I wrote a bit more of this fan fic, and fixed some of the
earlier parts according to some of the suggestions I've 
received.  As always, please feel free to dissect this
under a microscope, and flame me for all the screw ups
i've made :)  I write most of this stuff after 2-3 AM, 
so my grammar and spelling suffer accordingly heh heh.

In this latest installment, I'm making my first real attempt
at going into the minds of some of the characters.  I try to
portray their emotions and thoughts in a realistic manner, while
adding my own interpretation of them.  So far writing this fan
fic has been an adventure of discovery, as I venture into unknown
territory, writing skills wise. (I haven't written any fiction 
since middle school.) 

One other thing is, I haven't quite figured out where I should
break this into 'Chapters' So i'm just posting what I have
written so far.  I think the last scene in this so far is as good
a place to stop as any for now :)

Interestingly enough, I'm simultaneously writing a later story in
the same time-line.

Now on to the story.
A few basic points:
1) David Lee = Tendou Akira -- after the incident with Kunou, I use
Akira instead to refer to him. For those who are curious, yes, I did
use my own name :)
2) I've tried to add 'flavour' to the fic by using a bit of Japanese.
If you think i've used too much, or two little, please don't hesitate
to let me know.  About that one sentence that Kasumi says in Japanese,
you aren't supposed to understand it either, cause the character
doesn't. ^_^ 

------------------------------------------

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
by David H. Lee
davelee@mail.princeton.edu


The New Arrival
Chapter 1: Yet another peaceful night in Nerima.


"Kia!" 

*Thock!* The wooden dummy resounded from yet another solid blow.  

*Thock!*  

"This is so boring," David said, addressing the caricature painted 
onto the dummy.  Thock!  A few punches later he stopped to inhale 
a deep breath.  Suddenly he exploded into action, landing a string 
of twelve blows on the various protruding wooden appendages before 
him.  "Not bad," he said softly, "that speed training is finally 
starting to pay off."  A woman's head suddenly appeared behind him 
before he could rest a beat.

"David!" a shrill voice shouted.  "Come inside and get ready for
school!" 

"Yes mom," he replied weakly.  Somehow, his mother managed to get
her way with him every time they argued.  He had long since given
in to his fate.  <That voice just isn't natural,> he thought with
a smirk.  

David's mom wasn't very impressed at the sight of her son apparently
daydreaming in the middle of the yard.  She tossed the medium sized
spatula in her hand almost like a bo shuriken straight at her son,
"David! Stop standing there with that dumb look on your face, and
get moving!" *WHACK* The spatula slammed into the side of his head. 
"How do you expect to get into Harvard if you're late to school all 
the time?"


"That hurt you know!"  he exclaimed, rubbing the point of impact 
with his left hand.  He was about to say more, until he saw the 
sour expression on her face.  However, the spatula had  served 
its purpose well, and he jogged over to the house and went inside. 
A few minutes later he came downstairs dressed in a polo shirt, a
pair of khakis and brown loafers.  He quickly snatched up his 
backpack leaning up against the foyer wall and stepped outside.
"I'm destined to become Dr. David Lee, or David Lee, Esquire," he 
mumbled to himself. "I'm going to get a great SAT score, get into 
Harvard, then go to law or med school.  Or so she says," he sighed.  
He no longer had any control over his life, as his mom had decided
to live her life vicariously through him ever since he had shown 
any signs of being rather intelligent.  He tried to despise her,
but found that he couldn't, knowing that she did what she did 
because she cared.  His life was probably more than anyone could 
ask for.  But if only there were some excitement ...

			*	*	*

It was a typical evening in the Nerima District of Tokyo.  The 
serene visage of the full moon smiled at the homes arranged so
neatly below her.  But then, a small figure began to move rapidly
across the picture perfect scene, carrying what appeared to be
an oversized spherical duffel bag... full of underwear?  A chorus
of female screams echoed through the neighborhood.  "Hentai!
Iyarashii!  Pervert!  How disgusting!"  Deftly dodging the assorted
projectiles aimed in his general direction, Happousai leapt from
roof to roof, heading for the Tendou Dojo.  

"What a haul, what a haul!" he exclaimed in excitement.  With a 
rare bit of luck, he had managed to escape unscathed from his
nightly raid.  "Now if I could only top off this perfect night
with a pair of Akane's panties!" 

