PM Productions Presents
A Phillip Masters Fanfic
How to Love Another
Part Three:  Coping with Home

	The trip home for Ranma was largely uneventful.  That is, if you could call running into a telephone 
pole, due to being lost in thought, an 'event'.  Otherwise, it was downright boring.  However, Ranma needed it 
to compile his thoughts.  Things in his life had changed, and he himself had changed as a result.  There was 
never any question as to his adaptability.  He had met a girl that day.  A girl like no other he had ever met 
before.  Someone who didn't have an ounce of training in the Martial Arts, yet held a spirit that could 
possibly rival his own.  She was intelligent and beautiful... if she could fight she would be his idea of the 
perfect woman.  
	Akane.  Akane sure had intelligence and beauty, and she could certainly fight.  Perhaps not as well as 
himself, but fight none the less.  She even had a strong spirit, but not the same as Aiko's.  Akane's spirit 
was more born of determination and desperation.  She didn't have that sensitivity and caring that Aiko had, at 
least not that he had seen.  
	Ever since the incident at Mt. Phoenix everyone had been walking on egg shells around one another.  
Certain things had fallen back into their normality, but by and by the family of Martial Artists in the Nerima 
area had slowly fallen apart.  Ryouga hadn't been seen in months, and though he would not say it out loud to 
save his life, he missed his sparring buddy.  Cologne was visiting her tribe the last he heard, while Shampoo 
and Mousse stayed behind to mind the store.  Ranma also had his suspicions that Shampoo as yet could not 
return home without losing her honor.  He was truly sorry to have to hurt her, but he still thought it was a 
stupid law.  
	Ucchan... well, Ucchan was still Ucchan.  Some things never change.  He was happy with that, as he 
didn't want his best friend to change.  It was bad enough that she fell in love with him.  He just couldn't 
bring himself to love her back, no matter how hard he tried.  He thought she was cute, he thought she was 
smart... and she was a better Martial Artist than Akane.  However, he still thought of her as one of the guys. 
 He couldn't remove the vision from his mind's eye of her as a man.  No matter how many times he saw her as a 
full fledged woman, he couldn't do it.  He just hoped she wouldn't take it too hard when he had to tell her 
who he truly loved.
	Who he truly loved?  He stopped about a block from the Tendo Dojo.  He stared at the horizon, over 
which the sun had disappeared.  A dull reddish glow still came from the distance.  In the darkened sky a few 
stars peeked through the cloud cover.  The wind blew chill across his skin, sending a shiver up his spine.  If 
he didn't make it home soon he would probably be rained on.  Needless to say, he not only started toward the 
Dojo once more, but quickened his pace.  Who did he truly love?  Could he even know who he loved?  Did he know 
what love was?  Did anyone?
	The questions assaulted him in droves, unanswerable and unyielding.  As he stepped across the 
threshold to the Tendo home he almost felt like crying out.  Unfortunately, Akane beat him to it.  "Where in 
the hell have you been?!" she screamed at him almost the instant he put a foot through the door.  
	Ranma looked around to find the entire household sitting in the dining room.  He suddenly felt like a 
prisoner under a bright uncovered bulb.  "Uh... I told you not to wait up."
	Akane blinked, then grew angry again.  "Not wait up?!  It's almost ten at night!  You didn't go to 
school today!  Where have you been?!"  She stopped for a moment to inhale a few deep breaths.
	Nabiki stared at her sister the during the entire outburst.  "Come on, sis, cool down.  You'll 
hyperventilate."  She grinned at Ranma.  "Anyway, if he does die... we'll be greatly compensated."  
	"Why's that, Nabiki?" asked Genma curiously.
	"Well, Mr. Saotome," Nabiki replied in her most innocent voice, "that sounds like privileged 
information."  She glanced at Ranma, "Ne, Ranma?"
	Ranma nodded and returned the smiled.  "I would also say that my old man doesn't have enough money for 
the privilege either."
	She nodded sagely with her hand on her chin, studying Genma like a piece of modern art.  "I believe 
you may be right."
	Genma had the good grace to look absolutely devastated.  "Ranma... my boy... how could you keep 
something so important from your father?"  He turned his pleading gaze to Soun.  "Tendo-kun, help me out 
here."
	Soun carefully sipped the tea Kasumi had served everyone and replied, "I think this is a one man 
battle, Saotome."
