PM Productions Presents
A Phillip Masters Fanfic
How to Love Another
Part One:  Homeward Bound 
Warning:  This part contains some mature subject matter.  Reader
discretion is advised.

	Ranma shot down the street as fast as he could while carrying a teenage
girl in his arms.  He considered using the rooftops to facilitate his
trip, but didn't want to risk damaging the girl's leg any more than it
already was.  He felt responsible for the injury, even though it was the
fault of the people who made up the crowd, he was just passing through
and asking directions.  His father had always taught him honor, and to
stake his very life on it.  His father was also one of the most
dishonorable men he knew... which was probably exactly why he adhered to
the code as strictly as he did.  
	He found himself shooting glances to the girl.  She was as yet
unconscious, so he didn't have to worry about being hit by her for
gawking.  For he hated to admit it, but he couldn't help but stare at
what the motion of running was doing to certain parts of her anatomy. 
Certain very shapely parts of her anatomy.  Ranma almost tripped as he
realized a part of his own body was turning traitor on him.  All of the
sudden silk pants and boxers were not the choice things to wear.  He
just hoped nobody he knew saw him, or he would either be a laughing
stock... or a dead man.
	It was fortunate that he had found a familiar landmark other than the
school, or he would not have known where to get the girl medical
attention.  He was already highly curious how such a beautiful young
woman could be just left in the street... didn't she have any friends? 
He was so lost in thought, and his passengers curves, that he almost ran
right past the clinic.  He skidded to a halt and slapped his forehead. 
Now he knew sort of what Tofu felt like when Kasumi was around. 
Although he somehow doubted the good doctor thought of his goddess in
the way he was currently thinking of the girl.  For one, he never
noticed Tofu running down the street with a tent pole before.  
	The last thought was had while he knocked on the door, and he realized
he still had the problem... and he didn't want Tofu to see it.  He
looked around frantically, until he heard footsteps approach the door. 
In a moment of panic, he set the girl down on her feet and pressed
himself up against her behind.  It was one of his better ideas, and one
of his worse at the same time.  It proved to be good for covering his
embarrassment, however he found himself wanting to move his hips in a
most unseemly fashion.  It took all his willpower to keep a straight
face while not moving at all.  
	Then, after what seemed to Ranma like a hundred years, the footsteps
reached the door and it opened.  Dr. Tofu looked out curiously, and his
gaze fell on his two new visitors.  One of which he knew very well...
the other... "Hello, Ranma!  Who's your friend?"  He moved aside to
allow Ranma to bring her into the office.  
	"I don't know," he replied, "she was injured in a mob near Nerima
Local."
	Dr. Tofu frowned a moment.  "What were you doing there?"
	Having the good grace to look sheepish, Ranma answered, "I got lost."
	The doctor sort of snorted, as if holding something back, but quickly
returned to normal.  "Oh... okay then."  He did a cursory inspection of
the girl.  "Well, she has a fractured leg, and a few cracked ribs...
otherwise, she's okay."  He carried her and laid her on the examination
table.  "I just need to set everything... in a month she will be as good
as new."
	Ranma nodded, glad the girl was okay.  He couldn't bring himself to
leave though.  He wanted to make sure she regained consciousness.  He
also admitted a want to find out her story, or at least something about
her other than what she looked like.
	Dr. Tofu noticed his hesitation.  "If you want to stay, Ranma, you
can.  However, you'll have to wait in the other room until I finish
binding her ribs." he said with a smile.
	Ranma nodded, not fully paying attention to him, and walked out of the
room.  He sat down on a chair in the waiting room and stared at his
legs.  He thought about everything that had happened that morning, and
only made himself more and more curious as to what the girl's story
was.  Why was she alone outside the school?  Why had she gotten hurt,
and no one else?  Why had everyone had such an intense hatred of him,
simply because he attended another school?  What was Kasumi making for
dinner?  He blinked and looked around the room, as if searching for a
machine or other device that may have implanted the last thought into
his mind without his doing.  He closed his eyes and sighed... his old
man had engrained the need of food too deeply into him.  His stomach
grumbled its agreement.  
	About five more minutes went by, before Ranma rose from the chair and
walked to the door.  Tofu should be about done binding her chest, as it
usually didn't take him long to do anything medical in nature.  He found
himself pacing in circles, as if he were worried for the girl's very
existence.  He stopped himself and knocked his head against the wall
softly.  Maybe he was just bored and restless.  He found he always had a
surplus of energy and never enough to do with it.  After another five
minutes went by he finally got fed up and knocked on the door.  He heard
a "yes" from the other room.  However, it was most definitely a female
who had said it.
	He opened the door and looked into the examination room.  The girl was
sitting up on the table with her shirt off and her chest wrapped in
bandages.  It had an effect on her similar to Ukyou, except this girl
could still not pass as a male without extra baggy clothing.  After
staring for a moment, during which she simply stared back, he spoke up,
"Where's Dr. Tofu?"