			*	*	*

Ranma woke up with a yawn, feeling the pressure in his bladder.
He got up and started to walk to the bathroom when he heard the
piercing scream.  Rushing quickly to the source of the outburst, 
he was greeted by the sight of a wide-eyed Happousai rubbing his
face back and forth between Akane's breasts.  "Why you dirty old,"
he started, his hands starting to glow from anger, "Pervert!" he
finished, sending the old master out the window on a sub-orbital 
trajectory.  

"Arigatou, Ranma," said a startled Akane, as she tried to pull
herself together.

"Heh it was nothing," Ranma boasted, "'sides I can't have him 
groping my fiancee can I?"

"Ranma ... " said Akane softly, her eyes widening slightly in 
surprise.

"Besides," he continued, oblivious to her growing anger, "who 
else would want to feel up a kawaikunee irokeganee tomboy like 
you?  hah hah ha-"

A faint blue light illuminated the room briefly.  Akane wound
up, and uppercutted Ranma before he could finish his sentence.
"Ranma no BAKA!!!"  

Ranma was enjoying his daily ride through the atmosphere with
his usual cheery attitude.  "Hmph how uncute can she get," he
thought, right as he splashed down in the carp pond behind the
Dojo. "Kuso..." she said to herself, "now I gotta take a bath
before I go back to bed."  Ranma sighed loudly, feeling her now
enlargened chest protruding from the top of her tank top. "If 
only I wasn't cursed... All I ever wanted was a nice, normal 
life."

Meanwhile, Happousai continued on his unscheduled international
flight.  The roof of a public bath-house rushed to meet his face.
As he passed painfully through it, however, he was greeted by 
the distinct sound of women gossiping with each other.  "Pretty
ladies!" he sang in rejoice.  He landed with a large SPLOOSH.

Motivated by the mental image of nubile, young, and naked women, he 
quickly righted himself.  His water logged vision slowly cleared,
and the human outlines resolved into the sensuous, luscious, 
lascivious bodies of ... the Chinese women's swim team?  A large
pectoral muscle flexed in front of him, followed by a rather deep, 
but female voice, "What you doing here, old man?"  Happousai began 
to sob as he failed to locate even a single normal woman.  Several 
strong pairs of hands latched onto the old pervert.  "Now you die!"  

Several minutes later, the women exited, with looks of
disgust on their faces.  A small bloody hand reached up to grab
the the tiled floor.  Happousai managed to heft himself up
out of the water, coughing up a little blood.  "Ranma! You'll 
pay for this!" he croaked, and fainted on the spot. 

			*	*	*

A battered yet determined old midget crawled over the stone wall 
surrounding the Tendou residence.  The water that had been dripping
from his water-logged clothing began to steam as a powerful red aura
rippled and grew around him.  The figure reached into his tunic 
and pulled out a stick of incense.  Deftly he tossed it into the 
air.  As it hovered above the roof, a bolt of red energy flashed
through it, causing it to vaporize.  "Ranma! Tonight I shall have
my revenge!" he cackled.  Bringing his palms together he recited
an incantation.  Slowly, he parted them, and a vortex formed, like
an angry eye.  "Come forth, and do my bidding!"  

Suddenly, all was silent. "What?! Where's my demon?" Happousai 
said in shock.  Disappointed, he began to sob with his head buried
in a bra.  "Ranma! I'll get you next time!"

			*	*	*

David pulled off his shirt and jeans and tossed them into the corner
as he headed for bed.  "Well at least nothing bad happened today,"
he said to himself, "well actually, nothing at all happened... bleah
I wish something... anyth--"  

WHOOSH!  A large red vortex suddenly exploded into existance not a
foot in front of him.  "Come forth and do my bidding!" a voice 
within commanded.  Startled, his foot caught on a stray pile of 
clothing sending him head-first into the disturbance.

"Umph!"  He landed on something soft.  "Where the hell am I?  This
isn't my room."  Then, he felt it -- them rather.  Two globular,
soft, breasts?!

			*	*	*

Akane had a big silly grin on her face as she dreamt about a
different kind of Ranma. 'Akane! I love you!' he said, breathless. 

'Ranma! I love you also!' came her cute reply. Ranma gently pushed 
her down onto the bed as she guided his hands to her chest.  'Unn..' 
she mumbled, then suddenly her eyes flicked open.  "Nani?!" she said 
in confusion, noticing that Ran- er someone had his hands _there_.  
Looking up, her gaze locked with the perpetrator's. 

