Wild Child:  Prologue
by David Eddy



Last modified:  Thursday, 12 February 1998

A  fan  fiction based on Takahashi Rumiko's Manga series,  Ranma
1/2.   The characters of Ranma 1/2 are the property of Takahashi
Rumiko and her licensees.

Warning:   Occasional  adult  concepts.   Some  readers  may  be
offended by some of the material contained herein.





     The view was wonderful.  It was the main reason she had
bought this apartment.  Outside, against the darkness the lights
of buildings were multicoloured jewels set in black velvet.  The
bright yellow lines of major roads were stitchwork holding the
tapestry together, and the bright signs of the shops and
billboards were random splashes of colour from a painter's
brush.  It was lovely.

     The woman admiring the view was of average height and
dressed in a kimono patterned with fall leaves in earthen tones.
Soft overhead lights picked out reddish-bronze highlights in her
dark hair.

     Clattering sounds and the occasional curse floated from the
kitchen as her daughter prepared dinner.  A slight wince crossed
the woman's pleasant, unlined features every now and again as a
particularly vile curse was uttered.

     Finally the kitchen grew quiet, and from the door
connecting the two rooms stepped a teenaged girl whose most
striking feature was her flaming red hair.  A face not unlike
her mother's and a curvy, compact body combined to make a
package that had a trail of lovestruck admirers following her
all around school.  But at the moment her features were marred
by a sullen scowl as she carelessly plopped the serving dishes
onto the low table in the centre of the living room.  The girl
disappeared for a moment, then reappeared with dishes and
chopsticks.  She slapped them down on the table and sat down.
Without waiting for the elder woman, she served herself and
wordlessly began to eat.

     Saotome Nodoka rose from where she knelt by the floor-to-
ceiling window and gracefully sat at the table.  "Ranko," she
said reprovingly, "what have I said about your table manners?"

     Saotome Ranko glared across the table at her mother,
chopsticks poised halfway between bowl and mouth.  The tableau
lasted for several seconds before Ranko snorted and resumed
eating.

     Nodoka sighed.  "Itadakimasu," she said formally before
taking up her rice bowl and filling it from the cooker.
Delicately taking a morsel of fish from the plate on the table,
she sat back on her heels and considered her daughter as she
ate.

     It would be easy to blame herself, but Nodoka could not see
where she had gone wrong.  But nothing she did seemed to reach
Ranko anymore.  She could not understand the girl.  Why did she
have such a rebellious attitude?  She was just impossible to
deal with... that is, when she was actually at home.  Nodoka
reflected that she saw her daughter less and less these days.

     Silence reigned for a time as the two women ate, until
finally Nodoka put down her half-eaten meal.

     "You are becoming quite skilled at this dish, dear," she
said.  "It is very nice."

     Ranko just glared at her and grunted.  Nodoka frowned.

     "Ranko-chan... what's wrong?  I know you feel constrained
here, but today something in particular seems to be bothering
you.  Perhaps I can help?"

     The red-haired girl took one last mouthful of rice and
plonked her bowl down.  "It's nothing," she said, speaking for
the first time.  "I just broke up with that prick Ichiro today."

     Scowling at Ranko's street talk, Nodoka asked, "But dear,
weren't you saying just last week that he was the love of your
life?"

     Ranko sighed, seeming to deflate, the anger and frustration
fading from her face, leaving only sadness.  "Yeah."  She gulped
to clear her throat, then continued, "But he's decided that he
prefers Hatsuko to me, and apparently the feeling's mutual.  So
she... she dumped me too.  The two of them came up to me
together, hand in hand, and...."

     Nodoka tut-tutted.  "Dear, you know I don't approve of your
relationships with other girls."

     Eyes blazing, Ranko jerked to her feet.  "I should have
known better than to expect sympathy from you!" she yelled
angrily, moving to stalk out of the room.

     Nodoka grabbed her hand, stopping her.  "Ranko, please... I
know that sounded unsympathetic, but didn't mean it that way.  I
just don't think it's womanly for a girl to love other girls."
She sighed again, and put a smile onto her face.  "Here, sit
down here with me and let me tell you what happened to me this
weekend."

     For a long moment Ranko stood motionless, but then she
knelt slowly on the tatami matting next to her mother.  Nodoka
put an arm around Ranko and stroked her hair, comforting her.
She felt happy, remembering the better times years ago when she
and Ranko had done this often.  For a time she held her
daughter, enjoying her warmth and closeness.  At length, she
began to speak.