	"Ranma..."  The young Martial Artist turned with a grin on his face, to a slightly glowing Akane.  His 
grin fell away like autumn leaves.  
	"A... Akane... look, I can explain." he stuttered quickly.  "I was helping a friend who had gotten 
hurt... didn't Kasumi tell you?"  He looked to Kasumi as a drowning person would look to a life preserver.  
	She nodded her head to the unspoken query.  Ranma turned back to Akane and said, "See... you knew 
where I was."
	Akane's fists were clenched so tightly her knuckles were white.  "Ranma... I know every one of your 
friends." she began, dangerously quiet, "I called them all... from Akiro to Ukyou."  Her voice raised slightly 
as her precarious control wavered, "You were not anywhere, Ranma!  None of them knew *where you were at all!" 
 She glared at him so strongly he actually felt frightened.  "So...where were you?"
	Ranma had been through an amazing amount that day, and even normally he didn't put up with Akane's 
bickering.  "You know what, Akane?" he exaggeratedly asked.  "I don't have to tell you anything!"  With that, 
he began to walk up the stairs toward his room.  He could almost feel the heat coming from behind him, but 
didn't particularly care.  It actually wasn't too much of a shock when he felt a violent presence behind him, 
two seconds before his whole world flashed white and went dark.  

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

	The next morning Ranma woke up with a dull throbbing in his skull.  It was as if someone had hit him 
with something very large and heavy the night before.  Oh, that's right, he reminded himself, someone did hit 
me.  She always hit him, whenever she didn't get her way, like some sort of demented spoiled child.  Sometimes 
he asked for it, sure, but he took his licks.  However, she managed to come up with a reason to pound him into 
the ground on an almost hourly basis.  Did she get some sort of power trip out of it?  He truly couldn't 
figure it out, but he had the most difficult time figuring any woman out.  
	He turned his head to the left and saw his father snoring peacefully in Panda form next to him.  It 
struck him as peculiar that he was up so early.  He could only hear the soft sounds of Kasumi in the kitchen, 
it seemed no one else was awake yet.  Unless Akane was already out on her morning jog, of course.  He stood up 
and stretched the nighttime kinks out of his muscles, then faced his animal of a father.  He closed his eyes 
and envisioned all that his pop had done to him over the years.  All the angst and hell he had been forced to 
endure for the sake of the Art.  The fact that he had taken his mother away, along with his manhood.  As his 
thoughts percolated like a fresh pot of coffee, his foot was slowly being pulled back into position.  With a 
final force of will he opened his eyes and let out a deathly battle cry.  His foot swung down with a power 
that could shatter granite and crashed into the mighty bulk of his father.  The Panda woke surprised as it 
flew through the open window across the room and out into the pond in the backyard.  
	Ranma stood, breathing a little heavier for a moment, relishing the moment, then smiled and jumped out 
the window after his old man.  He landed as the wet furry creature was dragging itself from the shallow water, 
which miraculously had not emptied completely.  It stood at the edge for a moment, catching it's breath.  
	Then, his father held up a sign.  It stated, "This morning, you die, boy!"  With that declaration, the 
battle began.  It was a full out contest of strength and skill.  The Panda holding the greater strength, Ranma 
holding the greater skill.  It was a clash of the titans in the Tendo's own backyard, one that occurred every 
morning.  Tears were shed, and blood was drawn, but none gave up the fight.  It was another skirmish in the 
epic war between father and son for the continuation of the Saotome Art.
	When the unofficial end came, with a cry from Kasumi for breakfast, it was Genma who was sucking koi 
at the bottom of the pond.  Ranma strolled happily into the house, wringing out his braid, which had been 
doused when he was previously dropped into the pond.  He was berating himself internally over the dunking, but 
was overall satisfied with the conclusion.  
	Soun, Nabiki, and Akane were sitting at the table already.  Akane was looking as though she had just 
run a kilometer, which probably meant her morning jog was around ten.  Ranma took his up his spot between 
Akane and his father, who had the good sense to change back to human before joining the group.  
	"So," Nabiki commented, "how did you sleep last night, Ranma?"
	He looked over at her, only to find her grinning at him.  He sighed, "I slept good actually... the 
only thing was this nightmare about a huge, ugly, and chunky tomboy with no sex appeal whatsoever that kept 
hitting me with tables."
