Michael Won <skeezy5@geocities.com>
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Akane 1/2
	by skeezy5

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Ranma 1 / 2 etc. all belong to Rumiko Takahashi...
Fist of the North Star belongs to whoever it belongs to...

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Part One - Here's Akane!

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*******************************
*			      *
* Mrs. Saotome,		      *
*			      *
*    Coming from China soon.  *
*			      *
*		  Tendo Akane *
*			      *
*******************************

	"Akane, coming here?  Oh!  How long I've waited for this day!"  
A beautiful middle aged woman sits in the living room of her house, 
holding the postcard as if it is a holy relic.  Her eyes begin to pool 
into two small lakes as she grasps it to her heart.  "Akama!  Tenma!  
Ranma!"

^_-

	"Akama!"  Mrs. Saotome steps into to her eldest son's room.
	"Yes, mother?" his deep voice rumbles out of his chest.  The 
mountain of a man turns away from his computer with an impatient, 
questioning look on his face.

^_-

	"Tenma!"  Mrs. Saotome steps out into the garden, calling her 
second son's name.
	"Yes, honored mother?"  The slender man with the long hair stops 
brushing the rocks in his garden.  He straightens out his robe and sets 
aside the rake, a questioning look on his face.

^_-

	"Ranma!  Now where is that child?"  As Mrs. Saotome's voice rings 
out of the compound, a young girl runs out of the fog towards the house.  
Her long ponytail bounces off her back as she turns into the gates of 
the house.  In a fluid motion, she rips off her warm-ups and jumps into 
the dojo.  Her kata seems not so fluid, but there is strength behind the 
moves as her gi snaps with them.
	"Whew!  That was refreshing."  The sleeve wiping the sweat away 
withdraws to reveal a pretty face.  Not one to be called gorgeous or 
beautiful, but definitely pretty.
	"That's very impressive Ranma.  No wonder they think you're so 
great at school."  
	"Aren't you the comedian, Tenma.  For your information, I am sick 
and tired of dealing with those people."
	"Oh dear, won't Kimiko be sad to hear that."  Ranma starts 
spluttering at that, but doesn't seem to be able to come up with a 
response.  "Well, I guess that means this won't interest you so much."
	"Hmm?"

^_-

	Some say that when it rains, the heavens are weeping to warn the 
world of a momentous, life shaking events.  It rains further because it 
knows it's warning won't be heeded, otherwise it would not have seen it 
in the future.  Such is the nature of prescience.  The heavens are 
crying, right now. 
	"Fiancee?!"  Three voices cry out in unison.
	"Yes, the daughter of a very good friend of your father's.  Her 
name is Tendo Akane."  Mrs. Saotome smiles at the reaction of her three 
children.  She had known that they'd be excited.  "Your father had sworn 
and oath with Tendo Soun that we would unite out two families and teach 
here."
	"Honored mother," Tenma's soft voice asked, "Don't we get some say 
in whom we marry?"
	"He's right, mom."  Ranma pitches in.  "After all, we've never met 
her."
	"Oh don't worry children, that can be easily fixed."  Mrs. Saotome 
smiles once again in a way that would make a thousand ships return to 
pick up their lunches.

^_-

	The rain pours from the heavens in a volume that only monsoon 
season could produce.  Many people look out of their shops and grimace 
at the early June rain, muttering about what would be one of the 
rainiest seasons in recent memory.  While most people are taking or 
quickly seeking shelter, a young man, barely out of boyhood, trudges 
slowly through the rain.  
	He's wearing a red, Chinese-styled martial arts shirt with a pair 
of black pants that are tied at the waist and ankles.  Though they look 
fairly new, his clothes are stretched over his muscles as if they are a 
size too small, but in a very flattering way.  His footfalls are heavy, 
though not from the weight of the backpack which he carries with ease.  
His most remarkable feature, however, is the long mane of dark brown 
hair which has been braided down his back.
	"So father, looks like I'm here."  The young man finally comes to 
a stop in front of the same gate that the girl ran through a few minutes 
ago.  His beautifully handsome face is crossed with consternation as he 
wipes his wet bangs away from his deep brown eyes.  "I can't believe I'm 
doing this."
	
