***Disclaimer***

I do not own any of the characters created in Ranma ½. I am not making any profit from this story or any others I have written.

***Author’s Notes***

Send C&C to xile@crosswinds.net. Yet to have title.

***End Notes***

"Ah, I just love the morning jog."

The young girl continued to run through the street without much care in the world. After all, it’s a beautiful morning. The sun rose above the horizon and lingered in the sky freely. It certainly was peaceful and tranquil. Others were bathing in the morning due as if the light could recharge their life force. All in all, it’s a wonderful morning. Quiet and peaceful.

"Oneechan, wait up!"

Well, almost quiet.

"Come on, Akane. We don’t want to be late again."

"It wasn’t my fault!" pleaded the dark blue hair girl.

"Oh? Then, who fault is it?" the short brown hair girl smirked.

"It’s….er…." dejected, Akane gave a ‘hmph’ in responsed.

"Ah, come on Akane. You don’t want to keep you’re ‘boyfriends’ waiting," teased the older sister.

Her stride stumbled a bit, but quickly recovered as she charged into the school with her battle cried, "I HATE BOYS!"

Well, it might not be the quietest morning in town, but it certainly was a beautiful one.

Later that evening, a very frustrated Akane walked out of the gate of Furinkan High School.

"Stupid teacher," Akane muttered.

"Can’t believe I got detention for being late this morning."

"Kuno no baka!" Akane yelled at the sky.

"Why does this have to happened every morning." She quickly made a hole in the wall to release some frustration. "Why can’t I have a normal friend? Why can’t I have a boy who likes me for who I am?

"Well, there’s Ryouga-kun. He’s… He’s just weird," Akane said with a sigh.

"Why can’t I find someone I like?" She asked looking toward the sky hoping the Kami was listening. Frowning, she dropped her gaze and stared at the ground.

"Things never changed."

"ARGGHHH…. I HATE …." Before she could finish, a flash in the sky caught her attention. Curiosity overcame her recently piped up anger and frustration.

Another flash appeared and then a series with the proceeding a little brighter than the last. From the light, a small gray cloud formed. It began to grow in intensity until it covered most of the view. Within the dark clouds, a small circular vortex appeared. Suddenly, a red streaks of light shot from within the cloud and crashed before Akane’s feet. The object rolled, tumbled, and finally crashed against the wall surround the house. The strange occurrence vanished from the sky and the stars took their position among the heaven.

Startled from her gaze at in the sky by the loud crash, Akane approached the fallen object with great caution. Upon reaching the object, she noted that the object was a body. The thought that the person could be seriously injured overrode her caution and she hurried and rolled the body on its back and gasped. The body belonged to a teenage male with long dark hair. With trembling hand, she reached out and pushed aside the hair covering the face. Immediately, she retracted her hand when she heard the person groaned. Then, the body started to pull itself together as he tried to stand. The sudden movement caused Akane to fall back on her seat.

Using the wall as support, he lifted his tired body with whatever energy he had left. Once he felt he could support his body, he turned from the wall and tried to open his eyes. With much difficulty, he finally lifted his lids and noticed a startled girl sitting on the ground where he had fallen. With almost inhuman effort, he whispered, "mehoduaheugaeog." The last of his strength finally deserted him and his world went completely black.

Instinctly, Akane caught the body before it could hit the ground. With the strength from all her hard training, she lifted the body and rushed as quickly as possible to the nearest clinic.

Somewhere else in town, a young doctor stared into the sky.

"Is there something wrong, Tofu-sensei?" asked an elder women.

"Huh? Oh, no. Everything is fine Mrs. Hotori."

"Well, you know best." The elder women made a quick glanced at the doctor before biding her farewell and disappeared into the night.

After one quick glanced at the sky, the young doctor shook his head and made his way back into his office. Before he could close the door to the office, a cried brought him to a halt.

"TOFU-SENSEI"

Doctor Tofu made it to the entrance in record time. Upon reaching the door, the sight before him brought him to a complete stop. On the floor of his office lied two bodies. One was a young man covered completely in blood and charred clothing. His clothing shredded and numerous bruises stretched his entire body. There were second degree burned mark on his chest and arms. The second body belonged to one Tendou Akane of the Tendo Musabetsu Kakuto Ryuu. Though she was young, she also possessed great strength. A sudden movement from Akane brought the good doctor back to reality. Mentally berated himself for his unprofessional attitude at such crises, he quickly began hitting pressure point on the young man body. Once satisfied, he lifted the body and brought it into one of the room while Akane followed close behind.

Moments later, a blushing Akane rushed out the room. She then leaned against the wall and placed a hand over her hyperactive heart. After several long deep breaths, she sighed deeply and calmed her nerves. She then notified her family that she would return home late. With nothing left to do, she waited in the main room for Dr. Tofu.

After about two hours of cleaning and bandaging, he was able to stop and allowed himself a moment rest. He removed a cover from one of the cabinet and carefully placed it over the young man. After a glance, he left the room to search for Akane.

Akane leaped to her feet as soon as the doctor came into view.

"Tofu-sensei, is he going to be ok?" asked a concern Akane.

