Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma and Co. and there are many aspects in this story that belongs to the series Gods of Honour. Some of the aspects also belong to Anywhere but Here.

Chapter Five: Sayonara, Ranma Saotome

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Reiko smiled as she bowed slightly to the crowd. Ah to be in a tournament again, she thought to herself. Still, she frowned. That fight had not been satisfactory. She walked down the steps as her co-workers met her at the bottom of the arena.

"That was fantastic!" Alex exclaimed. The others nodded as Reiko blushed.

"Thanks guys."

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Genma stared at the buxom redhead. "Ranma." he gasped out. He stepped forward to talk to his cursed son but a staff stopped him. He frowned. "Cologne, why are you stopping me? That is my son there!"

The wizened lady shook her head. "No, that is a WOMAN there. A SAKURA women. Don't you see how SHE is acting? She's happy for kami's sakes! What was she feeling when you left her Genma? How do you think she will feel now to see the only family member she has known, the one who abandoned her in the time she needed you the most?! Don't you dare walk over there and ruin her happiness. Even and idiot like you can tell that she has finally grown to accept her curse and get on with her life. She has FRIENDS now!"

Genma's head drooped at he elder's words. Cologne's eyes softened. "I still remember the first time she walked into our village. She was so sad, so very hurt. You could have practically seen the aura of darkness and depression around her! During the whole time she stayed in our village she never once talked as happily as she is now. The only time she talked was when we asked her a question. She loved the art I could tell, and she still does. She showed the most positive energy when she practiced the art." She put her hand on the martial artist's shoulder. "Genma, let her be. Be glad that she was not dead. Be glad that she is happy."

Genma nodded slowly, his eyes staring wistfully at the redhead. Cologne sighed inwardly. The whole time she had been in Japan trying to teach Shampoo about the outside world she never thought that the poor cursed boy she had taught was related to Ranma Saotome. Genma could never get the strength to tell them more than what was necessary.

Reiko, she thought, may you live in happiness.

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Akane and Ryouga exchanged looks. "Ranma? Isn't Ranma a boy?" Akane asked confused.

"Ranma was a boy but at Jusenkyou he was permanently cursed to be a girl. Genma abandoned hi..her and left for Japan." Akane and everyone else stiffened at Soun's explanation.

"He WHAT?!" Akane yelled outraged.

"How could he just abandon her like that?" Kasumi asked softly. Poor Ranma.

Ryouga frowned as he guiltily thought about his previous grudges against Ranma. Sure getting knocked into the Spring of Drowned Piglet was bad, but what about getting permanently cursed? Ranma may have been a pain in the @$$$ but he was the reason why he met Akane, his love.

"That was before." They all became silent as Soun continued to explain aggravated. "That was before and this is now. Genma has never forgotten Ranma and doesn't go through a single day without regretting his shameful actions. He loves Ranma and has been trying all these years to find her."

Once again Akane whispered softly to Ryouga. "Poor Mr. Saotome. Poor Ranma."

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Reiko smirked as she watched the next several fights. She had easily won her, which made the crowd cheer for her all the more loudly. Several others gained the crowd's support too.

There was that man, Ryouga Hibiki. He seemed really good and very strong.

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Ryouga yawns slightly as a huge Sumo fighter charges at him. Lazily he flicks his hand and sends the man flying out of the arena and into the wall. The Sumo fighter slumps to the ground leaving a crater and lots of spider web cracks on the wall.

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Then there were the two Amazons. She wondered why there were here in Japan. Shampoo was skillful and so was Mousse, as was expected from the Amazon warriors. Idly she wondered if Elder Cologne was at the tournament but brushed the thought away. She was the matriarch of the Amazons, why would she be here?

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Cologne sneezed from across the arena. She rubbed her nose. Maybe I am coming down with a cold. My old body isn't as strong as it used to be. She sighed.

Oh the pains of old age!