^_-

	Back inside the house, Mrs. Saotome is a bit less placid, and her 
children are a bit more irate.  Akama is visibly holding his anger in 
check, while Tenma's usually calm exterior is creased with a frown.  
Only Ranma seems to be taking the whole situation with a bit of 
amusement.  "Akane and her father have been on a training trip.  
Recently, it seems they crossed into China."
	"Wow, China!"  A faraway look enters into Ranma's eyes.
	"What's so great about China?  Wasn't anything special when I was 
there."  Akama grunts out.
	"Really honored mother, we know nothing about this girl."  Akama 
joins Tenma for the next question, "What kind of girl is she?"
	Mrs. Saotome laughs, trying to reassure her children, "I don't 
know."
	"You don't know?"  Ranma looks with amusement shining out of her 
blue-gray eyes.
	"Of course not.  I've never met her."  If her children had any 
more questions, they are cut off by the knocking at the front gate.  
"Oh, that must be Akane!"
	Mrs. Saotome gets off and rushes to the door.  Her three children 
exchange wary glances, and follow her.  When they reach the gate, they 
discover their mother hugging a tall stranger.  "At last, you've come!"
	"Urk.  Mrs. - Sao - tome - can't - breathe."  The strangers voice, 
a pleasant tenor, squeaks out.
	"Oh, I'm sorry."  She lets go of the figure and turns to her 
children.  "Children, meet our guest."
	As their mother beams at them, the three children look with a 
large amount of discomfort on their faces.  Finally, Ranma can't hold it 
in any more and blurts out, "Excuse me, but aren't you a..."
	"A guy.  I'm Tendo Akane.  Sorry about this."  The look of shock 
on Mrs. Saotome's face doesn't last long, as she promptly faints.

^_-

 	"Honored mother, you really should have made sure the Akane was a 
girl before making such an announcement to us."
	"Seriously mother, you had us all worried for nothing."
	"Your late father, may he rest in peace, told me that Tendo Soun 
had been blessed with a daughter.  How was I supposed to know?"  She 
attempts to sit up, but her second son holds her down.
	"But honored mother, what part of Akane here looks like a girl?"  
Ranma looks on curiously as Akane flinches slightly at Tenma's words.  
*He's probably tired from traveling from China and feels uncomfortable 
by all this attention.*  "Hey Akane, want to go practice in the dojo?"
	Akane looks up at Ranma with much relief in his face.  "Su... 
sure!"  
	"I'm Ranma, want to be friends?"  The two of them leave the two 
older brothers to wrangle with their mother and head for the dojo.  
	The two of them walk down a covered pathway to reach a large 
building next to the house.  "Anyway, so here we are!"
	Akane looks up in wonder at the spacious training hall.  Though 
she had spent most of her life in training, she had never really stepped 
into such a well maintained and beautiful dojo as this.  "Wow, its 
gorgeous."
	"Yeah, I know!  I'm the one that takes care of it.  Care for a 
match?"  Ranma's eyes twinkle, and she already is standing at one of the 
starting positions.
	"Huh?"  
	"What, you afraid to fight a girl?"  Ranma raises an eyebrow at 
Akane, who grins and walks to the other position.
	"Not at all."  Eyeing each other for a moment, Ranma snaps a 
sidekick, only to meet thin air as Akane slides out of the way.  Ranma 
presses her attack, but the boy is very quick, and dodges every move.
	*Damn, is she reading my moves?  Okay, time for plan B.*  Dropping 
out of the karate stance, Ranma moves to a very defensive jujitsu stance 
and waits for Akane.  "So are you going to dodge all day?  Don't worry, 
I'm not going to break if you touch me."
	"You asked for it," with that as the only warning, Akane jumps in 
a graceful arc, snapping his foot out.  Much to his surprise, Ranma has 
also jumped, and they meet in mid-air.  
	Deflecting Akane's blow on her arm, Ranma continues through and 
grabs him.  The collision kills their individual momentum's, and they 
come crashing to the floor, Ranma putting Akane into a pin.  Though it 
seems for a moment that Akane is down, with a burst of strength, he 
breaks the hold and throws Ranma off.  
	Before Ranma can recover, Akane pins her this time.  Ranma 
struggles for a few more moments, but realizing that Akane has executed 
a perfect pin, relaxes in his arms.  The two of them lay their for a 
moment, exhausted by their intense match.  As if suddenly remembering 
something, the two of them look at each other and then separate, 
blushing.  
	"Umm...  Sorry to hold you like that."  Akane recovers first.
	"Umm...  That's okay.  Just a match right?" Ranma tries to keep 
the blush from creeping into her face, not wanting her new friend to 
interpret it in the wrong way.
	They continue to look at each other with embarrassment.  Finally, 
Akane decides to change the subject.  "So I guess you're mother's 
disappointed..."
	"Hmm?  Oh, that you're a guy?  Yeah, she really wanted our two 
families to be joined."  They leave the dojo and head back for the 
house.
	Akane frowns slightly, "But won't she try to engage you to me, 
now?"
	"Uh... no.  I don't think that'd be a good idea..."  Ranma is glad 
to be leading Akane, as he can't see the interesting shades of purple 
that Ranma's face is turning.  "I don't think you'd want to be engaged 
to me..."

