Ranma Fanfiction: Rae: Lost and Found

ranma left to find his cure right after school let out. akane couldn't take it and followed. she was told he was dead, he was told she was. by different people. akane ended up in Kyoto for school, now is lead singer in a cover band. bad stuff happened which is why she was told as dead. ryoga is in the band.

while searching for him, she found shampoo who said she was pregnant with ranma's child and that he had died while helping to defend the tribe. she freaked and headed home. gave up on tokyo and moved to kyoto. ran into ryoga and ended up starting a band. she was living in an apartment with a female roomate. one night roomate goes to her boyfriend's house for the night and an obessesed fan shows up and attacks akane.

'disgrace the family', they disowned her. a few weeks later she lost the child, but she was already 'dead' to the tendo's. she took her mother's maiden name, and moved back to kyoto. Ravyn says: she happened upon a nice elderly couple looking for someone to live in thier house and house sit while they spent time in america, and when they decided to stay there, she and ryoga bought the place. <ryoga and akane are just friends. he wans more, but still hasn't done anything about it, especially with all she has been through. I have this scene planned on how she found out and dealt with his little piggy problem.

we find all this out later, about chap2. it starts with ranma passing through town, about to stop somewhere for food, but gets drawn into this club by the music. he goes in, and by the end of the set, recognizes Ryoga, who invits Ranma back to the house. 'there is someone you gotta see.'

both thought the other dead, so there is the happiness of finding out the truth. shampoo was just being a bitch. ranma never even saw shampoo on his trip. he just got stuck helping people who needed help. as for the attacker, i haven't decided yet.

i'm not sure. see, it's just something I was kicking around when i was waiting or something, and didn't have my book to read. i started this as a 'can i take the scene i see in my head, and properly describe it in print?' kind of like a writing excersize. but i just keep adding things in my mind. like the dynamic of the ryoga-akane-ranma relationship. what kind of friends they all have, what develops? stuff like that. does that make sense?

Trent O'Donoghue says: It does, but I have a few concerns that I'll point out from my limited experiance. To start with, do you feel you are a good comedic writer, and do you want any comedy in the fic? Ravyn says: i wanna say yes, and yes. i am aiming for a drama/comedy type with some dark pasts, deep secrets, and issues they all help each other through. Ravyn says: i want if fun, but serious as well. Trent O'Donoghue says: That is fine, but justr remember, every comedien finds a tough crowd at a wake.

it will, obviously, start out dark. well, dim. she does have to explain what she's been through to ranma when he looks at her and says, your family told me you died. why?

i haven't really fleshed out ranma's side yet. see, when I started this, i was kind of depressed and upset. when i get that way, i deal with it by taking it out on my favorite characters.

An idea I toyed with for Shampoo to win Ranma would be to send him into the future, where akane thinks he is dead and moves on and marries. With her married he is free and comes to her.

If that was the case here, and Ranma was apparently killed, then the girls are all morning, (shampoo falsly), but in the months after something happens. Kuno either catches akane drunk, uses his sisters poisons to paralyse her and either attacks her himself, or makes it seem he did. When akane still rejhects him, he falsifies a pregnancy test, which leads to the same result of Kasumi and father rejecting her, working even better with Nabiki being the US and unable to stop Kuno's schemeing.

In kyoto, akane and ryoga start upthe band as expected, but either Ranma is released early, or shampoo beleives akane is gone for good.

This creates a dynamic with ryoga being a more mature big brother to ranma, and akane being more in control to try and mature her returned ranma.

A twist on this is Kuno finds out someone slept with the drunk akane and claims it was him to get her, and even as the truth comes out they have to work out who did it, possibly finding it was ryoga...

Ravyn says: this can get really convoluted Ravyn says: i mean that in a good way.

It sets up a dramatic ending, with akane the non virgin ronin with ranma who is unchanged, while Ryoga is in the wings, close but so ashamed of what he has done, especially with her pain of such an abuse in the songs she sings.

