The schoolyard became quiet as the words of the small pig-tailed
girl still lingered in the air.
	It had started with Kuno spouting off at the mouth again, usually
of no consequence since only a few ever really listened to what came out
of his mouth.  Still he did command a grudging respect, if only for the
fact that he was admittedly one of the best martial artists in the school. 
It was for these reasons that it was thought Kuno's monologue would have
no effect.
	Everyone was wrong.
	The girl who had arrived in the schoolyard with Tendo Akane was
somewhat interesting to all the students.  Her hair was black with red
highlights done up in a pigtail that reached down to her shoulder blades. 
Large, expressive turquoise eyes shone forth in anger at Kuno as she stood
there in a relaxed stance that signified danger to those watching.  Of
course, everything about her signaled danger, from the Chinese outfit she
wore that looked faintly like a kung-fu outfit seen on movies from Hong
Kong, to the way her body moved.  The boys who had been watching had
become entranced with her while the girls started to get a little jelous.
	That was when they heard her exclaimation about being engaged and
who she was engaged to.
	Almost immediately everyone was stunned, the rumours that had been
going around the school having nothing at all to do with the reality of
the situation.
	You could almost hear the breaking of hearts as the boys suddenly
realized why the object of their desire for the past two months wasn't
interested in them.  The girl they had persued had always claimed that she
didn't like, and could not stand boys.  When Kuno had come up with this
silly claim that only one stronger than Tendo Akane could even consider
taking her out, all the boys in the school attempted to defeat her.  It
had been a matter of pride.
	As for the girls in the yard, many of them had raised eyebrows,
some of them having thought that Akane having been engaged to a boy was
too rediculous to be believed.  That Saotome Ranma had charmed the one
girl in the school least likely to be engaged had started rumours that he
had to have been some kind of Kami, or at least superhuman.  it was a nice
romantic notion, and a number of the girls who thought it was possible had
quietly decided to persue someone who could romance the school's ice
queen.
	All of the students, however, had the same thought running through
their head consciously or unconciously as they watched the confrontation. 
*Somehow, this all makes sense...*
	As for Kuno, he stared in wonder at the girl in front of him, the
one who called in the insults he had flung out earlier.  To say that he
was in disbelief over her words would have been an understatement.  He
unconciously repeated the name he heard, still unable to believe what his
ears told him.  "S..Sa...Saotome Ranma?!?" 

An Alternate History of Ranma 1/2:

Chapter Four:

The way everyone is looking at me...

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,
Mousse, Kuno Tatewaki, Kuno Kodachi, Tofu-Sensei, and Hinako Sensei are
copyright 1987, 1996 by Takahashi Rumiko. 

Morisato Keiko, and Natsume Sayoko are copyright 1996 by Ichinohei Hitomi

Publishing rights:

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

By Ichinohei Hitomi



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