All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

Warning: This is Anime Continuity which kinda means
there is no continuity. ^_^


The Path of Least Resistance


I am Ranma Saotome.
I am nobody else. That's the only person I will ever be and the
insignificance of it all is scary. And even more grotesque in its nature is
my life.
My life is boring. I'm sure I'm living a life few people could conceive, but
it is still boring. Wake up, practice with pops, get into a fight with
Akane, go to school, fail some tests, fight Kuno, wave off Shampoo, eat
lunch, fail some more tests, go home, practice with pop's, fight Mousse or
Ryouga,
go to Ucchan's to eat dinner, get dragged back to the house by Akane and go
to sleep.
Repeat one thousand times and the novelty of the situation goes away.
Oh, I'm sure things will change. They have to! Instead of going to school
I'll be going to a  job. Yeah, that will make it all the more interesting.
The funniest thing is how I came to this conclusion.
Was it during battle? Was it something Akane said that
set it off?
No.
I woke up and realized who I am. Isn't that the stupidest thing
you've ever heard?! Live your whole life and then realize that
this IS your life.
And now I'm sitting here eating breakfast like I always do. Fighting
over a scrap of meat with my panda/dad. And everything I do is
based on instinct. I think that I say something that pisses Akane off and
now she's hitting me and shouting about how thoughtless I am.
God, I hate it when she's right.
The day goes along as expected. Everything fits into place nicely.
Running through the halls to get to Miss Hinako's class. I think she's
complaining about all of us doing so poorly in the class, especially me.
It's not that the material is too hard. It's just I don't want to waste my
time on it. But then why not? I could study, study and study. Maybe become
the
best student in the whole school, go to a great college and...
Then I think about my grades as they are now and that silly little fantasy
goes away. I can't escape this-this existence with my brain! It won't work
and I know it.
And now I see my hands now curled into fists. I stand up and walk out of
the room. Miss Hinako is too busy playing on her gameboy to notice.
Akane's talking with Ukyo about some girly stuff or something.
I walk the halls looking for the room thinking whether I have the period
right. I look into the room and see that I'm right.
Opening the door I stride in with all of my confidence and shout,"Tatewaki
Kuno! I challenge you to a fight!"
---
Soon I'm standing in the baseball field waiting for him to strike. I had led
him and nearly all the students in the school out to the field much to the
chagrin of all the teachers.
Everyone is questioning what I'm doing. All find it so bizarre that I would
challenge Kuno. Their voices are different. The scene is confused
and odd.
And Kuno has to ruin it all by attacking me.
He strikes at me while raving and I knock him out with one kick. It's over
before anyone can see it and they're all leaving. Saying all the things they
usually say
about Kuno. Akane comes through the crowd with Ukyo. Akane looks at
Kuno's fallen form and back at me. A crease comes across her eyebrows
and she asks,"Ranma, why did you challenge Kuno?"
"Why the Hell do you wanna know?" I ask defensively.
Akane looks like she's fuming at the comment and Ukyo
steps forward saying,"We're just worried about you, Ranma. That's
all."
I look at them and I walk back into the school.
---
I'm going back home by myself. I thought briefly of stopping by
the Ucchan or maybe even the Nekkohanten, but I decided not to when
all the events I could imagine from doing so flooded my brain.
Then several bombs exploded around me sending gas everywhere
and I see Mousse standing in front of me. I hope that maybe he had a new
technique
or something interesting. Something not so god damn predictable as those
stupid chains.
He starts out by throwing the chains at me.
I immediately grabb them and throw the chains along with him to the
ground. Jumping after him I plant my foot into his face thus shoving his
head firmly into the ground.
And than I get off of him and stand there. He lifts himself from the ground
and looks in my general direction. He throws a several spears at me.
I dodge them and say a clever quip or was it a really pathetic quip. I
don't know, I wasn't paying attention. It ends with him in a lying beaten on
the
ground with his arms spread out. Well, that's at least how I know the fight
will end.
---
I walk in through the gate and give a greeting to Kasumi. She's
sweeping the floor in a back and forth gesture. She went to where I had
walked through the gate and began to sweep there. Back and forth.
I shake my head and decide to get something to eat. When I get to
the kitchen I see pop's standing by the refrigerator. That isn't unusual,
but then I see that he isn't eating anything.
"Akane told me and Tendo that you've been acting up! What's your problem
boy?" he asks me threateningly.
The idea of telling him what's wrong is so preposterous I begin to laugh.
"Boy, how dare you laugh at me?!" He shouts.
"How dare I laugh? How can I not laugh?!" I yell back.
He raises and eyebrow and I swear it sounds like he's actually
concerned when he said,"What's the matter son?"
"The same old thing over and over again. It's tedious! It's boring! It's-"
I stop shouting when the old man starts to chuckle himself.
"You really are stupid you know that?" he says with a sly smile and
continues
,"You foolish, foolish boy. How can you be so unappreciative of having a
pattern to your life?"
I look at him for a second and say,"What the Hell do you mean by that?"
He points at me dramatically and says,"God's greatest gift to man is
a predictability. Being surprised at every turn of your life is too scary
a thought Ranma."
I think my jaw hit the floor and I say,"How is being in a rut a gift?!
That's a horrible thing!"
He shrugs and says,"Maybe. But it's not like you're going to do
anything about it."
I narrow my eyes and say,"Oh, and how do you know I won't do anything?"
Laughing harshly, he says,"You think getting into a fight with that Kendo
idiot is going to change anything? It would take something drastic to change
everything and you aren't going to do it."
"Ho-how d-do you know that?" I stutter out.
"Because you wouldn't want to hurt anyone like that. Because it might
not work and most of all because you're too comfortable with the way
things are, boy," and he seems to look thoughtful as he says,"come on
Ranma it's not that bad to live out the rest of your life like this?"
And I can't help, but look into his eyes and shudder in revulsion.
"No. Everything's going to change."
---

I don't know how I did it, but I did. They're all scattered around the
room. All of them. Shampoo, Ukyo, Akane, Nabiki, Kasumi, Mr. Tendo,
Dad, Ryouga, Mousse, Cologne, Happosai, the idiot Principal, Hell even
Hiroshi and Daisuke are here.
I go before them listening to their comments.
"Why hast the sorceror called us here?"
"Ranma no socreror stupid stick boy!"
"Saotome, show yourself now!"
"Ranma-sama already has you fool."
"It would be nice if everyone could be quiet. I have a business to run."
They all stare at me waiting for my speach. Waiting for me to say
something. And I try. God, I try.  And they wait.
It isn't too long before they grow restless. It isn't too long before the
girl's
get into a fight. It isn't too long before the guys turn on me. It isn't too
long
before everything goes straight to Hell.
But at least I wasn't surprised.


'I should have a pair of ragged claws. Scuttling across the ocean floor.'
-The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Elliot

Until I find better things to write about. Ja ne.