Well, here it is. Your comments are welcome. (comments, not 
nonconstructive flames)



Akane-chan Change

written by Phil Hacker

Chapter III: Rules Are Meant To Be Broken

**********

"School?" Ranma asked.

"Well we *are* going to be staying here for a while, and you *have*
been falling behind in your studies as of late. You realize that a 
martial
artist must balance body, mind, and spirit. Why, when I was a boy-"

"Shut up!" Ranma booted his father into the koi pond. "I still haven't
forgiven you!" He turned his back on him. "Stupid old man," he
grumbled.

"It's the same school Nabiki, Akane, and I go to," Futaba said, coming
down the stairs dressed in a school uniform. "If we're lucky, you'll be 
in
our class."

'Lucky, he says,' thought Ranma. 'The only luck I'll have is if I can 
get
away from this house full of weirdos.' 

"Bye!" Nabiki called as she sprinted out the door.

"Wait up!" Akane called as she ran down the stairs, grabbed her shoes,
and ran out the door, followed closely by Futaba.

Ranma quickly realized that he would be left behind if he didn't follow
them, so he too grabbed his schoolbag and his shoes and followed suit.

***

"How do you do that"" Futaba asked, looking up at Ranma atop the
fence. Ranma shrugged.

"Remember, I don't want anyone knowing about this engagement
business," Akane said. "I don't want you telling *anybody* about it. 
It's
not like we're really going to get married, anyway."

"You think I want everyone knowing that I'm engaged to a freak? No
thanks."

"That's another thing. Our genetic trait is supposed to be absolutely
secret. Our school's principal and our doctor are the only ones in the
area who know about it."

"Do you have any idea what would happen if our secret got out?"
Futaba explained. "We'd all probably become scientific guinea pigs or
something."

Ranma considered it for a moment. "All right. You have my word of
honor that I will never tell another soul about your weird problem."

That was good enough for the other two. Few serious martial artists
would go back on an oath like that.

"You're one of us now too, you know," said Futaba. "If you ever tell an
outsider about the Shimeru trait, you had better trust him or her
completely. According to ancient tradition, if an outsider betrays the
secret, you will be forever banished from the tribe unless the traitor 
can
be silenced."

"All right, I get your point already, so--" He was cut off by Genma, who
had run up behind him on the fence and struck him in the head with his
good hand.

"Don't take this so lightly!" Genma roared. "Do you know how much
trouble I went to to-"

Ranma kicked him into the canal. "You know what, Pop? I don't care. I
never agreed to your screwball scheme." He hopped down from the
fence...right into a rain puddle.

"Aw, man!" Ranma-chan complained as she tightened her belt. "I think
I'll go take a bath." She turned to head back to the Tendou home.

"We'll be late!" said Futaba.

"All we have to do is pour hot water on you, right? Come on. I know
where we can get some," said Akane.

"Well, *I* don't want to be late. See you guys at school!" Futaba ran
off.

***

"Hello? Is anybody here?" Akane called as she stuck her head into the
inner office of the clinic. "I guess he's not here."

"This is the doctor you guys were telling me about?" asked Ranma
chan. She looked briefly around the room. It was somewhat typical as
chiropractic clinics went, with modern-looking charts and various
unidentifiable medical equipment scattered about. although she did note
that the resident doctor seemed also to have some interest in the more
arcane medicinal arts, judging from the old books lining a few of the
shelves.

"Yes. I'll go get you some hot water." Akane wandered off.

'Great,' Ranma-chan thought, looking at the wall clock. 'Futaba was
right. We *are* gonna be late.'

A hand struck her shoulder, startling her.

"YAAAAAAHHHH!" she screamed, literally jumping out of her shoes.
She turned around to see a young man step around the corner, carrying
a medical skeleton. He had brown hair, and was wearing a dark gi and
spectacles. He looked to be about thirty. Ranma-chan wondered if this
was the doctor.

"Oh, did I startle you? This is just Betty-chan, my skeleton. Lovely
complexion, eh?"

"Ranma, here's the-" Akane came running in, nearly knocking Ranma
chan over in the process. "Oh, Dr. Tofu! Good morning!" she said,
bowing, as she noticed the young man.

"Good morning to you, Akane." The doctor bowed. "I haven't seen you
around lately. Nothing new going on at your house, I trust."

"Not really."

"Oh, I don't believe I've been introduced to your friend here," said the
doctor.

"Um, Akane?" Ranma-chan tried to get her attention.

"Oh. This is Ranma. He's staying with us at my house."

"He?" Realization dawned on the doctor. "Oh, I see."

"Akane?"

"What?"

"We're gonna be late if we don't go *now*."

"Oh, you're right! See you later, Doctor!" She ran out the door.