	She pointed to the backroom.  "Someone called him and he went to answer
the phone."  She lowered her arm and nodded her head slightly in his
direction, "Who are you?"
	Ranma startled slightly, as if he didn't expect she was talking to him
directly.  "Oh, yeah, sorry."  He came fully into the room and bowed
formally, "I'm Saotome Ranma, of the Saotome School of the Anything Goes
style Martial Arts."
	"Oh." she replied, seemingly completely non-plussed.  "Well, that's
good to know, I suppose.  What are you doing in here?"
	"I brought you here when you were injured in the mob at your school. 
You remember that?"  He was worried she may have hit her head or
something.
	"Yes, I remember.  Some idiot from Furinkan came and started a fight
with Rushi.  Of course, everyone had to see.  I wish people didn't have
to be so violent."  She looked so disgusted, Ranma almost backed out the
door again.  She noticed his discomfort.  "What's the matter?  You look
as though you're nervous about something."
	Ranma put his hand behind his head and laughed.  Fortunately for him,
Dr. Tofu came back into the room before the girl had anymore time to ask
questions.  He had a silly grin on his face, and looked as though he
couldn't see the wall in front of his face.  Which is probably why he
ran smack into it.  The girl gasped as the doctor made somewhat of a
mess around the room.  She looked to Ranma, "What's the matter with
him?"
	He didn't even have to guess.  "Kasumi."
	She blinked, "Eh?"
	"I'll explain later," he replied and picked her up off the table. 
"Now, it would be best if we left before he notices us."
	"Ah, Ranma!"
	"Oh shit."  He turned and stared at the delirious Tofu, who was slowly
advancing on them with a scalpel.  
	"I'd like to take your temperature, you seem a bit pale, Ranma." he
said as he seemed to stare right through them both.  
	"Uh, that's okay, doc.  I think we'll be going now."  Not waiting for
an answer, he turned and shot out the door as fast as he legs would
carry him.  As soon as he hit the front door step he launched himself to
the nearest rooftop, now not worried about hurting the girl.  
	For her part, the girl was wide eyed with shock.  She stared
incredulously as buildings, cars, and people all flew by beneath her. 
She found herself clinging onto the young man who had rescued her for
dear life.  She had been curious as to how he had safely removed her
from the mob, but now she didn't have to ask.  She looked back and up at
Ranma.  "How in the world can you do this?"  Her voice was a little
shaky.
	Ranma smirked, "I've been training all my life, it's no problem."  They
arrived at their destination, the school he had originally picked her up
at.  "We're back at your home... which way is your house?  I think you
should rest a bit before going back to school."
	She looked around, still amazed by how fast they'd traveled.  She
pointed in a westerly direction, "That way."
	Ranma took off in the indicated direction, running at half speed.  The
girl stared up at his face as he breathed steadily, not showing any
signs of tiring.  There was barely a bead of sweat on his forehead.  She
could even feel his heartbeat as he ran, and it couldn't have been more
than forty beats per minute.  She didn't think someone could be so in
shape, no matter what the training.  Especially not to the point where
they could leap over tall buildings in a single bound, so to speak.  She
was so enthralled with his stamina and strength that she missed her
house when they passed it.  With a start she yelled, "Back there!"  He
skidded to a halt and looked down at her questioningly.  She pointed
back at the blue house they had passed a block back.  "That's mine, the
blue one."
	"What happened?" he asked, "Don't you know your own house?"
	She blushed, embarrassed.  He laughed lightly, turned about, and ran to
the house she had pointed out.  He decided to rib her a bit more and
stopped in front of it.  "You sure this is it?"
	"Yes."
	"Positive?  I mean, these houses are similar."
	The glare he was answered with that time made him quit.  It reminded
him of the look Akane gave him when she was about to club him with
whatever presented itself at the time.  It was odd not feeling the
resulting pain usually accompanying the glare, but relieving in a way. 
"Okay, okay..." he relented, "We'll go in now."  He walked up to the
front door and she unlocked the front door with a key tied around her
neck.  That was the point that Ranma realized the girl was still without
her shirt.  He had been in such a rush to get her away from the Kasumi
infected Tofu that he had entirely forgotten about it.  Fortunately, it
was a full bandage job and covered her as well as any tank top would. 
Perhaps 'bra' would be a better term, but Ranma didn't want to make
another fool of himself by thinking thoughts like that while holding her
in his arms.  
	"You can come in, it's okay.  My parents are at work until late
usually." she reassured, mistaking his hesitation for fear.
	Ranma nodded and stepped into the house.  He removed his shoes and
looked around.  It was a nice house, with colorful interior decoration
in a western style.  "Where's your room?  Or do you want to lie on the
couch or something?"
