Chapter 1

     The dawning sun was just beginning to peak out in the distant horizon,
its light shedding warmth on the world. The sounds of birds could be heard,
its beautiful music blending gracefully with the gentle whispers of the
blowing winds. The trees rustled lightly as cool breezes blew by, some of
its autumn leaves fluttering to the ground. Akane was leaning against the
outer wall, watching silently as those leaves fell. Her breathing was
slightly heavy, she having finished her usual morning jog.
  "Ah, nothing better than a brisk morning jog to get the blood flowing" she
said to herself, brushing aside her bangs, which were matted to her forehead
from the perspiration.
  She sighed aloud, wishing Kasumi was there to greet her like she used to 
many years ago. She remembered how she would always see her older sister out
sweeping the sidewalk, there to greet her after she finished her morning
jog.
  "Good morning, Akane," Kasumi would say, followed by a sweet smile. She 
would be dressed in her usual apron-like outfit, consisting of yellow 
sweatshirt and white frilly dress, the entire outfit covered by a white
apron.
  "Good morning, Kasumi," Akane would respond, smiling in return. From there, 
Kasumi and Akane would engage in simple conversation, chit chat to everybody 
including them. But those days were gone. Kasumi had moved out of the house 
several years ago and married her first true love, Dr. Tofu, a local 
chiropractor. It had been a rocky beginning at first, what with Kasumi never 
realizing just how much he cared for her or how much she cared for him. They 
came to realize their feelings when he finally gotten over his nervousness 
around her. Now, Kasumi and Dr. Tofu are living together, their third child on 
the way.
  Akane sighed inwardly as she stepped through the front gate, closing it
behind her once she was in the front yard. The front yard had stayed the
same over the many years, shrubbery outlining the interior of the
outer wall with trees intermittently peaking up out through the foliage.
  She crossed the yard and entered the house through the front door, which
she kept opened whenever she went out on her daily jog. She didn't have to
worry about theft or anything like that. Nerima was a very safe and peaceful
neighborhood. The interior of the house had remained the same over the many
years, every piece of furniture exactly where it was since that fateful
night. Akane never really liked change, always preferring the old way over
the new. That was just the way she was, old-fashioned.
  "I better get changed," she said to herself as she gracefully glided up the
stairs, taking two steps at a time. Not one creek emerged from the 
floorboards, Akane being very light on her feet.
  It was about time she got changed anyway, her morning martial arts lessons
were going to start in about fifteen minutes. Back then, her father, Soun,
would had taught class instead of her. But that wasn't the case anymore.
  Soun had died many years ago, killed by a drunk driver. He and Akane had
been out strolling late one night when, out of nowhere, a car swerved off
the road and headed straight towards them. Soun had managed to react in
time, pushing Akane out of the way before he was hit by the oncoming car.
  Akane had watched in horror as her father's body was thrown through the
air and struck up against a tree. She gazed through tearing eyes as she
held her father's dying body in her arms, pleading to god that he live as
she waited for help to arrive. But god never answered her prayers. Her
father died that night from massive brain hemorrhaging, and there was
nothing that could have been done. The funeral for him was set just two days
after that tragic night. Everyone had attended, all saying their final
farewells. Although many had wept at that funeral, Akane wept the most.
Nabiki, her older sister, was strong and could take the tragic loss.
Kasumi, the eldest of the three, was devastated, but had Dr. Tofu there to
comfort her. Akane....she had no one to comfort her. She was all alone.
  Following the funeral came the will reading, which left the family
business resting on Akane's shoulders. Nabiki would have been better to
take over the business, what with her being adept in business and all. But
when asked if she take the business, she gracefully declined, telling Akane
she was the only one in the family who knew martial arts. And so, she was
given the responsibilities of taking care of not only the dojo, but of the
home. It didn't help any when Kasumi moved out and into Dr. Tofu's home,
the two of them having married just a few months after the funeral. It
seemed that when Dr. Tofu saw Kasumi crying at the funeral like she did, his
nervousness had vanished, and he was able to comfort her. Not too long after
she moved into his house, Kasumi decided to go to college to major in
pre-med, graduating first in her class when she finally got out. Although
Akane was happy for her, she knew she would no longer hear from Kasumi
again, Kasumi no longer having the time since she's now one of the most
prestigious doctors in the country.
  Not much longer after Kasumi moved out, Nabiki moved out also, her
business career taking off, she leaving for America to further her career.
Nabiki had always told Akane that America was where she was going to hit
it big. It seems Nabiki was correct. She was now living extravagantly, her
life-long goal attained. Akane was very happy for her. But soon, the letters
that Nabiki always sent abruptly stopped. For several long years, Akane
haven't heard anything from Nabiki. And so now, at the age of twenty-eight,
Akane was all alone. The only people in her life were her students. But she
only saw her students for two hours a day per session and that was it.
Actually, teaching her students martial arts had proved to be a real
task-worthy job. And it didn't help matters any because of the fact that
she was the only sensei teaching martial arts. But she loved teaching. That
was the only thing that kept her going. That and the fact that there might
be someone out there that she could spend her life with. She was so lonely,
especially on the cold winter nights. Many nights she wished she was warm
in someone's arms, only to realize that she would never meet a man, what
with her spending her life inside a dojo teaching her students. Sure, she
could go after one of her students, but that wasn't right. She would never
mix business with pleasure. Besides, those students were the only thing
that was keeping the business from going under and she definitely didn't
want to jeopardize her reputation as a respectful sensei with her students.
  Akane opened the door to her room and entered, taking her shirt off as
she closed the door behind herself. She then took off her jogging shorts
and threw them and the shirt and a hamper that was in the corner. Wearing
nothing more than her panties, Akane went into her closet and fetched out her
sensei dogi. The dogi was akin to any other dogi for any other martial
art. She even wore the same black dress-like leggings that represented her
being a sensei.
  Akane took a quick glance at the full-length mirror that hung on the closet
door, making sure her outfit was on correctly. As she looked at herself, she
couldn't help but smile at just how beautiful a woman she had become. She
still sported her short-haired look from when she was young, which made it a 
lot easier for her to teach. Although she was unaware of this, most of the 
males in her class found her very attractive, even if they were two of three 
times older than her. Although there were males in her class, most of her 
students were females, all of them liking the fact that they were being taught 
by a female rather than a male.
  Akane looked at the clock that was on top of her draw. Her eyes widened
when she realized what time it was.
  "Oh no, class's gonna start in one minute!" she said, tugging at her
dogi belt one more time before heading out of her room and down the stairs.