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Mousse surprised her though with his Hidden Weapons technique. Those two must have been away during her stay at Joketsuzoku. Then there was her.

Akane Tendo of the Tendo School of ANYTHING GOES.

Anything Goes, her style - no Ranma Saotome's style. She was no longer a Saotome. She was Reiko Sakura.

Akane Tendo was fairly good, better than the average martial artist but certainly not the best. Her branch of the Anything Goes gave her an advantage over the others but if she guessed correctly then the Tendo woman had never lived on her own. Tendo was lucky or unlucky depending on the situation.

Tendo was lucky to have never faced hunger and cold but she never got the experience of living off the land. The experience of cooking her own food, fighting for survival in the harsh weather, and fighting wild animals. It was obvious that she had some anger control problem. Anger could help you only if you got past the cloud of rage and learn to control it to your advantage. Otherwise, it would be your downfall.

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Frustrated at her opponent's speed and the lack of her attacks connecting, Akane yelled in rage as she puled out her trusty mallet and slammed her dodging opponent to the ground. She sniffed slightly before walking off the arena.

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The only real opponent she had was Ryouga Hibiki. She wondered why he looked so familiar. His entire outfit, the bandanna, red umbrella, and his small fangs were familiar. Where had she seen him? Oh well, it probably wasn't important.

Then it was up to the last five fighters. Her opponent was the Tendo woman. A soft smile formed on her face as her eyes met the sight of her co-workers cheering wildly on the sidelines. They were so silly.

It probably didn't help lesson her opponent's slight irritation when she continued to smile during their fight. The fact that she was dodging almost lazily never went unnoticed by her opponent. Reiko was so happy that she felt that nothing could make the smile on her face disappear. She had friends that were truly her friends. She smiled and dodged around her opponent's attacks with her arms behind her back.

Life was good.

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Akane's face was a mask of concentration as she tried to gauge 'Ranma's strength. A tap to her shoulder broke her concentration. "Yes, Cologne-sensei?"

"Akane, no matter what you do or what your father tells you, you may not call Reiko by her previous name, Ranma. She isn't Ranma anymore and if you must call her by something, call her by her current name. It's Reiko Sakura and don't forget it. Do you understand?" Cologne smiled when her student nodded her head. "Good, now go try your best."

Akane smiled and entered the arena. She didn't notice that her new teacher had told her to 'try' her best and not 'go win the fight' like she had said so in the previous rounds.

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Life was not good, Akane conceded as she breathed heavily. Reiko was a formidable fighter and she was probably better than Akane was. She should have known that Mr. Saotome's so-daughter was going to be a good fighter but she had stubbornly believed that she was better. After all, the elder of Joketsuzoku had taught her. What Akane didn't know was that Cologne had also taught Reiko and that was long ago. Reiko had a lot more experience and time to perfect her art.

Akane had to remain calm just as her senseis had taught her. It was becoming increasingly hard but she could do it. She had been training for months to control her temper and she was definitely improving. She would remain calm and cool. Calm and cool.

"Stop dodging!"

Yeah right.

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Reiko just shook her head slightly at the Tendo heir's lack of control. She was getting mad and her attacks were starting to become sloppy. The girl had some training under an Amazon she could see from her assessment of Akane's techniques. Her rage was still proving to be her downfall.

"You shouldn't be so angry, Tendo-san. You are getting sloppy." She hoped that her advice would cool her down and give her a more fair fight.

Sadly, her words were like oil being thrown into a raging inferno.

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Akane's eyes widened in anger. How dare she try to lecture me? I am Akane Tendo, the Heir of Anything Goes!

"Argh!" She growled as she called her mallet into existence. She glowed dark red as she swung her mallet at Reiko.

She blinked in shock when Reiko dodged her mallet and lightly touches the wooden hammer.

"Bakusai Tenketsu." Akane was barely able to hear Reiko's soft words. Before she could react, her mallet had been blown into little pieces of wood.

