Geez, talk about a cliche title. Anyway, I'll probably change it later on.
I posted this a while back but nobody said anything so I'll try it again.
It was a bustling day in Nerima. By now, most students had already started
their walks to their school. One such student was doing so but on the
concrete fences beside that ran along people's property.
<C'mon, Ranma. You almost made it all the way there yesterday. Today's the
day.> he thought to himself, trying to maintain balance as he had to duck
under an overhanging tree.
"Hey wimp!"
It wasn't the shout that distracted him, it was the voice. He look for the
source of the voice and cringed. It seems that the party was in full force
today.
"We've been saving these for today but since we got a couple extra, why
not use 'em, eh guys?" he looked at his posse, all holding water ballons.
<I either jump into Takahashi-san's koi pond or I jump down to the street
and try to dodge.>
He didn't have any time to decide because a large water balloon hit him
right on the nose. Ranma's arms windmilled as he tried to get his balance
back.
"Now guys." his tormentor commanded. The rest of the group threw their
water balloons, all of them hitting their mark. Finally, Ranma succumbed
to gravity and fell into the koi pond.
"Ranma Saotome. Always good for a laugh." the leader said to his group.
"That was excellent aim Master Kirin." said one of his companions.
"That's Chinese martial arts for ya." Kirin said trumphantly.
* * *
The teacher paced in front of the class, waving a stack of papers around.
"What happened?" she asked the class and getting only black faces.
"We all reviewed for the last two days and only five of you pass."
Some students started saying prayers that they were one of the five.
"And of that five, only one was over 60%."
All prayers stopped when they heard that. All eyes turned to the lone girl
in the class.
"It seems that girls are smarter than boys." Miss Hinako beamed.
The boys in the class merely grumbled. Most had only taken this class for
the view they got every day.
Miss Hinako walked to the girl's desk and dropped off the test.
"Another perfect for Lina-san." she smiled.
The boys in front of her desk spent the time looking at what lay
underneath her short skirt while the rest of the class was looking at the
area Lina lacked in.
She then went around, passing back the tests and glaring at the students
who wrote them.
Lina Inverse sank back into her desk, looking at the 100% beside her name.
<I wonder if it's real.> she thought, imagining how destructive a spell
called the 'Dragon Slave' could be.
* * *
Away from the other crowds, he sat against a tree, reading his book with
rapt attention. He didn't notice anything until someone sat right beside
him.
"Excuse me but, can I sit here?" she asked.
He tore his eyes off the book, ready to tear someone a new one but all
thoughts came to a halt. Her hazel colored eyes caught his and all the
world seemed to far away.
"I love that book. Have you read the latest one?" she asked.
His mind unfroze and told his lips to say 'yes'. Unfortunately, his lips
were frozen and 'yes' turned unintelligble.
She smiled and took his answer for what she thought it meant. "Don't you
just wish that world existed. The spaceships, the duels, the sheer
enormity of the fight against the rebellion."
"I guess it's pretty cool." he said, having unfrozen enough to speak and
scratch the back of his head. "I mainly like the lightsabre duels."
She stared at him slackjawed. "That's my favourite part too!" she
exclaimed. "Wow. We are so alike."
<Beautiful. Just a little bit weird.> he thought, book forgotten on the
ground.
"Say, aren't you in my english class? Near the back?" she asked.
"Uh, I'm not too sure. The whole morning, I was reading that book."
She smiled and said, "Well, that means we can introduce ourselve
personally." She stuck her hand out and said, "I'm Ryoko Hakubi."
He shyly shook hands with him and said, "Tenchi Masaki."
* * *
"Ranma Saotome. Late and wet. What happened this time?" the teacher asked.
"I, uh, fell off the fence." he said lamely.
"Then stop walking on the fence! Why would you do that anyway?" he asked,
marking late on the attendance.
"Balance practice. He's gonna be the greatest martial artist ever." a girl
shouted from the back.
Ranma mentally facefaulted. <Why the heck does she have to be in my
history class?>
"Ranma get to your seat. You'll hold buckets later. I've got a full lesson
today. I don't want anyone falling behind." he said that to the rest of
the class. He meant business, meaning he hasn't been drinking lately.
Ranma sat down in his seat, trying to get on with his day. When a certain
someone tapped him on his shoulder.
"So, what happened to the great martial arts master?"
"I got distracted. And why did you say that to the whole class?" he asked
quietly.
"I gotta keep ya on your toes bro. And take a shower as soon as possible
will ya?" she asked, pinching her nose and sitting back in her seat.
Ranma opened his mouth to say something but decided not to mess with his
sister's quicker wit.
He turned to the blackboard and noticed his teacher's writing. <Mr.
Fujisawa hasn't been drinking for days. His writing is actually legible.>
* * *
"Uh, upperclassman Ranma?" a meek voice asked.
Ranma winced and asked, "What do you want?"
"I just wanna ask your permission to date your sister." he said, nervously
twisting a red hat in his hands.
Ranma smiled and thought, <This guy sure is persistent.> "Okay. You have
my permission. I gotta warn you-"
He trailed off, seeing that his words weren't being heard as the other boy
danced down the hall in joy.
* * *
"He actually gave you his permission?" his female companion asked.
"Uh-huh." he said dreamily.
"And that's why you needed my hat." his male companion said sadly, looking
at his mangled cap.
"Uh-huh."
The other two looked at their spiky haired friend. Who obviously forgot
the fact that he still had to ask the girl out.
"C'mon Ash. We'll be late for our class." the girl said, taking her
boyfriend's hand.
* * *
"Are you sure about this Morpheus? I mean, they're just kids." said Neo,
looking over their profiles.
"I've talked with some people in Zion. It works quite well. The younger
the candidate, the easier it is for them to get used to the unplugging."
Morpheus said. "Any objections?"
Seeing there were none, Morpheus said, "Okay Tank. Let's get ready. Start
with him." The touch screen pulled up the info on the first subject.