  The moon could be seen in the distance horizon as it started its
ascent, its light causing the building to cast shadows that seemed to
stretch all the way to the ends of the universe. It was late in the evening,
the sun having left the world over an hour ago. The buildings that lined the
streets were void of lights, all of its occupants having gone home to be
with their loved ones. The houses were alive with laughter, laughter of
kids seeing their father or mother after they spent a long day at work. 
  That was what most of the working class came home to, a home filled with
joy upon their arrival. The joys of being with loved ones. The sounds of
welcome as they stepped through the door. But for one person, she came into
a bleak-looking house, alone. The house was dark when she entered it, no one
home to greet her. Fortunately, she had become used to being alone, away
from outside contact.
  Akane languidly flopped onto her bed, her energy spent. She had spent most
of the day teaching martial arts and was dying for a nice, warm bath.
That is, if she could only get out of her bed first. Her back ached, all her 
muscles tense. She didn't want to move, but was longing for a bath, something 
that was soothing.
  She groaned aloud as she tried to push herself up, only to fail when
aching took over. She knew that she couldn't keep this up. Having to go
through this pain everyday for several years was really starting to get on
her nerves.
  "I have to find someone who'll help me teach" she said to herself.
  But how could she? Even if she did live pretty well off, she couldn't just
go out and hire help...or could she?
  "I guess I should put an ad in the newspaper stating that I need someone
to help me teach" she said, yawning out loud, too tired to try and get up
so she can go take that nice warm bath.
  "I'll put that ad in first thing tomorrow," she said, right before falling
to sleep.