She was shocked to know that Reiko had also learned under an Amazon. So shocked was she that she didn't notice Reiko touch a shatsu point on her neck that rendered her unconscious.

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Reiko sighed slightly at the Tendo woman. That woman still has a long way to go.

After several minutes the announcer yelled out, "The winner of this round is Reiko Sakura!" The crowd started cheering and she smiled cutely back.

"GO REIKO!!!" It was obvious to her who they were.

"Thanks my friends."

"GO REIKO!!!"

"GO REIKO!!!"

She stood next to her friends with her right eyebrow raised. "Uh.."

"GO REIKO!!!" "GO REIKO!!!" "GO REIKO!!!"

"Stop yelling! I'm right next to you!" She yelled at them.

All her friends sweatdropped and grinned sheepishly. "Hehehe..."

They were indeed her friends. Silly friends but she wouldn't have them any other way.

She just wished they weren't so..embarassing..

"GO-"

"Yell again and you will have a lot of work to do tomorrow." That silenced them.

Silly friends indeed.

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All the Nerimians, except for Cologne and Mr. Saotome, gasped in shock. Akane may have not been the best martial artist but she was good. Reiko had lazily won the match against her without any effort.

"Akane lost..she is not going to be a happy martial artist once she wakes up." Everyone nodded at Nabiki's wise words.

No kidding.

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The next fight was Ryouga against Mousse. Ryouga being Mousse's opponent was both a relief and a disappointment to the Amazon warrior. Ryouga was better than Mousse and he knew it. The only amount of relief he allowed himself was the knowledge that he didn't have to fight with Shampoo.
He would have lost either way.

Mousse put up a good fight with Ryouga but all of his potty trainers and miscellaneous weapons weren't enough to stop the bandanna boy. Ryouga won by knock out.

Next fight, Reiko against Shampoo.

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Shampoo held her bonboris in a defensive position as Reiko seemed to be in a relaxed stance. She knew that although the redhead looked like she was anything but ready, she was in fact more ready than those who took up active stances.

Reiko would be hard to defeat. From the look her great-grandmother gave her she knew that she would probably lose. If she was going to lose then she would have as much fun as she could get before getting knocked out.

And she did.

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Reiko bowed back at Shampoo, a broad smile on her face. Shampoo smiled at her friendly before stepping off the arena. Shampoo was a much more formidable fighter than Akane and a lot more control too.

She flipped her long pigtail as she smirked at her last opponent. Ryouga just stood with his arms crossed his face stoic.

"Not a very cheerful guy is he?" She nodded at her friend's question.

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"Ladies and gentlemen, for our final match, the one that will determine who is the strongest martial artist in Japan!" The crowd roared wildly.

Reiko stood across from Ryouga with a smirk on her face while he remained in his previous position: arms crossed and face stoic. She wondered briefly what his problem was.

Ryouga cursed the heavens for making his opponent a female. He was not as against fighting females as he had been before, Akane beat that out of him daily, but he still couldn't go all out with one. He was unnaturally strong and although he knew Ranma- no Reiko was no weakling, he was still worried about harming her.

He heard the announcer yell out start and gritted his teeth. He should knock her out as painlessly as possible. Might as well get it over with. With that thought he charged at Reiko with a powerful combo.

He was not too surprised when she dodged every one of his strikes barely. He grabbed his red umbrella and striked at her but she dodged again. After several more dodges Reiko stopped her defensive maneuvers and started retaliating.

Ryouga stifled a gasp as she started moving at godly (or goddesslly) speeds. He was hard press to dodge and block her strikes. He wasn't fast enough to remain unharmed.

