"Son?"

Nodoka’s light tap and hail floated into the spacious room, just as Ranma was shrugging into a black shirt, having crossed the hall to his room in his boxers and undershirt. His fingers flew to the frogs and danced them closed all around. Then he finally opened the door.

"Sorry, Okaa-san. I was finishin’ puttin’ on my shirt."

"That is alright, son. If you would come downstairs, I have someone whom I would like for you to meet."

"Ok. Lead the way, Okaa-san!"

Ranma and Nodoka filed slowly down the stairs to the main room, where a young girl was sitting. Seeing the brunette sitting on the sofa, her back to them, he looked to his mother with accusing eyes.

"’Kaa-san, you didn’t!" he hissed.

"Did not do what, son?" she replied, keeping her voice low.

"I’m already engaged, ‘Kaa-san!"

"Foolish boy! Kino-san is not to be engaged to you! She is here as a friend, to show you around!" Nodoka glared at the black headed boy.

"Gomen, Okaa-sama…"

The pair walked around so that they were visible to Kino-san. She stood in response. A tall, leggy brunette with a rather pretty face, Kino-san would generally draw the eye of any self-respecting teenage boy who was worth his salt. Unfortunately for her today though, Ranma was not a normal teenage boy. Plus, he just wasn’t interested in her in that way. She sighed for a second at seeing a gorgeous, built, young man in front of her, then bowed.

"Konnichi wa, Saotome-san. Watashi wa Kino Makoto desu."

"Uh, Konnichi wa, Kino-san. Watashi wa Saotome Ranma desu."

"Pleased to meet you, Saotome-san."

"Please, call me Ranma. Saotome-san is my father, not me."

"Alright, Ranma-san. And you may call me, Makoto."

"Hai, Makoto-san."

"Ranma, Makoto-san is here to escort you around town, today."

"I do not need an escort!"

"She is to be your guide, Ranma."

"Oh… ok."

**********

After pleasantries were exchanged, and tea drank, Makoto and Ranma left the house to journey into the Juuban District Shopping Area.

"So, where to, Ranma-san?"

"Uh… do you know of any training grounds?"

"In Juuban?!"

**********

Finally, after trailing Makoto all over Juuban, Ranma was getting bored. Not to mention a bit hungry. Or unwilling to say "Makoto-san" again…

"Say, Makoto, isn’t there any good place to hang out and maybe grab a bite to eat?"

"I know just the place, Ranma!"

And so, Ranma was introduced to the intricacies of the life of the Crown Arcade. And some of the people who could be found there on an average day.

"Mako-chan! Over here!!" yelled a blonde from across the room.

Makoto led Ranma across the room to the table where four of her best friends were hanging out. They sat down in the cleared spaces.

"Hey, Mako-chan! Who’s your new boyfriend?!"

Makoto blushed. "He’s not my boyfriend, guys! Honest! I’m just showing him around. His name’s Saotome Ranma. Ranma, I’d like you to meet my friends. This is Tsukino Usagi, -"

Tsukino-san jumped up and bowed rapidly, somehow managing to grab Ranma’s hand and shake it at the same time.

"You can call me Usagi, Saotome-san!"

"Arigoto, Usagi-san. Please, everyone call me Ranma."

"Hai, Ranma-san!" chorused the table.

"- Aino Minako, -"
The other blonde waved with a big grin.

"Just call me Minako, Ranma-san! I’m sure we’ll be great friends!"

"Ah… h-h-hai, Minako-san…"

"- Hino Rei, -"

The raven haired girl stood and offered her hand to Ranma, who shook it.

"Pleased to meet you, Ranma-san. You may call me Rei."

"Arigoto, Rei-san. By any chance do you happen to know a Hino Nodoka?"

"Auntie Nodoka? She’s papa’s sister. Why do you ask?"

Ranma let loose with one of his lady killer smiles, instantly winning the unattached girls, and a couple of the attached ones for an instant. "She’s my mother. It’s good ta meetcha, cousin!"

Rei went into a sort of shock.

"- Ah, and this is –"

"Akane?! What’re ya doin’ here?!"

"No, no, no, her name’s Ami… Mizuno Ami."

Ranma flushed. "Gomen, Mizuno-san. It’s just that you look so much like my inazuke, Tendo Akane. Have you two ever met?"

Everyone at the table kind of deflated when they heard he was engaged. Well, everyone but Ami…

"Please, call me Ami. No, I am afraid I have not had that distinctive pleasure, Ranma-san. Though it is a great compliment to hear that I resemble your true love in some fashion."

"True love?! As if! She’s just a kawaiikunee tomboy, who’s too violent for her own good, can’t swim, is flat as a stick, built like a brick, and on top of all that, she can’t stay outta trouble ta save her life!"

"B-b-but, you said she’s your inazuke…" Usagi stuttered.

"Yeah, pops and Tendo-san arranged it when we were little…"

"So, you don’t like each other?! Not even in the least?!" Minako’s eyes gleamed like a fox sighting a rabbit.

"Like her? Well, yeah, I like her… I mean, she’s stood up for me ‘n helped me out lots, ‘n stuff like that, so, yeah, I suppose I do like her ‘n all. I just always thought ya hadta more than like a person ta get married and all! I mean, if all ya hadta do was like a person to get married and live happily ever after, I’da married Ucchan a looong time ago!"

"U-u-ucchan…?" Makoto stammered, her mind starting to overload.

"Yeah, Kuonji Ukyo. Pop engaged me to her for her pop’s yatai and then ditched her. She was… is… no, was, my best friend. However, she blew up mine ‘n Akane’s wedding, which wasn’t cool, so I can’t really see her as a friend no more."