     "On Saturday, I went to visit some old friends of the
family, the Tendous.  Their mother died several years ago now;
she was a good friend of mine.  So now they are only the father,
Souun, and his three daughters:  Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane.
Akane is about your age, I think."  She sipped her tea
thoughtfully.  "They also had their cousin staying with them,
though I don't recall a cadet branch of the family.  Anyway, you
won't believe this, Ranko-chan:  This girl is almost your twin!
She even calls herself Ranko."

     Ranko looked up in interest.  "What, she looks like me?
And has the same name?"

     Nodoka looked at Ranko carefully.  "If it were not for the
fact that you have green eyes and she blue, and that you dress
quite differently, I'm not sure I could tell you apart.  It's
very strange.

     "She's a very strange girl, too.  She has a trained pet
panda, and she refuses to act like a girl unless she thinks I'm
looking.  She dresses in boy's clothes, Ranko-chan, even to the
point of not wearing a bra!"  Nodoka's mouth twisted
disapprovingly.  "She speaks like a boy, too.  Terribly
improper.  She seems to be good friends with Akane-chan, and
Akane-chan said that Ranko had been brought up as a boy."

     Ranko's interest was piqued.  A twin?  She wondered if they
were related.  "So why did you go there, mom?"

     Nodoka sighed.  Looking a little sad, she said, "I was
hoping to find your brother Ranma."

     Ranko sat bolt upright.  "I have a brother?!"

     Caught by surprise, Nodoka was forced to prop herself
against the floor to prevent herself falling over from Ranko's
rapid movement.  "Of course," she said.  "He's the same--"
Nodoka cut herself off, her hand against her mouth and an
expression of horror growing on her face.

     Ranko stood over her mother.  "The same what?"

     Nodoka looked away.  "The same age as you," she said
quietly.

     Shock filled Ranko.  She had a brother?  The same age as
her?  She took a step back in surprise.  Why didn't she....  "Is
he my twin?  Why can't I remember him?"

     Shame filled Nodoka's face.  "Genma... Genma took him on a
training trip when he was five.  They have been away ever
since."

     The inescapable conclusion brought Ranko to her knees.
"I'm... I'm *not* adopted, am I?" she said at last.  "Why did
you lie to me?!  Don't you love me?!  Were you *ashamed* of
me?!"

     Tears began to spill down Ranko's face as she knelt facing
her mother.  For a long minute Nodoka said nothing, remaining
perfectly still.  Then she said, quietly, "Ranko-chan... you are
correct.  You are of my blood.  You are, in truth, the daughter
of Genma and myself."

     "Then why did you tell me I was adopted?!  Why did you tell
me my parents had died in a car crash?!  Why didn't I know I had
a brother?!" shouted Ranko.

     Silently, Nodoka got up and knelt by the windows, looking
out at the nightscape.  "Please, Ranko-chan... please don't ask
me to explain that just now..."

     Frustration crescendoed within Ranko, and she burst out of
her kneeling position to run out the front door.  The door
slammed closed, and suddenly the flat was silent and empty.
Nodoka looked out at the lovely nightscape, but all she could
see was her face reflected in the glass... that, and another
beautiful face from almost ten years ago who had come to her in
her time of need.  Tears fell as she remembered.



     *    *    *



     Ranko fell to the floor of the underground garage,
exhausted at last.  Her hands and feet throbbed a little from
the intensity of the attack she had directed at the innocent
concrete column she had long ago padded with rice straw as a
practice post.

     She felt cold trails of sweat crawl down her back as she
rested, looking up at the column as though it was some kind of
oracle.  'Why?' she asked herself as she racked her brains,
trying to remember a time before her seventh birthday, trying to
remember the rest of her family.  Vile thoughts filled her as
she thought of her mother's duplicity.  Frustrations that had
been years in the building were coming out tonight... rebellion
at the traditional upbringing Nodoka had tried to force upon
her, at the pretty clothes she insisted she wear until she
became old enough to refuse, at the....  Words failed Ranko even
in her own head, and the frustration forced itself out of her
throat as a primal scream.

     The echoes were still fading as a plan occurred to her.
She thought back to her initial thought about this other
"Ranko".  This girl was her twin in appearance?  She wondered
what it would be like to meet someone who was a mirror's
reflection.  Would it be spooky or warm?  Would she be a
soulmate or enemy?