Chapter 2

     Ranma leaned up against the park bench, watching his two beautiful 
daughters at play in the playground. The morning breeze blew through his black 
hair, his ponytail, which looked more like a pig-tail than anything else, 
gently swaying to and fro. He loved watching his two daughters have fun. 
Just watching brought him great joy, his daughters the most precious things in 
his entire life. He loved both of them with all his heart, just as much as 
they loved their father. His twin daughters giggled sweetly as they continued 
to swing higher and higher on the swings, their momentum making them 
look as if they could reach the heavens if they continued on like that.
  "How am I goin' to tell them?" Ranma said to himself softly, looking down 
toward the ground as his elbows rested up against his thighs. Ranma was in a 
very bad predicament. The company he worked for was a subsidiary of a larger 
foreign company that was expanding and they wanted  him overseas taking care 
of their international business affairs. Ranma was 
chief-executive of a prestigious computer engineering company, a position he  
wasn't all to fond of considering he wasn't enjoying what he was doing. The  
only reason why he had taken the job was to support his twin daughters, Meggie 
and Jessie. 
 Seven years ago, when the twins were born, Ranma was forced to find a better 
job due to the arrival of an unexpected twin. He was forced to quit his job of 
being a sensei so he could look for a better job since being a sensei wasn't 
bringing in enough money. The thought of bringing up two children instead of 
one was too much for his wife, so she left him with the burden of nurturing 
the two very shortly after their birth. She had packed her bags one night, and 
just left, never heard from again, at least not until several years ago. 
Although he had very hard times at first, Ranma managed to handle both having 
a job and two kids to take care of, working in the mornings while a 
baby-sitter took care of them and spending his time with them at night 
when he came home from work. 
  But now, it would change. Ranma was supposed to move east and overseas and 
become president of one of the companies. But he didn't want to. He knew that 
if his two daughters moved with him, they would have to switch schools and go 
to a new one, one where they have no friends.  He couldn't do that to them, he 
loved them too much to make them to go through that again. The first time, 
when he moved to Nerima, his daughters had so much trouble adjusting to the 
new change that it kept him up late at nights from the guilt, guilt that it 
was his fault. But not anymore, he planned on staying right where he was. And 
so he was given an option, to move overseas, or quit. That was it, no other 
choice. So he chose to resign. That one move nearly brought the entire company 
down because when Ranma's fellow co-workers respected him so much that they 
said they would quit if he quit. So when he quit, everyone else quit along 
with him, much to his protest. He didn't want to bring anyone else in this, 
but they insisted. So now Ranma was without a job and two daughters to take 
care of. His mind was plagued with worry, far too much stress for a 
twenty-nine year old to have. He looked like he didn't have a worry in the 
world, his handsome face concealing his emotions well. How was he going to 
tell his daughters that he quit his job? How was he going to support them 
without a job? Sure, Ranma was smart enough to save several million yen over 
the years, but that money was meant for the girls college tuition. If he 
didn't get a job, and fast, he would soon have to start using his savings. And 
what would happen after all that money was gone? Then what?
  "Daddy," came a sweet innocent voice from the playground.
  Ranma lifted his head, his gaze resting on Meggie, the first-born of the
twins, just one minute older than Jessie. As his gaze caught hers, him
looking into her chocolate-brown eyes, all of his worries seemed to
disappear. His visage turned from worrisome to content, happy that he had
made the right choice, to stay in Nerima so his daughters would be with
their friends.
  "What is it, Meggie?" Ranma asked, calling Meggie by her nickname, a
nickname that only she allowed him and her sister to call her. Her real name
was Meghan but she preferred Meggie. 
  He smiled warmly.
  "Can ya give me a push, Daddy?" she said, trying to swing as high as she
could, not even close to as high as Jessie was swinging.
  "Sure. I'd be glad to,"
  Ranma stood up from his bench and proceeded towards the playground. But
before he stepped through the small gate of the fence that surrounded it, a
jogger accidentally bumped into him. He and the jogger both fell to the
ground, the jogger falling down on top of him.
  "Sorry" Ranma apologized, quickly getting to his feet. He reached out a
hand to help the jogger to her feet.
  "It was all my fault," Akane said "I wasn't looking at where I was going"
She took hold of Ranma's hand and pulled herself to her feet, noticing how
delicate Ranma's hand felt in hers. His hand was soft yet strong. She looked
up at Ranma and her heart skipped a beat when she looked into those
beautiful blue eyes of his. She turned her gaze away from him, slightly 
blushing, a warm feeling in her heart. 
  "Are you all right?" he said, concern in his voice.
  "Y-yes, I am," Akane said, not looking directly at him. Even his voice
made her blush. She couldn't quite explain it.
  "Daddy," came a voice, causing Akane to start. Akane turned around and
looked down. There, standing before her, the little girl's head no higher than 
her waist was the most beautiful looking child Akane had ever seen. The child 
had silk-like brown hair that flowed down beyond her shoulderblades, her cute
face showing nothing but pure innocence and carefree joy. She was dressed in a
pretty blue dress that was fluffy around the shoulders.
  "Who's this, Daddy?" the little girl said, looking up at Akane with those
chocolate-brown eyes that could melt the heart of any mother-to-be "Is she
goin' to be our new Mommy?"
  "Meggie," Ranma said, blushing slightly, embarrassment in his voice. He
looked at Akane, and then turned his gaze away, unable to look into those
beautiful eyes of hers. He had many women come up to him over the years and
he had never been drawn to them like he was to this woman right now. Without
looking at Akane, he spoke.
  "I'm sorry," he apologized again, "This is pretty embarrassing"
  Akane smiled, noticing Ranma blushing, a slight red hue in his cheeks. She
seemed to have regained her composure, now that the situation was up against
Ranma.
  "I'm Akane," she said, smiling a smile that seemed to make Ranma's heart
flutter "Akane Tendo"
  "I-I'm Ranma. Ranma Saotome" he said, trying to regain his composure, much
to no avail. What Meggie said seemed to have really gotten to him. He never
expected his little Meggie to say that, especially about a stranger "This
is my daughter, Meghan.....I mean Meggie. Over there," he added, pointing
towards an identical looking girl walking towards them "is my other
daughter, Jessie"
  "Who's that, Daddy?" Jessie asked, stopping once she was standing between
Akane and her father. She was looking up towards Akane, her hand now in
one of Ranma's hands, while Meggie slipped her hand in his other.
  "Um.....that's...Akane," Ranma said, a nervousness still in his voice. He 
was indeed deeply embarrassed at the situation his two daughters had put him 
in.
  "Is she your girlfriend?" Jessie asked, leaning her head up against
Ranma's thigh, tugging at his shorts, which was already exposing too much
of his muscularly defined legs as it was.
  Akane smiled she patted Jessie on top of her head, noticing how smooth
her hair felt to the touch, "No, Jessie. We just bumped into each other.
That's all"
  "Oh....I was hoping you were Daddy's girlfriend so we can have a Mommy
when he marries ya," she replied.
  "Jessie," Ranma said, now really embarrassed "You're really embarrassing
me. Can you please stop saying those things?"
  "I'm sorry, Daddy," Jessie said, her feelings hurt. She didn't want to do
anything to hurt her Daddy, especially embarrass him. She looked down
towards the ground "I didn't mean it"
  "Jessie," Ranma said, regaining his composure. No matter what kind of
predicament he was in, it didn't bother him as much as seeing one of his
daughter's feelings hurt "It's not your fault. I know you didn't mean it"
  Akane watched as Ranma embraced the little girl in his arms, reluctant
when it came to letting her go. She then saw him hug his other daughter so
she wouldn't feel left out. Akane's heart melted when he saw how much he
loved his children, something she found very attractive in a man, even if he
was the first real contact she had with a man outside the dojo for a very
long time. Having been so caught up in the moment, Akane was unaware how
late she was in getting back home until she looked at her watch. It was
already pretty late in the morning, and she was going to be late getting
back home. 
  "Oh no, I'm late!" Akane said, turning to Ranma "I have to get going now.
But it's been nice meeting you and your two lovely daughters"
  "Okay. Maybe we'll see you around, Akane. Bye" he said, smiling sweetly.
  Akane smiled back, her heart aflutter from having been so close to Ranma
for that long. It seems like Akane's morning was definitely off to a good
start.



