Right.
	Well, don't know if this'll make it.  I've tried posting part one 
twice now, but havn't received it back as of yet.  Guess the ML's still 
acting a bit wonky.  Anyhoo, I said at the end of _that_ one that I'd be 
posting this one tonight, and for once, I am!  Enjoy... and C&C, please.

	-Mike Noakes
***
                     This Will be the Title

        - ENTER RANKO! -

     "I'm Ranko.  Pleased 'ta meet 'cha!"
     Akane looked at the girl grinning before her, and smiled in
return.  "I'm Akane."  she said, stepping into the shed and out of
the rain.  Her nose wrinkled at the unfamiliar scent of wet fur.
     Just as she stepped inside, the storm outside abruptly came to
an end.  Akane gave an exasperated sigh, reaching down and wringing
some of the water out of the hem of her skirt.  "Isn't that the way
it always happens?" she said, looking up at the girl.  "It rains
just long enough to get you wet, then stop!"
     For some reason, the girl glanced at the panda, and burst into
laughter.  "Yeah, I think I know what you mean..." she said.  She
flicked a dripping crimson bang out of her eyes.
     Akane gave up on her clothes.  Fortunately, she always had a
spare uniform or two - considering how often she got into fights,
it was a necessity.  She gave Ranko - who seemed to be undoing the
ties on her shirt - a quick look over.  A little shorter than her,
red hair tied back just like that Ranma guy, blue eyes, really
quite cute.  Her eyes widened when she noticed a nasty looking welt
on Ranko's neck - wasn't that the same spot where Kuno had hit
Ranma?
     "Uh... Ranko, right?"  Ranko nodded.  "Where... where did you
get that bruise from?"
     "Huh?  What bruise?" answered the girl, pulling off her
chinese shirt.
     "That one on your neck!"
     Ranko reached up and gently prodded at her neck, wincing
slightly as she found the spot.  "Wow..." she said softly.  "He
didn't even..."  She shook her head, and shrugged.  "Well,
whatever... I guess I oughta be more careful next time..."
     "But where did you _get_ it from?"
     "Oh."  The strange girl glanced back at the panda, who gave a
noncommittal bark and shrugged.  It whipped out a sign: "How should
I know... I'm just a panda!"  Akane's wondered where the signs came
from; she also wondered where it had leant to write such good
japanese!  "I... ah... I got the bruise sparring with my pop this
morning." said Ranko, again glancing at the panda.
     "Really?" asked Akane.  Her interest in the girl rose quite a
few notches - this girl was into martial arts?  She momentarily
forgot about finding Ranma and odd bruises.  "You take martial
arts?"
     Ranko grinned.  "A little."
     "Really?" exclaimed Akane excitedly.  "So do I!  I study
Kempo.  You?"
     "The same."
     The day suddenly seemed to be going a little better to Akane. 
She may have just met another girl who studied Kempo!  She'd always
wanted a friend who was into martial arts - her sisters had given
up on it a long time ago, and the other girls around school didn't
really care, and couldn't understand her obsession with fighting. 
It was so hard to find a good female sparring partner.  "I have a
dojo back at my house.  You should stop by some day... we could
spar a bit!"
     Ranko shrugged and pulled off her shirt.  She had quite a
figure, Akane noticed somewhat enviously.  It was a good thing she
had a tank top on underneath, though... this girl didn't seem to
believe in wearing a bra.  Ranko gave her shirt a couple of sharp
shakes in the air, snapping small droplets of water across the room
in a miniature shower.  "I think I'd like that..." she said.
     Akane smiled.  "I'm glad."  A sudden thought occurred to her. 
"By the way, are you new here?  I've never seen you around Furinkan
before... did you just transfer?"
     "Ah... I guess you could say that.  I... got here a few
minutes ago, really."  She turned and glared angrily at the panda. 
"Actually, I'm new to Nerima too.  Just moved in yesterday."  Ranko
turned back to Akane, and gave a little smile.  "Today's supposed
to be my first day of school... but I wasn't expecting the rain."
     Akane returned the smile.  "Well, I'm glad you're coming to
Furinkan!"  Strange, really, she realised - two new students in one
day!  Except that she didn't know where the first one had
disappeared to...  "Still..." she continued, looking the dripping
Ranko over.  "I don't think you want to start your first day like
that, do you?  You're out of uniform!"
     "Eh."  Ranko shrugged.  "Never been much for uniforms. 
Figured this'd be ok."  She shivered slightly as she pulled the
clammy chinese shirt back.  "And I didn't have time to buy one."
     "But..." said Akane.  "But you're soaking wet!  You don't want
to make a bad impression, do you?"  She reached down and pulled
open her book bag, and pulled out a carefully folded bundle of
clothing.  "Here... I have a spare uniform!  You can borrow it for
today!"  She held the skirt up to Ranko's waist.  "See!  We're the
same size... it'll fit you perfectly!"
     Ranko looked down at the uniform with obvious distaste. 
"Thanks.  But no thanks." she said, shaking her head and stepping
away.  She gave her sleeves a sharp tug and flipped up the collar -
 which did a fine job of hiding the bruise.  "I'll be fine like
this, trust me."
     "Oh.  Ok."  Akane knelt down and slid the clothes back into
her bag, a little disappointed by the refusal.  As she tied her bag
shut, she realised she still had Ranma's bag with her... guess
she'd have to leave it at the principle's office.  She obviously
wouldn't have time to find the obnoxious boy now.  She heard the
final bell ring out.  Nope.  Definitely not.
     "Ummm... listen, Akane..." started Ranko.  "Why don't you run
up ahead?  I got some stuff to do..."  She glanced once again at
the panda, who seemed to be impatiently waiting, holding up a
steaming kettle.  "I gotta... run home and, ah... change.  I'll...
see you around, ok?"
     Akane nodded and stood up, realising that she'd better hurry
to class.  "I hope so!  It was nice meeting you, Ranko!  Maybe
you'll be in my class!" she said, picking up her bag and Ranma's,
and heading for the exit.  She paused on her way out the door,
though, suddenly realising something she wanted to ask.
     "Ranko?"
     The red-haired girl - who had been approaching the panda -
stopped and faced her.  "Yeah?" she said, raising an eyebrow
inquisitively.
     "You want to be friends?"
     Ranko hesitated only momentarily, before breaking into a wide
smile.  "Yeah.  I'd like that."

