Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Ranma ½. 'Cept this Fik, though I'd be willing to give it up if they wanted to make it into a show ///_~

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Ranma walked along a fence top, wringing water out of her favourite red Chinese shirt, and muttered to herself about stupid old ladies and their desire to spoon water out of buckets onto sidewalks.

"…Can't she just tip the bucket over or something," She shook out her shirt and glared down at it, "or at least watch where she's throwing it? Wouldn't kill her or nothing!"

With a last look down at her still damp clothing, she shrugged and hopped over a gate and continued her trek along the fence top, then froze. Wasn't that…Ryouga? And Akane?

Curious, Ranma snuck closer so she could hear what was going on.

"Go on."

"D..da.. Go on a daa… Ahh … T...take this parting gift!"

Ranma barely stopped herself from falling off the wall where she was crouched and stuffed her hand in her mouth, attempting not to laugh. Ryouga was such a wimp.

As Ranma got herself under control, Ryouga waved goodbye to Akane, an obscenely happy look on his face, till she was out of sight and then turned and started attacking the wall behind him, "I'M SUCH AN IDIOT!!!!"

I'll agree with that. Ranma chuckled to herself then her eyes sparkled as she got an idea.

"Yoohooo! Ryouga!" she jumped off the wall and landed softly behind the lost boy and smirked, "In thanx for the gift, let me give you a big juicy smooch!"

Ranma's keen eyes sparkled as Ryouga froze and began to poke holes in the wall before him, "L…let's not rush things. I…I mean we're still young and all."

Ranma sidled closer to Ryouga, "Come' ere baby, come to momma."

"Huh…What? O...ok. Just let me get ready, my love."

With an ubber-kawaii look, Ranma slipped in front of Ryouga, "Forget it, changed my mind."

Ryouga's eyes went wide as he screamed in shock, while Ranma was nearly falling over laughing.

"Ahhhh!! RANMA! YOU'RE DEAD!!"

Before Ranma could blink, Ryouga was throwing punches almost faster then the girl could dodge them.

"Ryouga! It was a joke! Can't you take a joke?!"

"DO I LOOK LIKE I'M LAUGHING TO YOU?!

"RYOUGA!!"

RANMA! STAY STILL SO I CAN HIT YOU!

"Oh yeah right! Like I'm gonna do that!" Ranma used her most sarcastic tone as she bounced up onto a wall, using Ryougas's head as a stepping-stone, then sat back on her heels and rested her wrists on her knees, "Gee P-Chan, calm down a little."

Glaring up at Ranma, Ryouga clenched his hands at his sides and glared up at the redhead, "I. Am. Calm.

Ranma raised an eyebrow at the dark-red battle aura that surrounded the lost boy, "Sure you are."

"Ranma! Why must you always mock me?!" He opened his mouth to say more but Ranma forestalled him by rolling her eyes and interrupting.

"Oh please! You're not going to start with your touchy-feely 'I'm so wonderful and sensitive and you're such a jerk' speech are you?"

Ryouga shut his mouth with an audible 'snap' and stared up at the redhead, puzzled, "My what?"

Ranma stood up, irritated, and began to walk along the fence, glancing back at Ryouga to make sure he was following, "You know. Your Pro-Ryouga, Anti-Ranma speech." With a smirk she launched into her own unique rendition of the speech she'd heard a million times, "'Ranma! Why must you always mock my feelings for Akane, My feels are as pure as the sunlight that streams from the sky on the clearest of days, if you'd just treat Akane as I do you'd find out how wonderful she is, you insensitive jerk.'" She glanced down at her blushing companion, still smirking, "You remember P-Chan, THAT speech."

"Ranma, you have no righ…"

"No what?!" Ranma felt a sudden rush of anger fill her and jumped lightly down from the fence and lifted her chin slightly to glare up at the lost boy, "No right? No right to what, P-Chan? No right to mock your precious little speeches even though it's almost all you bother saying to me in the entire time we're around each other, even though I can't say a word against half the stuff you say about me, like any one would even listen! What DO I have the RIGHT to do P-Chan??" she spat the word out as she advanced on the fanged martial artist who was backing up quickly, "Ignore you? Or perhaps I should just smile, nod and agree with you?

"In fact, maybe I should get it clear from the outset, 'Hi. My name's Ranma Saotome. I'm an inconsiderate, perverted, jerk; more then likely a evil practitioner of black magic, and you'll probably end up trying to either kill me or marry me. Nice to meet you!'" By the time Ranma took a breath to continue she'd managed to back a shocked Ryouga up against a brick wall and was growling at him, "After all, that's how you all see me ain't it? A cur with no honour? Even though all I ever did was get cursed to turn into a girl. Well let me tell you, I'm sick of all of you!" She gestured vaguely in the direction of the rest of Nerima, "You've all decided that my curse has somehow robbed me of my honour. Well it ain't true, I tell yah! I'm going on a training trip! And I'm not coming back till somebody figures out that just because my body's cursed, doesn't mean the rest of me is!"

Ryouga blinked at the suddenly empty air before him and glanced around in time to see a bright red ponytail disappear over the wall.