"Uh... Uh..."  a speechless David babbled.  Deciding that survival
was the better part of valor, he rose quickly to his feet and backed
away as quickly as his fear paralyzed feet could take him.  

Akane bolted upright as her blue aura grew bright enough to illuminate
the room.  Driven by reflex, she quickly caught up to the intruder.

*WHAP!* It happened swiftly, leaving a hand shaped indentation.
Meanwhile, footsteps approached the room quickly and entered.
Failing to notice her audience, Akane introduced the intruder's head 
to her left palm, not bothering to remove her right hand first.

David and Akane squinted as the room quickly brightened.  Ranma's hand
nearly pulled the light switch out of the wall, as his jaw dropped,
and he struggled to keep his eyes attached to his head.  He looked 
over to the strange teenager, dressed only in boxer shorts, then up
to his face, which was being held by both of Akane's hands.  He searched
for a clever insult, but only managed, "A-ka-ne."

Akane suddenly noticed her proximity with the stranger and broke eye 
contact.  She turned her head slowly to the door.  "Ranma ... Kasumi ...
Nabiki ,.. Otoosan ... Saotome-ojisan ..." A look of pure horror
crossed her face as she turned a bright shade of red.  Her hands
whipped out in front of her as she made waving motions, "Chigau wa yo!
Chigau! It's not what it looks like! I.. It.. He.." 

"My own daughter! Under my own roof!" sobbed Souun, "Wah! Saotome-kun,
now our families will never be joined!"

"Ara! Oh my," said a startled Kasumi, her delicate hands balled up into 
little fists under her chin.

"Hmmm.. I never knew you had it in you Akane," smirked Nabiki through 
a small grin.  She raised an eyebrow as she appraised the male figure
before her, "Say he's kinda cute."

"A-ka-ne" was all Ranma could manage a second time.  A new aura began
to flare up around around Akane.  She raised both her arms above her
head and a large mallet materialized in her grip.  She brought it down
swiftly on David's head in a well-practiced stroke, as Ranma continued 
to twitch over by the door.  "Hentai!! Sukebe!! Pervert!!" she cried as
she brought the mallet up for a second attempt.  

Thankfully, he lost consciousness after the first blow.

			*	*	*

Piku piku.  David blinked, trying to make sense of the fog of information
reaching his eyes.  <Bright... too bright.  A head ... with long brown
hair ...> "What?" he exclaimed, trying to sit up.  Without warning his
vision went black as a shockwave of pain assaulted his mind.  His body
involuntarily flopped back down onto the futon.

"Please stay down," Kasumi said pleasantly in Japanese.  "I'm not
finished tending to your wounds."

"What?" David replied in English, confused.

"Nani itte ru n wa yo?" said Kasumi.

David stopped to consider his situation.  Kasumi certainly wasn't 
speaking English, nor Korean.  And it wasn't Chinese either... 
So it must be, Japanese?  He had studied a few years of Japanese,
but was nowhere near fluent.  Mustering up his rusty language skills,
he said, "Anou, my Japanese isn't very good, please forg-"  He 
stopped abrubtly as he realized he was speaking perfect Japanese.
"This can't be," he thought to himself, "well I'll take what I can
get, and worry about it later."  Then to Kasumi, he concluded, 
"Well I guess I do speak Japanese well after all... although I
have no idea why." 

"How nice," Kasumi replied in her typical happy voice, with her
displaying a maddeningly innocent smile.  She dabbed a piece of
cotton one of the small cuts on his head a few times and affixed
a couple more bandages.  "There, all done," she said.

"Eto... if you don't mind, could you tell me where I am?" he
asked, trying to piece together the situation.  He noticed that
he couldn't remember a thing for the last few hours, or how he
got injured.

"Hai, of course.  This is the Tendou residence, and I'm Kasumi
Tendo," she answered happily.

"Ah, nice to meet you.  I'm David Lee," he said in return.  
His face contorted slightly as he considered the ramifications
of what Kasumi said.  Then it all fit -- he was obviously in 
Japan somehow.  But how did he get there?  He certainly hadn't
just hopped on a airplane at a whim.  "Ack!  My mom is going 
to KILL me!," he exclaimed, remember how strict she was, 
"Kasumi?  Could I use your phone for a sec?" 

"Why sure," she replied.  Kasumi stood and walked over to the
phone and brought it over to him. "Here."

