***
This was posted, once upon a time. . .more than a year ago.  I've been cleaning it up and writing more, so I'm on chapter forty-something by now.  I just thought I would post some bits and get some reactions.
***

O-tomodachi  --  Friends


Written by Irene Ying

Disclaimer: 

Ranma 1/2 belongs to Takahashi-sensei, Shonen Sunday, 
Shogakukan, Viz, Pioneer, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.  No 
copyright infringement intended.  Should anyone complain, I 
will "cease and desist".


*** = change of scene marker
~~~ = dream/flashback marker



Chapter One


"Ranma!" Akane screamed as she ran after him.  Ranma was, 
almost literally, running for his life--an event that had 
become annoyingly common since his move to Nerima.  He 
looked back every now and then.

"What did I do now?!" Ranma demanded as he ran atop the 
fence, out of her reach.  She wielded a bokken and reminded 
him of Kuno, which was not a good thought.  Akane ran 
faster alongside the fence, swinging the sword in clumsy 
fury.

"Take back what you said!" She shouted.  Ranma bent back to 
dodge a sweep of the blade.  "Take it back!" She considered 
jumping onto the fence to run behind him, but decided that 
in her geta, it would be unwise to do so.  She settled for 
wide sweeps with her wooden weapon.

"If I knew what I said, I might be able to!" Ranma 
retorted, running faster.  He wasn't sure exactly how mad 
she was at him.  Maybe he could calm her down before any 
physical harm to him occurred.

"So you've trained longer than I have!  That doesn't give 
you the right to make fun of me!"

"What?" Ranma tried to remember the events as he ran.  Oh, 
yeah.  They'd been practicing in the dojo and Akane had 
smashed several blocks.  Right. . .and then what happened?  
Ranma had, per usual, said something insulting to Akane.  
Now, if only he could recall the words.

"How dare you say that I better stick to jogging!" She 
yelled, reminding Ranma of his crime.  "I was working hard, 
you know!  Just because I can't beat you doesn't mean 
anything!"

"You're jogging now!  And doing a very good job of it!" 
Ranma smirked.  He stuck out his tongue and turned up his 
speed by several notches.  Akane gritted her teeth and 
tried several slashes, all of which missed.  "See?  Told 
ya!"

"Wait a minute, _what_ did you say?!" This was altogether 
too much for Akane to take.  Now Ranma was adding insult to 
injury.  �DIE!�

"I said--" Ranma was cut off as the sword made contact.  
"Hey!" He yelled.  Contrary to his expectations, the blow 
had actually hurt.  For a moment, he considered taking back 
what he'd said.  Then he noticed Akane fuming.  She swung 
the bokken again.  Ranma cringed and waited for contact.  
He opened his eyes to see the sword broken in two.  Akane 
had missed and hit the fence.  Not being Kuno, she didn't 
slash through it.  She stood, gripping the hilt, glaring at 
him.  Ranma could practically see the hot aura surrounding 
her.

"I'm outta here," he thought.  Not a moment too soon, for 
Akane came after him again.  Unwisely, Ranma stuck out his 
tongue.  "Can't catch me, baka manuke," he shouted back to 
her.  Being called a stupid idiot did not sit very well 
with Akane.  She ran faster after him, only to see him 
speeding away in a blur.

Akane slowed and tried to get her breath.  There was no way 
she'd catch him now.  She balled her hands into fists and 
groaned.  She remembered that she was still wearing her gi, 
which would doubtlessly earn her a few stares.

Never mind, she thought.  I'll get him later.

***

Ranma was still running, not taking a single look back.  He 
was too afraid that Akane might be still on the chase.  
Buildings and parks whizzed by him, as though he were on a 
train.  He looked around and realized that he couldn't see 
the river anymore, and that had been his primary landmark.  
After a few more minutes, he slowed.  The fence ended 
ahead, so he jumped down.  He stopped to rest, but heard 
something thumping behind him.  It was only a garbage can 
falling, but he thought it was Akane again, maybe with a 
metal sword this time.  He didn't bother to consider 
anything, and started running.  Hoping to lose her, he 
dashed down a small side street, took several turns, and 
ran like crazy.

Had he been looking, he might have noticed several town 
signs passing him, but he was going too fast.  He looked 
around and noticed that wherever he was, he sure wasn't in 
Nerima anymore.  The houses looked different.  They were 
newer, and a fair bit larger. Ranma had had enough.  He 
noticed that he was next to a small park, which seemed to 
have a mini soccer match going on between two kindergarten-
aged boys and a little girl.  As the luck of all Jusenkyo 
victims goes, there was a shout.