"She blew up your wedding?!" Usagi was shocked.

"How many inazuke do you have, Ranma?!" Minako’s eyes had gone from the gleam of a hunter to a sort of glaze.

"Uh, yeah, with Okonomiyaki bombs and, at last count, three that I know about and one nutball."

"T-t-three?" Minako was starting to go into shock.

"Nutball?" Makoto, having recovered slightly from the overload, was getting curious.

"Okonomiyaki bombs??" Ami, of course, wasn’t fazed by the romantic bits, she was more interested in the scientific and mechanical aspects.

"Three, Shampoo, she’s Chinese Amazon, and it was an accident, honest! I didn’t mean to beat her! Ukyo, and Akane. Nutball is psycho rich bitch named Kuno Kodachi who thinks I’m engaged to her. Likes to poison things and if you ever meet her, don’t accept anything from her, but especially not roses! They got stuff in ‘em! Okonomiyaki bombs is a result of Ukyo’s school of martial arts."

"School of Martial Arts?" Makoto, the maiden warrioress, perked up at the mention of some, yet unknown, styles of fighting.

"How’d you survive getting blown up?!" Usagi, almost as curious as the proverbial cat, piped up.

"Kuno? I think I’ve heard of her in my botany classes." Ami mused.

"Chinese Amazon?" Minako, having only heard of Greek Amazons, puzzled.

"You only know about three?!" Rei blurted, finally recovering from being in the direct line of fire from Ranma’s Lady-Killer.

"Yeah, martial arts. I know about maybe ten people who aren’t martial artists. I’m the heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts and my mother’s school now, I guess. Akane’s the heir to the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts and Dojo. Ukyo is the heir to the Kuonji School of Martial Arts Okonomiyaki. Shampoo is the sorta the Heir to the Joketsuzoku Amazon Martial Arts Techniques, her great-grandmother, Cologne is the Head Matriarch of the village. Kuno is the Heir, or maybe the Grandmaster, of the Kuno School of Kendo, or something like that anyways. Ryouga is the wandering Grandmaster of the Hibiki School of Indiscriminate Grappling. So, as you see, we’re all pretty much up there. Besides, haven’t ya ever heard of the Nerimian battles?"

"No, I don’t think so…" Makoto started, surprised that any group of warriors that renowned had actually lived near her and she hadn’t known about it.

"Well, I’m sure something will end up happening around here. Those kind of things usually tend to follow me about."

"Well, I don’t know about the rest of you but I heard someone talking about how the Crimson Dragons got trashed in a fight! They keep claiming that a youma attacked them and they fended it off, but I don’t believe that!" Minako, always the first with juicy gossip, interrupted before things had a chance to get weirder.

"Crimson Dragons? Those wouldn’t be a bunch of punks in red with a red dragon tattooed on their forearms, would it?"

"That description sounds correct, Ranma-san." Ami replied.

"Oh… they weren’t important were they?"

"You mean besides beating people up and stealing from school kids? No." Rei interjected dryly.

"Good. Now I don’t feel so bad about knocking them around. They tried to rob Okaa-san!"

"By the Moon! I heard they had a gun!"

"Maybe." Ranma said, completely brushing off the odd explicative from Usagi as he glanced up at the clock. "Geez, it’s getting late. I better get home. School tomorrow. Yuck."

Ranma stood and bowed to his hosts.

"Glad to meetcha all. I hope I’ll see y’all again. Bye!"

Then Ranma dashed out of the arcade and back towards home, leaving five very curious girls behind him.

**********

The next morning, Ranma was up with the sun. A quick workout, bath, change into a gray version of his usual getup, and a delicious breakfast from his mother saw him out and about on his way to his new school, teachers, classes, and classmates.

**********

A brief stop by the principal’s office for his schedule then off to homeroom. He waited outside of the door for a moment, before being called in.

"Class, today I would like you to meet a new transfer student from the Nerima District. He has been assigned to this class until such time that he may be transferred to a class more receptive of his age. This is Saotome Ranma."

"Pleased to meet y’all."

"Tell us something about yourself, Saotome."

"Um.. ok. I’ve been training in martial arts since I was three years old, since I’m the heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. I’ve traveled around the world on foot. Twice. In the name of training. I spent two years journeying through China to learn the arts there. I used to live at the Tendo Dojo, but I recently moved in with my mother. Currently, I am engaged to Tendo Akane, the heir to the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, in order to combine the two schools into one with our children. Uh.. is that enough?"

"Quite, Saotome-san. If you could just take that empty seat next to Hino-san, then all will be fine. Hino-san, if you could please stand?"

"Oh, that’s alright, Sensei. I can find my cousin just fine."

"Cousin? You are related to Hino, Saotome?"

"Of course, her pop and Okaa-san are brother and sister."

"Oh yes. That is correct. Nodoka-san spoke to me about you. Thank you, Saotome-san. You may take your seat now."

Ranma flopped into his seat, and proceeded to zone out everything in a martial arts mediation procedure.

**********

Much to the sensei’s ire, the young Saotome managed to deflect anything thrown at him without waking up, or looking stupid. Eventually, the sensei, like every other one that had attempted to teach Ranma when he didn’t want to learn, gave him up as a lost cause and went on trying to teach the savable members of the class. Rei, normally the teacher’s pet, spent the entire class period, and much of the rest of the day, sending her gatherings about her newfound cousin to the Sacred Fire at the shrine.