Ok, I'm gonna regret this... but here is my first complete story (or at least
the first chapter of it). Be kind, this is my first time posting a story to
the list. If you're an fan of the Akane-Ranma relationship, turning around
now.

Thanks to my prereaders, and a special thanks to John Morales, who is being
nice enough to archive this story on his 'Romancing the Tendos' website at
http://home.sprintmail.com/~belgarath/ .

***

Breaking the Circle
Chapter One
A Ranma 1/2 fanfic by Robert Thomson

Disclaimer : The characters in this fan fiction are the property of Rumiko
Takahashi and the
corporations which produce and distribute her work. Suing me for using them
would be pointless, as I'm a poor, broke university student.
This story is set before Ranma is reunited with his mother and the eventful
trip to Mount Phoenix. Also, due to a temporal anomaly which went unnoticed
(there must be quite a lot of these really, considering the number which are
noticed due to some freak occurrence), Akari and Konatsu haven't appeared yet.
They might appear later, I'm not sure.

	Since Principal Kuno's return from overseas, his students had learned to
ignore his pronouncements. This was because most of them either involved
coconuts or regulations regarding the length of the students' hair, and very
few of the others were comprehensible. The ability to tune out his
pronouncements was an essential ability for surviving at a school run by a
mentally unstable, Hawaii-obsessed school administrator with a hair-cutting
fetish. There was one drawback. As all of the Principal's announcements were
ignored, the rare ones that were more than the ravings of a clinically insane
nut-job generally took some length of time to reach the attention of the
student body. So it was that the news of Furinkan High's first ever Luau
failed to reach the students until three days before the event.
	The uproar caused by this was only slightly above the normal level of chaos
associated with Furinkan(1). Girls scrambled about, borrowing dresses and such
while attempting to secure the few available and socially acceptable boys as
dates. The boys on the other hand directed all of their energy towards
securing dates with the more attractive girls, but ignoring matters of
appearance, such as clothing, until the last possible moment. This insured
that the boys appearance on the night was so awful that their dates forever
regret saying 'yes'. There was only one boy whose energies were not focused
solely on getting a date and so would be reasonable presentable at the Luau.
This was one Ranma Saotome.
	Of course, this doesn't mean that Ranma didn't have any problems with getting
a date for the Luau.

	A massive brawl raged inside the Furinkan High lunchroom between eight highly
skilled martial artists. Ranma was fighting simultaneously against Ryouga and
Tatewaki Kuno at close quarters, while attempting to avoid the daggers, axes,
chains, and training potties being thrown by Mousse. At the same time, a
fierce conflict between Akane, Ukyou, Shampoo, and Kodachi, was occurring in
pretty much the same area as the boy's battle, with each of the girls
occasionally lashing out at one of the guys. Simply put, the eight teenagers
were trying to beat each other senseless for reasons too complicated to
explore here, although the chief reason was presently who got to take who to
the Luau.
	The non-combatant students sat calmly at their tables, eating their lunches
and watching the fight from a safe distance. Nabiki's associates (read
lackeys) mingled with the crowd, taking bets on the fight. At one table, four
nondescript background characters sat and ate, chatting quietly amongst
themselves as they did so. Beside them on the bench was a pair of bento boxes,
temporarily abandoned by Ranma and Akane when the fighting began.
	"So what started it this time?" inquired Sayuri, as she chewed on a pickle.
"Ranma refuse to eat Akane's cooking again?"
	"No, Kuno and Ukyo came looking for dates for some reason and things went
down hill from there." replied Yuka. "I think Shampoo came to deliver some
ramen to Ranma, and Mousse followed her. Not sure where Ryouga and Kodachi
came from, never is with those two." 
	"Why were Ukyo and Kuno-sempai after dates? It isn't like there is anything
special coming up, like Valentine's Day or something." Daisuke was stealthily
filching food out of Ranma's bento. He figured even if his buddy was conscious
after the brawl, he probably wouldn't notice if some pickles were missing or
if there a bit less soup than there should be, and that meant Daisuke was free
to partake of Kasumi's cooking. 
	"It's this luau that the Principal's got planned. The girls all want to go
with Ranma, as usual, and the guys don't want them to, as usual." Hiroshi
frowned at his friend. Why wasn't Daisuke offering him any of Ranma's food? He
couldn't reach the bento from where he was sitting.
	"Luau? What luau? When is it? Oh, I've got to get a dress and a date and is
there going to be a meal there 'cause if there isn't then I've got to arrange
dinner somewhere..." Yuka's babbling continued until Sayuri interrupted her.
	"Don't worry. It's still three days away so you've still got plenty of time."
	"Three days! Sayuri, I've got to find a decent date, and you know how hard
that is around here. The guys are all perverts or are lusting after Akane,
Ukyo, Shampoo, or Ranma's girl-form. I mean, who were you planning on going
with?"
	The young schoolgirl blinked, then started looking nervous. "Well, Hiroshi
here asked me to go with him."
	Daisuke sprayed the soup he had been sipping over the table.

