Well, no feedback so far, although someone told me I may have gone too 
far with the description of the physical in the last chapter.  What was 
so bad about it?

And I didn't get a chance to finish typing tonight, so it will be in the 
mail tommorow as complete.

I hope.

Hitomi

***

	If there was anything that could get a smile out of people, it 
was the two girls walking down the street towards the clothing stores.
	It was easy to tell which school the one leading the way was 
from.  After all, every school in Japan had registered uniforms for there 
school that were accessible from the central database.  Of course, most 
people would have recognized Akane without the Furinkan high uniform 
because of the fact that she jogged this way often.  As far as everyone 
was concerned, she was a nice, kind girl who could get a little impulsive 
about some things.
	The shorter one with highlights in her hair they couldn't place.  
They assumed the girl must be from China, given the clothing she was 
wearing, and the way she was walking.  Of course, she didn't look very 
happy, and was obviously not in a good mood, but she was cute.
	If a Westerner had been listening in on their conversation, they 
would have been extremely surprised at the content.
	"Ya'know Akane, That Sensei is scary."  Ranma grumbled to her 
companion as they went towards the uniform outfitters.  "I mean that book 
he had of..."  she shuddered as remembered scenes of human bodies went 
through her head.  "Isn't that a bit extreme?"
	Akane looked over to Ranma, giggling slightly, "Well, you do have 
to admit, it is a good warning, and those pictures are accurate."
	"Akane!  Those pictures were disgusting, and those...those lesions..."
	"Are you thinking of having sex Ranma?"
	A queasy look settled on the pig-tailed girls face.  "Not if I 
can help it.  If that's what sex does to you, I don't think I ever want 
to experience it."
	Akane shrugged, "Well, that could be both good and bad.  Sex 
isn't all bad, that's just the worst case scenario.  Besides, do you want 
to have sex before you're married?"
	Ranma snorted, "No way!  Even before that book I wasn't 
considering having sex anytime soon.  I mean, I'm still young, and 
there's lots to learn."
	Akane turned a thoughtful look at Ranma, "That's true.  I guess I 
underestimated you Ranma, I thought you'd be like the other boys."
	Ranma stopped and looked at Akane, "Whoa!  Whadaya mean like the 
other boys?"
	Akane sighed and started walking again, "Well, boys seem to have 
the strangest ideas of what a girl wants and is like, and they only seem 
to think with one part of their anatomy.  I mean, have you ever been 
swarmed by a set of boys who only want to get into your panties?"
	Ranma guffawed a bit, "I sort of grew up on the opposite side of 
that Akane.  Besides, boys think with their head, they just get 
controlled by their hormones.  It's not their fault that they seem to 
have less resistance to that sort of stuff than the girls.  After all, a 
boy's hormones cause physical changes to occur without them being 
conscious of it."
	Akane shook her head, "You really have a lot to learn about boys 
then.  Despite the fact that you grew up being extremely macho, I think a 
lot of things were left out of your education by traveling around so 
much.  I'm not sure, but that might be a good thing in this regard.  Of 
course, your new situation now might have changed a few things about how 
your body works."
	Ranma looked puzzled for a second, "Well, according to the 
doctor, I'll experience what every girl does now.  I'll have to get used 
to that while I'm a girl I guess."
	"That's not exactly what I'm talking about."
	"Then what are you talking about?"
	Akane looked at Ranma, "We'll talk about that later.   but, well, 
being on this side is a lot different and it's important for you to learn 
about how the boys react to girls.  There are a lot of disadvantages  to 
being a girl.  The good thing is that you'll pick up a lot of new defense 
techniques, although you will have to discourage the more persistent 
ones, possibly even going so far as breaking their bones, and then 
there's the fact that..."
	Ranma stopped in her tracks.  "Uh-huh!  No way!  I'm going back 
to being male and going to school as a male!"
	Akane looked at Ranma, "Then you concede the bet?"
	"Yeah, I concede, just let me out...."  he suddenly remembered 
the terms of the bet.  "WAIT A MINUTE!!!"
	Akane smirked at the suddenly trapped Ranma, who had realized 
that she dug herself in a hole with that bet.  "Come on Ranma, the store 
is only three doors away."