	Nabiki looked at him with understanding, "Aw... I know, I know... it's okay."  She patted him on the 
shoulder a few times to bring the point home.
	Ranma grunted as a bowl of Miso came down on his head with a mighty crash.  He turned around and 
glared at Akane.  "What did you do that for?" he yelled, male again and dripping tofu paste.
	"What do you mean?  The way you were just insulting me... and you ask why?"  She suddenly took on a 
calmer air and turned back to her food with a superior look on her face.  "That's okay... you do whatever you 
want to with my sister."  She began to eat her rice again, a grain at a time.
	"You'll never get done that way, Akane." Kasumi pointed out.
	Akane didn't change expression, but her chopsticks snapped in half.  She rose from the table slowly 
and announced, "I'm leaving for school."  Then she walked out the door.  
	Everyone stared after her for a moment, and then Nabiki piped up, "Well, Ranma, I suppose we'd better 
go after her."
	Ranma nodded in agreement and started for the door, Nabiki right behind.  They ran together down the 
road with their school supplies, trying to catch up with Akane.  After a minute it was obvious she had either 
ran to school, or didn't actually go at all.  The latter could be confirmed when they arrived, however, if she 
didn't go, they weren't sure what they were going to do.  They finished the trip to Furinkan.
	Ranma almost passed out from relief as he spotted Akane in the yard outside the school.  She was 
facing off with Kuno, another daily occurrence in Nerima.  A group of science students had once done a paper 
on telling time by what they termed, "The Kuno Method."  In other words, no matter what happened, his attacks 
were seemingly like clockwork.  Ranma held back at the gate slightly with Nabiki, waiting for Akane to 
dispatch him for the morning.
	It was very swift and horrific that morning.  Kuno barely managed half a sonnet before being launched 
unceremoniously into the side of the building.  He hit with a crash, and fell away unconscious, leaving a 
three meter impact crater in the wall behind him.  Ranma's eyebrows raised, almost a mirror of Nabiki's 
reaction.  
	"Poor Kuno-chan." Nabiki whispered from his right.  
	He looked at her, and she looked back at him.  Then, she shrugged and walked toward the school.  Ranma 
blinked a few times before following hastily to catch up.  He passed by the recently broken body of Tatewaki, 
and briefly wondered why Nabiki wasn't dragging him to the infirmary.  He questioned her about it when he 
reached her again.
	"He didn't pay his bill this week." she answered simply without looking at him.
	The reply stopped Ranma in his tracks again, and when he looked back at Kuno a second time, he had a 
slight bit of sympathy in his gaze.  He couldn't condone the way Kuno acted, but he did know what it was like 
being the odd one out in school.  For years he had to attend various places around Japan, as his father 
insisted that a strong mind was a step toward a strong body.  He never had time to make friends, and most 
people shunned him for his ignorance in social skills.  Add to that the hatred of those who were jealous of 
his abilities, and nobody was left over.  He found himself hanging around with the lowest of the school 
population.  He wasn't smart enough for the brainy group, so he had to make do with the more... criminal 
element.  He had done some things over the years which he regretted, but didn't deny for he knew one should 
learn from his mistakes.
	He stepped into class just as the bell rang, eliciting a withering glare from his teacher.  He 
shrugged it off and made his way to his desk.  A look to Akane confirmed that she was still giving him the 
arctic shoulder.  His desk seemed extra chill that morning, or maybe it was just him.  He stared sideways at 
Akane until someone tapped him on the wrist.  He looked over to find Chikiro holding a note out to him with 
the characters for 'Ukyou' emblazoned on it.  With a nod of his head he took the note.  A drawing of a heart 
answered his first question, "What did she want?"  A brief skimming of it answered the second, and most 
important, question, "How would she go about it this time?"  It seemed she wanted him to join her for lunch.  
Well, why not?  She was his best friend, and Akane wouldn't give him the time of day, never the less a seat 
next to her under the tree... so why the hell not?  He made eye contact with a curious Ukyou and nodded 
curtly.  He smiled lightly as her face lit up in response.  Regardless of how he saw her gender wise, she was 
still extraordinarily cute, and he liked to make her happy.  
