Japanese hate wasting food.  Having to waste cooking supplies 
too?  Really bad.
(3) Rule of Standard Anime Bad Cooks #1: If it looks and smells good, 
it's painfully disgusting.
    Rule of Standard Anime Bad Cooks #2: If it looks bad, but smells 
good, it causes stomach cramps that could take down a berserk rhino 
hopped up on cocaine.
    Rule of Standard Anime Bad Cooks #3: If it looks and smells bad, 
it's only really nasty to taste and leaves an unnatural oily taste in 
your mouth for two weeks.

	Chapter 1, Complete

	An Akane who's not insensitive or hammer-friendly?  Ranma's seen 
Urutsukidoji?  Tatewaki leaving on a spiritual quest?  What more 
weirdness can hop into their lives?
	And if that much has changed, what else has?

	Stay tuned!

	Next chapter:
	Ryoga Hibiki and Shampoo appear!
	Kodachi Kunou's new fear!
	Mikado Sanzenin's new move!
	Burning vengence!
	The one worse than Happosai!