What if Ryoga has been playing servant in remorse for what he thought was consensual, only when they find out and start hating him, nabiki pipes up that he was with her that night...

Also if Nodoka got pissed with akane with her 'pregnancy to kuno', there is making up between ranma/akane and nodoka to throw in for an arc.

Ranma Saotme walked along the streets of Kyoto, his eyes downcast, thinking about where he might be sleeping tonight. He had all his earthly possessions on his back, and had been wandering for quite some time now.

It was getting dark now, and he was starting to get hungry. He had a little money saved, and figured if he camped tonight, he could afford to buy a meal. He would have to work a couple of odd jobs tomorrow, get some cash, then he would move on to the next town. He just had to decide where to eat. He didn’t have much, so it couldn’t be elaborate or fancy......

He looked up. He was passing a club, and the music was really good. Good enough to catch his attention, and drag him inside. He paid the cover and walked to a table. The place was packed. He didn’t recognize the music, but the singer was really good.

Ordering a drink, he sat back and watched the show. The band had 6 members, all male save for the singer. The guys all seemed to be Americans, the woman was Japanese.

She had long, black hair with blue highlights, that fell to her waist in gentle waves. She was in the middle of a song, and was turned a little away from him, so he couldn’t really see her face, but she had a body of an athlete. Curvy and soft in all the right places, toned and strong in all the rest. She was wearing a tight black t-shirt with a picture of a sledgehammer on the front, tight black jeans and black boots.

To her left was the base player and a guitarist. The first had short brown hair, and an average build covered in a simple white t-shirt and faded blue jeans. The guitarist was blond with short hair and actually looked a lot like the bassist, accept he was much thinner, his face all angles, his nose more pointed. He also wore a white t-shirt and blue jeans. The drummer, stationed behind her, was a little heavy set, and had shoulder length blond hair. He had a sleeveless black shirt and black spandex shorts. To the singer’s right were the keyboardist and another guitarist. The keyboard player was very tall, like 6'4", and Ranma could tell that all the way from his seat. He wore a red plaid button up shirt and black jeans. He was to far to see much detail in any of the band members, like eye color and the like, but he could tell at first glance, that the man standing between the keyboard player and the singer, was Japanese, like the singer.

Suddenly, recognition jumped up and slapped him in the face. He knew the guitarist! It was Ryoga Hibiki! Ranma’s jaw dropped so hard he was surprised that he didn’t get lock jaw. He stood up and walked closer to the stage for a better look. He got almost right up to the stage. Yup, that was definitely Ryoga! He had to get his attention. Just then, with a flourish of vocals and lights, the song ended and the stage went dark.

Shit! He pushed his way up to the stage, yelling his name.

“Ryoga! Ryoga!”

Ryoga looked up from loading his guitar into it’s case. He thought he heard his name, and looked over to the front of the stage. What he saw almost stopped his heart. He froze for about 5 seconds, then sprang across the stage and tackled the man calling his name.

“Holy shit!” he exclaimed, picking Ranma up and brushing himself off. “Is that really you, Ranma?!?”

“Uh, ya man. I can’t believe it. You play guitar in a band? When did this happen?”

“Well, about.....Wait, you know what? This is kind of a long story. Plus, I know someone else you would like to see. Why don’t you come over tonight? We will be done here in a couple of minutes” He noticed the backpack on Ranma’s back., “Do you have a place to stay?”

“Not really. I just got into town. I don’t want to put you out or anything.” He replied.

“Great! Then it’s settled. Meet me out front in about 10 minutes. We have a big white van with a sledgehammer painted on it.”

“Ok.” he said. Ryoga clapped him on the back once more, smiled from ear to ear, and turned back to his guitar.



Ranma was waiting out front by the van while the other members of the band were loading it. Every now and then, they would throw him a strange look, as if to say ,’what the heck is he doing here?’, but other than that he was left alone. Finally Ryoga came out, carrying his instrument. He handed it to the drummer to load and walked over to Ranma. “So, you ready to meet the person I was telling you about?”

