"DOUBLE TROUBLE"
An alternative reality fic by Emily Siazon.
All characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.
-kun is added to the name when the person is in cursed boy form
< > are thoughts
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Prologue
********
 
[10 years ago. Jusenkyo,China]

     A six years old Ranma runs towards his father who was listening to
the guide tell the story of Jusenkyo.

     "Very bad if you fall in spring..." The guide said in broken
Japanese.

     "Hey pop,this place is great!" Ranma interrupted,his blue eyes
shining as he looked at the hundreds of pools in awe.He was so busy
looking around that he didn't notice the rock in front of him which
caused him to trip and fall into a nearby spring.

     "Aiya!" The guide yelled as he ran towards Ranma."Young sir
lucky he fall in uncursed spring!"
 
     "Ranma!" Genma cried out in alarm as he watched his son struggle
to take off the backpack which was weighting him down.
 
     "Don't worry,sir." The guide said as he grabbed one of Ranma's
flailing arms and lifted him off the water.

     Ranma sat at the edge of the pool coughing violently.He felt
woozy as he slowly tried to sit up."Thanks,mister." He gasped as he
looked up at the guide gratefully."I almost drowned."

[10 years later]

     Soun looked around Jusenkyo and smiled.He was happy that this was
the last training ground he and his daughter Akane had to go to on
their decade long training trip before they headed home.He missed his
other two daughters terribly and wondered how they were.

     "Wow.This place is beautiful." Akane said,interrupting Soun's
reverie.She sighed and took a deep breath of the cool summer air as
she stretched,removing the kinks off her back that she got from
carrying the heavy backpack for the whole day.She ran a hand through
her short blue hair as the wind blew it back and admired the beautiful
scenery for the last time.She quickly dropped her pack and leaped into
one of the bamboo poles sticking above one of the shallow pools as her
father tried to attack her with a high sidekick.

     "You gotta do better than that if you want to defeat me,daddy."
Akane yelled as she leaped towards her father who was standing on a
nearby pole with the intent of knocking him to one of the pools.

      "Sir,young miss,what you doing!?" The guide cried out in alarm
as he saw them fighting on his way out to catch his lunch."It dangerous
to fall in spring!"

     Akane,distracted by the guide,missed Soun completely and fell on a
spring behind him.

     "Aiya! Young miss lucky she fall on only uncursed spring left in
Jusenkyo."
 
     "Who cares?" Soun wailed as he watched his daughter sink in the
water,"She can't swim!"

     "Oh no!" The guide exclaimed as he reeled in the unconscious Akane
with his fishing rod.

     Akane regained consciousness as soon as she hit dry land and was
quickly carried to the guide's hut to recover.

     The next day,a fully recovered Akane decided to go outside to take
a walk despite the guide's protests.She was only a couple of yards from
the the hut when she sensed some movement behind her.
 
     "Where on earth am I now?" She heard someone yell out as she turned
around.She caught sight of something yellow before she was sent flying
into a nearbypool by a heavy backpack.

     The person clad in yellow looked around in confusion.He could have
sworn that someone was standing behind him,but when he looked,all he saw
was empty space."Must have been my imagination." He muttered before
wandering off.
 
     The Jusenkyo guide ran out of his hut as soon as he heard the splash,
just missing the yellow clad figure who was off to places unknown.

     "Oh no! Young miss fall in spring of almost drowned boy! Very tragic
story of boy who almost drown 10 years ago."

     Akane who was standing on the neck deep pool of water screamed as
she noticed that her breast was missing.She stopped in mid-scream as she
also noticed that her voice was an octave lower than it should be.She
fainted instantly.

     When Akane-kun came around,he quickly ran to the bathroom and saw
that'she'was now a he.He stared at his now blue gray eyes and muscular
build."Well at least I'm cute." She said which didn't make her feel any
better.He walked out of the bathroom dejectedly and sighed as he tried to
convince himself that it could be worse.

     "Very good news,young miss." The guide said as he entered the hut.
"Is only temporary.You turn back into girl with hot water..."

     "Why didn't you tell me!" Akane-kun exclaimed happily as he poured a
kettle of hot water on himself turning back into a girl.

     As Akane is checking to make sure everything is where it should be,
the guide clears his throat and finishes what he's saying."Unfortunately,
you turn into boy when hit with cold water."

     "WHAT!?"

     Soun,who had been sitting quietly this whole time stands up and puts
a comforting hand on his daughter's shoulder."At least you're not a boy
all the time."

     "I guess." Akane grumbled as she gave the guide the most evil glare
she could muster.

     "Maybe it's time we leave." Soun said as he dragged the glowing
Akane out the door.

Chapter 1
*********

[A month later]
 
     It is another beautiful Sunday in Nerima,Tokyo.The sun is shining
brightly as Soun Tendo collects his mail.Besides the usual bills,he
notices a bright postcard with a picture of a panda in front.He eagerly
flips the card over and reads:

                     Tendo,
                     Bringing Ranma from China
                                       Saotome

     "Oh how I've waited for this day." He cried as he walked away to
find his three daughters."Kasumi! Nabiki! Akane!" He yelled as he ran
around the house excitedly.
 
     Kasumi and Nabiki walked into the living room and watched their
father do the hustle in amusement.
 