"Arigatou gozaimasu," he said as he picked up the receiver and
dialed. 

"Beep Beep Beep." He was greeted by a cold mechanical voice,
"The number you have dialed is temporarily out of service. 
Please check the number and try again."

<Shit,> he thought.  His head suddenly turned to the television
that was silently on.  Realization dawned on him rapidly as he
recognized the charred remains of his home.  "Ka-Kasumi?  Could
you turn up the volume on the TV?"

"Why sure," she said cheerfully.  Kasumi stepped over to the
TV and turned up the volume as he requested. 

Kasumi's ever happy attitude was starting to grate on his nerves,
but his attention was drawn to the voice over. 

"The cause of the terrible tragedy that has left four dead, 
including three of the four members of the Lee family, remains a
mystery at this time.  Eyewitnesses claim that a bright red flash
of great intensity immediately preceded the explosion..."

He went limp from shock, this time from the news and not the 
wounds that adorned his body.  Kasumi was quick to notice his
reaction.

"Ara..." she interjected, her usual smile displaced by an 
uncharacteristic frown, "Was that you ..."

He could only nod in response.  He lay in complete silent for a
few moments, trying to deny reality unsuccesfully.  A single
tear began to run down his cheek, followed by a second.  Soon,
something broke inside him, and he sobbed openly.  To his surprise
a pair of arms encircled his head in a protective hug.

"Everything will be alright,"  came the comforting voice.  Kasumi
remembered the passing of her own mother in vivid detail, and
relived the torrent of emotions that had flooded her mind then. 
"Just let it all out," she whispered gently, as she continued to
hold him like a delicate child.  After a few minutes, he fell 
asleep, exhausted both in mind and body.  Kasumi got up quietly 
and walked out of the room.  As she left the room she struggled 
to hold back a tear of her own.  "Mother why did you have to leave
us?" she thought to herself.  With practiced effort she regained
control.  "I must remain strong.  My family depends on me."

			*	*	*

It was morning when he finally awoke.  A throbbing pain threatened
to overcome him as he sat upright.  "I must have gotten wasted 
last night," he said out loud as he rose to his feet.  That idea
quickly faded as he looked around the room, finally resting his
gaze on the chinese clothing laid out next to the futon.  He sighed, 
finally remembering what had happened to him.  He bit his lip as he 
fought the pain in his head and slipped into the robe.  He walked to 
the door, slid it open, and stepped through, only to stand face to 
face with ... Akane.  Suddenly the full recollection of last night 
hit him.  He began to cower, afraid of what might happen to him.
Akane pretended not to notice, and she took the initiative by
latching onto his wrist with her free hand, P-chan cuddled in 
the other.  

"Come on, time for breakfast," she said calmly, a hint of strain
evident in her voice.  She was still puzzled at why Kasumi had 
asked her to be nice to him after what he had done, but after all,
who could refuse Kasumi?  Surprised that he was still standing and
her almost civil behavior, he nodded cautiously and followed her
downstairs.

When they reached the breakfast table, it was already occupied by
the other residents.  The pig-tailed guy, Ranma, was fighting with
a large panda who was trying to steal the food off his plate.  The
short-haired girl that Akane had addressed as Nabiki and her father
were also there, surprisingly nonchalant despite the chaos raging 
around them.  Akane walked over to the table and sat down as if 
nothing was out of the ordinary.  Unsure of what to do, David simply
followed suit. Kasumi walked in carrying a plate of food and set it
in front of him along with a bowl of rice.  As soon as she removed 
her hands from the plate, it was assault by a ravenous Ranma.  "Ranma, 
please keep your hands off," she said with a slight edge.  "This is for 
our guest."

"Bleah, why are you treatin' him so special.  After all that pervert
was molesting Akane last night," he complained.  

"Mmm... from the looks of it, both of them appeared to be equally 
interested," Nabiki commented, with her chopsticks resting on her lip.

"Oneechan!" Akane intoned in protest, "I did nothing of the sort!
That perv..."  Abruptly she remembered Kasumi's request and sighed.
"Never mind," she said weakly as she looked down into her food, 
carefully avoiding eye contact with everyone.

"Say, if I didn't know better, I'd say Akane has a crush on this 
new guy," Ranma chided, "maybe I should let him have her.  After
all who would want such an uncute, clumsy, th-"  A sharp elbow
had found its way to his now partially caved in face.  "Kawai-ku-nee!"