Before answering, he grabbed a cup of warm tea, sipped it, and sat on the couch facing Akane. He lifted his hand and motioned Akane to sit before asking any more questions. After all, he had questions of his own.

"Yes, Akane-san. He is in stable condition. Quite an amazing young fellow actually."

Akane released her breath upon hearing the news.

"Now Akane, can you tell me what happened?"

"Well, it started this evening when I was walking home from school…" Akane spent the next half hour retelling the events which led her here.

"Hmmm… That’s very interesting indeed."

"Do you know what’s going on, Sensei?"

The doctor shook his head. "I’m afraid not. However, I did felt a strong magical energy this evening, which I believed to be the phenomenon you described. I also felt a weaker aura moments later. I believed that belongs to the young man."

"What about his injuries?"

He adjusted his glasses, "I can’t be sure. Some of the injuries indicated that he was fighting, while others suggested that magic was involved."

Akane grasped at the thought of someone being in a war, especially this time of age. Suddenly, another thought crossed her mind, <<magical?>>

"Magic?" she asked unbelievingly.

"Yes, Akane, magic."

"B-But, there’s no such thing."

The doctor chuckled a bit. "Akane, after what you just saw, I thought you might be more inclined to believe. But, yes, there are such things as magic. You’re a martial artist who practices a form of war. You use your hands and feet to fight and some can even use aura, though very few. In the same since, a magical user would use magic to fight. Though they are different kind of art, it’s still a form of martial art."

She thought about the new bit of information and asked, "Umm, does this mean he can use, er, magic?"

Tofu smiled and pushed his glasses up his rim. "I believe so. With the amount of energy I sensed in him, I wouldn’t be surprised if he could use both battle aura and magical aura."

"Hmm… Does that mean he’s strong?"

"Heheh… it means that he’s quite powerful. From the amount of damage received and still able to stand, that alone speaks volume for his ability and endurance."

"Oh…" Akane frowned.

"What’s wrong, Akane?"

"It..it’s Nothing, Tofu-sensei." She flushed slightly.

"Are you sure?"

"Umm.. Yes. I better get going." Before the doctor had the chance to ask another question, Akane was already out the door and shouted farewell to him.

Along the way home, Akane frowned at the thought of someone being as powerful as Tofu-sensei predicted. <<Does this mean he’s going to challenge me? Am I going to date him?>> Her frowned deepen at the thought. <<Would it be so bad?>> She quickly pushed that particular thought away.

"Welcome home, Akane-chan," The voice said cheerfully.

Smiling, "Hi, Kasumi-neechan. Sorry I’m late."

"That’s quite alright. I’ve saved you some diner. I’ll warm it for you while you change."

"Thanks."

"So, Akane. Where have you been?" Nabiki inquired from the sofa.

Akane sweated at the possible implication. She knew her sister was good at gathering information. Weakly, she replied, "I was just stopping by Dr. Tofu on my way home."

"Oh. Did you get into a fight?"

"Er… No, I just ran into someone that was serious hurt and took him to Dr. Tofu," she said hastily.

Nabiki gave Akane one of her knowing grinned. "Him, huh?"

Realization dawned, Akane whipped around and glared at her sister, "It’s nothing like that!"

Nabiki chuckled at Akane obvious displayed of denial and walked upstairs smirking.

Akane ignored her sister and sat down to eat her diner. Once done, she went upstairs and began her homework. After about half an hour, her thoughts wondered back to the mysterious boy who fell from the sky. Images from tonight event kept flashing through her head. The opening in the sky. The red streak that shot through the vortex. The body of the boy that crashed nears her. The battered body that barely held together. The pleading in his voice. And finally, the blue-gray eyes that captured her. She wasn’t sure why her heart skipped a beat just then.

With a loud sigh, she looked out her window and searched the sky. <<I wonder where he came from?>> Again, she searched the sky for any sign of similar occurrence. <<I wonder who he is? What kind of war was he fighting? Are there others? Is he good or evil?>> Akane paused and smiled. <<Definitely good. I wonder what’s his name?>> Other thoughts about the mysterious boy began to emerge and caused Akane to blush profusely. She shook her head violently and calmed down. After a while, she decided to forget the homework since she doubted that she would be able to concentrate long enough to finish it. Eventually, she gave up thinking about the boy and headed to bed. For once in a long time, Akane looked towards to the morning. Because, tomorrow, she might be able to find out who he is. A small smile crept on her face.

*****

In the middle of the night at the clinic, a young man struggled in bed. His sleep haunted him with images from a world he left behind. A world on the verge of destruction. A world where he fought and would gladly die for. A world where his love one lived. A world where his love one die. The images overwhelmed him and he cried out in anguish and pain. He cried out to the Kami-sama for taking him away. He cried out for what he had lost. He cried out for the guilt of being alive. Suddenly another image emerged from his mind. It’s an image of a girl with large brown eyes staring at him. Though he wasn’t entirely certain, but the image brought him peace. And so, the mysterious young man found his dreams no longer haunt him. Well, at least for the rest of the night.