Chapter 3

     "I have five years experience in teaching martial arts, two for
Tae Kwon Do and three for Shotokan Karate" the man said, leaning back on
the couch.
  Akane leaned back against her own couch, which was located across from
the man. She regarded the man for a second, wondering if he was the right
choice. Throughout the whole day, she had interviewed over two dozen people
who had responded to the ad she had placed up in the paper a few days ago.
Only two out of all those people were qualified for the position of sensei.
  Akane's gaze turned from the man, and onto the window. The stars glittered 
high in the sky that night, the moon shining every bit as bright. It was late 
that night, and he was the last person she had to interview for the day.
  "What degree did you attain in both arts?" she asked, putting a check
next to his name, which meant he was experienced in teaching. The question
she just asked him didn't really matter, but she just wanted to know just
how much of the martial arts he knew.
  "For Tae Kwon Do, I'm a third dan and about to take a test for my
fourth dan. For Shotokan Karate, I'm only a second dan" he replied.
  Akane was impressed with the man's experience. Almost all of her
potential hired help only had a first or maybe a second dan, let alone
a fourth and second dan in two different arts. Most of the people she
interviewed were either too young and had just gotten their first dan, or was
not experienced in teaching.
  "You are definitely qualified for the position. I'll let you know if you've
got the job tomorrow" Akane said, extending her hand forward to shake his
hand, noticing he had a firm grip "Thanks for coming"
  "No, thank you for taking the time to interview me," he replied, smiling
sweetly.
  With that said, the man gracefully got up to his feet and left the house,
Akane escorting him to her front gate.
  "Good night," he said, bowing to her right before he left, a guesture none 
of the other people had done, a guesture that seemed to make Akane want to
hire him right there on the spot.
  Akane watched as the man walked down the street, getting smaller and
smaller as he got farther away. 
  She sighed, grateful that he was the last person she needed to interview for 
the day. But dread came over her when she realized that she would most likely 
have more interviews tomorrow. She wasn't cut out for this. She was having 
enough difficulty teaching her daily classes, let alone interview more people.
  Akane leaned up against the outer wall, closing her eyes, thankful for the
day's end. Now that all the interviews were over, she could have some time
to herself, time to take a soothing warm dip in the bathtub. Her muscles
were tense, like always, and she was in definite need of relaxation.
  "Good evening," came a voice, causing Akane to start.
  She opened her eyes and gazed at the figure that stood before her.
  It was Ranma.
  "I know you...you're the guy I bumped into several days ago. You're Ranma.
Ranma Saotome," Akane said, surprise in her voice. She would never forget his 
name. That was for sure. And now, for some reason, the thought of a nice warm 
bath seemed to have disappeared from her mind.
  "That's me, Akane Tendo," he said with a smile, trying to hide his
surprise of seeing the beautiful woman that he had dreamt about for the
past few days. He was hiding it well, his visage showing no signs of
surprise or attraction towards her.
  "What brings you here?" she asked, slightly blushing from Ranma's husky
voice. She felt relief when she realized it was dark out, and that Ranma
couldn't see her doing so.
  "Well...I'm here to schedule an appointment for an interview" Ranma
replied, feeling a little bit embarrassed that he didn't call instead. He
never really liked to talk over phonelines. He preferred talking to the
person face to face. And since he realized he was talking to Akane, he was
glad he liked his approach, even if he didn't know that Akane was the
person who was going to be interviewing him. He would've known it was her
if it weren't for her forgetting to put her name in the ad in the first
place.
  "An interview? You want to be a sensei?" Akane asked, a little surprised.
When she first met Ranma out in the park, she would've never guessed he knew
martial arts. She expected him to be something like a model, what with his
terrific build. She never would've thought that Ranma was the kind of
person who knew martial arts, what with him spending all of his time loving
his two daughters.
  "Yes," Ranma replied, smiling slightly, still a bit embarrassed at having
came at such a late time of day.
  "Why don't you come on in? I'll interview you now," Akane said, smiling
weakly "Besides, I wasn't planning on doin' anything in particular anyway"
  "Are you sure?" Ranma asked "I don't want to impose"
  "It's no problem at all" Akane said. Even though the though of a warm
bath seemed nice, spending some time with Ranma seemed even nicer.