     Kasumi picked up the postcard Soun left on the table and reads it
aloud to Nabiki.

     "Oh,no wonder he's excited." Nabiki said as she watched her father
take her sister's hand and starts to do the tango."He hasn't seen
Mr.Saotome in over seventeen years."

     Soun stops abruptly as he notices that Akane is missing."Where's
your sister?" He asked Kasumi who is walking unsteadily from the series
of complicated turns during the brief dance.

     Kasumi's answer is blocked off by a knock on the front door.
 
     "That must be them!" Soun shouted excitedly as he ran to open the
door with Nabiki close behind.

     Behind the door stood a fat,balding man in a white gi and a
handsome boy wearing a red and black chinese outfit that showed off his
muscular body to its full advantage. Both are carrying umbrellas along
with their heavy packs and are looking at the darkening sky nervously.

     The older man's face broke into a wide grin as Soun opened the
front door."Konnichiwa, Tendo-kun!"
 
     Soun didn't hear him however because he and Nabiki are too busy
staring at the boy who is the spitting image of Akane's cursed form in
shock while Kasumi smiled sweetly.

     Soun found his voice a couple of seconds later and looked at the
boy straight in the eyes as he asked,"You wouldn't happen to be..."

     "I'm Ranma Saotome.Nice to meet ya." The boy said with a polite bow
before he caught Soun who fainted after hearing his reply.

     Ranma and his father shrugged at the strange reception they have
gotten as they carried Soun to the living room.

     "Oh my.I wonder why he fainted?" Kasumi said as she pressed a cold
compress on her father's head,oblivious to the disbelieving look on
Nabiki's face.

     The front door is slammed loudly and angry stomps could be heard
heading towards the livingroom.Nabiki stands up and goes towards the
front door where she sees a very angry looking Akane walk in wearing a
very thick pair of glasses.

     "What happened,Akane?" She asked with mild concern.

     "I was on my usual Sunday jog and got chased by a horde of boys."
She replied angrily."I don't get it,how did they see through my perfect
disguise?" She asked as she pointed at her glasses.

     "Um...are we from the same planet?"

     "And to make things worse," Akane continued as she ignored
Nabiki's comment."I almost got hit with water by that old lady who's
always washing her front walk."

     Nabiki smiled as an idea popped into her head. <This should be
fun.> She thought as she pretended to spill her juice on Akane,turning
her cute little sister into a handsome young boy.

     "Nabiki," Akane-kun growled as he started to wring the suddenly
tight jogging outfit."Watch it will you."

     "Sorry." Nabiki said trying to hide her smile as they continued
to walk towards the living room which they found to be empty.

     "Where did they go?" Nabiki asked as she looked around the room.

     "Who?" Akane-kun asked as he looked around trying to figure out
what his sister was looking for.

     "If your looking looking for father and Mr.Saotome,they went to
the local bar to celebrate." Kasumi answered cheerfully as she got out
of the kitchen."Ranma's looking around the dojo."

     "Great! I'm dying to meet him.Daddy said that he also went on a
decade long training trip.It would be interesting to see how good he
is." Akane-kun said as he headed outside.

     He entered the dojo and and saw a shirtless Ranma going through a
very complex kata.Ranma's back was to him so he couldn't see his face
but he noticed that they had the same hairstyle and build.He knew that
the he was almost done having done the same kata countless times before.
He clapped his hands as Ranma threw one final punch which startled the
other boy.Ranma quickly turned around and almost fell flat on his face
as he caught sight of Akane-kun.

     The two looked at each other in shock,neither one quite believing
what they're seeing.Both would have thought that they were staring at a
mirror had it not been for their differing outfits.

     Ranma was the first to recover and said,"Konnichiwa,I'm Ranma
Saotome."

     "I-Im Akane Tendo."

     Ranma wrinkled his nose. <Isn't Akane a girl's name?> He wondered.
He noticed that the other boy still looked a bit shocked.

     "Hey,you wanna spar?" He asked as he remembered his pop saying that
his old friend Soun was also training an heir.

     "Sure." Akane-kun said,getting over his surprise as he remembered why
he had come to the dojo in the first place.

     Akane-kun attacked first,delivering a roundhouse kick aimed at Ranma's
head which he blocked.Ranma attempted a foot sweep which Akane-kun dodged.
He then delivered a crescent kick which also failed to connect.

     They continued to spar for an hour,neither one getting an advantage
over the other.They were so focused into the fight that they failed to
notice Nabiki who had sneaked in after taking a couple of pictures of their
surprised faces from the window and was now videotaping the sparring
session to sell to the girls at school.She could already feel the huge
amount of yen she was going to make on her hands.

     The fight would have gone even longer if Ranma hadn't accidentaly
stepped on a bucket that Kasumi left behind when she was cleaning the dojo
earlier that morning.

     Ranma instantly felt himself change into his cursed form.He heard a
startled gasp and looked up.

     "I see you've been to Jusenkyo too." Nabiki said,her eyes wide with
shock while Akane-kun fainted.

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AUTHORS NOTES:
        Well,that's the first part of this fanfic.Hope you enjoyed it.This
started out as two fanfics but I decided to combine them.
        Part two will come out soon when Ranma's curse will be revealed.

        Send all your comments and critisms to <emily9@bellatlantic.net>