*****

Early the next morning, Akane woke as the first morning light crept into her room. Yawning, she stretched her tired arms and released a long sigh. Looking around, she noticed her school uniform was cleaned and laid on the desk. She pulled herself off the bed slowly and grabbed her uniform and other necessity and headed downstairs.

In the kitchen, Kasumi cheerfully prepared breakfast for her family. It was one of the many things she enjoyed doing. As she moved gracefully around the kitchen, she hummed a gentle tune. Like clockwork, she glided around the kitchen and gathered ingredients and carefully chopped the vegetables. From a distance, Kasumi looked like she was dancing a ballad rather than cooking.

Coming down the stair, Akane heard the soft humming from the kitchen and knew immediately who it was. She smiled as she entered the bathroom and undressed. Akane sat on the stool and splashed herself with a bucket of cold water. A slight shiver ran down her skin as it made contact. She quickly washed herself and sat in the furo. <<If I hurry, I should be able to stop by Dr. Tofu. I wonder if he’s awake.>> Moments later, she left the bathroom, dressed, and quickly existed the house. By the time she arrived at the clinic, Dr. Tofu was sweeping the sidewalk in front of the clinic.

"Morning, Tofu-sensei," she greeted politely, a small flush on her face.

"Ah, good morning, Akane-chan. What brings you here at such an early hour today?"

Akane blushed a little more, "Um… Well, I was wondering if, umm…"

Tofu shook his head, "I’m sorry, Akane-chan, but he’s still sleeping."

A slight frown appeared "Oh." After a moment she asked, "Umm…. Do you know when he’ll be awake?"

Tofu rubbed his chin, "I’m can’t really be certain, but if I have to guest; I’ll say maybe in three days, a week at most."

Akane gave him a small smile before heading off to school to face her morning male horde, not her favorite things in the world.

On the third day she was at clinic again, but her hope was washed away the moment she saw Dr. Tofu. Again, she gave him a small smile before leaving for school. The next day, she returned, but he gave her the same answer.

On the fifth day, she was at the clinic again, but this time, she steeled herself for the same answer. She entered the clinic and found Dr. Tofu in his office with a pile of paper.

"Morning Tofu-sensei," she greeted.

"Ah, good morning, Akane-chan," he said cheerfully.

"Is he awake?"

Tofu smiled, "He’s awake and in the backyard meditating."

"Thank you," she said happily and bowed. Akane rushed to the back door and stopped short when she found the young man sitting cross leg, his hands on the knees, and his long hair tied in a ponytail. He was only wearing a pair of tights that formed to the contour of his muscular legs and thigh. She found herself blushing deeply as she traced his well-formed back even though it was covered in bandages. A faint glowed startled her from her observation and took an involuntary step back. Slowly, the glow deepened and spread across his body. It changed into various shades of the primary colors until it stopped at solid red. Surprisingly, she found herself moving forward for a better view. At closer range, she saw small scars and cuts slowly healed and blended into the background until it disappeared completely. So intent in her observation, she fell to see the boy stood and turned.

It wasn’t until Akane felt someone touched her shoulder that she released a startled cried and jumped several feet into the air and landed in the arms of the confuse young man. A lump caught in her throat and her mouth became incredibly dry that it hurt to swallow. Ever so slowly, she turned to face her savior and found the blue-gray eyes staring back, causing her cheeks to burn near critical. Before she knew it, she felt herself falling from his arms and then found herself straddle on top of him. The sudden groaning and painful cried alerted her from her daydream and she quickly turned and found the boy curled in a fetal position, groaning in pain. Panic and fear etched her feature as she called the doctor, "TOFU-SENSEI, COME QUICK."

Moments later, Tofu was in the backyard examining the young man. He lifted him and carried him back into his room while Akane followed closely behind. Once the young man was asleep, he turned to Akane and motioned her to follow, which she oblige.

"He’s just exhausted, Akane," Tofu assured.

Akane nodded, but remained silent.

"Don’t worry, he’s going to be ok. He just tried to work his body too early. That’s why he collapsed in pain. He just needs to allow his body to heal properly and take slow steps before he could utilize his full bodily function."

"I-I guess your right, Tofu-sensei," she murmured.

"Now, don’t you have school this morning, Akane?"

Akane head jerked and found the clock mounted in the wall of the waiting room. Her eyes widen and shouted, "Oh My God. I’m late for school," and ran out of the clinic at warp speed.

Tofu merely chuckled as Akane left a trail of dust behind.

By the time she reached the gate of Furinkan High School, she was already late and thankful that all the boys had left, except for one. Not bothering to hear the usual idiotic speech, she punted him into lower orbit just as Kuno stepped out from behind a tree. She made it to her class in record time, but a moment later was in the hall holding two buckets. She sighed, closed her eyes, and found images of this morning event. She felt her cheeks warmed again when she pictured Ranma’s well-defined back and chest. She swallowed and paced her breathing before she became overheated. The rest of the morning classes crawled as she half listened to the teacher droned on the various subjects.

By lunchtime, she quickly exited the building and ran to the clinic again. Upon reaching the clinic, she hurried inside, but didn’t see Dr. Tofu. She walked into the room where the young man stayed, hoping to find the good doctor.