  "I have about seven years experience in teaching, four of them for Kenpo,
and the other three for Aikido" Ranma said, taking a sip of his coffee,
which tasted great. It was very early, somewhere around two in the morning.
  Ranma had first stepped into the house almost three hours ago, and they
still weren't through with the interview yet. Maybe it was because they
would always digress into other subjects like why he was there or how she
inherited the dojo and so on. Even though they spent so much time together
already, the time seemed to have slipped away in a blink of an eye.
  Akane was impressed at Ranma's reply, very impressed. He was so far the
most qualified person for the position.
  "How long've you taken Kenpo and Aikido?" Akane asked, wondering just how
much experience he had in martial arts.
  "I've studied Kenpo since I was around three, meaning I've taken it for
twenty-six years. I started taking Aikido when I was around thirteen, which
means I've been taking it for close to sixteen years" Ranma replied.
  That means he's only twenty-nine, just one year older than me, Akane
thought, adding the numbers in her head up. Ranma definitely didn't look his
age. He looked like he was in his early twenties. What was even more
surprising was that he looked that young while still taking care of two
daughters. But Ranma wasn't the only one who looked young in that room.
Akane looked like she, too, was in her early twenties, which was odd 
considering she had quite a lot of stress from taking care of the house
and the dojo.
  "What degree did you attain in both arts?" she asked, the same question
she asked every other person she interviewed. Even though it was pretty
much an irrelevant question, she wanted to know anyway. 
  "I have a eighth dan in Kenpo and a seventh dan in Aikido" he said
bluntly, not at all proud of his rank yet not at all ashamed of it either.
He said it as if one would say what their address was.
  Oh my god, Akane thought. This guy's better than me. This guy's more
than much better than the person before him.
  "Wow, that's pretty much the highest rank you can attain in both arts,"
Akane said, a bit envious of Ranma's skill. But she wasn't at all bad
herself. She was a seventh dan in Karate and considered a grandmaster in
Anything-goes-martial arts, the highest rank a martial artist could ever
attain. Unfortunately, when one teaches a totally new art to the world,
they are automatically considered a grandmaster.
  Ranma shrugged his shoulders. He didn't really care what rank he held. It
meant nothing to him. He was self-confident of his skills and that was what
mattered. He wouldn't even care if he was a white belt. He had two sweet
daughters that made him feel like he could take on the world.
  "I'd like to spar against you," Akane said, smiling slightly, her gaze
challenging Ranma's. Akane was way too good a martial artist to go up
against even a fifth or even a sixth dan martial artist. She needed someone
as good as her, if not better, to spar against her so she could learn more.
  If she always beat her opponents, how could she learn from her mistakes.
Now that there was a worthy opponent for her, she could finally see if she
was any good, any good against a formidable opponent.
  "Why would you want to spar with me?" Ranma asked, a bit confused.
Whenever people found out what rank he was in martial arts, they tended to
avoid confrontations with him. He was surprised that someone, who was
actually aware of his skill, wanted to fight with him.
  "I wanna see just how good you are?" Akane said, "That's all. How about
it?"
  "Um, I'd really like to, but I really have to get going," Ranma said, 
getting up out of his seat, finishing off his cup of coffee with one big gulp 
"It's getting late and I don't want the girls to wake up and ask the 
baby-sitter why I'm not home yet. But I would love to tomorrow" he added with 
a smile.
  "Can you come here around eight?" Akane asked.
  "Yeah, right after I drop the kids off at school," Ranma said "How come?"
  "Because that's when class starts. And I want you to teach it."



Chapter 4                                                            

     Akane awoke feeling refreshed and invigorated, she having slept well
even if she did go to sleep very late that night. She stretched out her
slender arms, her muscles relaxed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. The
morning sunlight was shining through the partially opened window, its warmth 
felt within the room.
  Akane yawned, stretching her arms high into the air, as if she were trying
to grab hold the sun itself. She felt a wave of relief wash over her when
she realized she could sleep in, Ranma coming in to teach the morning class.
But she didn't want to sleep in, she wanted to be wide awake when she met
him. Plus, she also wanted time to practice her techniques so they could
spar.
  She got out of bed, letting the bedsheet fall to the floor and on top of
her feet. She arced her back backwards, feeling the tenseness of her back
fade away as she yawned once again. Stepping out of clear view of the
window, Akane lithely got out of her nightgown and proceeded towards the
closet. She fetched out her jogging outfit, which consisted of shorts and a
regular t-shirt and got into them, checking herself out in the full-length
mirror.
  "I think I should start wearing jogging pants," Akane said to herself. She
realized that the shorts she was wearing exposed quite a lot of thigh.
Although she had beautiful shapely legs that women would die to have, she 
didn't like people staring at her, it made her feel weird. Besides, she was
self-confident about herself and she didn't need to show her legs off just
to prove it.
  "I better go out and buy some new jogging clothes tomorrow," she added,
noticing just how tightly her t-shirt hugged her chest. She knew her outfit
definitely attracted attention to her and didn't want that. Even though
there were few, she didn't like the guys who came up to her and asked her
out. Those guys would be leering at her chest as they said that. She knew
that those guys wanted to go out with her because of her body, or maybe
getting lucky with her. Well, those were to things they would never get.
  Akane had no intention of sleeping with anyone unless he was her husband.
She was worth waiting for. She intended on staying pure until her honeymoon.
  She quickly fixed her bed and threw her nightgown in the hamper before
she left her room and headed down the stairs. She seemed quite happy, far
more content than most mornings. Maybe it was because she knew Ranma was
going to be there in a little more than one hour.