“Uh, I guess so.” Ranma said nervously.

Ryoga laughed. “Well, you gotta wait a little longer!” he yelled over his shoulder to the band,”She got a ride with a friend, she said to leave without her.”

“All right, then lets get out of here. My wife is waiting. She got off early tonight.”

“Relax, John. We’ll get cha there! Hey, guys, this is a buddy of mine from back in Nermia, Ranma Saotome. Ranma, this is John Kerr, he plays rhythm guitar, and back up vocals. That is Mike DeBarge on drums, and Jeff Briggs, he is the master of keyboards, also helps on vocals.

And over there, the scrawny ass dork with the bass is Chris, he and John are twins.” He said all this with a smile.

The Chris in question placed his bass in the van, walked up to Ryoga and punched him in the arm. “I’ll show you scrawny, asshole!” That was also said with a smile.

“Aww! Somebody needs a hug!” and Ryoga tried to grab him. Chris ducked out of the way and started to climb into the van. He stuck his tongue out and climbed in. Ryoga started laughing and turned back to Ranma.

“Eh, he’s like a little brother to me. We are all like family here. Come on, lets get outta here. I’m starving!”

They all piled into the van and headed off.



The ride was uneventful, with idle chit chat about the concert, and not much else. Soon enough, the van pulled to a stop in front of a big, two story home. It was very nice and had a desert type landscaped front yard.

Ryoga turned to Ranma and said, “Well buddy, this is our stop.” He started to climb out, grabbed his equipment, and waited for Ranma. They waited til the van drove off, then Ryoga opened the door. “I knew it! She forgot to lock the door again! You’d think that after what happened, she would be more paranoid about that!”

“Who? What happened? Are you married, Ryoga?”

That seemed to snap him out of his thoughts. They walked in and removed their shoes. “Oh honey! I’m home!” Ryoga yelled loudly. To Ranma he said, “No, I am not married. This house belongs to the singer of the band, and I just kinda stay here with her. We have been here about 2 years now.”

Just then they heard a voice from off to the right, “I’ll be right down! There is some pizza in the kitchen, you just missed Steve. He said to say hello, and that he won’t be here for practice tomorrow, but he will make sure to have the pizza here.”

“Ok!” He yelled back. “C’mon, while it’s hot. She’ll be here in a minute anyway.” They headed out of the entrance into what appeared to be a main room. It was very large, with a fireplace at the back. To the right, against the back wall next to the fireplace, was a staircase leading upstairs. From where he stood, he could see three doors. One at the end of the stairway, one directly across from the first, and a smaller one in the middle. The doors on the ends seemed to be bedrooms, and he assumed the middle one was to a closet of some kind. Downstairs, right under the bedrooms, were four rooms. Two doors, one under each of the upstairs bedrooms, seemed also to be bedrooms, the two in the middle seemed to be a den and bathroom, respectively.

He was shaken from his thoughts as Ryoga grabbed his shoulder. “Hey, kitchen’s that way, “ he said, pointing past a Japanese screen, “Plus, I”ll give you the tour a little later.” He laughed and turned back the other way. Ranma followed.

Beyond the screens, there was a low, traditional Japanese table with four cushions next to a sliding glass door. There was just enough room to sit and eat comfortably.

They passed through another doorway and were now in a spacious kitchen. There was a fridge on the left wall next to a counter that wrapped all the way around the wall. Directly across from the door was the sink and dishwasher, stove on the right. Cabinets lined the walls above the counter. To the immediate right of the door, against the wall, there was a taller, western style table with four chairs.

Ryoga took a couple of paper plates from the cupboard and handed one to Ranma. “Dig in!” he said, pointing to the two pizza boxes on the counter. They both took a couple of slices, Ryoga grabbed a couple of sodas from the fridge and they sat at the table. They sat quietly for a few moments, just eating, until Ryoga broke the silence.