     Her thoughts moved on to the discovery that she had a
brother, one who had been away from home for as long as she
could remember, training in the martial arts.  But apparently he
was supposed to have finished his training trip by now; why else
would her mother go searching - in only one place - for him?
She obviously knew where he was supposed to be.  Why not try and
find her brother herself?  Living with her father could not
possibly be any worse than living with her mother Nodoka... if
that was what she was.  She didn't really know any more.

     'You know I do not approve of your relationships with other
girls,' echoed Nodoka's voice in Ranko's head.  Pah!  What would
she know?  Hide-bound, traditional, narrow-minded old bint!  Her
mind was made up.  She would stick it out for the rest of the
week, but next weekend after school she would go out... and
never come back.

     Never.



     *    *    *



     "Nerima... Nerima... The next station is Nerima."

     There train was crowded but not packed, people going about
their business.  Shopping bags packed the luggage racks and a
few sat on the floor, their contents moving about with a rustle
of plastic as the train rocked from side to side as it went
around curves in the track.  A low sussuration of conversation
filled the air, punctuated by the occasional laugh or the squeal
of a child.

     By the door of the carriage, Ranko stood with a small half-
smile on her face.  Dressed comfortably in jeans and a light
sweater beneath a worn leather jacket, sturdy walking shoes on
her feet and her hair pulled neatly back in a braid beneath an
old baseball cap which read "Sexy", she looked every inch an
experienced backpacker.

     The long sports bag was suitably worn, but the huge
backpack, nearly as tall as she was with the bulky sleeping roll
tucked beneath it, had a brand-new look which gave lie to the
general impression she projected.

     As the train glided smoothly to a halt, she shouldered the
backpack and hefted the sports bag through the opening door.
She pushed her way through the shoppers waiting to board the
train and stopped near the back of the platform.  Putting her
backpack down on a convenient seat, she stopped for a moment to
look out from the elevated platform over the neighborhood.

     'So this is Nerima,' she mused to herself.  Looking around,
she could see that it was mainly a bedroom community.  Some
tallish buildings to one side identified the local shopping and
business district, but mostly the area was populated with the
separated houses with gardens that marked the area as moderately
prosperous.  Apartment blocks and some large houses that were
probably boarding houses were scattered near the train station,
and a little way away she could see the regulation architecture
of the local schools, but otherwise everything was pleasantly
low.  She realised that she was betting a lot on the fact that
either Ranma or Genma would be at the Tendou Dojo, but she was
willing to take that risk... and if not, well, she'd like to
meet her "twin" anyway.  And she had a small tent with her just
in case.

     She hauled the map she had copied during a midnight raid on
her mother's papers from a pocket of the backpack along with a
miniature Tokyo Metropolitan street map and spent a few minutes
fixing the layout of the district in her mind before tucking
everything away again and shrugging into the backpack.  The
clips on the hip-band and chest closed with crisp *click*
sounds, and in moments the heavy pack was balanced and she was
ready to go.  Lifting the sports bag, she headed to the stairway
that led down to the street.

     Walking slowly but easily along the street in the
economical gait one uses under a heavy load, Ranko took her time
heading towards her destination.  There was no hurry.  The
people around here seemed happy, she noted, and she suddenly
realised that she, too, was smiling.  It was pleasant walking in
the autumn sunshine, and Ranko ascribed her happy mood to that
and the generally pleasant feeling of the people around her.

     It wasn't all that long before Ranko found herself standing
outside a gate in an impressive masonry wall... impressive for
its uninterrupted length, that is.  She read the sign aloud to
herself.  "Ten-dou-dou-jou.  Musabetsu kakutou."  She raised an
eyebrow at the designation of the school... an unrestricted,
open-handed style by its name.  The twitter of some birds
distracted her for a moment and she stood with one hand on the
gate, listening.  "I can't believe how quiet it is here," she
said as she pushed open the gate.

     A bell tinkled as she opened the gate and stepped through.
Closing the gate again, she looked around in amazement.  "Wow,
what a place!" she said as she dropped the sports bag and
unclipped the pack's straps.  Shaking her head she admired the
lovely, large garden as she lowered the pack to the ground with
a grunt of effort.