"Oi!  Abunai yo!" The girl yelled.  Ranma turned around and 
was greeted by a soccer ball in the face.  It bounced away, 
and Ranma landed in a pond.

Spluttering, Ranma climbed out, feeling her clothes soaked 
with scummy water and dripping with algae.  She grimaced as 
she pulled several lotus plants off her clothes, which were 
also slimy from the underwater habitat.  Ranma wrinkled her 
nose and groaned.  She took off her outer jacket, leaving 
on a white tank top.

"Baka," she thought.  "Now I don't even know where I am." 
She looked around, and everything was unfamiliar. She saw 
several students walking, and their uniforms were not the 
same as those of Furinkan High School.  That confirmed it.

"Darn it, I'm turnin' into Ryoga," Ranma thought angrily.  
"Oh, well, guess I'll find a bus and go home on that. . .if 
I have any money." She searched through her pockets and 
found a single hundred yen coin.  "Or I won't do that.  
Guess I'll ask someone the way home." She looked around for 
anyone to ask.

"Are you okay?" a voice asked behind him.  Ranma turned 
around and found herself facing a girl.  Her face was 
slightly pretty and a delicate heart shape.  At the moment, 
her cheeks were lit up.  Her hair was dark black, with 
glossy, golden-brown highlights where the light struck the 
long locks.  Her eyes were dark blue, the same shade as 
Ranma's.  Her figure wasn't as well-endowed as Akane, 
perhaps, but she was more slender.  He could see that she 
had a small-hipped, willowy figure.  The red and orange 
sunset illuminated her face shades of gold and cream.

She was smiling sweetly and in concern, but her look turned 
to surprise when she saw Ranma's clothes and hair.  "By the 
way, you have a nice little plantation of duckweed in your 
hair," she added in a dry tone.

Ranma reached up and plucked it off.  "Gee, thanks.  Um, 
yeah, I just. . .um, fell.  I lost my way. . .do you know 
where I am?"

"Sure!" The girl nodded.  "You're in the Minato district of 
Tokyo." She glanced at Ranma.

"Ore. . .Ore, Saotome Ranma," she said lamely and gave a 
deep bow.

The girl hesitated.  "Ah, well. . .I am. . .Takeno Himeko.  
Hajimemashite." She returned the bow, very stiffly and not 
very deeply.  "What. . .what happened to you?" Himeko 
asked, trying to distance herself.  Ranma guessed that it 
was the smell of pond scum.  Actually, Himeko was trying to 
figure out why Ranma, a girl, was using "ore".

"I fell.  Long story." Ranma said stonily.  At least the 
girl could try to be helpful.  It wasn't _her_ fault about 
the stupid pond.

The girl instantly turned sympathetic.  "Oh, so you're not. 
. .never mind.  You're all wet.  At least it's not that 
cold out, considering that it's November." She looked 
around.  "I have some hot chocolate, but I don't have a 
cup.  You'll have to use the cap."

Ranma was shivering a bit.  "Sure, that sounds great." He--
or she--generally liked hot chocolate anyway, especially if 
Kasumi had made it.

Himeko took off the cap and started to pour the hot liquid.  
"You might want to wash those clothes when you're done," 
she said with a laugh.  "Sorry about what I said.  I don't 
exactly see this kind of thing every day."

"Ups and downs, huh?" Ranma thought dryly.  Just then, 
there was a thump.  Ranma looked up to see a soccer ball 
coming at them, and the same yell.  "Watch out!"

The projectile struck Himeko in the head.  She fell over, 
released the cup. . .which splashed all over Ranma.  As 
Himeko cried out and fell, Ranma automatically went to 
catch her. . .

. . .Himeko opened her eyes to find herself looking at a 
very handsome, very well-built young man of sixteen years.

He was dressed in the same fashion the red-headed girl had 
been.

She wanted to scream and slap him.  How dare a boy grab her 
like that?  And this was a public park!  She couldn't 
believe it.  Her whole body was reacting.

But as she looked up at him, it was all forgotten.  His 
hair was black, tied into a thick braid.  His eyes, looking 
at her in concern, were a beautiful shade of deep, dark 
blue.  His face was too beautiful to be true.  Himeko had 
never fainted in her life, but all of a sudden, she felt 
dizzy and lightheaded, as if something was about to happen. 
. .