“So, where have you been? What have you been doing? How did you find us?” Ranma swallowed and looked up at his sometimes rival. He took a deep breath and, “Well, I-“

“Where’s the grub, I’m STARVING!”

The woman from the stage came in, making a beeline for the food. She had changed into a pair of baggy pajama pants that hung from her hips, showing the delicate flare of her hips and her nicely rounded bottom. She had on a small, white tank top showing a small strip of lightly tanned skin, right around her middle. Her hair was pinned back hastily in a clip. Although he had yet to see any of her front, Ranma found this girl incredibly sexy.

She grabbed a plate and a slice and turned toward the table and it’s occupants. Everyone froze.

Ranma stood up so fast he knocked the chair over.

“Ranma!” she exclaimed, pointing.

“Akane?!?” he yelled, also pointing.

They just stood frozen in shock, staring for the longest time.

Suddenly, Ryoga started laughing. This got the others moving again. Akane recovered first. “Ranma, is that-is that really you?” she stepped forward, reaching out as if to touch him, but pulled her hand back at the last second.

“Ya, it’s me, but is it really you?”

She smiled, and he knew it was really her. No one else could make his knees go weak and his heart speed up with just a smile. Before he even knew what he was doing, he reached out and pulled her into a hug. He held her tight and buried his face in her hair, just reveling in the feel and smell of her. When he finally let her go, he had tears slipping down his face.

She was blushing and looked astonished. She slowly reached up and brushed away his tears.

“They said you were dead.” he whispered.

Back to my last question, would it be less dark if if Ryoga has been playing servant in remorse for what he thought was consensual, only when they find out and start hating him, nabiki pipes up that he was with her that night...

Gos may be a photographer and starts restalking her as she become famous.

So there you have your fic, open with ranma's POV of the time displacement, from normal day to a future without friends and soun and kasumi threw out slut akane.

Finding her and reconsiliation. Working through troubles, maturing and helping her career, strange occurances

A kidnapping attempt by crazed fan perhaps.

Kuno comes with claimes and is eventually proven not to be, ryoga ashamed either beiong pointed out or admitting it was him, nabiki visiting points out she was with him, and the question is still in air of who

Reconsiliation with nodoka and possible tendos, then successful kidnapping by gos who claims it was him and has a trophy to prove it.

Hmmm... Didn't include shampoo, she has to have a roll to justify the time shift.

Out of interest, have you given akane a 'stage' person/look/name? Ravyn says: i haven't decided on the name yet, the look is basically just longer hair, still toned, kinda rock n roll. had the band named 'sledgehammer' Ravyn says: so, while on stage, her clothes always have at least 1 referance to sledgehammers Trent O'Donoghue says: Sledgehammer is a great angle. Trent O'Donoghue says: It just occured to me that a ronin like her may have tried to make herself look a little different, possibly red hair, or a pigtail as a bit of a tribute. Ravyn says: LOL!!

Trent O'Donoghue says: I like the meeting scene, but it did miss one thing. Where was the fight? Ravyn says: what fight? Trent O'Donoghue says: It is ranma Trent O'Donoghue says: I would have had him get into a spat with the bouncers at the gig, they call in ryoga... Ravyn says: oh, i see. Trent O'Donoghue says: Especially if this bar is their regular hangout and akane may teach some of the bouncers during the day Ravyn says: another good angle Trent O'Donoghue says: Facing her techniques may put him off. Ravyn says: ya i could see that

Chapter 1: Ranma's POV, getting attacked, returns with Shampoo trying to hug him, going on about bringing him back from death, he leaves to dojo finds it near empty, only soun drunk off in the dojo itself, crying about daughters abandoning him, Ranma asks about akane and is just told she is gone, when asks about parents and where they went, soun doesn't seem to know, then mentions kyoto. Unable to find Kasumi, and beleiving Nabiki still in the states, Ranma finds a train ticket to Kyoto inside the house, unusued from a month before. When Shampoo shows up telling a story about Akane doing Kuno then leaving, he descides to go to Kyoto to find his parents or someone to tell him what happened.