"Hmph! Baka." Akane said in disgust as she swung her head away from
him.  "You're never mean to me are you, P-chan?" she asked the little 
pig she was holding in her arm.

A few uncomfortable moments of silence passed.  Finally Souun addressed
the new arrival, "I'm Souun Tendo.  I don't believe you've told us your
name yet." 

"I'm David Lee," he answered.

"Well, David, who are you and what is your relationship with Akane?"

"Well uh, actually I didn't KNOW her till last night..."

"Wow, you sure do work fast don't you Akane,"  Nabiki teased.  Akane
merely turned a bit red.  

Souun's head began to grow to unearly proportions, and sprouted a 
split tongue.  Panicked, David tried to elaborate, "Er that's NOT 
what I meant, that is uh, we didn't DO anything..."

"Otoosan," Kasumi interrupted, noticing that the situation was about
to get out of hand, "Let me explain."  She briefly described her 
understanding of David's sudden arrival, and the death of his family.  
After Kasumi finished, David mentioned how he was about to go to bed,
when suddenly he was sucked through a red vortex, only to end up in
Akane's room. 

"Is that so," Souun commented sagely, having returned to his normal
self.  "Do you have any other family, David?"

David clenched his eyes shut and lowered his head, "No, I'm afraid
I don't.  Not only am I in this foreign land, I am now homeless as 
well."

"I see..."  he said, apparently deep in thought.  "Then I have no 
choice.  This must have been Happousai's doing, and as such, I
must make amends.  Even were it not so, I have a duty to help the
unfortunate as a martial artist.  David, under the circumstances,
I believe you should stay with us for the time being.  You may
stay as long as you like."

"Of course, you'll have to attend school," he continued.  "A young
man like yourself should prepare for the future."  

A sour expression appeared on David's face.  He had just escaped 
from a life dominated by scholastics, and now it was happening all 
over again.  Suddenly he realized something else -- that he'd be
the only Korean student at an all Japanese school.  Reminded of 
the horrible stories of harrassment he had heard from others in 
that situation, he scrambled for an excuse. 

"I don't think I would fit in very well," he said nervously.

"You'll be fine.  A little schooling never hurt anyone."

"But ... my name ... " David muttered.

Something clicked in Souun's mind and he realized David's problem.
"Ah, I see.  Yes, I understand how that might be a problem.  Well
since you're living here, perhaps we can solve two problems at once.
If anyone asks, you can be my newphew, Tendou Akira.  That should
explain why you're staying here, as well as to help you avoid any,
unpleasant, situations."

David paused briefly to consider the offer.  While he could avoid
the persecution of being a foreigner, he would be silently denying
his heritage.  And now that he was all that remained of his family,
his duty was to carry on the line.  <I have enough problems to deal
with right now,> he thought, <I will have to sort this out later.>

He turned to face Souun and replied, "That sounds like a good idea,
at least for now."

"Ah, good.  You're Akane's age aren't you?" Souun inquired.  After
David replied with a nod, he continued, "Well in that case you can
follow Akane and Ranma to school today.  Here's a schoolbag."  A
generic brown schoolbag materialized out of nowhere and found its
way into David's hands.  He sighed, and stood up.

"Hey slowpoke, hurry up or you're going to be late!  Bii!" Akane 
teased, sticking out her tongue while she fingered her left eyelid.
She rushed out the door, followed closely by Ranma.  

"Chotto, wait up!"  David shouted as he chased after them.  

The three shouted, "Itte kimasu" as they ran out the front gate.

"They seem to be more alike than they think.  Well, Saotome-kun, 
what do you think of our new guest?"  Souun asked.

"Baa boo,"  Panda replied, having poured a glass of water on 
himself. 

"Well, some things never change."

			*	*	*

It was an unusually clear day for Nerima, with not a cloud in the 
sky.  Ranma walked calmly on the top of the chainlink fence, while
Akane and David trailed slightly behind him on the ground.  David
noticed after a while that Ranma and Akane were carefully avoiding
eye contact with each other. 

"Chotto Ranma," he interjected, interrupting the silence, "what's 
going on between you two?  It's almost as if you two were trying
to hide something from each other."

Ranma stumbled slightly, distracted by the question.  "Why nothing,"
he answered unsteadily, "what made you asked such a dumb question?"

