Well folks here's the last part.  Remember C+C appreciated,
wanted even.  Good or bad.  Sometimes bad is even better,
helps you learn what you are doing wrong.  Just no flames
please.


  Somebody was knocking on Akane's door, and she didn't like
it.  "Go 'way."  She muttered, rather sleeply.

  "Akane, It's me.  Time to get up.  We need to train remember?"

  Akane remembered that boice... it was Ranma.  [The JERK!]
Quickly pulling on some clothes she stormed out of the room.
"What do you mean train with you?  You've got to be kidding
me."  Looking at Ranma she saw that he was, at the moment,
a girl covered in all those wrappings, just like the night before.
"And why are you a girl?  You some sort of pervert or
something?"

  "No, I ain't no pervert!  You got that."

  "Then why are you a girl?"

  "'Cause I thought it'd make you more comfortable.  I mean you
seem to have something against guys so I thought I'd make it
easier on ya.  Anyways I gotta go to school.  And, as troubling
as it is I kind have to go as a girl.  I mean, I seem to get wet a
lot.  Unexpected storms, splashed puddles, all sorts of things.
I hear you have to take swiming at your school too.  Anyway
I don't want anyone to see these damn tattos."

  "Hwa?" Akane said inteligently.  This girl, no guy, was doing
something nice for her?  [Wait, there's something in it for him too.]
"Hmph.  So are those tattos really that bad?  I don't beleive you."

  "If it'll make you beleive that I ain't a pervert I'll show 'em to ya."
And with that he took the wrapping partly off one arm.

  Akane recoiled, but after the initial shock she saw that there
was something about them, something almost... comforting.
"Actually Ranma, they really startled me, but they aren't that
bad you know."

  "Sure.  You say that, but try having them over most of your body
and then we'll see what you have to say."

  Deciding it was best to change the subject, Akane went on, "So,
what was that about training?"

  "Have you forgotten already?  I'm gonna make you faster."

  "But last night..."

  "What about it?  Aside from your knowing I'm a guy what's
different?  I'd still like to be your friend."

  "Friend, heh.  Sure you want to be my friend.  You probably
want to be friends with all of us.  I mean you're gonna marry one
of us aren't you."

  "Akane, let me tell you something.  I ain't ready to get married
yet, and when I am it's not gonna be someone pops picks for
me.  It's gonna be to someone I love.  Now come on.  Let's get
some training in before breakfast."

                       * * *

  "Come ON Ranma!  Do you want to be late.  We have to get
you to school so you can register and take your placement tests
you know."

  "Aw man!  You mean I gotta take tests on the first day?" He
whined.

  "Yes Ranma, now let's get going ok."

  "But Akane.  I'm hungry."

  "Then grab something, eat it on the way, and stop whining.  Or
else find your own way to school."

  "Hey!  That's not fair."  Grabing whatever food he could conviently
carry Ranma turned to see Akane already starting out the door.  "Hey
Akane.  Wait up.  I need to get my bag first.  He..Hey, I said wait
up.  Are you deaf or something?  Hey, oww.  Whadya hit me with
that rock for?"

  "You really should learn some manners Ranma.  No one will take
you for a girl acting like that."

  At that Ranma suddenly seemed to wilt as he started muttering
to himself.  Akane couldn't quite make out all of what he said,
but she did catch a few words like 'kill', 'pops', and 'girl'.

  The rest of the trip draged on in silence as Ranma continued to
mope from atop the fence next to the sidewalk.  [Why does he
do that anyway?]  Akane wondered, [The way he's dressed...there's
something missing, something...]  "Oh Ranma!  I just realized
you aren't wearing your school uniform.  Didn't you try on the
one Kasumi gave you?"

  "Akane, there's no way you're gonna get me into that school
uniform, at least, not without a real good cause.  I'd rather wear
a boy's uniform, and I'd get out of that if I could."

  "Honestly, Ranma. You aren't going to make a good impression
with any of the teachers that way."  After a couple of minutes of
walking in silence, Akane remembered something, "Ranma, we're
almost at the school, and I have something I need to do.  So could
you please just wait inside the gates?  You can watch if you want to,
but just let me do it myself ok?."

  "Um... sure.  But Akane, what are you talking about?"

  As that was said they came up to the school and walked through
the gates into the schoolyard.  The school itself was fairly plain
with a clock above the front entrance proclaiming that the couple
were nearly late, along with several dozen others that were waiting
there.  Soon after, Ranma found out what it was that Akane said
she had to do, as the waiting boys proceded to run at her making
absurd claims like, "Akane I love you," or, "I shall prevail my love,"
and numerous, even stupider things.  Ranma was about to forget
Akane's request and help her, when a hand caught his shoulder.
Following the hand back to the head, it was Nabiki.  "Huh?
What are you doing here, Nabiki?"

