C&C would be most welcomed. I'm also looking for people willing to pre-read 
for me. So if you're interested, mail me in private.

Disclaimer: The characters and situations belong to their respective owners. 
Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. Rival Schools and Street Fighter 
belong to Capcom. These are their owners to the extent of my knowledge.

Notes: Retsu is the monk from the original Street Fighter and Daigo 
(literally meaning 'big brother') is from Rival Schools. Also, this set at 
the end of Rival Schools and the Ranma 1/2 series.

SCHOOL DAYS
Prologue

Ranma spat out the blood in his mouth as he got himself to his feet. This 
'Daigo' character was a lot tougher than he had thought. After the first 
fight, Ranma figured he had the big guy pegged, but boy, was he wrong. They 
had been going at it for almost an hour now. Both had landed heavy blows on 
the other but Ranma had obviously felt it more. "This guy's like both Herb 
and Ryouga put together" he thought.

It was true; the young man Ranma was fighting had indeed taken enough 
punishment to down even the Eternally Lost Boy. But Ranma's opponent was no 
ordinary adversary. He was brimming with energy. Every punch or kick was 
backed up by a heavy dose of chi, to the point where a single kick would 
send his prey flying and his fist would glow with blue energy as he threw 
them at his foe. But not only that, he was able to focus his chi to be used 
as a shield for his body. Ranma had tried the Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken on 
his opponent earlier but not only was it neutralized after the initial blows 
but it left him open for attack. And Daigo had no compunctions in taking 
advantage of the situation and catching Ranma in one of his high powered 
combinations. The best advantage Ranma had over the person was the man's 
inability to throw chi blast.

He was cornered. His back was to the wall of the alley they had been 
fighting in. There was no point in trying to dodge all day. The area was too 
narrow and his legs were too weak anyway, having received such heavy 
punishment already. He couldn't even try to make a break for it either, the 
man's lackeys were blocking all escape and preventing any help from his 
friends and family. There were even a few laying in wait on the rooftops. 
They were the ones who could throw chi blast and were waiting to shoot him 
down if he tried to escape that way. Luckily, none of them had tried to 
interfere though it was clear why. Their 'Big Brother' could handle himself.

There was nothing left to do. It was fight but no flight. Fine then! He'd 
take the guy down with both arms behind his back if he had to. No one was 
going to beat Ranma Saotome of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial 
Arts! Rushing at his opponent, Ranma was greeted by a flurry of punches that 
ended with a vicious straight that sent him sailing. Game, set, match: 
Daigo.

Cologne shook her head as she looked between the prone form of her 
son-in-law and the departing figure of the one who so easily defeated him. 
"Ranma, what am I going to do with you?" she thought to herself as Genma 
hefted his son onto his shoulder. It seems her son-in-law would require some 
new training. He was bested twice in single combat by the man known as 
Daigo. The man's followers had stayed out of the fight and interfered in no 
way. "They didn't even try to stop us from watching with them." she thought.

*******

Ranma regained consciousness to the gentle ministrations of Dr. Tofu. "How'd 
I get into these things. Why'd every martial artist in town gotta take 
something offa my hide?" As he thought about it, he knew how he got himself 
into this particular altercation.

It started about three weeks ago. A couple of thugs were picking on some guy 
with glasses. He went in and shoved them off, which got this guy dressed all 
in black and wearing a motorcycle helmet to pick a fight with him. He had to 
admit, the guy had potential, but beating him wasn't too tough. About a week 
later, the guy, Akira, showed up with his 'Big Brother', who took Ranma out 
pretty easily with a firewall technique, which took the young martial artist 
totally by surprise. For the rematch, Ranma figured he would goad the guy 
into using it again and then hit him with the Hiryu Shoten Ha, but things 
didn't go that way. The big man already figured out the move's flaw. 
Apparently, he scouted Ranma prior to challenging him. He jumped high into 
the air just as Ranma pulled it off and got away unscathed. After that, the 
beating started.

*******

Cologne did something that could send shivers down a demon's spine and make 
the most virile of men to go impotent. She smiled. Writing out a reply to 
the letter she had just received, Cologne though, "What a stroke of luck! 
This is just what son-in-law needs."

<Great-grandmother, why are you smiling? Have you thought of a new way for 
husband and I to come together? > Shampoo asked when her curiosity got the 
better of her as she saw her elder smiling.

<Why yes Shan Pu, but that is not the only reason I'm smiling. > she 
answered disturbingly cheerfully. <And do I need a reason to smile 
great-granddaughter? > She whacked the back of her great-granddaughter's 
head. <Go practice your forms till its time for bed. You need to brush up. >

<Yes, great-grandmother. > Shampoo replied as she went to carry out her 
matriarch's command.