Chapter 2: Unable to find his oldies, is wandering the streets when comes across a club with strong music blaring, the singer drawing him in. See's ryoga, meets up with him after show, is taken home with him and finds Akane. Hears part of story, asks about shampoo's claims and akane tells the rest, ryoga backing her one hundred percent in hating the attacker, but more remorse than angry, Ranma mad then upset because if he hadn't been sent into the future she wouldn't have been drunk and vulnerable.

Thought, Gosenkugi is not just a stalker after the girl he took advantage of, but wannabe agent of the Sledgehammers, possibly also living with Akane and Ryoga. Is trying to slowly win over Akane, especially with doing publicity and trying to arrange a record deal. But when Ranma returns, he then starts bringing in old rivals to stop ranma regaining her affection.

To protect & serve
Post wedding, Ranma goes to police after concerns that the Kunos, Cologne and Shampoo, and Ukyo, are getting out of control and could end up killing someone, or his unconcious concern that he will have to kill again (Saffron) to stop them. The case is handled by an officer Hiyashi, a former Nerima resident and rising star investigator in the Tokyo police. Hiyashi gets Soun to agree to this with a lie about testing the skills of the current trained experts against his students, but if caught by Kasumi, whom he recalls as a tomboy he picked on in youth before moving away. Feeling guilty and a little intimidated by the pretty young woman, he is brow beaten into a lunch, Kasumi complicating his job in the fic with her own interest in him, for fun and possibly something more as time goes on.

Having studied the skills of the local martial artist, Hiyashi is lothe to put even the best martial arts trained police against the Nerima fighters, however he does see an opertunity in having the officers test against Ranma and his friends, as a way to get the police involved with these young adults socially and try and find a solution and identify the current dynamics.

Hindered by the martial arts training crew cutting down his requested force to just three male and one female martial arts expert officers, Hiyashi calls on a former partner, Natsumi xxxxx, a judo expert from the Bokuto trafic police division, who brings along her current partner Miyuki xxxxxx, as river of the police personel carrier van to increase the female members.

At the dojo, they fight with many of the crew in sparring, Ukyo and Konatsu are here but trying to keep it cordial with Akane angry about Ukyo being involved, Nabiki here with her camera, and Mousse and Ryoga both showing up, the former leading the latter who got lost.

Events at sparring: Ranma trading looks with Hiyashi who tries to keep it oblivious, Kasumi catching part of it. Ukyo trying to goad Akane to fight and Akane taking iut out on Ranma. Mousse fights weapon police, while ryoga takes on their strong man, with predictable results, ranma getting the trickiest who is in there league. Ukyo and Natsumi fight includes comments by Natsumi that she has been attacked by an insane woman with a frypan before, trying to rile Miyuki. Akane fights a female martial artist shorter than her who blocks well and hard, and seems very skilled. When almost giving up, Ranma starts insulting her, her anger rising and she tries to hit him, only he uses his battle aura on her to bully her back. Controlling herself knowing she can hit him despite some battle aura trick, he turns her face back to the police officer, now realising the girl is just defending and bullying with a battle aura, which lets her win the fight. Natsumi and Miyuki have a bit of a girls talk with akane over ranma, including some girl advice on how to get him interested in getting closer to her without her saying she likes him first.



The kick took Akane across the mid section, her body folding over it and toppling. Rolling with it put her upright but not standing, her eyes looking up to where Ranma storming across towards her. She wasn’t about to let him gloat at her failing, she climbed to her feet, turning from him as she wiped more than sweat from her eyes, wanting to just set herself as ready. His hand grasped her arm and yanked her to face him.

“You done embarrassing the school yet or you want to quit?”

His harsh words hit her like a blow her face paling white.

“How do you expect to win with that around your neck?” He pointed at her chest, but as she looked down automatically flicked his finger up clipping her nose.