     Suddenly the silence was shattered by a yell from inside
the house.  "Rannmaaa!" screamed a girl's voice, followed
immediately by the sickening smack of something heavy meeting
flesh.  Ranko traced the noise just in time to see someone fall
into the pond in the middle of the garden.  She was astounded to
see a saturated version of herself stand up in the centre of the
pond.

     Her mother had said that there was a "Ranko" living here,
but Ranko hadn't really believed her.  However, the proof was
right there, standing in the middle of the pond, her red hair
braided almost identically to hers (though her braid was longer
than the wet girl's, she noted proudly) wearing a heavy but
short-sleeved red shirt of Chinese cut that clung to her ample,
unrestrained breasts.

     It *was* akin to looking in a mirror after all... but
somehow disturbingly different.

     "Ranmaaa!"  Ranko's gaze went automatically to the source
of the shout, and saw a girl of her own age, with lovely blue-
black hair cut in a pageboy cut, stalking from the house towards
her.  She was quite pretty, Ranko noted, though at the moment
her features were distorted in anger.  She carried a bowl in one
hand; the other was balled into a fist.  Ranko noted the
definition of the muscles in the arm whose hand she had
clenched, softened by the natural body fat of a female teenager
but very much there, and she made a note to herself that she
looked incredibly strong.

     "Ranma!  Where do you think you're going without trying my
cookies!"

     Stunned, Ranko held up her hands defensively.  "Hey, hey,
wait a minute.  I'm Ranko!"

     "Sure you are, Ranma!  You just don't want to try my
cooking!"  Ranko watched in amazement as somehow sorrow blended
with the anger on the girl's face.  Judging by her apparent age,
she was pretty sure this would be Akane.  "I try so hard and all
you do is insult my cooking..."

     Ranko looked to the Ranko in the pond, and saw her staring
back at her slack-jawed.  No help there.  She looked back to see
that Akane had produced a shinai from somewhere and was now
holding it threateningly.

     At this, Ranko noticed the girl in the pool sprint forward
and grab Akane's wrist.  "Hey, Akane," she said in a voice
identical to her own, "I'm over here."

     Akane spun to stare at the wet girl in disbelief, even as
it occurred to Ranko that her twin -- Ranma? -- had used male
speech.

     "Akane, who was at the gate?"  Ranko looked over Akane's
shoulder to see a tallish, brown-haired girl stepping out of the
house.  The girl's eyes widened momentarily before she relaxed
and her warm, gentle expression reappeared.  "Oh, a guest," she
said on seeing Ranko standing next to Ranma.  Her smile was
welcoming.  "Would you like some tea?"



     The three seated themselves at the table in the living
room:  Ranma and Akane next to each other in their usual places,
with Ranko at the side that faced the garden.  Ranko noted that
both Akane and her twin, whom she presumed was called Ranma,
were looking at her suspiciously.  But hang on... wasn't Ranma
*male*?

     "So... who are you?" asked Ranma.

     Ranko decided to go for simplicity.  "I'm Saotome Ranko,"
she said.  "Mom said that there was someone here who looked like
me, but she said you were called Ranko, not Ranma."

     The reaction was unexpected.  Ranma grabbed her wrist,
looking pale.  "'Mom'? You mean you're...?"

     "Saotome Nodoka's daughter.  I'm sixteen years old."

     Akane frowned, puzzled.  "I didn't know you had a sister,
Ranma?"

     "Neither did I," he said uncertainly.  Ranko noted that he
seemed very nervous for some reason.

     "So who are you?" asked Ranko.  "I thought Ranma was a guy?
You're my brother Ranma?"

     Kasumi chose that moment to serve the tea, and Akane took
one of the cups and tossed its contents over Ranma.  Ranko was
astounded to see her twin replaced by a tall, well-muscled, sexy
guy with black hair and a smile that melted her...  "Ranma," she
breathed.  "O.. Oniichan."  Then Ranko realised what had
happened.  She yanked her wrist out of Ranma's gentle grip.
"W...weren't you a girl a moment ago?" she asked uncertainly.
"W-what's going on?"

     Ranma's hand went to the back of his head and he looked
down at the table.  "You know that I've been on a training trip
with Oyaji since I was five.  Well, we ended up in China.  We
visited a place called Jusenkyou.

     "It's a big collection of cursed springs, though we didn't
know that when we went there.  If you fall in a spring, you get
cursed.  Oyaji knocked me into Nyanniichuan."