<What a nice little girl. > Cologne said to herself before continuing her 
work.

*******

Two weeks later
"Excuse me, is this the Tendo residence? I was told I could find a young 
martial artist by the name of Ranma Saotome here. My name is Retsu 
Toriyama."

"Why yes, it is. But Ranma's at school right now. He should be back anytime 
though. Would you like to come in for some tea, Mr. Toriyama? I'm Kasumi 
Tendo."

"Why thank you young lady. Yes, I would enjoy a spot of tea right about 
now." the short bald-headed man said in reply. "And please, call me Retsu."

Retsu was greeted to the sight of two middle-aged men playing a game of 
shogi as he went in the Tendo household. Assuming they were the proprietors 
of the establishment, he waited patiently for them to finish. All the while, 
marveling at how blatantly they were each trying to cheat the other. "We're 
home!" Retsu turned around to see a cute young lady followed by a fellow 
with a pigtail. "Well" he thought, "no point waiting in the frying pan, 
guess it's straight to the fire." Clearing his throat to get the attention 
of the elders and the youth, Retsu waited for a response. And waited.

"Hey pop. Who's the bald guy?"

"Forgive me. I am Mr. Retsu Toriyama. I have come at the suggestion of an 
old acquaintance of mine; are any of you familiar with a Mistress Khu Lon?"

"So the old ghoul sent ya huh? Whadaya want?" Ranma eyed the man 
suspiciously. Anybody Cologne sent couldn't be out to do him any favors. 
They were probably part of some plot to get him to go back to China with 
Shampoo and likely to be some fairly tough competition. The guy didn't look 
all that much though. Just a short, middle-aged man with a follicular 
problem. But then, you never know.

"I think I should be discussing this with your elders as well." That almost 
got the attention of the elder Saotome and Tendo. "You see, I represent a 
new school that's being formed. We cater to those who take an interest in 
the Art." Now THAT got the senior's attention. "Let me explain. In the past 
ten years of so, there have been a rise in the number of 'exceptional' 
martial artists. Various scientific organizations have begun to take an 
interest in the matter and are sponsoring an international study program on 
it. Those who have an aptitude for the Art or matters relating to it are 
being invited to join one of our newly established schools for a semester. 
Perhaps you already heard of us in the news?"

"Umm, well." Ranma mumbled with his hand behind his head. "I been kinda busy 
lately ya know."

"Quiet boy!" said Genma while hitting him over the head. "It's a very well 
known program. You should feel honored, not standing around scratching your 
head."

"Quit it, pop! If you know so much, then why'd ya never said anything about 
it before, huh?"

"That's because the Anything Goes Art has no equal, so it wouldn't matter 
anyway. Besides, you should keep up with these things yourself." Genma was 
quite proud of his response as he stood over his son, looking as smug as he 
ever had.

"Oh, that's just too bad that you feel that way." Retsu frowned. "Well, I 
wouldn't want to bother you much further. Say Ranma, how about we have a 
little sparring match and see if you can teach an old dog like me any new 
tricks, hmm? You'll have to take it easy on me though."

"Sure, let's go at it in the dojo." Ranma said confidently.

Retsu couldn't help but smile to himself. It was the same thing over and 
over. "Gotcha! Knew all I had to do was kiss up and he wouldn't be able to 
refuse." he thought. Of course Ranma would have accepted regardless of how 
his opponent had challenged him. But then, Retsu didn't know that. Taking a 
ready stance when he met up with Ranma at the dojo, he noticed Ranma 
smirking a little. "A bit full of himself, isn't he?"

Deciding that he would be taking the old man down quickly, Ranma took an 
offensive stance. He'd have to be careful though. Cologne did send the guy 
after all. He noted that Retsu was in a karate stance and was already coming 
up with a game plan to deal with it. "You ready?"

Retsu nodded and the fight began. Ranma went in close and intended to throw 
a few kicks and jabs to feel his opponent out. But was stopped short even 
before completing the first kick. "Shoryuken!" The moment Ranma got close 
enough, Retsu performed a jumping uppercut that sent him flying to the other 
end of the dojo with his breath out of his lungs The move was so powerful, 
the kick Ranma threw just bounced off the man while he was performing it.

"Hadoken" A sphere of energy almost slammed into Ranma. Luckily, he twisted 
his body and was able to escape the brunt of the attack. But it still sent 
him spiraling down onto the mat. Retsu moved in close to kick at Ranma's 
groin but missed as the young pigtailed martial artist rolled out of the way 
and got to his feet. Surprised at the lad's speedy recovery, Retsu was 
stunned long enough for Ranma to do the Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken on him for 
his troubles. Taking the full brunt of the assault, Retsu collapsed onto the 
floor gasping. Tapping the mat to show his submission.