Her emotions already churning, she reddened like she was cooking, the final humiliation of the child’s trick set her seething with boiling rage. “RANMA!”

And her unstoppable fury met his immovable will, his battle aura washing out his scowling face promising to put her in her place, just like the police woman. But she knew she could hit him, she had before, he was a jerk and she’d hit him, he didn’t scare her with his face. Her shoulder pulled back, gathering her power her body could throw behind the punch, but his hand was fast, fingers touching her face and pointing them back at officer hasigawa, still standing on the mat watching, and the anger faded as she looked at the womans eyes, watching in mild confusion.

Akanes brown eyes looked back at Ranma’s, the blue orbs uncertain, before she smiled and began to turn her body from him. “Jerk.”

Turning her face, she looked again at Hasigawa. “Again?”

The woman’s face hardened, and again Akane felt nervous, but now she knew, it was just a face.

With a nod, they rushed each other, arm block stopping a punch, knee blocking a kick, a step back by Akane drawing her opponent in and she blocked again, hard. Jarring Hasigawa’s elbow she stepped in and shoved a punch into the womans stomach, not as hard as she wanted, but enough to force her back. The range open she leapt after her, ducking into a blinding kick and taking it in the shoulder, turning it into a leaver to force the woman back, this time knocking her down, pushing the leg away to straddle the womans chest and straddle her, her face unprotected to the girls fists.

“Point!”

Akane smiled and looked at Ranma, or rather at his back, as he watched Mousse tangle with another officer. She fumed!

“Akane, you can get off the officer now.”

“Oh, sorry.” She said, springing to her feet and offered Hasigawa a hand up.

Taking it, the officer got up, she nodded at Ranma. “I had a teacher like him, always playing it cool. He didn’t need to see you take me down, he knew you could. Have you been training together long? Your accent is local but his I can’t place.”

“No, he, he travelled all over Japan when he was growing up. He only came here… nearly eighteen months ago.”

“Tendo Dojo, Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts… Both about the same age…”

Akane looked at the officer for a moment, before smiling slyly. “Yeah, our fathers engaged us. We got off to a bad start when it happened and, well things just don’t work between us. Every time something goes right, something or someone spoils it, like our fathers or his girlfriends.” She looked down at the floor.

“He has other girlfriends?”

Her lips wavered before she slumped, “Not really, they just think they are. They won’t give up.”

“He doesn’t pursue them?”

She giggled, “No, two he is always trying to get away from and the last used to be his friend as a little kid but he’s avoiding her since the wedding.”

“Wedding?”

“Oh, heh, feels like everyone knows about that catastrophe. We tried to have a wedding, well Dad and Uncle Saotome tried to but when I found out I thought that was what Ranma wanted so I helped set it up, we even tried to keep it secret, but in the end Ranma was the only one who didn’t know, and when the crazies stormed in it all fell apart. If he had stayed…”

“Shh.” Hazigawa’s arm came around her shoulder as she teared up. She offered her towel to wipe sweat from her eyes. “Did he know you wanted it? Or did he think you were being forced.”

“I don’t know. I think he thinks I was just letting it but didn’t want it.”

”Have you told him that?”

”How? Even if I knew how we always get interrupted. And what if… what if he still doesn’t want to get married?”

“Does he pursue you?”

”I… no, but, well, we live here together, and it’s gone wrong so often, I don’t know.”

“Do you want him to?”

Akane blinked as she looked up, the question hitting her with implications despite its simplicity. “I want to be closer to him, but I, I don’t even know what he wants. I’ve seen him watching me but then he looks right through me, or insults me.”

“I’ve met the type. All mouth to put the opponent off balance, but then insulting you riled you up to beat me.”

“That wasn’t it, you beat me because you scared me. He made me angry and tried the same and I saw through it, so I could see through your battle aura.”