"Hello? Tofu-sensei?" Akane asked as she entered the room only to find a pair of pale blue eyes staring back at her.

"Er… Hi," she said weakly.

The boy didn’t say anything and continued to watch her with interest and curiosity.

Akane entered the room completely and sat on a chair near the bed.

"My name is Tendou Akane," she introduced and stretched her hands, but the boy looked at her hand and back at her obviously confused.

The boy said something in a tongue she completely failed to recognize. She only knew two languages, her native tongue and English, a little. From what she heard, it didn’t sound like anything spoken on earth.

Confused, Akane looked at the boy again and found him scratching the back of his head as he laughed nervously. Then, realization dawned. <<Baka. He doesn’t understand you. Why not, he’s probably from a completely different world.>>

The door opened and Dr. Tofu stepped into view. "Ah, I see you’re here. Well, there’s something I must tell you. Our young visitor doesn’t speak any of our languages. I’ve tried others non vocal like sign language, but he didn’t recognized it either."

Akane laughed nervously, "Yeah, I found out recently when I told him my name." She looked at the boy and asked Dr. Tofu, "So, how do we talk to him?"

Tofu rubbed his chin, "Well, I don’t think we can learn his language since there’s no reference we can use, but we might be able to teach him enough and overtime, have a normal conversation with him. I would love to hear more about the world he came from."

"OK. Um…. How do we teach him?"

"The same way you would teach a child. Show him an object and say the word. I have some children books that we can read to him until he picks up the words."

"That’s great. Is there anything I can help with?"

Smiled, "As a matter of fact, I believe you can."

"Great. I’ll do whatever I can."

"That’s good, because you’ll be teaching him."

"W-What?" She staggered back.

"I understand that it’s a lot of responsibility, but with my patients, I don’t have much time to spend teaching him. That’s why you’re the best choice."

"I-I don’t know," she said, uncertain.

"Why don’t you think about it and let me know later."

"Um… ok," she said before exiting the room. As she walked back to school, her thoughts whirled about the mysterious boy and Tofu’s proposal. <<What am I going to do? I didn’t expect any of this. I mean, how am I going to teach him? I don’t know anything about teaching.>> She sighed and made her way back to class before the lunch bell rang.

For the rest of the school day, she was lost in her thoughts and was reprimanded a few times for her lack of attention in class. By the end of school, she walked quickly to the library and selected a few books for her school project and others for her new student. Once done, she hurried to the clinic and found Dr. Tofu in his office.

"Hi, Tofu-sensei," she greeted.

"Ah, Akane-san. I see your back."

"Um… Tofu-sensei, about what you said before."

"Yes?"

"I-I accept, b-but…"

"Don’t worry, Akane-chan. We’ll just take one step at a time and I’ll answers any questions you might have on the way. You might even asks your family to help."

"Thank you, Tofu-sensei. Er… I haven’t told my family yet, since I don’t know how they’ll react."

"I understand."

"Um… Sensei? Where will he stay in the mean time?"

"Actually, I have a room upstairs that I just cleared out. I planned on letting him use it until we find him a better place. It’s not much, but I don’t think he would mind."

"Ok. I borrowed some books from the library," she said as she shuffled through her bags and pulled out two encyclopedias."

"I see. I think that will work great."

"Um… where is he?"

"He’s upstairs right now. Why don’t you go up there and talk to him?"

"Um.. ok." Akane made her way upstairs and found the boy running his hand across the wooden panel of the room. "Umm… excuse me?" He stopped and turned.

"Um… Hi," she waved her hand.

He continued to watch with curious eyes.

"I’m Tendo Akane," she introduced again. "A-ka-ne," she said, stressing each syllable and pointed at herself.

The boy looked and opened his mouth, but no sound escaped. He tried again and said, "mikene?"

Akane shook her head and tried again, "A-ka-ne."

"A-A-k-ka-ne-e?"

She smiled and nodded. She pointed at the boy and asked, "What’s your name?"

The boy said something but it was too fast and strange that it completely eluded her. He said a few more times, but Akane couldn’t repeat it.

Akane sighed and sat down on the bed near the window. She placed her bag down and a few books slipped out. Curiously, the boy walked over and picked up one of the books she borrowed to work on her project.

The boy pointed at the book and said something while making hand gestures that looked like he was riding a horse.

Akane looked at the book and found it was on wild horse, ‘Ran-ma’. She looked at the boy and smiled. <<Maybe I should name him that.>> She stood, pointed at the book, pointed at the boy, and said, "Ran-ma."

"K-Kan-ma?"

Again, she shook her head and pronounced the word more slowly, "Ran-ma."

"Mn-am-ar?"

She shook her head, "Ran-ma."

"R-Ran-ma?"

Akane nodded happily. She pointed at herself and said, "Akane," pointed at the boy and said, "Ranma."

The boy paused, smiled, and said, "Ranma," while pointing at himself. He then pointed at Akane, "Akane."

Akane nearly jumped through the roof with joy. She had just successfully taught someone her name. Though it might not be much, but to her, it was a great accomplishment. She calmed herself and rushed over to the bed and pulled out the encyclopedia volume 1 and patted the seat next to her, not caring that she’ll be seating next to a boy.