	"My room's fine.  It's upstairs, first door on the right."  She held
onto his neck a little tighter.  It was, contrary to popular belief, the
first time a man was in her house alone with her who she was actually
attracted to beyond friendship.  Ranma was obviously kind to go through
all the trouble he had gone through to insure her safety and comfort. 
Add that onto his being the most gorgeous piece of man she had ever been
held by for any period of time, she was finding herself falling pretty
fast.  She couldn't say she was wholly ecstatic about him being a
Martial Artist.  She never was the jock type, and especially not the
violent type.  However, she would give him the benefit of the doubt for
the time being, and Martial Artists are supposed to have incredible
control and will power and never have to really fight as a result.
	"This one?" Ranma asked, standing in front of the room she had said. 
Hanging on the door was a sign written in English that proclaimed, 'Room
of the damned, enter at your own risk.'  He wasn't sure how to take
that.  However, with her nod he did enter.  Instead of the dark recesses
of Hell he had briefly pictured, he was greeted by a fairly normal
teenage girl's room.  There was a single bed in one corner with blue
sheets, and a dresser opposite it.  Various manga were scattered about
the floor, and the walls were lined with posters from series such as
Marmalade Boy, Sakura Wars, and Idol Project.  He walked over to her bed
and laid her down upon it.  
	She stared up at him for a moment, while he kept looking at the posters
on the wall, before speaking, "Ranma..."
	He looked down at her curiously.  She noticed how blue his eyes were,
the same color as her own.  "I'd like to thank you for what you've
done.  For everything you've done."  She reached out and hugged his
waist tightly.  
	Ranma felt a little uncomfortable being held like that, but he endured
for her sake.  "It's okay, it was sort of my fault after all." 
Something inside him once again asked the question, 'Perhaps I should
review what comes out of my mouth before it actually does.'
	She backed away a bit and furrowed her brow.  "What do you mean by
that?"
	"Uh... well, I am the guy from Furinkan."  He smiled lightly and waved.
	He felt her hands tighten at his sides.  He winced, realizing he was
about to be done bodily harm.  He was sort of upset, he had thought this
girl incapable of such an act.  Not to mention if he could go another
hour or so he would break his old record.  He attempted to back away,
but her hands held him steadfast.  His mind began coming up with
excuses.  "It wasn't my fault, really!" he tried, raising his hands in a
defensive posture, "I was just asking that guy directions!"
	For a moment he saw an image in his minds eye.  The picture depicted
the girl picking  him up and tossing him through the closed window, into
a pond in the back yard.  He did a mental double take, as Akane had done
that exact thing the day before.  It was then he realized he was still
standing where he had been for the past ten minutes.  The girl's
shoulders were shaking slightly.  Ranma really hoped she wasn't crying,
he couldn't stand to see a woman cry.  He was relieved to see that she
was actually laughing, as he heard a chuckle come from her down turned
face.  "What's so funny?" he asked curiously.
	The girl snorted softly, as if his speaking made her laugh even
harder.  She coughed a few times and looked up at him again.  "You
should have seen the look on your face!  I could swear you thought I was
going to kill you!"  She broke into laughter anew, clutching her gut.
	Ranma laughed along half-heartedly.  He *had* thought she was going to
kill him.  He then stopped, shocked suddenly by the fact that he
*expected* to be hurt.  Over the years he had known Akane, and the rest
of the crew in Nerima it had just become normal to be hurt on a daily
basis.  He would always fight someone or another, and would always
insult Akane, to the same painful end.  It was as if he lived his life
for the pain, and that was all he could remember.  Even before coming
back to Japan, his father had taught him with the tried and true method
of 'hurt or be hurt.'  He had to admit, it surely worked.  He had taken
his blows, and now he was probably one of the best Martial Artists
alive.  However, he had to ask himself if it was worth it.  Could he
have been perfectly happy being a normal teenager in Japan?  Could he
have lived out a normal life had he not left his mother in the first
place?  
	"Aiko."
	Ranma's train of thought jumped the tracks.  "Huh?"  He looked down at
the girl, who had ruined his self-grilling.
	"It's my name.  I just realized you have no idea what my name is." she
replied, staring up at him.
	"Oh... right."  He shook his head.  Questions could be asked at a
better time, for now he had someone to take care of.  "Do you have a
phone?" he asked suddenly.  It dawned on him that he would have to tell
someone at home where he was before they sent out a search party.  
	Aiko nodded, "Down in the hallway, why?"
	Ranma turned about while answering, "Just need to tell some people
where I'll be tonight."
	Aiko's jaw couldn't seem to shut itself as she simply watched the young
man walk out of her room.
END PART ONE
Well, finally done with this part.  Thought I'd never finish.  Anyway,
send comments please.  As I've stated, this is a major series for me,
and I really would like to know if people think I'm doing the idea
justice or not.  Don't leave me in the dark, please.
Thanks for reading,
PMasters (5-8-98)