Hasigawa blinked and looked at the boy then back at Akane. “You are both very good for your age. I’ve been working on that for years. Being a girl, your shorter and less built than most guys, so you have to get used to intimidation by size.”

“But by doing it to guys who aren’t used to it with your battle aura you can win by breaking their resolve to fight.”

“Exactly.” Hasigawa grinned. “So do that to him.”

”Huh?”

“He uses keeps aloof and insults you to keep control. He hasn’t driven you away so he mustn’t want to, but he might be scared of you rejecting him too. Take control, and he can’t keep hedging the distance between you, you can make the relationship work between you.”

Akane nodded, slowly smiling at the idea. “But how.”

“How does he insult you?”

She frowned and looked down. “He calls me flat chested, and my thighs as fat, or that I am strong like a gorilla. That I can’t cook.”

“Well Officer Azumi over there has been eyeing you up, and that boy with the bandanna blushed when he watched you stretch earlier.”

“Ryoga?” Akane frowned, wondering if she looked like Akari from behind.

“Do you think Ranma thinks of you like that, or is just trying to rattle your cage?”

She giggled. “One time, his mother came, and we were all scared, well, its complicated but she is very big on manly men and all, and we really needed her approval so I let him peek on me bathing, and when he saw I was in a swimsuit he looked really disappointed.”

“Okay, so if he doesn’t believe his own insults, they can’t hurt you, so turn them on him. He insults your looks, put it on him, make him admit he watches you, that he is thinking about you.”

Akane nodded, flushing lightly. “Do I want him thinking of me like that?”

”Yes Akane, you do. Yes it is scary, and you can hold off till the wedding or not if you want, but if you keep control, then what is wrong with him thinking about what you will be doing as a married couple?”

Still blushing, Akane nodded.

”Has he ever physically hurt you?”

“No, he doesn’t hit girls, well, he did hit Ukyo, but he didn’t know she was a girl, and shampoo, but she just chased him for it, and Kiima…actually he says he doesn’t hit girls, but he does. Just not me. And he normally stops anyone trying to fight with me, actually you’re the first one he hasn’t in a long time. He won’t even spar with me.”

“Really? Use that. Don’t abuse it cause he might change just because, but if he isn’t comfortable sparring with you, confront him on that. Take him out of his comfort zone, then welcome him in yours. Make him comfortable to be near you, and he will open up to you.”

“I’m not sure I can do that. I mean, he makes fun of me all the time.”

“If you can’t turn them on him, just walk away. Show him that if he does that you won’t talk to him till he stops. Sometimes people don’t understand they are hurting feelings. Is he normally pretty tactless?”

“Tact? Ranma couldn’t spell Tact let alone use it.”

“Perfect, then rile him and twist his words. Make him learn that you are nice to be near but he has to be nice to be near you.”

“But how do I stop all the others interfering?. Our parents, my sister, the other girls, other guys.”

“Then get him to take you on a date, get away from them.”

“A date? How do I make him take you on a date?”

”Ah so young, I forgot how that could be.”

“Hey,”

“Oh hush. Put him into a position he is uncomfortable in and make it a choice he can take to get out of it. Make it seem like a safe thing to do, come on girl. Think what you would like in a date, and think what he would like in a date and go for what he would find least intimidating, then bully him into it.”

Akane nodded slowly when Ranma’s voice carried over, “Akane, you’re meant to be making the school look good, not talking the cops to death.”

Akane rolled her eyes, “I wonder if he’s worth it.”

“You tell me, so few are, but would you want him if he was all, yes dear, no dear?”

”He certainly isn’t that.”



“This place okay?”

The girl in question smiled as she sat down. “Actually it’s nicer than I expected. Thank you for bringing me here.”

The formal tone she used seemed to hammer in the fact this was a date. A date with Akane.

”Why did you chose this place?”

His eyes glanced over the road at the police station. “Well, it was close, er and Kasumi said it had good food.”

”Wonder why Kasumi came here? Nabiki did say something about her having a date last Monday for lunch. Did you ask Kasumi about places for this date?”