"Wh-who are you?!" Himeko stuttered.  Her face turned a 
flaming shade of red.  She wanted to disentangle herself 
from his arms, but something in her just didn't want to let 
go.  His arms were actually kind of warm, and his grip was, 
well, so strong. . .Himeko swallowed.  She hated having 
someone touch her like that, but. . .somehow, she didn't 
mind this time.  Even with hot chocolate all over his hair, 
his face, and his shirt, he still looked kind of cute.  She 
wondered what she was going to do.  Boys never did this to 
her much.  Wait, boys never even _looked_ at her in that 
way.  She wasn't bad looking, but she certainly didn't 
compare to some other girls at school.

Then natural instinct kicked in.  Himeko screamed, slapped 
him, and jumped away.  She moved a little further away, 
panting for breath.  She had her arms crossed over her 
chest, and she'd dropped the thermos.  Chocolate was now 
spilled all over the front of her dress and skirt, and 
making a nice puddle on the concrete.  She took several 
deep breaths, readying to make a quick getaway.

"Ahh. . ." Ranma thought, holding his smarting cheek.  "Why 
does this always happen to me. . .and she was starting to 
respect me too. . ." 

Himeko looked at him.  "What?  Where'd the girl go?  Is she 
okay?"

"Er. . .I. . .the girl.  I mean, I'm. . .um. . .cold water. 
. ." At least she wasn't going to hit him.  That was one 
difference from Akane, he thought absently.  "See here--"

"You--you--what?  I--I don't want to know any more." Himeko 
started backing up.  This whole day had been too weird.  
She wondered if she was delirious or something.  Being 
grabbed by a strange guy, who chased off a girl. . .a guy 
who was awfully cute, too. . .

"She--she left!  Come back here!"

Himeko slowed her steps and turned slowly.  Ranma nodded.  
"It's okay.  Don't worry about it.  I. . .I understand." He 
smiled.

She glared and walked away.  It was getting late, and the 
sun was starting to set over the park.  Ranma took another 
careful look at Himeko--this time, not just her face, but 
her whole person.

She was about as tall as his girl form.  She was wearing a 
seifuku, a sailor uniform with a blue collar, red kerchief 
tie, and pleated blue skirt the same shade as the collar 
and cuffs.  The shirt was long-sleeved and had little cuffs 
with thin white ribbon stripes.  The collar was similarly 
decorated.  The blouse ended around her waist, and when she 
ran, Ranma could see the waistband of her pleated skirt.  
She had little pearl earrings.  She wasn't so bad-looking, 
Ranma decided.  Nothing like Akane, but certainly not ugly.  
Pretty, in fact.  In her own way, anyway.  He thought that 
her blue eyes were nice.  She seemed like a nice person--
where was she going?

"Matte!" He called to her.

"Ah, well," she sighed under her breath as she turned 
around.  Himeko sighed to herself.  This was going to be 
one interesting day.  She'd embarrassed herself, insulted 
somebody, and made *them* feel bad.  She had no idea what 
was going on here, and she had a feeling that she didn't 
_want_ to know anyway.

"Well, I still need someone to show me the way home," he 
pointed out.  "Do you know the way to Nerima?"

She paused.  He was speaking to her quite nicely, actually.  
He didn't sound like an idiot, or some wierdo like those at 
her school.  No, he actually sounded sincere.  In addition, 
he _was_ very cute, her brain reminded her.  She glanced at 
him.  Was she supposed to trust this guy?  His eyes looked 
at her.

"Go ask a policeman," she said, turning away.  She wasn't 
risking any more.

"But. . .I'm sorry, Takeno-san," he said, trying to be 
polite.  That didn't come too easily to him, considering 
his usual speech patterns.  "I. . .er, it was my fault.  It 
was an accident, though, really.  You fell, and I had to 
catch you."

"Umm. . ." she was still undecided.  Better not to trust 
him, she thought.  "No.  Like I said, just go ask a 
policeman.  Sorry."

"Please?" He said.  Turning his head, he didn't see a 
single policeman in sight.  Plus, if she could mistake him 
for a bum, probably the policeman would too.  He swallowed.  
"Please?  I'm sorry."

Himeko decided to relent.  She shouldn't hold a grudge like 
that.

"Nerima?  You're a few precincts away. . ." she said 
thoughtfully.  "Yeah, I do know. I'll have to walk you a 
bit.  I really should get home before dark, but I guess I 
can point you in the right direction before then."

"No problem," Ranma answered easily.  "I don't mind at all.  
Do you?" He looked over at her, trying to gauge her 
reaction.