	The rest of class went on without much incident.  The teacher bored all the tired students to within a 
centimeter of their existence, and Ranma stared at Akane, who summarily ignored him.  He couldn't figure out 
what her problem was.  He had pretty much told the truth about what happened that evening, so what if it 
wasn't one of his friends that she knew?  Of course, Aiko represented the entire population of friends outside 
Akane's knowledge, but how could she know that?  

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

	At the start of lunch, Ranma was famished as usual.  Breakfast had quickly been burned to nothing by 
his humming bird-like metabolism.  Just before the end of the previous period his stomach had began to protest 
in a more violent and noisy fashion.  It was the one thing he truly couldn't argue with.  He searched out 
Ukyou when he walked out into the backyard of the school, and found her waiting patiently near the corner of 
the building.  He waved to her and smiled as he appoached, and she returned his greeting with a bright smile.
	Unfortunately, he never made it to her.  He was first intercepted by a boy.  The one boy was soon 
followed by four others.  The leader glared at him.  "Are you Saotome?" he asked, saying his name as one might 
say vomit.
	Ranma frowned at them, they didn't particularly seem like the street tough type.  "Yeah, what of it?"
	"I heard you were with Aiko yesterday." he accused, pointing a finger in his chest.  
	He carefully pulled the finger away from his person by adding just the right amount of pressure in 
just the right place to cause intense pain.  The youth winced and yanked his arm back.  "Yeah, I was... now, 
what of it?"  He found he was quickly losing patience with these guys.
	The leader didn't seem impressed, though he rubbed his finger slightly trying to hide his discomfort. 
 "Listen... she's mine.  I would suggest you stay away."
	"You," Ranma began, jabbing a finger into the boy's chest this time, "are in no position to tell me 
what to do."  
	The leader reared back and swung his fist viciously at Ranma.  He easily sidestepped it, and grabbed 
the arm, throwing the boy to the ground to drive the point home.  "Look," Ranma said, standing over the boy, 
"I doubt all of you together could stop me physically, and I really haven't done anything to Aiko other than 
help her... so you should be grateful not attacking me.  So, my patience is wearing thin, and I think you 
should stop disturbing my lunch."
	Ukyou, who had joined them, nodded in agreement.  She was not in an offensive posture, but Ranma knew 
exactly how fast she could pull the spatula from her back if it was needed.  He didn't think the guys would 
leave without serious injury if they raised her ire.  "I think you'd better go now... if Ukyou here decides to 
pull that metal monster off of her back, I pity you."  He looked at them sympathetically.
	They rose, took one look at Ukyou, and began to make their way off campus.  The leader turned back to 
Ranma before going through the gate and yelled, "This isn't over, Saotome, you know that!"
	He nodded, mostly to himself, as they had beat the hastiest retreat possible after speaking their 
final words.  Then he turned to Ukyou, who was grinning at him, and bowed.  "I believe we were going to eat 
lunch?"  His stomach added its own personal touch to the words.
 	Ukyou giggled, and they walked off to the corner of the building, where she had three okonomiyaki 
waiting for them.  Ranma's mouth instantly went to watering as his nostrils took in the flavorsome aroma.  
They sat down and began to eat.  Ranma was please to notice she had once again brought his favorite.  
	As he bit into the second confection he looked briefly around the yard.  People milled about 
everywhere, eating and talking.  Lunch time was the energy of the school outside of PE, where everyone shared 
secrets and the grapevine flourished.  He smiled lightly, thinking of how many conversations out there he 
might possibly be a part of.  That was when his gaze fell on Akane.  She was sitting with two of her friends 
under the tree they normally shared together.  
	His breath stopped in his throat as he noticed her staring right back at him.  She had turned her 
head, laughing, and found him looking at her.  The smile dropped off of her face, and she froze, seemingly 
unable to pull her gaze away from his.  After what seemed like an hour, something sharp poked him in the side. 
 He jumped slightly and turned to find Ukyou glaring at him.  "I thought *we were eating together today." she 
accused.  
	He raised his hands in a defensive posture.  "Yeah, yeah, we are, we are." he said quickly, as she 
brandished her razor spatula.  
	She nodded and put away her weapon, useful in many situations.  
END PART THREE
Ah, got it done by the end of the week after all!  I hope I'm still keeping everyone's attention... please 
tell me if so or not.  All comments and criticism should be shipped this way, of course.  
Thanks for reading,
PMasters (5-15-98)