An Alternate History of Ranma 1/2:

Chapter Four:

If this is how I have to get an education...

A fan fiction based on Takahashi Rumiko's Manga series, Ranma 1/2

Saotome Ranma, Saotome Genma, Saotome Nodoka, Tendo Akane, Tendo Soun, 
Tendo Kasumi, Tendo Nabiki, Kuonji Ukyou, Hibiki Ryouga, P-chan, Shampoo, 
Moose, Kuno Tatewaki, Kuno Kodachi, and Hinako Sensei are copyright 1987, 
1996 by Takahashi Rumiko.

Publishing rights:

Japan:              Shogakukan Inc. Tokyo
Hong Kong:          Jademan (Holdings) Ltd.
North America:      Viz Inc.

By Ichinohei Hitomi

	"This isn't really fair Akane!  You never told me any of these 
things last night _OR_ when we made the bet."
	Calming herself, Akane looked at Ranma for a moment, wondering if 
being so manipulative had been such a good idea.  She felt sort of guilty 
for taking advantage of her new friend like that but the alternative, 
well, it was something they both wanted out of.  "Ranma, even though I 
never told you, you have a choice.  Either we become engaged against our 
will, or we go through with this plan."
	Ranma looked down, grumbling even more under her breath.  What 
she was saying was almost totally inaudible, except for statements like 
'idiot father', but she followed Akane into the shop.  It had been stupid 
of her to listen to Akane the night before.  She had made a set of 
agreements with her, and now, by her own actions, she was trapped.  *I'm 
never gonna agree with her when I'm half asleep again.  Who knows what I 
might agree to?*
	Akane grabbed Ranma's hand.  "Now the first thing we need is lingerie."
	Ranma stiffened, *LINGERIE!?!?!  IS SHE NUTS?*

***

	If it was possible for Kuno's head to retain more than a few 
things at a time, or he devoted as much of himself to schoolwork as he 
did Kendo or his ego, then he may well have been at the top of the 
class.  As it was, he was positioned in the lower half of the class.  It 
was not a good position for him to be in considering that his father was 
a Sensei, and technically headmaster of Furinkan.
	Of course, he hadn't seen his father in almost five years, his 
having taken off to America in order to get citizenship status.  Not that 
Kuno missed him.  If truth be known, Kuno would have liked to have his 
dear sister poison the old bastard.
	As far as he was concerned, his father was a crazed nut, who 
cared only about shaving peoples heads and humiliating anyone and 
everyone.  There wasn't a shred of decency in the man, nor was there any 
compassion.  Those emotions had been swept away by the madness that 
claimed his father after his mothers death so long ago.  What happened 
hadn't been kind, and in the place of a pillar of the community was a facade.
	Kuno had grown up as what North Americans would consider an 
abused child.  His father treated him as a plaything, keeping his head 
shaved, and heaping a lot of guilt upon the young Tatewaki.  He had been 
the rock upon which his family members had depended and it had changed 
him and his personality.
	A large part of what he was had to do with Giri.  His family came 
first and foremost even if they did hurt him a lot.  What was even worse 
was that he could never openly acknowledge that hurt.  To protect himself 
he built up his ego and told himself that the trials he faced were given 
by the Kami to temper him into something stronger.
	Up to that point he had handled the financial holdings of his 
family, making investments, being with a few good friends, and searching 
for a way to make his father well.  One of the few people he told of this 
was Nabiki who had faced something similar in her life when her mother 
had died.  The two of them got along, forging a destiny based on the 
hardships in their life.
	Everything was fine until his younger sister started to show 
signs of the mental instability.
	When that happened, things started to become too much for 
Tatewaki.  Already an avowed Kendoist, he became more and more fascinated 
by the wooden practice sword in his hand.  He continued to go after 
imaginary targets with it, imagining himself in the place of his Samurai 
ancestors as the burdens he faced grew harder and harder.  He eventually 
subsumed himself into a fantasy world in order to survive, his only point 
of contact with the real world being Nabiki.
	It was no wonder he thought of himself as being the only one 
deserving of any possible chance of love.  Of a strong woman who could 
survive.  Of one with little chance of going mad, for that is what he 
feared would happen to him deep down.
	So for him to be concentrating on what he would do, how he would 
embarrass his competition for the one he deemed to be his was understandable.
	*I shall be triumphant!*  He thought as he contemplated the 
challenge he would face.  *If what is said is true, then I know how to 
defeat this unworthy rival, for if he is of the same school as Akane, I 
can use the weaknesses that are always in her defenses in order to strike 
at this one.*
	Pointedly, he went over the various ways that Akane had moved, 
her usual tactics of avoidance, how she used here fists, what forms her 
throws came in, and the varying stances she used.  Watching her had been 
a learning experience as the way she deliberately maneuvered her 
opponents around her prevented more than four people coming at her at 
once.  Her circular movements had forced the boys coming after her to 
more often hit each other than her.  She was vulnerable away from the 
four cardinal degrees and she avoided using any aerial abilities.  If 
these truths held for every practitioner of the School of Indiscriminate 
Grappling, then Ranma was just as vulnerable.
	The smirk that appeared on his face as he thought of his winning 
was one of quiet power.