Ranma looked at Akane curiously and shrugged when he understood her gestures. Slowly, he walked over and nervously sat next to her.

Akane nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt his arm brushed against her. She quickly controlled her emotions, opened the book, and concentrated on the task at hand. She pointed at various pictures in the book and pronounced the words slowly. She repeated until Ranma pronounced them correctly.

After three hours of teaching, Akane was exhausted. She had no idea how draining teaching was. She found a new respect for her teacher. She looked up when she her foot steps coming into the room. Without looking up, she knew it was Dr. Tofu.

"I see you’re working hard. I brought you some drinks and snacks in case your hungry," he said as he placed the tray on a table near the bed.

"Thank you, Tofu-sensei."

"How is your first teaching class, Akane-chan?" Tofu asked as he sat on a chair next to the table.

"Pretty good, Tofu-sensei. He can say my name pretty good now and… and I name him," she said enthusiastically, while a flushed appeared.

"That’s good. Why don’t you introduce me to your student?"

"Of course." Akane turned to Ranma, "Ranma. This is Tofu-sensei." Akane repeated, "Tofu-sensei."

Ranma watched her lips as she pronounced the name. "T-T-Tooffuu-sseensi."

Akane smiled and said it again.

"Tofu-sseenseii."

Her smile brightened and she asked Ranma to repeat it again.

"Tofu-ssensei."

Akane clapped and nodded joyfully.

"It’s nice to meet you Ranma," Tofu bowed.

Ranma smiled, but looked confused when he saw Tofu bowed and turned to Akane.

Akane nodded and stood up. She bowed to Tofu-sensei as she greeted him.

Ranma watched curiously and duplicated Akane’s movement and turned and did the same to Akane who blushed deeply.

Akane laughed nervously at the gesture and bowed politely in return. Tofu watched the two teens with professional amusement.

After Tofu left the room, Akane took the book and handed to Ranma and pointed to the picture.

"Ok, Ranma. I got to finish my homework. You look at these and go over the one I taught you today," she said while gesturing the book.

Ranma looked between Akane and the book and scratched his head.

Akane tried again and smiled when Ranma snapped his fingers and said something in his native tongue. She looked at him blankly for a moment until he took the book and pronounced all the words correct. Akane was so shocked that she stared at Ranma for a while before snapping back to reality. She noticed that Ranma looked at her with a concern face and quickly turned away in embarrassment.

Ranma placed his hand on her shoulder, "Akane?"

Akane redden as she felt his hand on her shoulder, "I… Um… Well… That is…." She turned away, took a deep breath and said very quickly, "I have to go. Bye Ranma," and grabbed her books, backpack, rushed out the room.

A very flustered and confused Ranma watched the retreating form of Akane. He scratched the back of his head and shrugged. <<Strange girl.>> Ranma glanced back at the door and smiled. <<Strange, but cute. Very cute.>> He looked at the book for a moment and shook his head. He dropped the book and left the room.

Ranma walked down stairs and looked around, but didn’t see anyone. He shrugged and left the clinic. He wandered the street until he came to a bridge and hop on the edge and sat cross-leg.

"*This world is so strange. The structures are so different from home,*" Ranma said sadly. He stared up at the heaven and sighed.

"*So different. Yet so similar.*"

Ranma remained on the bridge till it was almost midnight before he returned to the clinic.

"Oh, Ranma. I see you return. Hope you like what you saw," Tofu stated.

Ranma just smiled and returned to his room. There wasn’t much that needed to be said, since neither understood the other and until the barrier was breached then the conversation was going to be very short.

******

As Akane reached the gate of the Tendou Dojo, her heart rate and overloaded emotions had finally cooled to a reasonable setting. She took a deep breath and stepped inside.

"Welcome home, Akane-chan. How was your study session?" Kasumi asked.

Her cheeks warmed slightly, "Er… It’s was great, Kasumi-neechan." Akane said hastily.

"So, Akane. So, how goes your research? Find anything interesting?"

"Um… yeah, I… I’m teaching Ranma.. .er studying Ranma…I.. mean" she replied quickly and berated herself for the slip.

"Ran-ma, huh?"

"Oh…. Yeah," she nodded.

"’Wild horse’. That’s an interesting topic. Care to talk about it?" Nabiki grinned.

"Um… I-I don’t have a lot of information on it."

"Oh? Maybe I can give you a hand?"

"No!" Akane nearly shouted. "Er… I mean, I can do it on my own."

Nabiki grinned, "If you say so," and left the room.

Akane frowned at the thought of getting Nabiki involved. By the end of the day, she would have everyone from school hounding Ranma and the thought angered her. She had to keep Ranma a secret for as long as possible. But how?

"Akane-chan?" Kasumi asked, concerned.

"Huh? Oh, I’m sorry, Kasumi. I-I just have a lot on my mind."

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"Um… maybe not right now. I-I…. It just that… Well, Nabiki would listen and…"

Kasumi smiled her she-would-be-very-disappointed-if-Nabiki-did-that smile and said sincerely, "Well, I’m sure that Nabiki has good judgement."