"The old guy's knows some stuff." Ranma thought. "That chi blast was 
amazing! I could feel it sucking all the chi around the place. I gotta learn 
it, Daigo wouldn't be able block it with his chi shield."

Meanwhile, Both Soun and Genma were trying to pick their jaws off the 
ground. Their upper lips may never have made contact if it weren't for old 
Happi falling on top of them. The old pervert was so shocked he fell off the 
rafters he was on while watching the fight. That jumping uppercut Retsu 
performed was the same move that the wandering warrior Ryu had used to 
defeat the Muay Thai champion Sagat. It was a powerful technique currently 
being copied by many martial artists around the world, but the trained eyes 
of the three men who were there to see it performed on the fallen champion 
had told them that this one was done only one step removed from original 
form. Meaning it was only one step from perfection. It has been the most 
sought after technique by the practitioners of Anything Goes as it is said 
that a master of the original form could defeat any enemy. It's even 
supposed to surpass the Saotome Forbidden Techniques.

"Not bad Ranma. You were pretty good. I guess you would have passed the 
entrance. So, you sure you're not interested in joining our school?" Retsu 
asked while picking up his old carcass off the mat.

Ranma was surprised at how quickly Retsu recovered. "Umm, well� I AM kinda 
busy� but I guess it wouldn't be too much trouble�er"

"Oh well, if you're not interested that's just fine by us. After all, you 
WERE beaten by one of our seniors. Daigo Kazama if I'm not mistaken� and 
he's not even our school's best fighter. With your potential, you should be 
able to beat him if you could learn a few of the tricks our students use. 
But since you're not interested... " Retsu began to turn and leave. Knowing 
full well that he got lad. He reached into his coat pocket and took out a 
pen and a piece of document that he offered to the first young pigtailed 
martial artist who would jump in front of him. Surprise surprise, it was 
Ranma. "Sign here please." Snatching the document away, Nabiki began running 
through it while Ranma asked the questions. When she got there, nobody knew. 
But then, they were all kind of distracted.

"How'd you know about that? What did the old ghoul tell you?" It was all 
ineffectual though, Retsu just stood there looking smug. It's not often he 
got to be the center of attention. Being the forgotten student of Master 
Gokuen from the Shotokan School of Karate had that effect. For god's sake, 
even that nitwit Dan was more well known than he was! Not that he minded it 
all that much, but it's nice to be noticed once in a while.

Ranma never got to finish his line of questioning though. As he was shoved 
away by his father and Mr. Tendo who were alternating between genuflecting 
before Happosai and the new guy. "Oh great master of the Shotokan art, 
forgive my son's brashness. And we would be glad to send him to your school 
to improve on the Anything Goes Art." "Waah! My future son-in-laws going 
away to learn one of the strongest techniques of the Art! Waah!"

That snapped Retsu out of his reverie. "No, no, no Mr. Tendo. Ranma's not 
going to study Shotokan. He's just going to a school with plenty of other 
martial artists, where hopefully he'll pick up a few things from them. Your 
ward is very good, most people wouldn't have gotten up after what I did but 
he's certainly not the best."

"Hey!"

"Don't get me wrong Ranma, as I said, you're good. But it'll be years before 
you'll be the best. Daigo's one of our best, but not THE best. A lot of the 
students know some tricks you wouldn't even dream of. As far as the martial 
arts aspect of the school, you'll be learning more from them than anyone 
else. And please, sirs. I'm hardly a master of Shotokan, much less be 
qualified to teach it. Most of our students know a lot more than I do." 
Retsu said while trying to get the two men to their feet without much 
success.

"So what's this about my Ranma-chan going off to a new school? And if you're 
not teaching him Gokuen's art, why should we let him go?" asked Happosai.

"You know about Master Gokuen!?" Retsu was astounded. Not many people were 
aware of his dearly departed teacher.

"Why yes, he and I started out together till he went wishy washy on me. I 
would have given him a little payback for a stunt he pulled a while back but 
why speak ill of the dead." Happosai nodded solemnly. Gokuen might have been 
a stick in the mud, but he knew his stuff.

"Darn!" Retsu thought. "Look at the time I have to get going or the old bat 
(Cologne) would kill me." Addressing the old pervert with more respect than 
was due, Retsu bowed and said, "I'm sorry. But I'm on a very tight schedule. 
We'll have to talk more on the matter next time. Well Ranma? Are you ready 
to join up?"

"Well�"

To be continued

Notes: Not much of a cliffhanger but we take what we can get. Daigo's moves 
include a firewall technique that surrounds him in swirling flame. I'm 
calling it 'Firewall' for the sake of this work of fiction.

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