-=-=-

Ranma was definitely leaning towards the thought that this sudden training trip may have been one of his bad ideas.

After he'd left Ryouga he'd stormed back to the Tendou Dojo, shoved his things in his backpack, thanked Kasumi for the food that she seemed to have ready packed and waiting for him, and left. Now, after having spent three days marching slowly though the middle of a forest, he was beginning to think he shouldn't have been so hasty.

It's not like I couldn't handle it…But this time is different. I'm sick of…of…EVERYTHING. Always nit-picking, attacking and backbiting, if it isn't Akane hitting me with her stupid Mallet, it's Kunou trying to glomp me or Ryouga and Mousse trying to kill me. Then there's Kodachi and her poisons and let's not forget Shampoo and the old ghoul.

Ranma growled and walked a little faster, away from Nerima, "Stupid Pop, this's all his fault. If he hadn't gotten me cursed in the first place…"

Ranma stopped walking and suddenly grinned his first real smile in months, "Ain't nobody here to stop me…YES!"

With a leap in the air, Ranma suddenly took off down the trail.

I'm going back to China!

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Ryouga glared into the waters of the Tendou Dojo Koi pond and rested his chin on his hands; do I really make the same speech every time I see him? And do I blame things on him that aren't his fault? …No! Of course I don't, how can I? It's always Ranma's fault!

Behind him he heard firm, solidly placed, footsteps and didn't have to turn to know it was Akane, Why does she walk so heavily? She's the only martial artist I know who makes so much noise…

"Ryouga." Akane's voice floated down to the lost boy and he looked up at the girl he adored, "Are you out here worrying over Ranma again?" At Ryouga's hesitant nod Akane snorted, "I told you already not to bother worrying about that baka, either he'll come back or he won't. He's probably fine, just sulking. And besides, if he gets into trouble, it's his own fault. Serves the baka right."

Ryouga blinked up at the girl and she put her hands on her hips, "Why don't you go do something useful Ryouga, like train or something. I'm going out."

As Ryouga watched, Akane turned and flitted through the house, presumably to the front door to go on her errand.

Ryouga sat for a few more moments, then shook his head, what Ranma did had nothing to do with Ryouga…even if the lost boy did feel slightly responsible for Ranma's outburst and sudden disappearance.

Pulling himself to his feet, Ryouga wandered inside, deciding to see if he could give Kasumi a hand. He found the oldest Tendou girl in the kitchen, preparing vegetables for dinner.

"Hello Kasumi, would you like some help?"

Said girl let out a startled exclamation and spun around to face Ryouga in fright, her hand going automatically to her throat, "Oh Ryouga!"

"Gomen Kasumi," Ryouga smiled his apology and bowed, "I didn't mean to startle you."

Kasumi smiled angelically at the fanged martial artist and decided she'd better accept Ryouga's offer to help before he forgot about it, "It's alright Ryouga, and I'd love some help. Here, "she handed him the knife she'd been about to cut the vegetables up with, "You can cut the vegetables."

Ryouga smiled, taking the knife, then, before Kasumi could blink, his hands blurred and there was suddenly a pile of freshly cut vegetables on the bench.

"Oh my!" Kasumi put her hand to her throat again and smiled at Ryouga, "That's just how Ranma does it. You'd think I'd be used to it by now."

Ryouga put the knife down on the bench, frowning, "Just how Ranma does it? Since when would he help out in the kitchen?" Ryouga's tone of voice, as well as his words, succeeded in doing something that had almost never been done before.

An emotion that, if it had have been on anyone other then Kasumi, would have been taken as irritation or maybe even anger, flashed through the girl's eyes before they cleared and she gave the lost boy a sweet smile, "Why, Ranma helps me around the house with all the chores, though he's best at cooking. He knows I need the help so he does his best, despite having most of his time taken up by all his 'friends'. He's such a sweet boy." Kasumi nailed Ryouga with another dazzling, half-vacant, smile and then went back to stirring the contents of a furiously bubbling pot.

Ryouga watched Kasumi for a moment then bowed to her in apology, "Excuse me Kasumi? I…think I need to do some meditation."

Before Kasumi could respond, Ryouga had left the house and was carefully making his way in the direction he hoped to find the Dojo.

In the kitchen Kasumi smiled and continued to stir her pot.

-=-=-

Ranma was in trouble. Not trouble he couldn't handle…but trouble all the same.

"…Look kid. Just hand over the backpack, and your clothes, and nobody gets hurt." The thug that stood in Ranma's way waved a knife threateningly and glowered.

Ranma frowned then readjusted his backpack; setting it more comfortably on his back, "Go play with somebody else. I don't want to have to hurt you."

Around him, the group of five men laughed, then the leader waved the knife again, "Look kid. You're amusing but me patience is gettin thin. Jus' 'and over the stuff an' get outta of 'ere."

Ranma sighed, "You guys are stupider then you look, ain't you?"

The lead thug's face went red, "Stupid little brat!"

The man leapt forward, intent on ramming his knife into this arrogant little snot and getting it over with, but staggered as the spot he estimated the kid should have been in, was empty. The men around him gaped, as the boy appeared, standing on their leaders head as if he'd never moved, "I'll make a deal with you." With a carefully calculated jump, Ranma back flipped off the leader's head and landed in a crouch, away from the group of thugs, and flowed into a basic fighting stance, "If you leave now, I won't hurt you."