Himeko didn't know what to make of this.  Well, if he tried 
to do anything crazy, she could try running and screaming.  
"All right then.  It's this way."

Himeko, he thought, running the name over his tongue.  Hime 
meant princess, take meant bamboo.  He looked at her.  
Well, she kinda sorta looked like a princess all right. . 
.he noticed that her long, silky hair went nearly to her 
waist.  It was tied at the base of her neck with a wide 
blue ribbon.  Her glossy locks were fluttering behind her 
as she walked.

Ranma wasn't sure what to say.  They walked in silence for 
a while, then Himeko turned around.  The sky was darkening, 
the orange colors changing into darker blues and violets.  
He could see a single star.  The sky was beautiful, but it 
also signaled that darkness was fast approaching.  He 
didn't like the idea of a girl walking home, alone, at 
night.

Himeko evidently didn't share the same concern just yet.  
She kept walking, taking glances every now and then to make 
sure she was going the right way.  "We're supposed to turn 
in a few blocks. . .I hope I don't miss it."  Looking 
around, she beckoned for him to get off the fence.  They 
turned down several streets, and Ranma found himself 
looking at the river.

"We're here," Himeko announced unexpectedly. Ranma looked 
around.  Finally, things were looking familiar.  There was 
that river, and he knew some of the houses.

"You're just about in Nerima, but I don't know where you 
live.  Nerima's a big place.  Two more blocks and you're 
there," she said with a pretty smile.  Her eyes were gazing 
at him earnestly, smiling gently.  "I. . .I'll be going 
home.  Have a good evening." She bowed and turned to leave.

"Hey, wait," Ranma said.  "It's getting really late.  Sorry 
it took you so long. . .Why don't you come over for a bit?  
Akane would probably like to meet you."

Himeko shrugged.  "Who's Akane?"

"My fianc�e." Ranma glanced at her out of the corner of his 
eyes.

"Oh." Himeko said.  Sixteen or so was a bit young, but she 
shouldn't be judging. Disguising her surprise, she tried 
politely to decline. "I�d rather not stay.  I mean, I don't 
want to impose on you any longer."

Ranma looked around again.  He was in Nerima again.  That 
was odd, he could have sworn his run took much longer.  
Maybe he'd taken some turns before Minato.  Then he turned 
his attention to what she had said. What was it with these 
stupidly polite people?

Aloud, he only said, "All right, if you're sure you don't 
want to come over for a bit.  But it looks like rain.  Can 
I at least get you an umbrella or something?  Don't want 
you getting soaked. . ."

Himeko shook her head.  "No, I'll be fine." She smiled at 
his concern.  He was nice after all.

"But it's getting dark out," Ranma pointed out.  "It gets 
dangerous."

"I can take care of myself," she replied coolly, but her 
face softened into a gentle, sweet smile.  "Thank you for 
the offer."

"Do you want to call your parents from the house?" Ranma 
asked.

"No, my aunt's not going to be home tonight."

"Aunt?"

"Hai.  I. . .my parents died when I was little.  I live 
with Obaa-san." She spoke quickly, giving him a cursory 
glance.

Ranma barely had time to digest this fact when he saw Akane 
running in the streets, evidently searching for him.  She 
was wearing a pink sweater and some white shorts.  When she 
saw him, her face lit up.

"Ranma!" She called.  "Hey, I was worried about you!  
What's going on?  And who's. . .she?  And why is your shirt 
all--um--stained?"

"Is that Akane?" Himeko asked.  Ranma nodded.  "Tendo 
Akane."

Himeko walked up and bowed.  "Konbanwa.  Anata wa Tendo-
san?"

"Um, y-yeah.  How'd you know?" Akane sounded rather 
surprised.

"Ranma told me about you," Himeko said with a little smile.

Akane blushed.  "Oh, is that so. . .hey, it's going to 
rain.  Come on in for a bit.  We can take you home later."

"No, I'm going.  Sayonara." Himeko turned and ran off.

It was getting darker by the minute.  Squinting, Akane 
could barely make out Himeko's rapidly retreating figure.  
She heard a faint tapping of heels on concrete, and then no 
more.

"Let's go, Ranma.  Kasumi has dinner ready." Akane nudged 
him and tapped him on the shoulder.  "Hey, are you there?"

"Oh, ah, thanks," Ranma said mindlessly.  "OK, let's go."

Akane stared after him.


End of Chapter One

***

Any comments, thoughts, whatever! Will be appreciated. ^^


---Irene

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