"Heh?" Akane stared at Kasumi, disbelieving. How does she do that?

"Why don’t you come to my room and you can tell me what’s bothering you?" Kasumi suggested.

Akane nodded and followed Kasumi to her room and closed the door behind her once she was inside. She sat at the edge of the bed next to Kasumi as she recounted her meeting with the mysterious young man that fell at her feet up to her new role as a teacher.

"That’s wonderful, Akane-chan," Kasumi cheered.

"Thanks, Kasumi," she laughed nervously, still a little uncertain of her ability. "I really enjoy teaching, though it feels a bit weird teaching someone who’s about the same age as me on how to read."

Kasumi giggled at the implication, "Well, I’m sure you’ll do fine. Consider this as a training lesson for yourself as well."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You are the heir to the Dojo and one day you’ll be in there teaching lessons to a range of students."

"Oh. I haven’t thought about that."

"Well, I think it’s wonderful that you’re doing this."

Akane nodded, but some doubt still lurked in her mind. As if sensing it, Kasumi continued, "Akane, teaching is a difficult task for any one." Akane visibly frowned at the thought. "It’s difficult for anyone of any ages who just started. You’ll only get better with time as you learn from your mistakes. But remember this Akane, you must be patient with your student. If you loose control, then your student will loose respect for you and it’s very hard to regain it."

Akane frown deepened as she listened to Kasumi. She haven’t thought about her responsibility towards her student or how much influence she had. Her doubt became full blown as she considered her lack of control and short temper. She realized that she was easily angered which showed in her morning bout against the horde of boys at school. She never worried about her loosing her temper against them since it fueled her attacks. Now, she had to worry about loosing control in front of Ranma and risk loosing a friend.

Friend. She hadn’t thought about having Ranma as a friend until now. The thought alone helped ease her doubt, a little. She smiled inwardly as she thought about having a friend who she could talk to and one who will eventually talk back because of her.

"Akane? I know it’s a lot to think about, but you really shouldn’t worry yourself. I think you’ll be a great teacher," Kasumi said sincerely

"R-Really?" Akane looked at Kasumi with hope filled eyes.

"Yes, I do."

Akane quickly hugged her sister and whispered her thanks before leaving the room. Just as she left, she found Nabiki waiting at her door with her arms crossed.

"What is it, Nabiki?"

"Well, aren’t you going to tell me what you and Kasumi talked about?"

"No," Akane said flatly.

"Ah, come on Akane. I’m your sister. You know you can trust me."

Akane stared at Nabiki as if she grew another head. "Trust? You sold pictures of me to Kuno and every boys at school!"

"Ah, come on, Akane. It’s no big deal. You got to be more popular right?"

Akane was at a lost for words as she stood, fist clenched, and jaws tighten as she felt the urge to lash out. She quickly turned and stormed into her room and slammed the door shut.

Nabiki shrugged her shoulder and prepared to leave when she felt a hand on her shoulder. When she realized whom it belonged to, she winced and turned. The deep frowned on Kasumi face made her wished there were a vault nearby where she could lock herself inside and forget the combinations. Nabiki quickly left and entered her room.

"That was scary," Nabiki commented.

She fell on her bed and stared at the wall next to her, where Akane’s room was. Whatever secret Akane had, it was big enough for her older sister to get involve. Now she was debating on if it was worth the risk to find out how profitable that secret might be. But if she did find out and sell it, Kasumi might not be very happy about it and an unhappy Kasumi was a very bad idea. Still, if Kasumi doesn’t find out about it, then it wouldn’t be so bad.

What could Akane be hiding? Hmm… It should be an easy task to have someone follow her when she leaves the school. Guess it will have to wait till tomorrow.

Nabiki sat up and grabbed the phone. Moments later, she laid back down smiling.

*****

Over the next several days, she taught Ranma the best she could and found him to be a very fast learner. After almost a week, they were able to have simple conversation though he didn’t have a grasp of the verb tense yet. But for her, it didn’t matter because she enjoyed listening and helping him. After their usual lesson, she would begin her homework while Ranma continued his healing process and rebuilding his strength. On occasions, he demonstrated some of his magic and martial art skills while she showed him her family art. They would occasionally teach each other their respective art, well except for the magic because he couldn’t teach her the proper phrase to conjure the magic.

As usual, it was late when she finally left the clinic and headed home when she felt someone following her. She quickened her steps and ducked around a corner and leaped behind one of the fence. Moments later, she noticed a female passed her and recognized her as one of Nabiki’s lackey. She clenched her fist and stomped home.

*****

Early the next morning, Akane made her way downstairs when she spotted Nabiki sitting at the dining table. She quickly sat down at her usual spot and ate quietly. As soon as she finished, she left for school, completely ignoring Nabiki. She ran to the clinic and nearly ran into Ranma as he was coming out.

"R-Ranma," she stuttered in surprise.

"G-Goodmorning, Akane. Can you like to show me the v-village tonight?" he asked with some difficulty.

Akane wasn’t paying attention as she spotted Nabiki out of the corner of her eyes and quickly pushed Ranma inside and into a closet just when Nabiki peered inside.