He held his side lightly. He had gone through the Bakusai Tenketsu training from Cologne and if she had been able to cause pain then that meant that she was terribly strong. He was at a disadvantage. Not only was she strong, possibly stronger than he was, but she was fast. Her Anything Goes style left him more than slightly disadvantaged. He was familiar with the style from all the sparring he had with Akane and Mr. Saotome but that didn't prepare him for Reiko's other unfamiliar styles. She seemed to have either developed her own or trained under a master that he was unfamiliar of. That seemed very unlikely provided the travels and .. trips.. he went on.

They started trading blows again and he found out his largest disadvantage.

Her shiatsu knowledge.

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The crowd was wild as Reiko was proclaimed the strongest of Japan. She blushed and returned the hugs her co-workers gave her.

She glanced back at the..ahem..sleeping Ryouga before leaving the place with her friends, who were still cheering for her.

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Reiko was walking to her new home with Alex when she remembered what she wanted to ask her friend. "Alex, when are you able to go furniture shopping with me?"

Alex blinked and was about to answer when her cell phone rang. "Hold on." She whipped out her phone from her purse and pressed the button. "Hello, Alex speaking."

Reiko waited patiently as her friend talked. She glanced at her confused when Alex frowned.

"What do you mean I haven't paid? I've paid every single month on time!" Her frown deepened. "Five months? How could you say that I haven't paid in FIVE months?" Said frown deepened even more. "What it's not like some divine person just grabbed all of my rent money from your place!" Frowning wasn't what could describe her friend's face. More like scowling. "MOVE? Why you little... @$&%!"

Reiko glanced at her friend slightly, very slightly, nervous at her furious face. They were at her home already. "What's wrong?"

Alex's eyes looked at her and then around her. Then looked at her house and back at her. She stopped scowling, as something seemed to light up in her head. She didn't like the look in her friend's eyes.

"Nothing. Reiko, you have to move. Move somewhere close to the hotel."

Reiko stared at her confused. "Why? I just moved her and bought this house."

Alex grinned as she started pulling her friend away from her home. "Oh nothing, just that this place is really far away from the hotel."

"It's okay with me, I don't mind walking there."

"Oh but I mind."

"Why?"

Alex smirked. "Because I'll be living with you. The owner to my apartment told me that I haven't paid the rent in five months, which is a bunch of bull I tell you. However, I figure that I can live with you and I do not want to walk THAT far to get to work."

". . ." Reiko sweatdropped as she was dragged out of Nerima.

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A lone figure stood on top of the building's rooftop. ("No this is not a beautiful and tall woman or man. Instead it is a rather dried up and short old mummy...Ah!" Cologne glaring at author and holding up VERY big sword. "DIE!") Cologne sighed softly.

"Fate bought you to us and fate took you away again. Maybe someday fate will bring you back to us... maybe.."

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Reiko shook her head confused. That was very odd. Why did Alex just get kicked out of her apartment and decide to live with her? Not only was she going to have a roommate but she was also going to have to move again. At least Alex promised to find a house for her that looked exactly like the one she had bought in Nerima.

"She better..." Reiko mumbled softly. She stopped walking when a man landed in front of her. His back was turned to her and when he turned to face her she could see that he was surprised to see her. Surprised and a bit.. irritated? "Who the..?"

Before she could finish asking him he suddenly sweeped her in his arms and leaped away. "HEY!" She yelled indignant before hearing a large boom where she had been standing. She glanced down shocked at the large black crater down below her.

She growled slightly at the man holding her and beat him with her fists. "Let me GO! I can handle myself!" She frowned as the man stared at her incredulous.

She was about to kick him in the face when he placed her on the ground again. "Just who do you think you are buster?!" She poked him on his chest with her finger.

He gave her a slightly apologetic look. "Sorry, I'm Ryo Sazaki."

"RYO!" He grimaced and she glanced behind her to see a silver dragon coming towards them.

"What the..?" She repeated herself for the second time as the dark haired man, Ryo, stepped in front of her as if to protect her.

"I don't need protection." She told him darkly.

He smirked at her. "You're gonna need it."

End Chapter Five.