***

     After dropping Ranma's bag off at the principle's office,
Akane returned to class.  She was quite surprised when, upon
entering the room after a hesitant knock, she saw the same boy from
this morning standing in front.  He was still wearing the same
chinese shirt and pants from this morning - the same style and
colour as Ranko's.  They seemed to have been recently wrung out.
     "... and so it does seem to be true..." The teacher was
saying.  "... that you were in China recently.  He paused as Akane
entered.  "Miss Tendo, however, was _not_ in China recently - yet
also managed to arrive late."  The class suppressed a giggle as
most of their attention was shifted from the new student to her. 
She immediately reddened a little.
     "Sorry, sensei." she said sincerely.
     The teacher cleared his throat.  "Hmph.  Yes.  Nevertheless,
you are still late.  I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to stand in
the hall."
     Akane sighed, nodded, and turned to leave.
     "Psst... hey, tomboy!"  Hissed a voice behind her.  "Before ya
leave... where'd ya put my bag?"
     Before she could turn and clobber him, the teacher spoke up. 
"You were late as well, Mister Saotome.  Since you seem to know
Miss Tendo, you may join her in the hall."  Good, thought Akane. 
Now I can clobber him outside.


     "WHAAAAAT?" screamed the young man, leaping to his feet.  "He
has _defeated_ her?"
     Nabiki looked up at Kuno with a slight smirk on her face. 
"Uh-huh.  Moved right up behind her and tagged her on the back of
the head.  I would've thought you'd remember... it happened right
before he defeated _you_, Kuno-baby."
     As Kuno clenched his fist, face turning an ugly mottled
purple, Nabiki hoped she was doing the right thing.  She had no
idea who this Ranma Saotome was - though she planned to rectify
that soon - but he _had_, technically, 'defeated' Akane, and, in a
way (with the help of a panda, mind you), Kuno.  Surely _that_
ought to put an end to those stupid morning battles.  On the other
hand...
     "RANMA SAOTOME MAY DATE WITH AKANE?" he howled, head whipping
back and forth in rage and disbelief.
     ... it might just make things worse.  Nabiki sighed. 
Sometime's Kuno-baby was just _so_ hopeless.
     "Kuno.  Stand in the hall." stated the teacher wearily,
obviously used to this kind of behaviour from the kendoist.  He
didn't even look up from his notes as Kuno dashed from the room.
     "I FORBID IT!"  Kuno's voice echoed through the school as he
charged down the hall.  Nabiki wondered if he even had a clue as to
where he was going.