Ranma-chan followed, pausing just long enough to use the hot water to
change back to male once she was out of the doctor's sight before
continuing. He really didn't have time to explain the curse to the 
doctor.

***

The school bell began to ring out its four loud notes a mere fraction of 
a
second after Ranma and Akane sped through the gate.

"Whew, made it," gasped Ranma. Somehow, no matter how hard he
tried, Ranma always arrived at the last minute on his first day at a new
school.

He looked around briefly. Fuurinkan High looked pretty much like any
normal high school that he had seen (though, to tell the truth, he 
hadn't
seen very many), with its monolithic main building surrounded by
various outbuildings and parklike fields. What he hadn't expected to 
see,
though, were the some three dozen young men strewn across the
courtyard in varying states of unconsciousness.

"What the--?"

"It looks like Futaba had some fun this morning,' Akane commented
offhand.

"Whoa, you mean *Futaba* did all this? He's even better than I
thought."

"He who would contrive to help others must first succeed in helping
himself," came a voice. A young man, about seventeen or eighteen years
old, emerged from behind a nearby tree. He was dressed in standard
Kendou garb, sans armor, and carried a bokutou, which he appeared to
be using as a cane as he limped slightly along. His body showed
numerous signs of minor damage, as though he had been in a recent
fight that had not gone well for him.

"Each of these young men saw themselves as fit to ask you out, Akane
Tendou...provided that he could first defeat your champions. I have
defeated your cousin..."

This elicited a stare from Ranma. This guy must be pretty good if he
could pound Futaba as easily as he claimed. Then again, he could be
lying. He'd have to ask Futaba about it.

"...so, in the abscence of your brother, would you not fight me yourself
instead?" the young man concluded.

"Upperclassman Kunou, I *really* don't have time for this today," said
Akane as she tried to walk around him to enter the main building, but
was blocked by Kunou's bokutou.

"A maiden's lips may say 'no' to that which her heart would otherwise
have construed 'aye'."

"I'm *late* for class!"

"Man, is this guy weird or what?" said Ranma.

Kunou turned to face Ranma. "Who are you, boor, that you dare to
mock me?!"

"Well, I'm-"

"But is it not the custom to give one's own name first?" interrupted
Kunou. "Fine then, mine I shall give! The rising new star of the high
school Kendou world, I remain undefeated. The mere mention of my
name strikes fear in the hearts of men. I am called the Blue Thunder of
Fuurinkan High." He raised his bokutou, and thunder crashed in the
background, as if on cue. "Tatewaki Kunou, age seventeen."

Ranma strained to keep from laughing. "The...the Blue...Thunder!?
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"You dare to mock the Blue Thunder?!" Kunou charged at the laughing
Ranma.

Ranma leaped out of the way. "I'm Ranma Saotome, heir to the
Saotome School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts." He tossed his
schoolbag aside and took an attack stance. "And I accept your
challenge."

"I shall make an example of you of the fate of those who deem to insult
the name of Kunou." Kunou charged at Ranma, but Ranma dodged, and
Kunou's bokutou went *through* the stone wall of the schoolyard,
leaving a sizable hole.

Ranma approached Kunou, dodging each of his strikes. "Listen...I...
just...wanna...know...what...this...business...about...Akane...is all
about."

'Wow, he's fast,' thought Akane. 'Kunou didn't even have time to
blink!'

'He's good,' thought Kunou. Not a single one of his strikes had even
come close to striking his opponent.

Ranma leaped back, landing in the branches of a nearby tree. Kunou
swiped at the tree, slicing through its trunk as easily as if he wielded 
a
chainsaw, but Ranma had already leaped free. Thunder crashed as
Ranma descended toward Kunou. A heavy rain began to fall.

At that exact moment, three blurs appeared, each from a different
direction. A large black-and-white blur sped in from the main gate. A
green and brown blur descended from the roof of the school's main
building. A green and blue blur zoomed out of the doors of the main
building. Within a second, all three blurs simultaneously converged on
the two combatants. Actually, collided with the combatants is more like
it. The green and blue blur grabbed Ranma-chan from her position in
midair and sped back into the building carrying her slung over its back.
The green-and-brown blur fled the scene almost immediately, but the
black-and-white blur, which now resolved itself to be a giant panda,
remained, staring after the first two blurs.

"What the--?" Akane asked herself.

***

When Ranma-chan finally regained her sense of the world around her,
she saw that she was in a small room, the only visible furnishings of
which were a chest of drawers and a full-length mirror. In front of her
was a girl about her age dressed in a Fuurinkan girls' uniform. She was
about the same height as Ranma-chan, and had green hair and eyes.

"Who--?"

"Guess." The girl smiled.