  "Daddy, wake up," said the bundle of energy that just jumped into Ranma's
bed. That bundle of energy was followed by another bundle of energy, every
bit as energetic as the first one.
  "C'mon, Daddy. Wake up," Meggie said, pulling one of Ranma's eyelids open
and smiling sweetly while Jessie pulled the other one up. The twins both
giggled as Ranma tried to make them stop.
  Ranma smiled inwardly, pretending he was still asleep. He gently swatted
both of twin's hands away, acting as if he found it bothersome. The twins
giggled again as they pulled his eyelids open once Ranma's hands were back
by his sides.
  "Daddy," Jessie said, gently shaking Ranma "It's time to wake up"
  "I have a better idea to wake Daddy up," Meggie said, with a grin, a grin
that looked more cute than cynical.
  "What kinda idea?" Jessie asked, letting go of Ranma's eyelid.
  Meggie leaned forward and whispered into her ear.
  Ranma tried to listen but couldn't hear what the two were saying. His head
was too far away. And there was no way he could lift his head closer because 
it would give away his pretend act of still being sleeping. Although not many 
people could tell the difference between the twins, Ranma knew it was Meggie 
who came up with the idea. She was the one who always came up with the idea. 
  Although she and Jessie were twins, they were very different. Meggie was the 
quiet one, the one who was always thinking things up, the one who could make a 
plan up, but couldn't act it out. Jessie was the opposite. She was always 
out-going, never really thinking things through, the one who always listened 
and acted out all of Meggie's plans. They were a perfect combination. They 
were both inseparable, neither of them leaving each other's side. And Ranma 
was so lucky he had them for daughters.
  Ranma waited in anticipation for what the twins planned on doing. He
wanted to look but couldn't, for it would spoil his pretend act. He felt
a hand close over his nose and another over his mouth. The twins wanted to
see how long their Daddy could hold his breath before he needed air.
  "Gotcha!" Ranma said, reaching his arms outward and grabbing hold of his
two precious daughters. He embraced them tightly practically squeezing the
breath out of them. The twins yelped out in surprise, their giggles drowned
out by Ranma's declaration of how much he loved the two of them.
  "You think you could wake me up before you two wake up?" Ranma said,
getting out of bed, swing the two girls in his arms "You'll never get the
best of me"
  Ranma threw both girls in the air as they giggled in delight.
  "C'mon. Since we're all up early, lets go out and get some breakfast,"
Ranma said, throwing them back up into the air again, this time even
higher. Many times this had happened, his daughters waking him up early and
him taking them out to breakfast. Although Ranma was a great cook when it
came to making breakfast, they liked to eat out at times.
  "Okay, Daddy," Meggie and Jessie said in unison, leaping out of Ranma's
arms and scrambling out of his bedroom so they could get out of their
pajamas and into their clothes. Ranma watched as the two disappeared around
the corner of the hallway before he got out of his bed to get dressed
himself. He looked at the clock that hung on his wall as he took off his
shirt and threw it in the hamper.
  "Six forty. That leaves me with a little more than an hour to get the
girls dressed, eat some breakfast, take them to school, and get to my new
job," Ranma said, fetching a shirt out of his dresser drawer and putting it
on. If it was possible, the thought of working with Akane seemed to make his
morning even brighter. Not only did he have breakfast with his two daughters
to look forward to, but he also had work with Akane later. He didn't have
too much sleep last night, his thoughts of Akane plaguing his mind for
most of the night. He remembered how nervous he felt around her last night,
when he was being interviewed by her. He remembered how good he felt just
being around her. Smiling, he placed his clothes on and left for his
daughters room so he could help them get dressed.