"Hey Akane. Why did you rush off like that?" Nabiki asked while scanning the room.

"Nothing. I just wanted to stop by here, that’s all," Akane stated flatly.

"Hmmm… Whatever you say."

Akane hurried off before Nabiki had the chance to probe the clinic for any more clues. Once she was far enough, she bent over to catch her breath.

"That was close," she told herself. "Wish I didn’t have to leave so quickly. If it weren’t for Nabiki, I would have the chance to hear what Ranma said."

Akane stopped walking and closed her eyes as she tried to remember what it was Ranma said, but nothing came to mind. She sighed sadly at her lack of attention. She should have paid more attention to Ranma.

"Oooo…. Why didn’t I pay attention," she said in frustration. She wanted so much to know what Ranma had said to her. She remembered the joy she felt when he said her name correctly and now today, he said something more and she missed it.

Akane no baka.

As she unconsciously walked the path to school, she accidentally bumped into a very hard object.

Hmmph.

"Oh, I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention," Akane quickly apologized with a bow.

"I-It’s n-nothing, A-Akane-san," Ryouga said nervously.

"Huh?" Akane looked up and found Ryouga laughing nervously. "Oh, Ryouga-kun. Sorry about that. I wasn’t watching where I was walking."

"I-It’s nothing. R-Really."

"Well, it’s good to see you." Akane walked pass Ryouga and waved farewell as she rushed to school.

Just as she reached the school ground, she found the assembled boys gathered again and growled.

"I HATE THIS!"

After a few minutes, she stood in the middle of the yard, panting heavily.

"I see the fair Tendou Akane has grace us with her presence," Kuno spoke after tossing the rose to Akane.

Akane caught the rose, crushed it, and tossed it behind her. She didn’t care if Kuno gave her the largest diamond ring in the world; she would have crushed it. She was getting tire of all the idiotic speeches.

"I shall forgive thee for miss judging thy strength and in her haste to embrace the delicate flower, crushed it. Fear not, for I, Kuno Tatewaki the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High School, shall bestowed my great presence and forgive thee."

Akane snarled and punted Kuno into lower earth orbit. She was visibly depressed when she walked into class. One of her close friends walked up to her and asked jokingly, "Bad morning, huh? How about joining us tonight for diner? I mean we haven’t seen you for a week now."

"Yeah, we can also go shopping around town. It’ll be fun."

"How am I this mor… shopping? ….town?…" Akane voiced trailed off as a memory surfaced. ‘Good morning, Akane. Can you like to show me the village tonight?’ She suddenly remembered it so perfectly as if she had just heard it spoken. She even remembered the nervous and slight stuttered in the voice. Her eyes widen and a big smile plastered on her face, she shouted, "He asked me!"

Akane happily jumped into the air as she chanted, "He said it without my help."

Suddenly, Akane stopped in mid-air and then shouted, "And I didn’t say anything! Akane no Baka!" By the time she stopped her ranting, she noticed that she was standing on her desk and everyone in the room was looking strangely at her. She laughed nervously and hoped off the desk and settled down on her own.

"Um… Akane, what’s that all about?" Yuka asked, concerned. "More importantly, who’s this ‘he’ you’re talking about?" Yuka smiled as she noticed a large blushed on Akane’s face.

"Umm…" Akane fidgeted with her dress and turned away.

"Well? Who is he?" Yuka probed.

"I can’t tell you."

"What? Why?" Yuka asked, shocked.

"I just can’t," Akane said weakly.

"Ah, come on Akane. We’re friends. You can tell us!"

"Yeah. You can’t keep something like this from us. So, spill it!" another girl probbed.

"I-I just can’t," she shouted in frustration.

"I see," Yuka said and left with Sayouri following close behind.

Akane reached out, but her friends had already walked off too far for her to stop them. "I’ll talk to them at lunch," she promised.

Though she didn’t like to hurt her friends, she wasn’t ready to tell anyone about Ranma. She wasn’t sure if people could actually accept the fact that she was with a boy and one she actually like. It felt so strange that she found someone she like and yet, didn’t know why. She had been so scared with the boy populations wanting to defeat her that she pushed them away since she didn’t want that kind of attention.

But with Ranma, she felt different. He was different. It wasn’t just the fact that he was from some other world, he was sincere and really nice, though sometime he was a far away look. Even if he couldn’t quite talk to her, yet, she could tell from looking into his eyes. She noted even when he smiled; there was still an underlying sadness. She wished she knew what it was. Perhaps in time he’ll tell her, but first she needed to teach him all there was to know about her native tongue.

*****

A girl with brown hair tied in a ponytail walked up to Nabiki and sat at a desk next to her. "Looks like your sister found herself a boyfriend."

Nabiki stopped writing and looked at the girl with raised brow.

"That’s right. I heard that she jumped on her desk and mentioned a boy asking her out or something. Well, whatever it was, she was excited and even berated herself for not giving him an answer."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I think they’re going out tonight."