"Baka," Akane muttered as she took a swipe at Ranma with her bag.
"We're engaged to each other," she said, "not that we had any choice
in the matter... our parents sort of decided for us.  I can't believe
that my father engaged me to that hentai over there."

The explanation sounded a bit too hollow for David, but before he
could ask another question, he was confronted by a strange man
wearing blue robes, wielding a wooden sword.  Kunou leveled his
weapon at him.  "You!  What right have you to tread on the same
soil as the lovely Tendou Akane!  Who dares to walk alongside
she who is to be my future bride!"  Akane rolled her eyes, hoping 
that the inevitable fight would be over before school started.  
Ranma wore a smirk, wondering how this newcomer would fare against 
Kunou.  

"My name is D-" 

"Silence!  I, Kunou Tatawaki, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High,
shall teach you some manners!"  A lighting bolt punctuated his
speech, from a single black cloud that mysteriously appeared in 
the otherwise blue sky.  "Da da da da da da da!" he yelled as
he swung his bokken furiously.

David dodged the strikes as well as he could, but he knew that
he was in trouble.  A quick swing split the front of his shirt
and another drew blood from his left arm.  Thinking intensely,
he wondered if he could use Kunou's apparent obsession with 
Akane to his advantage, as the concrete wall next to him split
from the force of one of Kunou's blows.  Showered by fragments,
he shouted, "My name is Dav- er Tendo Ak-" 

"What?!"  Kunou said in surprise, halting his attack. "You dare
share the same name as my beloved?" Taking advantage of this 
opening, David struck.  He landed a reverse roundhouse kick to
Kunou's right wrist, causing him to lose his grip on the bokken.
Following through, he swung his left heel into Kunou's face, and
punched twice into the solarplexus, stunning him.  Grabbing the
lapels of Kunou's gi, he rolled backwards, pulling Kunou down with
him.  Suddenly, Kunou was flat on his back, with David sitting on
his stomach, knees on either side of Kunou's chest.  David crossed
his hands and sank them deep under the blue lapels and pulled his
elbows sideways in an artery choke.  "It's Tendou Akira, you fool.
And I'm Akane's COUSIN." he said firmly.

"Cou-sin?" Kunou croaked.  Then everything faded to black as oxygen
stopped flowing to his brain.

Gasping for breath, Akira released his grip on the now unconscious
Kunou.  "Damn, if he weren't so easily distracted, I'd be a large
red spot decorating the ground," he said, grimacing from the pain
in his left arm. 

"Say you're not that bad," said Ranma.  "Although, I normally just
plant a foot in his face, and that's usually the end of that."

"Hey you two, let's hurry before we're late!"  Akane shouted, as 
she started to run towards the entrance.  Akira and Ranma followed
quickly.

The bell sounded just as the three entered the classroom.  "Great,"
Ranma said, "we made it on time."  He and Akane took a seat, while
Akira stood near the door, unsure of what to do.  Ukyou watched him,
having noticed that he had entered with Akane.

"I wonder if he's interested in Akane," she thought to herself, "maybe
I can get them hooked up, and then Ran-chan will be all mine!"  The
loud voice of the teacher interrupted her thoughts, as he introduced
the new student. 

"Class, this is Tendou Akira, Akane's cousin," he said.  "He's new to
the school, so be sure to be friendly and show him around."

Ukyou sighed at the mention of cousin.  This Akira wouldn't be of 
any use in her plans.  "He does seem like a nice person,"  she thought,
"and he did beat Kunou this morning... It can't hurt to be friends."
She motioned at the empty seat next to her and said, "Akira-kun?  Why
don't you sit over here?"  Akira hesitated for a moment, then made
his way over to Ukyou and sat down.  "I'm Kuonji Ukyou, nice to meet 
you," she said with a pleasant smile.

"Uh hi.  I'm Tendou Akira, nice to meet you too," he replied, something
about Ukyou bothering him.  He looked carefully at the boy's uniform
Ukyou was wearing, noticing that there were a few too many curves
underneath it.  "Uh Ukyou-kun?  Are you by any chance, a-"

"A girl?" she interrupted, being quite used to that kind of question.
"Yeah I am.  I just dress like this, don't ask me why."  