Before the words were even fully out of his mouth, the group was off into the forest, running as fast as they could, to get away from the obviously dangerous youth.

Ranma snorted and stood up straight, "Geez, I haven't had a good fight since I left the Dojo. Where's Ryouga when you need him?" Turning back to the path, Ranma continued on his trek, kicking loose rocks as he walked. "Probably snuggled up all buddy-buddy-like with Akane. Good! They deserve each other!" Ranma's conscience kicked in then and he frowned, "Well maybe not. Nobody deserves to be with that Violent, Uncute, Macho jerk, Akane. Even Ryouga. Man! What is wrong with that guy?! Is he blind or somethin'? Can't he see what she's like? How could he want to get in on that, maybe I hit him too hard when I knocked him into the spring at Jusenkeyo? Knocked his senses for a loop."

Chewing on his lip and thinking, Ranma wasn't paying any attention to where he was going, so was taken completely by surprise as the ground opened up underneath him and sent him sailing through open air to land with a thump at the bottom of a deep deep hole.

The last thing Ranma remembered before he hit the ground and was knocked into darkness was the dim thought, damn! Now how am I gonna save Ryouga from that violent, uncute, tombo… Darkness.

-=-=-

Ryouga stepped out of the forest and into the centre of a clearing; hands clutched at his sides, and screamed at nothing in particular, "WHERE THE HELL AM I NOW?!?!"

He'd gone in search of the Tendou's Dojo to do some heavy-duty meditation and thinking but had ended up lost… again. Nothing new there really, except that this time Ryouga really didn't feel like wasting the time in being lost.

Glaring at the trees that surrounded him, the fanged martial artist thought seriously about simply blasting his way through them in search of some sort of path, then thought better of it, about time I stopped screwing up the wildlife just cause I'm irritated.

Sighing the lost boy slumped to the ground and dropped his pack beside him, all this time, without Ranmas interference, that he could be spending with Akane…and here he was, wandering around Japan trying to find her. At least he thought it was Japan. And he hoped it was Akane he was trying to find. Despite being lost he had managed to do the thinking about Ranma that he'd intended too, and he didn't think he liked the results.

When Ranma and I fight, who starts it? …Me. Why? Because Ranma is a Jerk! He says something insulting to either Akane or I…he deserves it! But…has he ever sounded like he meant it? Ever? Ryouga let his forehead rest on his upraised knees, No. He always sounds like he's teasing, until someone takes it the wrong way and says something deliberately insulting…like I do.

Then Ranma gets this look in his eyes…hurt, angry…betrayed.

Ryouga growled and leapt to his feet, shouldering his pack. He would not sit here and think all this. Ranma was a Jerk and that was that! He looked around then started walking in a random direction.

Time to get back to Akane!

He didn't see the patch of ground that looked slightly different then the rest, and ended up walking straight ahead to feel the ground suddenly give way beneath him.

Bashing his head on the side of the hole, he was unconscious before he even realized he was falling.

-=-=-

Ranma woke up and groggily opened his eyes. Immediately a bright white light blinded him and he hurriedly shut them again.

Groaning he turned his head away and was relived to see that the bright red behind his eyelids changed to the normal darkness. Hesitantly he opened one eye then, greeted with normal light, he opened the other.

Stone floor, he noted then looked higher.

Stone walls, so far, so good. He looked up.

Stone roof. Okay, sort of odd that.

Looking closely Ranma noted that the walls weren't clean cut either; more natural, like a cave.

Ranma's mind caught up with what his eyes were seeing, "A cave?" his voice echoed. Guess so.

Testing for injuries from his fall, Ranma stood up and glanced around, making sure to keep his eyes avoided from the source of overly bright light.

Yup. Definitely a cave. Big one too, lucky I didn't break something. Wonder what's doing all that glowing though…

Shutting his eyes tightly again, Ranma turned around a walked towards where the light was coming from. After a few steps, his outstretched hand came in contact with what felt like a small table and suddenly the light went out. Immediately Ranma opened his eyes again to find whatever had been shining so brightly, was now doing nothing more than glowing softly.

Ranma crouched down and examined it at eye level for a while, "What is it? A Crystal ball or sumthin? Wonder why it was glowing…" he muttered.

After a moment he shrugged and reached out, grabbing the globe in one hand, then stood up in expectation of a fight, or having to run or something.

Nothing happened.

Ranma waited.

Still nothing happened.

"Nothing? Gee, can't be important then." Ranma was about to drop the ball back onto the small table it had rested on, when faint writing on the ball caught his eye. 'Know thy enemy; know thyself.' Ranma stared at the writing blankly, "What?"

Ranma was about the drop the globe again, figuring it wasn't worth the trouble if he couldn't understand it, when something heavy crashed though the roof and knocked Ranma flat, trapping the hand with the globe clutched in it against his chest.

Ranma shook his head to clear it, but his vision swum. Then sparks exploded across his vision and he blacked out.

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