"Um...Futaba?"

"Bingo. You owe me for the save."

"What save? If it hadn't rained, I'd've nailed that idiot."

"Yeah, right. Check out your throat."

Ranma-chan looked into the mirror. A large bruise was beginning to
form. "Whoa, and to think he didn't even connect."

"If he had, you'd be unconscious about now. Kunou's pretty good."

"Yeah, he's *pretty* good, but--"

The door swung open, and Akane entered with a teakettle. "I thought I
might find you here. You know, you really shouldn't go around fighting
Kunou without being prepared. He's really hard to beat."

"I was just telling him about that," said Futaba-chan.

"Yeah, whatever," said Ranma. "By the way, where are we, anyway?"

"This is a secret room in the main corridor on the second floor,"
explained Akane. "We come here when we need to change clothes. The
door is disguised as a group of lockers, so nobody notices it."

Futaba-chan checked her watch. "Aw, man! Now I'm really late! Gotta
go!" She quickly exited.

"What classes am I in, anyway?" asked Ranma.

"Actually, we still have to get you registered," said Akane.

***

The principal's office had a rather...unusual decoration scheme. The
general idea seemed to be to simulate a day at Waikiki Beach. To this
end, the walls were painted with a beach landscape, phony palm trees
stood in the corners of the room, and taped ukulele music was playing in
the background. The furniture was made from wicker, except for the
principal's desk chair, whose back seemed to be cut to resemble a
surfboard.

The principal himself was dressed in a loud Hawaiian shirt and khakis,
and had what appeared to be a miniature plastic palm tree strapped to
the top of his head. At least Ranma thought it was plastic. It was quite
obvious that the principal suffered from the syndrome commonly known
as Hawaiimania.

"Aloha, Miss Tendou. What can Ah be doin' fo' you today?" the
principal said to Akane.

"Well, you see, this is Ranma Saotome. He's staying with us, and we
sorta need you to make the usual, um...arrangements."

"Ah. Say no more. One double registration comin' right up."

The principal rummaged through his wicker desk. "You will be
understandin', Saotome, dat you will be needin'' to take a couple 'a'
classes separately, since boys an' girls have different requirements at
dis school."

"What?! Nobody told me I'd have to take classes as a *girl*."

"Trust me, Keikki. It be much simpler dis way. Dis way you be havin' a
complete set 'a' records fo' both yo' forms. Dat's a little trick my ol'
colleague Hirouin taught me. He been my good friend all these years, so
when he come to me an' says, 'Hey, I got dis family, an' a couple 'a'
their kids are gettin' ready fo' high school, but yo' see, they got dis
special 'problem' dat needs to be stayin' a secret,' I says "Shore 
thing,'
an' dat's how it all started." He resumed rummaging through his desk.

Ranma took another moment to look around. On a shelf there was a
crudely done painting of what appeared to be some kind of superhero.
The superhero's costume was light brown, with green tights and boots,
and a green cape. Atop the figure's head there was a tiny palm tree, and
on its chest was an emblem composed of an orange shield, within which
was set a coconut. The coconut was split open, revealing a diploma
inside.

"Who's *that* supposed to be?" Ranma asked to nobody in particlar.

The principal stopped his searching for a moment and looked up. "Oh,
him? Dat there's Cap'n Coconut, da masked defender 'a' justice at dis
school, fightin' fo' law an' order. Nobody know who he really is-" He
paused for a moment until Akane's giggling subsided. "As Ah was
sayin', nobody know who he really is, but when there's a problem, there
he is.

'A family of sex-changing in-laws, a crazed Kendouist, a wacky
principal, and now a superhero. This just keeps getting better and
better,' Ranma thought sarcastically.

***

Kunou stared into the borrowed mirror. On his forehead were clearly
written the two characters of the word "baka", although one stroke was
missing from the second character.

"To think that I thought he was good, when he can't even write
properly."

"Yeah, and check this out." Nabiki pulled something off of his back with
a ripping sound. It was a red post-it with the message, "Don't think
you've escaped yet, boy!" It was signed "Captain Coconut".

"Blast you, Captain Coconut! I shall wreak my revenge upon you yet!"

**********

[End Chapter III]

I decided to bring in Principal Kunou, slightly altered, so that the 
heroes
would have an "ally" at school. This principal is still a stickler for
discipline and control, but he is less bent on enforcing really stupid 
rules
(you still have to scrub the toilets if you're caught cutting class, but 
no
weird haircuts). I also couldn't resist having him do an imitation of
Hirouin's "Seigi no Mitaka" (Friend of Justice) in the form of Captain
Coconut. BTW: his secret identity is just as penetrable as Hirouin's.



Phil

prohackr@hotmail.com


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