***

	Ranma was incensed as she and Akane carried all of the packages 
that the store had given her once they had taken her measurements.  She 
was quite sure that they had bought more in one day in terms of uniforms 
than she had bought in three years of junior high.  How could women have 
so many different pieces for the uniforms?
	It wasn't just the basic uniform which consisted of two different 
types of blouses, what the woman in the store had called a jumper, and a 
jacket, but several other pieces that she didn't think she would ever 
need.  Trying to look over all of the boxes she held, and looking at 
Akane who had just as many as she did, she wondered what in the world 
people were thinking when they designed the uniforms for girls.  If it 
had been up to her, she would have made it as simple as what boys usually 
wore.
	What was worse was that Akane insisted they buy three of everything.
	"Don't you think we're carrying just a little bit _too_ much?"  
Ranma asked the girl beside her.  "I mean, it's like we bought out the 
entire store."
	Akane smiled at Ranma, slightly amused at the sight of the 
smaller girl trying to hold so many packages.  It had been so funny when 
Ranma had told the sales clerk that she only needed the regular uniform, 
shoes, and gym clothes.  Her companion had been astonished at the number 
of items that the sales lady had brought out once she had taken her 
size.  The expression on Ranma's face was priceless.
	Grinning slightly, she said, "Not at all Ranma.  That's only the 
beginning, and since you're not the same size as I am, most of my clothes 
won't fit you.  We're going to have to buy you an entirely new wardrobe."
	Ranma grunted, "Ya mean we have to buy a lot more stuff?  Akane, 
_this_ is more clothes than I have ever owned in my life!  I mean I 
didn't even buy this much when I had to shop for new clothes in Beijing!"
	Akane smiled sweetly, "Relax Ranma.  It's only until our parents 
call off the marriage.  Besides, you might as well take advantage of that 
form until we can find a cure for your condition.  Anyway's what would 
you have done when we had to go swimming?  Everyone in school would know 
about your condition almost immediately, and you know the rumours that 
	Ranma nodded as they continued walking towards the school.  "You 
have a point about that..."

***

Ichinohei Hitomi
Hitomi@terminal.autobahn.mb.ca
http://204.112.189.3/~hitomi
"The beginings of wisdom is the ability to always ask questions."