  "I go to school here dummy.  I'm in the grade, hopefully, ahead
of you.  Now if you want to stay on Akane's good side...If you
want to stay unbruised for that matter...I suggest that you leave
her alone.  This happens to her every day, so she's pretty good
at it by now."

  "Every morning?  She is good, but why?"

  "It's about a boy in my class named Tatewaki Kuno.  He made
a stupid speech at the begining of the year about how anyone who
wanted to get a date with my sister had to beat her in combat."

  "Geez, that's... kinda stupid isn't it."

  "Ranma, Kuno IS stupid.  But he's rich... Well, I need to get
to class.  See ya."

  At about that time Akane was finishing up with the last of the
idiots, so he decided that it was probably safe to talk to her.
"So, Akane.  This happens to you every day?"

  "Yes.  You'd think that they'd have learned by now.  I just
wonder where Kuno is today.  He usually shows up around now."

  As luck (or the author) would have it Kuno picked that exact
moment to show up.  "Akane Tendo, your beautious persence
brightens the day itself.  But wait...who is this radiant beauty
beside you?  I must know."

  Ranma and Akane just stared at him.  "I see, my power and
sheer presence has been enough to strike you dumb with awe.
Do not fear my beauties, for I shall not hold it against you.  It
happens to many.  I can surely forgive you of frail flower, of
beauty like a rose itself.  No, hear me not, for I spoke falsely.
The beauty of a rose pales before yours so much as to seem a
stone by comparison."

  Ranma just blinked.  It took him a second to figure out that
this guy was talking to, and about, him.  Ranma thought to
himself, [Oh yea, I just _had_ to come to school as a girl, didn't
I?  I had to 'make it easier' on myself.  What was I thinking?]
Out loud, however, this is what was said, "Hey, you!  I don't
know who you are, but I think it's about time you left my friend,
Akane, here alone.  And don't go bugging me either you hear?
Or you'll be sorry, I swear it.  Now we have to get going, so
if you'll excuse us."

  Now, that didn't have quite the effect that Ranma had hoped
for.  Being Kuno, Kuno's brain had turned off after sufficiently
taking what part of Ranma's speech it wanted to hear completely
out of context.  So what he heard was basically this, "Oh my.
Who are you, you beautiful thing."

  In response to this misheard message Kuno replied, "You need
not be so forward, my love.  Since you desire to know my name,
that you shall have.  I am none other than Tatewaki Kuno, heir
to the Kuno clan and Samurai without peer.  Some call me the
Blue Thunder of Furinkan High.  Seventeen years old, at your
service, my lady."

  Ranma started to grin.  This...boy, a Samurai.  Ranma looked
at him closer.  He was rather taller than Ranma, and probably
still taller even if Ranma had been a boy.  Kuno definately
fit the blue part of his nickname, with loose, concealing,
non-school issue, blue, clothes. And, upon closer inspection,
roughly half of his limbs had been replaced with cybernetics.
While this surely made him dangerous, it definitely ruled out the
Samurai statement.  The idea of this boy as a saumari was
so funny that Ranma began to laugh.

  Kuno looked at Ranma strangely, as if in deep thought.
"Oh, beautious one.  What, pray tell, is so funny?"

  "You.  You're funny.  Samurai, oh man, tell me another
one.  I've met real Samurai, boy, and you aren't one of them."

  "Oh beautious one, surely this is a sign that you are possessed
by some demons. For surely you would not speak so otherwise.
I am loath to hurt you, but do not worry I will free you from its
evil clutches.  Though I shall regret every bruise I give to you,
even as it were mine own.  Have at you!"

  Ranma lept back as Kuno lunged with his bokken.  [Bokken?
He didn't have that before]  "Akane, where did that bokken come
from?"

  "How should I know, Ranma?"

  Kuno looked pleased with himself as he began a series of quick
slashes at Ranma's midsection.  "Ah, so your name is Ranma.
Fear not.  It is now engraved in my memory for all eternity.  Very
well, now that I have your name I shall allow for you to have your
depeest desire.  I shall allow you to date with me!"

  Ranma ducked the slashes, but when Kuno came to the part about
dating him he flourished his bokken and provided a beautiful
opening that Ranma was almost too stunned to take advantage of.

  Kuno felt something impact his head, and as that oh-so-familiar
darkness moved in he caught the last words of his new love...
"In your dreams je..."

                       * * *


  Ranma and Akane walked into the school, supprisingly early too.
"Um... Akane?"

  "Yea Ranma?"

  "What the hell happened out there?"

  "Well, Kuno, he's.  Well, he's kinda obsessive.  And well, I think
he might like you, just a little."