Akira nodded slowly.  As the math class began, he thought about 
Ukyou the cross-dresser, and that weirdo Kunou that had attacked 
him.  <What a weird life I've gotten myself into,> he thought.  
<But I guess I asked for it.>  

Thankfully, the rest of the day passed rather uneventfully.  Kunou
was too busy brooding over his recent defeat and buying the latest
pictures of Ranma-chan from Nabiki to trouble Akira any more, and
Hinako-sensei had gone to the park for the day after following a
cute clown who performed there.  As the school day drew to a close,
Akira found himself thinking about Ukyou, wondering why she pretended
to be a boy.  He had begun to doze off when Ranma tapped him on the
shoulder.

"Yo Dav- Akira.  You gonna sit here all night or somethin'?  Let's
go," he said, half-dragging Akira from his chair.  Ukyou noticed
Ranma and looked up towards him.

"Ran-chan?  Why don't you come by Ucchan's for a quick bite?" she
said with a cute smile.  "You can bring your friend here also."

"Ran-chan?" Akira thought to himself, not failing to notice Ukyou's
uncharacteristically feminine behavior. 

"Anou.. sure Ucchan," Ranma replied.  Although he felt a slight 
bit of guilt, he did remember that Akane planned to cook that night,
and his survival instinct was quite well-developed.  Unfortunately
for him, Akane appeared out of nowhere and was standing behind him.

"Ranma!" she said in an angry tone, "don't even _think_ about not
eating my cooking tonight."  Akane could have started a new fashion
trend with the way her aura was complementing the her otherwise drab
blue school uniform dress.  

"I, well," he said as he scrambled desperately to diffuse her anger,
"Ucchan just wanted to meet Akira, and uh since I know both of them
I thought I would go along to break the ice or somethin'."  He sighed
in relief as Akane calmed down, then gulped as a small frown appeared
on Ukyou's face.  Ranma looked straight into her eyes with a pitiful
expression on his face, as if begging for help.  Ukyou merely rolled
her eyes, but nodded, glad to do anything to prevent Akane from 
hurting her Ran-chan yet again.

Akane saw Ukyou nod in agreement with Ranma and decided to give him
the benefit of the doubt.  "After all," she thought, "If Akira and
Ukyou get together..."  She shook her head trying to clear her mind.
"Baka... It's not like I care what he does anyways." Her silent
denial of her feelings rang hollow inside her, but she wasn't yet
prepared to face what she knew to be true.  "Ranma," she said, "Just
be sure to be home in time for dinner, or I'll have to make you a
very _special_ dessert." 

			*	*	*

Ucchan's Okonomiyakiya was rather quiet when Ranma and Akira arrived.
A few earlybirds were scattered around trying to get a quiet meal in
before the dinner rush.  Ranma guided Akira over to the counter where
they both sat down.  Ukyou made her way over to them as they settled
in.  

"So, Ran-chan," she beamed, "what would you like today?"  She knew 
that Ranma probably wouldn't get another chance to eat that night,
at least anything fairly non-toxic. 

"Hey Ucchan," he said in greeting, "I'll just have an ebi-ten. What
about you Akira?" he asked.

"I'll have the same thing I guess," Akira said tentatively.  Ukyou 
nodded and started preparing their order.  She poured the batter 
slowly on the grill and began working it with her mini spatulas.
Small pieces of shrimp and vegetables were mixed in with the batter.
Ranma's mouth began to water as he anticipated the delicious 
okonomiyaki.  Akira was completely absorbed by the way Ukyou was 
handling the spatulas, almost reminding him of the way his mom 
used them as projectiles, only to 'motivate' him, she had claimed.

"All done," Ukyou said with a smile, presenting two shrimp
okonomiyaki on plates in front of the two.  "Hope you like it."

Akira poked at the strange pancake-like concoction in front of him,
wondering what it tasted like.  "Hmm this looks rather like a bin
dae tuk," he commented as he ate a small piece.  "It's delicious!"

Ranma grinned at his companion's remark. "Of course it is.  Ucchan's
the best okonomiyaki cook that I know," he said, glancing at her.
Ukyou caught his eye and winked back at him, prompting Akira to 
raise an eyebrow or two.  

"Mm hmm," he mumbled as he worked at his food.  "Thanks for inviting
me over by the way.  I was hoping I would get to see a bit more of
you," he added.  Ukyou blushed slightly, not knowing how to respond.
She wasn't very accustomed to having men interested in her, probably
due to her cross-dressing, and Tsubasa, in her mind, didn't really 
count as a man.  "You look great in that outfit too," he said as
he indicated the blue cook's outfit that she wore. 