     Ranko frowned.  "Spring of the drowned young girl...?"

     Ranma nodded.  "Yeah.  When I get hit with cold water I
turn female; hot water reverses the curse."

     "Wow," breathed Ranko.  "How cool!"

     Both Akane and Ranma tripped over nothing, facefaulting
viciously with hands spread in the promise pose.  Pushing
himself up from the floor, Ranma looked at Ranko incredulously.
"*Cool*?"

     "Yeah!"

     Ranma shook his head, convinced that this girl was
seriously weird.  "You really are my sister?" he asked
cautiously.

     "I didn't know you existed until last Monday," said Ranko
with starry eyes.

     "Oh, that was when Saotome-obasama visited us," said Kasumi
brightly.

     Ranma looked hesitant.  "It's just that I don't remember
having a little sister at all," he said.

     Akane shook her head impatiently.  "Mouu... Ranma, you had
difficulty remembering Ryouga when he came to school, and he'd
been your friend in junior high!  *And* you had to be reminded
that you had a mother."

     "Tadiama!" called a voice from the hallway, just as Ranma
came around the table to face Ranko.

     "I have a sister," he breathed, a little catch in his
voice.

     "Oniichan!" said Ranko as she dived into his wonderful,
strong embrace.  He was so solid, he smelled so masculine, she
thought she would just melt.

     "Two Ranmas?" asked a sardonic voice from the hallway.

     "Welcome home, Nabiki," said Kasumi.  "This is Ranma's
sister, Ranko."

     Ranko turned her head within Ranma's embrace, and caught
her breath.  Nabiki was beautiful; her dark brown hair cut in a
bob, her breasts nearly a match for her own.  Ranko decided that
she was in love all over again.  'Just what I need to get over
Hatsuko,' she thought to herself.  'I wonder which way she
goes?'  Ranko watched Nabiki unashamedly as she moved to take a
closer look at the new arrival.

     "Well, she certainly looks the part," said Nabiki with
something that wasn't quite a sardonic grin.  She turned to
Kasumi and said, "Oneechan, whose are that backpack and bag out
by the gate?"

     Kasumi looked surprised.  "Backpack?"

     "Oh, they'd be mine," said Ranko, disengaging herself from
Ranma.  "I guess I'd better bring them in."

     Ranma jumped up.  "I'll do it," he said and dashed outside.
He was back in moments, and Ranko was amazed to see him
nonchalantly carrying her heavy pack as though it was empty.  He
put both bags gently on the floor.

     "What've you got in there, sis?" he asked as he resumed his
seat by Akane.  "Rocks?"

     "No..."  Ranko suddenly felt oddly reluctant to speak, now
that she was about to impose herself on some people she'd never
even met before.  Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained.  She
put on a bright face and continued in something resembling her
usual bright manner.  "They're just my clothes and so on."

     Ranma looked surprised as Kasumi gently poked the pack.
"You must have a lot of clothes," she said, looking over at
Ranko.  "Why do you have so many?"

     "I've left home," said Ranko.  "I... I was kinda hoping I
could stay with you and pop, Oniichan."

     Her suggestion was greeted with silence.  Ranko looked
around the room.  Kasumi looked a little uncertain, Ranma looked
nervous, Akane seemed eager, and Nabiki's expression was
unreadable... but she sure wasn't smiling.  Ranko's heart fell.
"I guess not, eh?" she said at last, moving to get up.

     Ranma seemed to shake himself, and hurried to stop her.
"Ahh... what about mom?" he asked.

     Ranko's expression hardened.  "What *about* her?  She can
rot in hell as far as I'm concerned."  She then looked at Ranma
curiously, but her next words were derailed by Ranma's shocked
expression.  "What?"

     "'Rot in hell?'  Whadda ya mean, 'rot in hell'!  Mom's...
well, she's mom!"

     Akane stopped Ranma with a hand on his arm.  "Ranma...
remember why you're hiding from your mother?"

     "Yeah.  If she finds out I turn into a girl I'll have to...
oh."

     "Have to what?" asked Ranko, her own momentary anger at her
mother overridden by her brother's curious reaction.

     Ranma looked awkward, but there was no help forthcoming
from the Tendos.  Eventually he looked Ranko in the eye and
said, bitterly, "I found out on Saturday that my shit-stupid
father made a promise when he took me away on this training trip
we've been on almost ever since I can remember... since I was
five, I think.  He promised that he would make me a man amoung
men, or we would both commit seppuku.  He even drew up a
contract."  Ranma grabbed a handy glass of water and tossed it
on his head.  Now female, Ranko's twin, he continued, "How can
*this* be manly?