	*This is beginning to get repetitive,* Thought Ranma as he dodged a bokken
swipe aimed at his head. *Someone mentions the word 'date' and suddenly it's
like being trying to keep Pops on a diet(2).
	The news of the luau had resulted in a massive brawl, the likes of which were
only seen in the halls of Furinkan High about three times each month. Each of
the girls chasing after Ranma had arrived as expected, followed by their own
suitors. Oddly enough the fight hadn't begun until Akane, in a fit of rage,
had decided to repeatedly pound Ranma in the head while screaming that she
wouldn't go with him (how this topic arose Ranma didn't know, he hadn't even
asked her). The girls had jumped on Akane for attacking Ranma, and the guys
had jumped on Ranma for upsetting Akane. 
	*It's always the same,* thought Ranma as he ducked a wildly arcing ribbon and
swept Kuno's legs out from under him, with a low kick *Ukyo, Shampoo and
Kodachi all assume I'm going with them, Akane says she doesn't want to go with
me, everyone else assume I want to go with Akane, then they start fighting. In
the end, it doesn't matter anyway, because Pop and Mr. Tendo make me take
Akane any way. It's all pointless.*
	Ranma had never really had much control over his life, having spent most of
it following his father's instructions, focusing on the goal of become the
greatest martial artist ever. However it was clear to Ranma that in order to
excel at the Art, one had to control the path of one's life. His greatest foes
were those that followed their own courses, such as the incorrigible pervert
Happosai, or the wandering Ryouga and Tarou. Ranma was driven to improve his
martial skill as much as possible, and if mastering his destiny would help him
achieve that goal, then it was something he had to do. So when he came to
realise that he was caught in an endless cycle of recurring events, it was not
a pleasant realisation at all. 	
	*Everything is just repeating itself. Akane yelling at me, Shampoo glomping
me, Ryouga attacking me, they've all done it before, and they're most likely
gonna do it again.* Ranma frowned as he avoided a wild attack from Mousse.
*It's just a vicious circle. Their actions have become reflexes; I do
something, and they all react the same way they always do. Wouldn't be so bad,
except I'm caught as well, always doing the same things, so none of us are
getting anywhere.*
	*Only way to stop this and get control of my life back would be to do
something different and break the cycle. But every time I try to do something
different, Akane gets suspicious and starts hitting me. So I've got to have a
good excuse for it before she finds out. However, first I've got to have
something different to do.* 
	Ranma had managed to shift away from the middle of the fight, towards the
edge, and was only dodging and occasionally attacking now. *The girls all want
me to go to this luau with them, but I haven't even decided if I want to go
yet. Still if I went, and with someone other than one of them...*
The look of concentration on his face shifted slightly, as he focused more on
the idea forming in his head than the fighting going on nearby.
	*She'd have to be someone I'd like to go with, and she'd have to be able to
survive the other girl's attacks, otherwise she'd be in danger. What else
would she have to be...* Ranma's thoughts were interrupted at this point by
Ryouga's fist, which sent Ranma sailing out through a Shampoo-on-bicycle
shaped hole in the wall.