  "I think I figured that out on my own.  I meant why the hell
did he go on like that?"

  "Well, he isn't the most intelligent person around.  He just lives
in his own little dream world.  Well anyway we're at the office.
You just need to go in there, sign up, and take your enterance
exam."

  "Aw man, do I gotta take that today?  Nevermind.  See you
after school Akane."

  With a final glance at the departing Akane Ranma turned and
entered the office.  The first thing he noticed, it was HOT.  The
second thing he noticed was, it was too damn muggy.  He headed
towards the secratary, and tried for a minute or two to quietly get
her attention.  It was a fruitless endevor.  "Hey, Miss.  Yeah, hello.
I'm Ranma Saotome, and I need to register to for school.  Oh
yeah, I need to take some sort of placement test too.  The last time
I went to school was years ago."

  The secratary slowly tore her eyes away from the magazine she was
reading, and gave Ranma look that he could almost feel judging him.
Apparently she found something wrong.  Her already unplesant face
turned even more unwelcoming as she spoke, "Ahh, another one of
those damn Empire kids eh?  Why is it you have to come to our cities,
can you tell me that?  What's wrong with your precious Kyoto that
you have to come and bring your problems to us?  Nevermind.  You
probably don't have any past records, so we can skip most of the
paperwork so, here."  She handed him a clipboard with a couple
of sheets of paper on it, "I don't know why you came to this school
though, you should probably try one of our easier schools.  I can
give you directions if you like."

  Ranma could barely keep a grip on his anger, and nearly wrenched
the ladies arm in taking the clipboard from her.  He then proceded
to fill out the elementary forms in front of him.  It did take him a little
while, but evenually he finished and returned them to the ever so
unplesant secratary.  "Well, I'm done with these.  Now what?"

  "Now, you sit there untill I can have someone get the tests for you."

  "Um... if I'm going to wait for a while, could you please make it a
little more comfortable in here?"

  "What do you mean?  It is comfortable in here.  Perfectly."  Scowling
she picked up phone and started talking to someone, and try though
he might Ranma couldn't make out what she was saying.  Suddenly
she slammed the phone down, startling Ranma.  "Damn I hate that
woman.  Someone will be by for you in a bit, so sit down and don't
disturb me."  With that she turned back to that apparently engrosing
magazine.

                       * * *

  Nabiki sat in class paying rapt attention to the teacher.  It was
economics after all.  Not that she didn't know all being said already,
but you never did know when you might learn something new.
So she was somewhat startled when Kuno leaned up next to her
and started talking.

  "Nabiki Tendo.  I must ask something of you."

  "What is it, Kuno."

  "This morning I met a woman, beautiful as the morning sky.
She was, sadly, possesed by some form of evil spirit.  Else she
would have quickly lept into my arms right there but for it holding
her back.  As all the school knows you are the one to go to for
information. I would ask of you to find out the wherabouts of this,
this Ranma."

  It took a couple of seconds for this to seep into Nabiki's brain,
but when it did a calculating grin spread across her face.  "Well
Kuno.  I suppose I could find that out for you, but I'm afraid it
would be tremendous strain for me.  I'm going to have to charge
one thousand yen."

  Kuno blinked, he then proceded to process what he had just
heard.  When he actually understood the price he yelled, which
attracted the attention of the teacher.  Who promptly threw a
book, with astounding accuracy, at Kuno's head.

  After Kuno had recovered, which wasn't very long for he has
an astoundingly hard head, he turned again to Nabiki.  "Very
well Nabiki Tendo, but know that this is extortion."  With that
he handed the requested money to her.

  "Of course it's extortion Kuno dear.  Now as to where Ranma
lives.  She's living at my house.  So I could get a message to her,
for, say five hundred yen?"

  Again, Kuno blinked.  This time, he said nothing, did nothing,
well except for promptly writing a note and handing it to Nabiki
along with her 'fee'.

                       * * *

  Ranma sat alone in a room full of cramped study 'cells' unconciously
scratching at the back of one of her gloved hands.  [Damn,] she
thought, [that languages section was so easy, and now you come
to...to this.]  Her face screwed up in thought, she rested her head
on her hands, and with the incomprehencible numbers and variables
numbing her mind she ever so slowly...drifted...Her eyes...closed....

                       * * *

  Success.  Happiness.  Joy.  Confusion.  Chaos.  Fear.  Death.
Despair.  Friends.  Anger.  Destruction.  Faces.  Running.  Hiding.
Desparation.  Shame.  Sacrafice.  Time.  Days.  Months.  Years.
Lifetimes.  Millenia...(1)

(1)Talk about your weird dream huh?