     "It hadn't even occurred to me that I might have a mother
until I went to the cemetery with the Tendos on Saturday to pray
at the family memorial for their mother.  Father forced me to
introduce myself as Ranko, not Ranma, and to hide behind my
curse.  Then I found out about the promise, and I had to
continue to..."

     "Shit," said Ranko without passion.  "I can just see her
enforcing something like that, too."  She smiled at Ranma wryly.
"I was all set to ask you why it was that mom said that my twin
was *Tendo Ranko*, not you in your... um, your girl form.  I
guess I can understand why now."  As she watched Ranma, Ranko
felt her heart go out to her twin.  Brother.  Whatever.  "I
guess neither of our parents is a prize, Oniichan," she finished
softly.

     Outside the gate tinkled, and Kasumi looked up.  "That's
probably father."

     Steps sounded, the front door opened, and a loud male voice
called out cheerily, "Tadaima!"

     "Welcome home, Otousan, Ojisama," said Kasumi with what
sounded like relief in her voice.

     Ranko saw two men enter the living room and stop, stock
still, in shock.  One was tall with long, black hair.  He wore a
dark grey gi and bore a family resemblance to the three Tendou
girls.

     The other man was shorter, with a stocky build... though
not fat.  He seemed to be quite bald, though it was impossible
to be certain with the white headscarf he wore.  Glasses were
held to his head by sports frames, and he wore an old, spotted,
traditional white gi.  She wondered on several levels whether
this man could possibly be her father.

     "What is this, Ranma?" asked the man in white, looking
unerringly at her brother.

     "Ranma found a mirror in an old haunted house that produces
a copy of anyone who touches it," said Nabiki with a straight
face.

     Souun's jaw dropped.  "Really?" he asked.

     Nabiki laughed, a short, choppy sound.  "I was just joking,
father.  This is Ranma's sister."

     Both Souun and the man in white, whom Ranko decided to call
Genma for now for the sake of her sanity, laughed heartily.
Genma even went so far as to slap his hand to his thigh and wipe
tears from his eyes.  When he looked at her with no recognition
in his eyes, a terrible doubt began to rise in her.

     "That was a good one, Nabiki," said Soun at last.

     "Ye-heah," guffawed Genma.

     The stillness of the teenagers was absolute.  Being highly-
trained martial artists, Soun and Genma both had keen senses of
the environment and it didn't take them long to notice that
everyone was staring at Genma warily.  "What?" he asked
defiantly.

     Ranma-onna took an aggressive step forward.  "Whadda ya
mean, 'what', ya rotten old fart?  I've had a sister all this
time and you never told me!"

     Genma looked at Ranma blankly, then at Ranko.  "What are
you talking about, boy?  You don't have a sister."







     *    *    *    *    *    *

     Author's Notes and Credits --



     Credit where credit is due:  I'd like to take a moment to
thank Andy Wennersten (MrNuke999@aol.com), who has (at the time
of this writing) written two parts of a lemon series called "Not
Ranma Half", which may also be known by some people as "The Lost
Sisters".  I got the idea of a wild, bisexual Ranko from reading
this story.  I haven't asked his permission to use this version
of Ranko yet, but I will.  Thanks in absentia, Andy.  (Those of
you who want to read his work, you can find a copy of Not Ranma
Half at the Sakura Lemon Fanfiction Archive at
http://anime.muck.com/~sakura/main.html )



     There's not an awful lot I can say about this story yet
without giving away spoilers, except to say that this is only a
teaser, an announcement of concept if you will.  I have high
hopes for this story, and I have a plot in mind, but we'll have
to see if it actually goes anywhere.

     I *can* tell you about the title, though.  "Wild Child" is
a literal translation of the kanji that make up Ranko's name.

     I'd like to thank the people who gave me feedback on
the first version's many flaws, including Anand Raoh,
Chris Jones, Ronny Hedin, and Thomas Schmidt.


     I hope you enjoyed the story.




--
David Eddy - Senior Consultant, Progress Software Melbourne
dje@progress.com

Screening Coordinator, Melbourne Anime Society
My fanfics are archived at http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/8341