Ukyou's face reddened a bit further with that remark.  She began
to shake her head back and forth, clenched fists underneath her
chin.  She focused her eyes on a spot on the grill, unable to meet 
Akira's eyes.  "That's not true, you're just saying that to be 
polite," she said in protest.

"No, I really mean it," he said reassuringly with a broad smile.
He looked at Ukyou's long hair that stretched forever from the
cute white ribbon tied above her head, and considered the subtle
curves underneath the blue fabric of her work uniform.  <She really
is cute,> he thought. <I can't understand why she wears a guy's 
uniform to school.>  "Kawaii da yo." 

"H-hontou?" she responded, struggling to keep from fleeing in 
embarassment.  Her heart fluttered slightly, her body betraying
her rational mind.  Here was a rather nice guy who thought she
was attractive, only the second man to have said that to her,
excepting Tsubasa.  She had given up her womanhood when Ranma 
and his father had left her behind after they stole her dowry,
only to fall in love with Ranma when she came for revenge. She
still remembered the cloud of emotions that overwhelmed her when
he said the word, "kawaii." Now she was beginning to doubt her
love for her Ranchan as those feelings returned unbidden, triggered
by the same word. 

Ranma sat dumbfounded as he watched Akira flirt with Ucchan, his 
childhood friend and recently, iinazuke as well.  Several emotions 
conflicted inside him.  He wasn't sure whether to be jealous or 
thankful that someone relatively normal had taken an interest in her.  
That he had not reacted violently to Akira as he did to those who 
flirted with Akane did not go unnoticed.  <Ucchan, I do like you,> 
he thought as he saw the smile that she wore as she talked, <but 
only as a friend.>  He finally admitted his true feelings to himself, 
and subconsciously, he crossed out one of the three names in the 
back of his mind.  <I hope for her sake, that she likes him also.>

Ranma wolfed down the rest of his okonomiyaki with his usual haste.
He decided to break the sudden silence that had come to pass, as
both Akira and Ukyou sat motionless, seemingly drowning in each 
other's eyes.  "Yo Akira, I think we should leave for home now,"
he said, "you don't want to see Akane when she's angry, trust me
on this one." 

At the sound of Ranma's voice, conscious thought returned to 
Akira's mind.  "Che, no need to remind me," he said as he traced
the now faded outline of Akane's palm on his cheek, wincing
slightly at the memory of the pain.  "I've experienced it first
hand." 

Ranma nodded in comprehension, and quickly turned to Ucchan.
"Thanks for the okonomiyaki, Ucchan! It was delicious as it
always is," he said as he stood to leave.  

Ukyou snapped to her senses, and just nodded in response. 
A moment later, when she felt she could trust her voice
she said goodbye, and waved as the two teenagers left.
She watched Ranma's pigtail disappear at the edge of the
entrance.  When he was gone, she collapsed into a chair
in confusion.  She had been sure for ten years that Ranma
could be the only one for her, but now it looked as if she
had been living a lie.  Ranma had been her excuse not to 
deal with the pain of rejection and the difficulties of
dealing with the opposite sex.  By focusing single mindedly
on him, she gave herself a purpose, that of revenge.  She
had even thrown away her life as a woman for those ten painful
years.  

When she finally came for her revenge though, she found she
couldn't hate him for something he wasn't responsible for.
He had been surprisingly nice to her, all things considered,
but most of all, treated her as a human -- a woman -- as well
as a friend.  She thought about the incident with the secret
okonomiyaki sauce, and how Ranma, while trying desperately
not to hurt her feelings, clearly showed that he preferred
Akane over herself.  

She wondered how much longer she could pretend that Ranma would 
pick her in the end, despite all the evidence to the contrary. 
She remember painfully how Ranma had forced himself to try Akane's
cooking several times, knowing how bad it was.  Of course, he
always made a production of saying how bad her cooking was, and
how uncute she was, and other cracks about her tomboyish nature,
but when it came down to actions, he always came through on her
side.  

The okonomiyaki store had emptied out a little while ago, and
Ukyou slumped over a table in the corner booth, burying her
face in her crossed arms.  She was confused, scared, and worst
of all, alone.  She sat there for a few minutes, unable to move,
unable to cry, and unable to decide.  Finally, a customer walked
into the restaurant, and she perked up.  For now, she would rely
on her okonomiyaki to give her strengh, until she could muster
up the courage to face herself, or until she found another.  
<Perhaps,> she thought, <I already have.>

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