  Akane stopped abruptly when she noticed Ranma walking down the street.
She felt a twinge of nervousness fall upon her. Her heartbeat started to
pace faster than it already was. She had been jogging for fifteen minutes
yet her heart wasn't beating as fast as it was now. Whenever she was near
him, she felt a warm feeling wash over her, a feeling she could get quite
used to.
  Ranma was unaware of Akane, his back turned towards her. He was holding
Meggie's hand with his left hand while holding Jessie's hand in his right.
Ranma seemed to have trouble keeping them well behaved for they were
playing tag against each other, pulling Ranma's arm back and forth when they
were trying to keep from being tagged. Ranma seemed happy, for the most
precious things in his life he held in his hands. The people who walked by
seemed to notice him, all envious of how content he was being around his
children, even if they did seem like quite a bit to handle.
  "Daddy," Jessie said, looking up towards Ranma, her head tilted backwards
so she could get eye contact "I want some cookies"
  "Honey, you know you can't have cookies for breakfast," Ranma said
patiently. This had happened before, his children asking for sweets and
candy on their way to the breakfast shop. But he had taught them well that
eating food like that would give them stomach aches "You'll get a tummy ache
in school"
  Jessie's visage saddened. She knew her dad was right. She had learned her
lesson. Once, when Ranma wasn't paying attention, she snuk into the
cookie jar and ate several cookies. She later on got a stomach ache in
school which caused her father to come and pick her up so he could take her
home. She would never forget how worried her father looked when he walked
into the nurse's office and saw her sick.
  "Daddy. I hafta go to the bathroom," Meggie said, giving Ranma's arm a
gentle tug. Meggie didn't want to worry her father but she really had to
go, and fast.
  "Can you hold it for just a few minutes longer?" Ranma asked. He knew
something like this was going to happen. Almost every time they went out
for breakfast, either Meggie or Jessie wanted to go to the bathroom. This was
one situation he could never really handle. His girls were too young to go to
the bathroom in a store by themselves. It didn't help any considering he was
a man and men couldn't go into the girls bathroom even if they were just
watching over their daughters. He had learned the hard way. About a year
ago, when Meggie needed to go to the bathroom, Ranma figured that no one was
in the girls room so he went in along with her. When he took his first step
in, he remembered reacting just in time to duck underneath a purse that
would've taken his head off if it connected. It didn't help matters any
when the lady started screaming 'Pervert!' and pointing towards him. But
after a lot of explaining, especially to the security guard that happened to
have been there, Ranma was apologized to. That incident taught Ranma quite
a lot.
  "Daddy, I really hafta go to the bathroom," Meggie said, crossing her
legs as she stood there.
  Ranma was starting to sweat. He needed someone else to escort Meggie to
the bathroom. He looked around in the passing crowd for any females who
seemed willing to help.
  "Hi Ranma," Akane said, finally coming up with enough courage to walk up
and talk to him. She had been standing behind him for several minutes before
she could get that weird feeling out of the pit of her stomach. But when
their eyes met, that feeling came rushing back. Her knees felt a bit shaky,
as if they were about to give out at any second.
  "Akane, thank goodness you're here. Can you please do me a favor?" Ranma
pleaded, noticing that intoxicating scent of slight perspiration from Akane.
But he managed to get a hold of himself in time for there were more
important matters at hand than that feeling he had in the pit of his own
stomach.
  "What is it?" Akane asked curiously. As she gazed at Ranma's visage, she
noticed that he seemed worried about something. She noticed some droplets of
sweat forming above his brow.
  "Can you please take Meggie to the bathroom?" Ranma said, extending his
arm forward so she could take hold of Meggie's hand "I don't want her going
into the girlsroom alone but I can't go into the bathroom along with her"
  Akane nodded as she took hold of Meggie's hand "Where's the nearest
bathroom?"
  "There's one in this store," Meggie said, pointing towards the store that
they were all standing in front of. She knew it was the breakfast shop they 
always went to. 
  Akane smiled at Meggie, noticing how helpful and cooperative the little girl 
was. Meggie had done this before, been escorted the bathroom by women who were 
willing to help. She was taught to always cooperate in a situation like this, 
when a woman would take her to the bathroom. She never really cared who 
escorted her, but for some reason, she enjoyed holding Akane's hand. It felt 
natural, like holding her father's hand.
  Ranma watched as Akane quickly entered the breakfast shop, her hand held
fast over Meggie's hand. He quickly followed suit, Jessie's hand held fast
in his own. Inside, he watched as Akane gracefully weaved between the people 
and head straight for the bathroom.
  "Who's that, Daddy," Jessie asked, gently tugging at Ranma's arm to get his
attention. Ranma seemed to have been caught up with watching Akane before he
realized Jessie was talking to him till she had to repeat herself a couple
of times.
  "That's Akane. Don't you remember, she was the nice lady you met in the
park a few days ago," Ranma answered, kneeling down in front of Jessie to
give her his full attention. He always paid full attention to his daughters,
always listening whenever they said something. Besides, he loved hearing
them talk.
  "Can we eat?" Jessie asked, rubbing her growling stomach "I'm hungry"
  "I'm hungry also. But can you wait for a few minutes?" Ranma asked "At
least until your sister and Akane come out"
  "Okay, Daddy,"
  After several moments of waiting.
  "There they are now," Ranma said, seeing Meggie and Akane coming back out
of the bathroom. He gently picked Jessie up into his arms so she could see
them from over the people that was already in the store. Slowly, with
Jessie still in his arms, Ranma started making his way through the crowd
and towards where Meggie and Akane was at.
  "Meggie, Jessie, let's get seated so we can eat," Ranma said, putting Jessie
back down on the ground so she and her sister could look for an empty
table. He watched as his daughters quickly found a table and climbed into
the empty seats. 
  "Would you like to join us?" Ranma asked, pivoting a bit so he could see
Akane and his two daughters clearly. He made sure his two daughters never
left his sight. Who knew what kind of people were out there?
  "Nah, I better not," Akane answered, noticing just how much attention Ranma
paid to keeping his daughters safe. Although she herself didn't have kids,
she would've most likely done the same thing Ranma was doing right now,
keeping her children in constant sight.
  "Come on. I insist," Ranma asked with a smile, a smile so warm that some of
the females in the store were quite envious about. They wished they had a
man whom seemed to light up a room with a single smile.
  Akane smiled warmly and answered.
  "Well, if you put it that way. How could I refuse?"

  Akane watched as Ranma waved to his daughters as they waved back one
more time before they both entered their school through the front door. She
smiled inwardly when she noticed just how much he cared for his daughters.
She noticed how reluctant he felt to releasing his embrace of them before
they headed towards the front door.
  "I guess we better head for the dojo," Ranma said with a sweet smile "so I
can start my new job"
  Akane smiled inwardly, knowing that she would be spending the next several
hours with him teaching class. Akane looked at her watch. It read
seven-forty exactly. That meant they had fifteen minutes to get to the dojo
and warm up before class started. Together, Ranma and Akane headed for the
dojo.



Chapter 5

     "Ranma," Akane said "Now how about that spar?"
  Ranma was a bit surprised that Akane still remembered that. He was
standing at the head of the class watching the students practice a simple
technique when Akane walked up to him. The students weren't paying too much
attention to them, all of them busy trying to hone their own skills. He
looked into Akane's beautiful eyes and saw the seriousness of what she said.
She did indeed want to spar against him.
  "Are you sure?" Ranma asked, "I, myself, don't wanna spar"
  "Why not?" Akane asked curiously. She figured that if Ranma was as good as
he said he was, he must have fought numerous battles. She figured that he
attained his rank from being very competitive, always striving to be better.
  "The last time I sparred was many many years ago, well before my two little 
girls were born," he replied "Ever since their arrival, I stopped training so 
I could raise them. Besides, I'm pretty sure you'll win"
  But he had other reasons not to spar, some very serious reasons, reasons he 
didn't really like talking about.
  "It seems like raising two girls made you soft," Akane said with joking a
grin. She just wanted to get on Ranma's nerves so he would spar against her.
That was why his reply was unexpecting. Ranma looked down towards the floor,
crestfallen, his feelings hurt. He never expected another martial artist to
offend him like Akane just did. But he immediately regained his composure
for he knew that he'd made the right choice, to give up martial arts for
the sake of his two little girls. But deep down inside, there was another
reason why he preferred not to spar. No one really knew, but he was fragile.
  Ranma felt self-conscious of himself as he stood before her. 
  "Sorry. I shouldn't have said that," Akane apologized, "I wanted to provoke
you into sparring against me and thought that was a good thing to say"
  "Don't worry about it. If you really wanna spar, then I'll spar against
you," Ranma said, a bit nervous. He knew he wasn't as skilled as he used to 
be, what with him being away from martial arts for seven years. He didn't know 
if he could be a worthy challenge against Akane. He was no longer skilled 
enough to be considered a eighth dan in Kenpo and seven dan in Aikido. He 
wasn't too sure he could consider himself a black belt in both of those arts.
  "Well, I guess we're gonna spar then," Akane said, getting into her
battle stance. Since Ranma was giving her the option to spar against him or
not, she chose to spar.
  "If you insist," Ranma said, getting into his own battle stance.
  By now, all the students had formed a circle around the two combatants,
all watching in eager anticipation for a great battle. Although they only
knew Ranma for one day, they knew he was a very skilled martial artist. They
just wanted to see how skilled he was.
  Slowly, Ranma and Akane inched towards one another.