                       * * *

  THUNK

  Ranma's eyes snapped open, now fully awake.  Only to gain a
very close-up view of the test.  [Damn, what the hell was that.
I must have fallen asleep or something.  Oh god, I gotta finish this
stupid test.]  Turning her eyes back to the test, she continued with
the advanced math section.  [Hmmm...let's see x equals...7.  Hey
this stuff ain't so bad after all, I guess I just had to sleep on it.]

  Ranma continued in her cramped cell, working away on math
problems, completely ignoring the now burning itch on the back
of her hand.

                       * * *

  Ranma was lying on the couch in front of the T.V. watching
something called...Anime.  Truth be told he found it rather
interesting.  He hadn't come home in time to watch the beginning,
but from what he could tell it was about one of the Dragon 'bots
and his exploits in the Zone.  However he got up when he heard
Akane come home.  "Hey Akane, how was your day?"

  "Huh?  It was ok.  Why do you want to know?"

  "No reason, just trying to be friendly.  You don't have to be so
suspicious you know.  Geez."

  "Shut up Ranma.  Hey, did they tell you how you did on your
placement tests?"

  "No.  I'm supposed to go into the main office tomorow morning
to find out where I'm supposed to go.  Hey, listen, Akane?  For
some reason I'm really tired, and I'm going to go up to my room
and sleep.  Since I probably won't be down for dinner, I was
wondering if you could save some food for me."

  "Um...sure..."  Akane was about to say more, but Ranma didn't
give her the chance.  He just turned around and walked away,
completely oblivious to her frown.

                       * * *

  The principal of Furinkan High sat at his desk.  He was a depressed
man, an unhappy man.  And as is oftentimes the case, he was a man
dressed entirely in black.  The cause of his depression was his children.
The two little bastards had somehow gotten his father to cut him out
of the will.  Not to mention that instead of being the Vice President
he's now the Principal of this school.

  His train of thought was interrupted by his secretary letting in
Mr. Saito, the head of admissions.  Despite his normally
maddeningly cheerful manner something had made him
beautifully disturbed.  [Mental note, fire my secretary]
"So, Mr. Saito.  What brings you here?"

  Norio Saito gulped almost audibly.  Something about this
man made him feel...cold, no matter the tempature of the room.
"Well sir.  You see, it's the score of one of our prospective
students."

  "And just why are you informing me of this, Saito?"

  "Well, sir.  It's just that, the child has never been to school
before.  I mean he's one of those New Empire immigrants.
Well, aside from the sections on language, which he still did
quite well on, and history which is understandable.  Um...
you see sir.  He received a perfect score.(1)"

  Despite himself, Yoichi Kuno blanched.  "A perfect score
you say.  He must have been cheating."

  "But sir, how?  There is no way to prove it.  The rules state
that you have to at the very least allow him to enter."

  "Then why did you trouble me with it?"

  "Well sir, I thought you might want to advance him to a higher
level school sir."

  "Forget that.  The boy was cheating.  Put him in one of the
lower grades.  Keep me informed of his progress though.
He was cheating, and I will catch him at it.  Be assured  of
that."

  "Yes sir."  Norio Saito bowed ever so slightly and quickly
backed out of the room allowing the principal to get back
to his musings.

  Yoichi Kuno, chuckled and began talking to himself.  "I
suppose they did it to me because of the way I treated their
mother.  They always did love her.  Not that she deserved
their love.  I deserved their love, not her, the bitch.  But I
showed them.  Yes I did..."

  Norio Saito, who was just then exiting the room, shuddered as
Principal Kuno began to laugh.

(1)See my notes.
                       * * *

  Ranma tossed yet again, trying to get comfortable.  Well, it
wasn't that he was having trouble finding a comfortable position.
It was that his damn hand still itched, and it was getting worse.
He brought it up to his face for an inspection.  What he saw
was not what he wanted, nor was it even what he had expected.
Curling up in bed Ranma slowly fell asleep to his own muffled
sobs, and with an image, an ever so faint image of a flaming sword
showing on his hand.


~~End Chapter 2~~

Notes.
  Well, I never really have been good at these, so I don't really have
much to say.  However one thing, no Ranma isn't smart enough
to get a perfect score, and yet he did.  I wanted it that way, just
read the next chapter to sorta find out why.  No, I don't plan on
this becoming insanely long, but things have a way of running away
from me at times.  I would really like to thank my prereaders, but
mostly Scott 'Zoogz' Jamison, and Lyn.  Thanks!  Also Rifts, which
is used in this is a trademark of Pallidium.  Um...basically that's it.

Sir Olin 'Neplusultra' Petty
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/3488/index.html
  Can I have my weapons back please,  I need my sword.  If
  I can't have that, then I'd like my knife, at least.  I'm an
  assassin, sent by the Emperor Jagang.  I'm here to kill
  Richard Ralh.  Can you direct me to him please?