His adams apple bobbed at the label of date. “Not really ask, I heard her mention it to Mom.”

“We’ll have to ask her if she knows any other places that might be good if we want to try this again. Maybe something a little more… private?” The way he coughed with a stricken look made her thankful he hadn’t been drinking anything at the time or she would have worn it. She held back rolling her eyes, smiling at him. “This is nice, though I think I’m too scared of just anyone walking by spotting us, especially those who would interrupt.”

”Er, right,yeah.” Shifting in his seat, he got up and picked up a heavy potted plant, moving the decore and placing it directly in the tables view.

“Nice idea Ranma, but now we don’t get the view.”

”Do you want the view or do you not want to be seen?”

Akane glared at Ranma but the figure waving behind Ranma got her attention. “Kasumi?”

Ranma spun in horror, made worse when he saw another familiar face. “Inspector Hiroshi!”


 * ring ring*

The familiar bicycle bell of Shampoo and Ranma blurred into action. When the plants and table cloth settled afterwards Ranma and Akane’s table was returned the way it was, Akane was in a seat beside Kasumi and Ranma was beside Boshi, a picture of boredom.

“Nihao Airen, what doing here? Why not come to good restaurant? Why with flat chested girl? She destroy kitchen? No bring to Cat Café, make food bad here just sitting.”

Ranma looked board even as he nudged the table back into Akane’s stomach to stop her raising to Shampoo’s words.

“Shampoo, come on, why ya gotta be so rude? This is an old school friend of Kasumi’s and he’s getting us lunch.”

Shampoo pouted, but had all of two seconds before the kitsans manager came out, showing her out, more for being a rival business, and he glared at Ranma after she went.

“So Ranma, how do you know Boshi?”

”Huh?”

Kasumi was smiling, but it was not vague and it didn’t look happy. “Er,” he looked to Inspector Hiroshi.

“I’ve worked with Ranma on a case before. I guess I didn’t put it together before. You didn’t tell them about meeting me?”

Kasumi coloured lightly, her eyes on the handsome police inspector, “No, it really wasn’t there concern, and Ranma came to Nerima well after you had left Furinkan. So what was the case with Ranma?”

The pigtailed boy however butted in, “What, you to really did go to school together? Wow, I lied cause I didn’t want her to think... er, we we’re sitting down to rest our legs?”

“Because he didn’t want to interrupt out date, and now we’ve interrupted yours.” Akane corrected.

“I wouldn’t really call it a…”   “I wouldn’t really call it a…”

Hiroshi and Ranma looked at each other after speaking in stereo, but turning back they encounted stereo frowns at them.

“Let’s just have this lunch and worry about what it is called later.”



Finishing some more food, Ranma half listened as the sisters followed the inspector’s tale of chasing a thief in a cowboy suit during last years Halloween festivities.

”Boshi, may I ask why you and Ranma pretended to not know each other at the Dojo the other day?”

“The police have become, a little concerned about…”

Ranma swallowed even as the inspector searched for the words. “I asked the inspector to help with the situation with Shampoo, and the Kuno’s and, Ukyo.”

“Ranma had valid reasons for concern of violence coming up, if we can, we will head off what we can. But please, don’t tell anyone about our interest, it could only cause complications.”

“We won’t tell anyone, but we’d like to help.” Akane said eagerly, even as Ranma winced.

“Ranma has already agreed to help us find a solution, but when we have enough to act on it, we will see what you can do to help. As it is Akane, our initial investigations put you as one of the most in danger. This is nothing against your skill, but if you, or anyone else, were seriously hurt, it could escalate violence, so you have to be wary of girls like Shampoo trying to goad you into a fight right now.”

Frowning, she nodded. “Fine, but if they attack me I’m not going to run away.”

“How about this, if they want to fight ask it to be a fair fight in front of your fiancée, and I’ll give him some tips to disarm the situation if it comes to that.”