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.

I do have to ask, why is this Ranma going to school?  It's obviously not 
because of any respect he has for his father.
 

"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.' 

"But Ranma, you're one of us now..."  ^_^

"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.

No one responds to Futaba.  No wonder he decides to leave.
 

"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."

Honor is extreamly important to Ranma, I don't see why he would give his 
word of honor to someone he just met, I could see it more likely he could 
offer to exchange this for them keeping his curse a secret.
 

"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."

So if they banish Ranma from the tribe, will they cure him?
 

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

Ranma is saying this?  Why does he go from "I don't want to go to school" 
to "We're going to be late"?
 

"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..."

Hmm, Futaba defends Akane, she must hate that.

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.

Hmm.. Her brother, so she goes to school as a guy each morning, then 
changes back to a girl?  Also, Kuno would trash Akane if he fought all 
out, so she must be either better or hurt more often.

***


"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.

This change was a good touch.  Out of curiosity, is this secret room your 
idea, or something from FKC?
 

***


'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.

This scene was a nice addition...
 

***

[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.

You know, if you choose to, you can always use a made-up vice principal 
for your this, and have Principal Kuno the tratditional characterization 
(or whatever, Principal Kuno isn't a major character)
 

Phil

prohackr@hotmail.com

Keep up the good work, and get chapter 4 out soon.

--Kurt Montgomery