	Nabiki sat quietly in the shade of a tall tree, having avoided the chaos
inside by going outside to eat. She was just munching on an onigiri when Ranma
came crashing down head first a few feet away. She causally considered the
young pig-tailed boy as he lay unmoving on the ground for a few moments, and
then asked "Akane again?"
	"No, it was Ryouga this time," Ranma's reply was a little muffled as he was
still face down in the dirt, but Nabiki could make out what he'd said. She
could also hear the tone of frustration in Ranma's voice. "Thought you'd be
inside, taking bets."
	"I wanted to eat my lunch first. I'm sure Yukio and the others are doing
alright without me." She held out an onigiri towards him. "Want one?"
	Ranma pulled himself up, and sat in the lotus position. Nabiki giving
something away free? There was a catch here somewhere. Still, one of the chief
principles of the Saotome Ryu was Never Turn Down Free Food(3). Ranma snatched
the stuffed rice ball from Nabiki, and ate it quickly in a few big bites,
nodding his thanks as he did so. 
	Nabiki nibbled on her own onigiri. "So who are you planning on taking to the
luau?" she asked casually.
	Ranma relaxed marginally. That was the catch. Nabiki wanted the information
for some reason, probably so she could sell it to someone. It was best to
answer truthfully.
	"I don't know yet. Ukyo wants me to take her, and Shampoo and Kodachi are
both taking it for granted that I'll take them. Your sister on the other hand
has made it quite clear she doesn't want to go with me. I'm considering not
going at all."
	"That would be a shame, I hear that Principal Kuno's putting a lot of effort
into the decorations, and has arranged for authentic Hawaiian food." Nabiki
began tidying up her bento.
	"The Principal's arranging the decorations. Sounds like another reason to
stay away to me." Ranma stood, stretching his legs.
	"Good point," Laughed Nabiki smiling, "Here, I'm full," She tossed a kaki to
him, then turned and walked towards the school buildings. 
	*Have to thank her for this later*, He thought as he bit into the sweet
persimmon, *Daisuke will probably have eaten most of my lunch by the time I
get back.*
	*Whoever I take to the luau will have to be able to survive the riot the
other girls will create...* Ranma smiled as a plan formed in his head, *Or
they need to be someone the girls won't attack because if they did, it would
be much more trouble than they'd like.*
	*Nabiki sure has a nice smile.*
 
Foot notes - 
(1) This should be taken as an indicator of the natural level of chaos present
at Furinkan High, rather than an indicator of the readiness and adaptability
of it's students.
(2) A dangerous task, only attempted once during the Saotomes' stay in Nerima.
Afterwards, Akane had her arm in a cast for a fortnight, Soun needed 23
stitches,  and Ranma suffered from 3 broken ribs, a concussion, a dislocated
shoulder, and nearly needed to have two fingers sowed back on. Genma, on the
other hand, was unharmed and actually lost 9 kilograms.
(3) Unfortunately for Ranma, Genma misheard and thought the principle was
simply Never Turn Down Food. And to this day, no matter how many times he has
engaged Ranma before, Genma will not turn down any amount of food. Makes
things a little clearer, doesn't it?

Onigiri - Japanese rice ball, typically stuffed or seasoned. A snack or picnic
food.

Kaki - Japanese sweet persimmon.

***

"The combination of a number of things to make existance worthwhile."
"Yes, the philosophy of 'none', meaning 'all'."
Spock and Abraham Lincoln, "The Savage Curtain", stardate 5906.4 

Robert Thomson
Please send C&C to r_thomson1@prontomail.com

____________________________________________________________________
Get free e-mail and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com/?N=1