     The moment they were standing in the hall, Akane turned on
Ranma with a glare.  "This is all _your_ fault!" she hissed.
     He looked somewhat surprised, and a little annoyed.  "_My_
fault!  Hey, it was _your_ fight, remember?"
     "Yes.  But _every_ morning, I finish _my_ fight before school
starts!  If I hadn't had to chase after you to give you back your
stupid bookbag, I would've made it to class on time!"  Well, it was
true that she had stayed to talk with Ranko a bit longer than she
should have, but _he_ didn't have to know that.
     "Oh."  He looked at her for a moment, the faintest hint of a
smile on face.  "Then I guess I'm sorry."
     She looked at him suspiciously.  Was he making fun of her? 
Still, he _had_ apologised... it would be rude not to accept it for
what it was.  "Well... fine then.  And... and I guess I'm sorry I
punched you."
     He shrugged.  "No need.  My fault, really.  I oughta have seen
it coming - dodged or blocked it.  I was being sloppy."  He reached
up and tenderly rubbed his jaw.  "You've got quite a punch,
though."
     Akane wasn't sure if she should be glad that he wasn't mad
that she'd hit him, pleased by the his compliment of her punch, or
upset the he so arrogantly presumed the he could've easily stopped
her attack.  Although, she grudgingly admitted to herself, the
speed he'd displayed when fighting Kuno was way beyond hers.  Which
reminded her... she still had to ask him what he knew about the
Anything-Goes Style.
     Before she could speak, though, he asked a question of his
own.  "What was that all about, anyway?  The fight this morning, I
mean.  I only caught the tail end, but it looked like you were
beating up a bunch of guys!"
     With a sigh, Akane hung her head, eyes closing as she tiredly
recalled the events that had led to her morning ritual.  "Kuno told
them:" she said, then deepened her voice into a passable imitation
of Kuno's, "If you want to take Akane out... _defeat_ her!  I will
permit no other terms!"  She looked down at her reflection in the
bucket of water she was holding; a depressed looking long-haired
girl with dark eyes gazed back.  Sure, the last month of regularly
defending herself against a horde of hormone-crazed wold-be suitors
had done her martial skills a world of good - it was just that she
was getting _really_ tired of it.  And it's not like I actually
_want_ to date any of them, thought Akane angrily.  Why don't they
get the hint and leave me alone?  Her hand clenched unconsciously
on the handle of her bucket.
     Meanwhile, Ranma's eyes had opened wide in disbelief.  "You
mean you fight with Kuno _every_ morning?"
     "And for some reason I always win!"  Although, after seeing
him attack Ranma, she wasn't too sure how she managed.  She had no
idea Kuno was so good!
     There was a slight pause as they both seemed to mull that
over.  Once again, Akane noticed that Ranma seemed to have some
kind of aversion to water - he was unconsciously holding his two
buckets slightly further away from his body than was necessary,
forcing him to compensate with some upper body strength.  He
_could_ just be turning his punishment into endurance training...
but then again, he'd seemed abnormally careful when filling up his
buckets, taking great care not to let the slightest drop fall on
him.
     "Well, when a guy fights a girl..." Ranma was saying, snapping
her out of her reverie.  "He lets up a lot."  He had this smugly
knowing look on his face just before turning away from her.
     Akane felt her ire rise again.  "Don't underestimate me." she
exclaimed.  "As I remember, I _did_ hit you this morning!"
     He shrugged.  "That's just 'cus I let my guard down.  I
thought I was talkin' to a cute girl... didn't know you were a
violent tomboy built like a brick!"
     Her brain went though a quick little loop.  He thinks I'm
cute!, was its first reaction; that was quickly followed by, that
JERK!  I'm gonna kill him!
     "And..." he continued, an infuriatingly condescending tone
creeping into his voice.  "... violent or not... you're still a
girl.  I couldn't do it."
     A low growl rumbled deep in her throat.  Won't fight girls,
eh?  She was a tomboy, eh?  He didn't like water, eh?  She raised
her bucket threateningly, eyes narrowed dangerously.  Suddenly
realising he may have said just a _little_ too much, he backed away
nervously.
     "W... wait..."  he exclaimed.  A moment later, he froze,
glanced past Akane, and leapt away with a yell, terror etched in
his features  A bucket-worth of water splashed where he'd been a
second earlier.
     "NEVER, Ranma Saotome!"  yelled his assailant - Kuno, who was
once again out of uniform and wearing his Kendo garb.
     Ranma landed next to Akane, their discussion forgotten, now
looking extremely angry.  "What do you think you're..." he started,
before being cut off by the upperclassman.
     "I SHALL _NEVER_ ALLOW..." he announced angrily, "...YOU TO
DATE AKANE!"
     Akane wasn't too sure who looked more shocked: her, Ranma, or
the couple of dozen students who suddenly filled the windows behind
them.
     "How _could_ you, Akane!" said one girl.  "And you said you
_despised_ men!"  They merely seemed surprised, some even happy for
her... on the other hand, the guys seemed a little more upset. 
"How _dare_ you!" said one, while another muttered "Gee, he sure is
a fast mover... only been here a day!"
     She tried to deny it.  "Wait!  It's not true!" she cried,
echoed by Ranma.  But the students didn't hear her over their own
noise - and Kuno... Kuno didn't care.  He charged forward, his
bokken slashing down in a savage arc.  It cleaved through both of
Ranma's buckets, spilling their contents everywhere; Ranma barely
dodged in time, narrowly avoiding getting a total soaking.  He spun
and sprinted down the hall, Kuno hot on his trail.
     "Stand you ground!" yelled Kuno.
     "This is no place for a fight!" answered Ranma, glancing over
his shoulder.  Follow me!"
     "That I shall!"
     The two charged down the corridor.  A moment later, the entire
classroom clambered through the window and formed up behind Akane. 
She looked at them in wonder as she started off in pursuit of the
fight.  "This is _great_!" exclaimed a boy.  "Ohhhh!  And the
winner gets to go out with Akane!" squealed a girl.  Akane wasn't
sure, but Ranma seemed to stumble at those words; she couldn't be
sure - she stumbled herself.  She just couldn't believe this was
happening.  She thought her day has started to get better after
meeting Ranko.  Instead, this was turning out to be a _terrible_
day... now she had two idiots fighting over her!
     A teacher joined the horde, yelling something about not
running in the hall.  They rounded the corner just in time to see
Ranma stepping up to an open window.
     "Let's get outside!  Follow me!" said Ranma, hopping through
the window.
     "Fear not!" retorted Kuno, following.
     But... but it's the third floor, screamed Akane inwardly.  Was
Ranma _insane_?    The teacher exclaimed verbally what she was
thinking, as the crowd gasped in excitement.  Kuno let out an 'Ak!"
when he saw the fall; Ranma merely turned and smirked.
     "No sweat.  I'm..." he started to say, then glanced down.  He
screamed.
     "Boy, lucky there's a pool down there." said one of the guys
looking out the window.