  "I better get going now," Ranma said, helping Akane off the floor.
  Ranma and Akane were sweaty from the fight, both exhausted and tired. The
two combatants had been sparring for many hours before one finally gained
an advantage over the other. In this case, Ranma had gained the advantage
over Akane. Little did Akane know that Ranma held back while she pressed on
full force. But the victory had its price. Ranma was breathing heavily, his
gasping far heavier than Akane's. He had this ache in his chest, but he
ignored it.
  Akane took hold of Ranma's extended hand, feeling a bit flushed at the
thought that she, a grandmaster in Anything-goes-martial arts, had lost. But
she was grateful that no one was there to see her loss, for her students had
left a few hours ago, them needing to get on with their day. As she got up,
she noticed Ranma hadn't caught his breath yet, which was quite odd 
considering how great a shape he was in. But she disregarded it.
  It was about three, just a few minutes before Ranma had to leave to go
pick up his two daughters. It was also about a half hour away from Akane's
midday class, the most hectic time in her day, most of her students also
getting out of school and wanting to get their training in before the headed
home.
  "Are you coming back?" Akane asked, a bit daunted of having hired help
that would leave her in the middle of the day.
  "Oh, of course I am," Ranma said, smiling warmly "I just have to drop my
two girls off at their grandma's before I come back. It'll only take a short 
while"
  Akane breathed a sigh of relief, her tension ameliorated upon hearing his
words. She expected him to ask for the rest of the day off so he could spend
it with his two daughter, two lovely daughter she might add.
  "Wait a minute," Akane said as Ranma was about to leave to dojo.
  Ranma turned around, his attention on Akane.
  "Why don't you bring your two little daughters here?" she added.
  "Well, I don't know," he contemplated.
  "Come on," she said "It'll be fun. I'd like to get to know them. They seem
like very sweet children"
  Ranma's face lit up upon what Akane just said about his two daughters. He
always loved children, and the thought that she might also be pretty fond
of children brought some light into his life. After his wife left him, he
hadn't gone out much, always home to take care of the children after work.
  And when he did, albeit it was few over those years, the girls he went out
with would leave the moment they found out he had two daughters. Although
Ranma was quite a catch, his children usually drove them away. Because of
that, his children always blamed themselves because of it. They blamed
themselves for women leaving him, feeling they were at fault for him not
meeting that special someone. Even if they were partially related with women
leaving Ranma, it destroyed him whenever he would see his children cry
because they felt it was their fault. He couldn't have that happen again, no
matter how much someone seemed to care about children. All the women he went
out with knew he had, but disregarded it, thinking having him as a husband
would make everything better. So many times women have taken an interest in
his children as a way to get close to him, and so many times, they left him
because they couldn't handle the burdens of child rearing. He was no longer
as naive as he used to be a few years ago. He was no longer going to fall
for a woman that would eventually leave him like all the others.
  "Sorry. I can't," Ranma said, setting up his defenses, "T-their grandmother
is......expecting them"
  Ranma wasn't afraid of getting hurt. He just didn't want his children to
get hurt again, them thinking she left because of them.
  "Oh," Akane said "then I guess I could meet them some other day. Well you
better get going now"
  Ranma seemed a bit crestfallen as he left the dojo, knowing that that was
how most girls came on to him, through his children. No more. He wasn't going
to have that happen again. If he must live his life alone, without someone
to be at his side, then so be it. He couldn't bare to have his children hurt
again.
  Sighing inwardly, Ranma left for his daughters' school.

  Akane watched as Ranma left, wondering why his visage turned crestfallen
when she mentioned his children. She couldn't come up with any immediate or 
plausible answers other than Ranma being overprotective of his children.
  She sat down on the floor and began stretching, feeling a bit sad that
Ranma didn't want her to get close to his two daughters. She wanted to get
to know them, and Ranma for that matter. But if Ranma didn't want to get to
know her, she wouldn't press it any further. Even if that was so, she
figured she take one more try before giving up on him.
  "G'afternoon, sensei" came a meek voice.
  Akane snapped out of her little reverie, her attention going onto where
the voice came from. Standing in the front of the dojo was one of her 
students, a frail kid who had a thing for her ever since she started
training him.
  Well, if Ranma isn't interested, there's a whole line of people who would
be interested, Akane thought. But the thought exited her mind as quickly as
it entered it, her mind still on Ranma.