Nabiki secretly smiled at the information. This was better than she had expected. It seemed that her little sister was hiding a boy somewhere. For how long, she didn’t know, but will find out soon enough. Another thought crossed her mind that made her frown. Could it be that the whole ‘I hate boys’ was an act to cover up her agenda? That could be possible. If so, then she must congratulate her on hiding it so well. If this is true, why did she act so strange the last few days and what about her talk with Kasumi. Could she be? No, it can’t! But what about her visit to Dr. Tofu office this morning and her coming home late several nights.

"I want you to find who it is and keep close to her," she ordered.

The girl nodded, "Sure, Boss," and left the room moments before the other students entered and sat at their seat.

****

It wasn’t long before the rumors spread like wild fire and she found herself the target of all of them. Day after day, she tried to ignore the rumors and dealt with the more constant annoyance, Kuno, with her usual punt to the orbit. However, as time went by, she found herself loosing control as her friends stay away from when she continue to refuse to provide any information her mysterious boy. Also, she couldn’t visit Ranma because she was constantly followed, therefore, she never return her answer to him. And now, after a week of rumors and pestering remarks, she was at a lost.

It didn’t help to find out that some of the source of the rumors were created by her sister or that she was running a bet on who the boy she so stupidly shouted in class. She just hoped that Nabiki wouldn’t start selling information about where she had been after school for past few weeks now. For some reason, she doubted that it would stop her if the profit were high enough.

By lunch that day, Akane was in a foul mood because of the rumors. It didn’t help with the fact that Kuno stood at the entrance of the school, just about everyday, when she left for lunch and boasted about the ‘vile sorcerer who dare enslave her from his heavenly rights.’ She snorted in disgust and punted him into orbit at his idiotic speech and for defiling her friend.

She scowled as she walked outside and settled against her favorite tree in the yard and began eating her lunch. The students watched her from a distance murmuring about how she had been hiding a boy so she could use him or that she was probably pregnant. Her controlled reached its limit when Kuno returned and stood before with his head held high.

"Fear not my fair Tendou Akane for I, Tatewaki Kuno the blue thunder of Furinkan High School shall free you from the hold of the treacherous sorcerer who dare prevent you from expressing your love to me. If such child shall be born, it shall be bestow by my higher stature than some low life who coward before me."

Akane scowled and clenched her fist tight.

"For there’s no love greater than I such the heaven decree such that you are destine to be in my arms. Come fair Akane and gather before me as a declaration of your love for my magnificent and glory. As the heaven…."

Kuno never had the chance to finish as Akane erupted in rage and lashed out blindly until she collapsed on the floor, almost crying. She swallowed her pride and ran out of the yard towards the clinic. She didn’t know why, but she needed to find Ranma. Tears clouded her vision as she entered the clinic and ran upstairs until she fell into his arms. She felt his arms wrapped around her tightly after a moment hesitation and then he gently rocked her while she sobbed uncontrollably.

After a while, she regained control of her sobbing and brought it down several levels until she only had the occasional sniffles. She gathered her surrounding and found herself sitting in Ranma’s lap with her head resting comfortably on his shoulder, her arms locked around his neck, his arms wrapped around her waist, and he was humming some soft melody. She knew she should pull away, but it felt so… so right in this position that she didn’t know what to do.

Eventually, she reluctantly pulled back away, a little, but still within his arms. She remained silent for a moment as she took several deep nervous breaths. Soon, she looked up at him and caught his eyes looking back with such worry expression that it filled her with joy. She gave him a soft smile and heard him ask her something that she didn’t understand. She noticed that he caught himself and saw him frown before attempting again.

"Akane, how you this m-morning?" he asked with a little difficulty.

Her feature brightened dramatically as she watched him struggle to get more words out. She hugged him tightly.

"Y-You are ok?"

She nodded within his chest and felt him gave her a squeeze to let her know that everything would be ok. Somehow, she believed him as if she had known him all her life. It was strange that she was here in the comfort of a boy who she hardly knew and found herself trusting him implicitly.

She slowly released him and smiled reassuringly at him. "Thank you, Ranma." She placed her hands on his chest, took a deep breath, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before rushing out of the room.

Ranma sat wide eyes with a crocked smile on his face as he touched the spot on his cheek. He wasn’t sure what he did to promote that reaction but he was glad that Akane felt better. Actually, he had no idea what that action meant. For over a week, he haven’t seen Akane and the next moment, she was crying in his arm. Confused, he strode downstairs where he found Dr. Tofu in his office.

"Tofu-sensei?"

Looking up, he motion for Ranma to enter, "Please have a seat. What can I do for you?’

"Umm… Akane come and….and cry," he struggled.

Tofu looked at Ranma seriously, "Is she ok?"

Ranma nodded, "Yes, she ok. She no cry." He then sighed and narrowed his brow as if he was searching for the right word.

"Did something else happen?"

Ranma nodded several times, "Yes. Akane….Akane… she." He stopped and said something strange and his hands waved in the air. After a while, he finally stopped and paced the room.

Tofu placed an arm on Ranma shoulder, stopping him. "Why don’t you slow down and tell slowly what happened."

Ranma sighed and thought for a moment, then he smiled. "Akane do this," he said, faced Dr. Tofu and gave him a peck on the cheek.

Tofu stood there for a moment before he said softly, "Oh my."

*****

[End of chapter 1]