***

     Akane rushed out of the school.  She'd probably get in trouble
for skipping her class, but she felt that she should check up on
Ranma.  He _was_ a bit of a jerk, but, in a way, it was her fault
that Kuno had attacked him.  Not that she was exactly sure what had
happened during the brief fight...  The two morons had landed in
the pool - Kuno had floated to the surface, face down - everything
had been eerily calm for several long moments - Kuno started to
float towards the edge of the pool, obviously supported by someone,
presumably Ranma - Kuno came to and started to grapple with his
rescuer - and then it seemed that Kuno got a good hold on his
opponent.  A moment later, Ranma erupted from the pool, swinging
Kuno overhead and slamming him into the ground, and then, using the
kendoist's head as a springboard, leapt away.
     It had been hard to make out what had happened.  Between the
distance, the glare of the sunlight off the pool, and the water
splashing everywhere, she had barely been able to make out Ranma's
escape.  He'd seemed somewhat small, though, even considering the
distance.  But she'd had a glimpse of red through the spray of
water - his shirt, she assumed - so it had to be him.  She almost
laughed.  Who _else_ could it be?  Obviously her eyes had been
playing tricks on her.
     She quickly crossed across the school yard to the wooded area
that lay beyond it.  It was in this general area that Ranma had
leapt - but where was he?  Akane stopped to listen.
     "What a pervert."  She could make out a voice, not too far
away.  "I mean, he didn't have to squeeze that hard!"  The speaker
was obviously angry - and obviously not male.  In fact, it sounded
like...
     "Ranko?" she called out.
     "Akane?" came the answer - from above.  Looking up, she saw
Ranko sitting on the branch of a tree, soaking wet, wringing out
her pants.  The pig-tailed girl smiled, but it seemed rather forced
to Akane.  "Fancy meeting you here..." said Ranko.

	End Chapter Two

	Again, a rather arbitrary place to end the story, but, again, I'm 
_really_ tired.  Guess I'll continue this later... mind you, is it even 
_worth_ conmtinuing?  Please, let me know!  C&C!
	Again, if some of the dialogue seems a bit familiar, it's cuz I 
borrowed from the Viz manga.  The next part might continue soon - depends 
how much I feel like procrastinating...

	Later!
	-Mike