^_-

	"Come, Akane, you should really take a bath after that work out."
	"Uhh...  That's okay Tenma."  Tenma frowns slightly, wondering why 
the boy was so nervous.
	"Oh, you really should.  My mother will have dinner ready soon, 
and you don't want to show up all smelly, do you?  What would Ranma 
think?" Tenma smiles, watching the boy blanch a bit at the mention of 
Ranma's name.
	"Uhh...  Sure, Tenma, I'll go take a bath."  
	"Atta boy.  The water might be hot, I just filled the furo."  
Watching the younger boy walk off, Tenma shakes his head.  Though he 
didn't want to do it this way, mother most certainly wouldn't talk about 
it, Akama wouldn't care, and Ranma would be too embarrassed.  Still, he 
had seen the two of them in the dojo, and had decided that it would be a 
good idea to reveal Ranma's secret to the boy.
	Tenma continues down the hall, pokes his head in Ranma's room, and 
says, "The bath is ready..."

^_-

	"Brr...  Cold."  Akane dumps a bucket full of water over himself 
and shudders.  He eyes the hot tub warily, but then gingerly steps in.  
"Now, what am I supposed to do?"

^_-

	Outside, in the changing area, there is a light humming as Ranma's 
sweaty gi is deposited in the hamper by its owner.  

^_-

	"They'll find out sooner or later.  May as well just go out like I 
am."  As the girl steps out of the bath, water streaming off her jet 
black hair, the inner door opens, revealing a boy standing there.  They 
stare at each other in shock for a moment, then stare even harder at the 
fact that they are wearing the same thing - nothing.  As both of their 
faces light up like Christmas lights, the boy slowly closes the door and 
the girl sinks back into the tub.

^_-

	Shutting the door, Ranma steps back and puts on the sweaty gi top.  
Stepping out into the hallway, he stands there, his mind reeling.  After 
a moment, there is a light knock on the outer door.  Ranma turns and 
asks, "Uhh...  Come in.  Uhh...  Out, I mean."
	The door opens, and the girl, now dressed in Akane's clothes, 
comes out.  The two youths find themselves unable to look at each other 
in the eye.  Working up the courage, Ranma asks, "Umm...  Who... who are 
you?"
	"I'm Tendo Akane...  Sorry about this."

^_-

	The Saotome family is once again gathered in the living room, with 
their guest seated across from them.  Nodoka clears her throat and 
starts once again.  "Children, meet our guest.  This is Tendo Akane, the 
daughter of Tendo Soun."

=======================

My first alternate universe type deal.  At the moment, it may seem too
close to the original, but I'll diverge.  Promise.  For a while though,
it'll follow fairly closely, at least until I can introduce some of my
new characters.  Please be patient and continue reading... ^_-

If some things weren't clear enough...  Yes, Akane is cursed.  Yes, 
Ranma is a cross-dresser.  Yes, Soun and Genma aren't there.  And yes,
I'll explain why things are as they are as the story goes.  (No broken
fourth walls strewed about for this one...)  I'm just asking for a bit
of patience...

BTW, I add "Fist of the North Star" in the disclaimer, because that's
who I'm modeling Akama and Tenma after - Rygar's two older brothers.
They might seem like Kasumi and Nabiki swapped around, but that'll soon
(hopefully) prove to be a false impression.

C&C welcome as always.