Ruroni Ranma
Part 6
A busy day...
Ranma walked with Yuriko and Akane at his side as he lazily strolled
down the road towards the elementary school. Akane noticed Yuriko
standing particularly close to Ranma imitating his walk almost exactly.
She frowned slightly and stepped up to the girl.
"What are you doing you little weirdo?"
Yuriko looked up at Akane and smiled. "I want to be just like Ranma when
I grow up; she's my hero!"
Ranma looked down at her and blinked. Akane coughed in her hand and
looked at him. "Uh, did you say she?"
"That's right, didn't Ranma tell you she's a girl?" said the child
obliviously.
Ranma had almost froze in place, but managed to regain himself before
Akane turned to look at her angrily. "Ranma, what the hell is she talking
about?"
He scratched the back of his head nervously and laughed. "Umm, well, you
see..."
"Why does she think you're a girl Ranma?" snapped Akane.
"You didn't know? It's obvious, she's always so polite, and she does all
that housework. She must be a girl," reasoned Yuriko.
"That's the reason you think that?" said Akane in shock as she stared at
her new student in disbelief. "Use your eyes fool!"
Ranma was about to turn away when he felt a familiar sensation wash
across his back. Akane and Yuriko just watched with their mouths open in
a collective shock. The now female martial artist slowly turned around to
see a little old lady with a ladle emptying out a bucket of water.
"See, I told you!" cried Yuriko triumphantly.
"R-Ranma?" stammered Akane.
"So, it seems you've found out my little secret," muttered the red head
as she pushed her bangs out of her face.
Akane froze, "No, you're not Ranma."
The girl narrowed her eyes and smiled, her mannerism had almost
completely changed. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Sufficed to say, this is
one of the many interesting things that happened to me in China. I am
male by the way."
"Yuriko, get behind me!" cried Akane as she pushed the girl back away
from Ranma instinctively. "What the hell happened? Where's Ranma?"
"I'm still here Akane, I'm still Ranma," said the girl calmly as she
gave them both a cool stare. "Just relax will you? I've got a lot to
explain."
"Why didn't you say anything about this before?" snapped Akane angrily.
"If I leave at the end of the month, there is no reason to tell you
about this," replied the girl with a shrug.
"What if I ask you to stay?" growled Akane.
"That seems unlikely at this point," replied the girl with a shrug.
"Come on, I want to change back."
The group found themselves standing outside a restaurant that Akane had
seen many times on the way to school. The food there was almost legendary
as one of the best shops in Nerima. She smiled at the waitress as they
walked in together, still managing to stay a comfortable distance away
from Ranma. There was something about her that she didn't like.
A pretty looking girl approached them with a smile on her face. "Hi,
welcome to Konji Okonimiyaki... Oh, hi Ranma."
"Morning Ukyo, can I get some hot water?" replied the girl with a small
smile.
"Sure thing sugar, are these friends of yours?" she pointed to the two
girls and smiled at them.
Ranma nodded. "This is my fianc�e, and her student."
Akane narrowed her eyes. "Ranma, you know these people?"
She looked back at her and smiled slightly. "Sure I do, I come in here
sometimes, mostly to change before I head home if I need to."
"They seem like they've known you for years Ranma, I thought you only
came to Nerima last week?" said Akane in disbelief.
"They're friendly people, we spent a while talking the first time I came
in. I had to explain what I needed the water for," replied Ranma with a
shrug.
Ukyo returned with the hot water and sat down at a table watching in
fascination as Ranma used it. "Wow, that's so cool!"
"I'll say," agreed Yuriko.
Akane turned her head away and snorted in disgust. "One more reason to
be rid of him." Whoever that girl was, she made her very uncomfortable.
There was one thing she was sure of, it wasn't Ranma.
"Let's get going," said the boy as he nodded his thanks to Ukyo. The
girl smiled pleasantly in reply and waved at them as they left the
building.
"Ukyo, who was that?" said a large gruff looking man who emerged from
the kitchen.
"Just Ranma again daddy," said the girl.
The man merely snorted in reply. "Well, get started on those tables, I
want to be ready for the rush before you go to school."
The girl stood from her chair and picked up a nearby rag. "Sure thing."
She paused as a dark shadow loomed over her from behind. She slowly
turned around to see a shadowy figure standing in the doorway. "Tell me,
where is Furinkan High School?"
Ukyo blinked as he came into focus. "Uh, about six blocks east of here."
The boy smiled at this information and tossed his bag on the floor.
"Then I have time to eat before I find it." He sat down at a nearby table
as Ukyo slowly walked up to him. He was dressed in traveling clothes with
a strange white over shirt that had the kanji for evil printed on its
back.
"What can I get for you?" asked Ukyo.
"What have you got that's a lot of food for cheap?" replied the boy with
a shrug.
Ranma walked with Akane as they left the building where Yuriko would be
attending school. They exchanged tired glances between them after the
excessive amount of paperwork that had been filled out. Since Yuriko did
not have any parents they had to fill out triple what her parents would
have had to do. Soun had been named the guardian, Ranma imagined they
would have to take care of that within a few weeks or so. The fact that
the girl was a little less than cooperative didn't exactly help matters.
Ranma and Akane walked through the gates of Furinkan about fifteen
minutes later. Classes had begun about an hour ago and they made their
way towards the building. A few moments later they found themselves
siting in class. The day went by relatively quickly, at lunch they found
themselves sitting together.
"Ranma, what happened to you today? What was that?" said Akane as she
leaned in towards him.
His face became serious as he looked towards her again. "Before we
joined the war, my father took us to a place called Jusenkyo. The
training ground of cursed springs. I fell into a pool called the spring
of drowned girl."
"So you turn into a girl now?" said Akane cautiously.
"Sure, but I'm still me. I don't think like a girl or anything. It's
still Ranma."
Akane shifted uncomfortably. She was uncertain about that last part. She
said nothing though and turned to find Kuno approaching them slowly. He
neared them and paused long enough to give Akane a bouquet of flowers.
"Akane Tendo, I would date with you."
"How many times do I have to say no?!" screamed the girl angrily as she
shoved the plants back into his face.
"This unnecessary shyness is unbecoming Akane Tendo, I await the day
that you break free of such bonds." He sighed heavily and walked away.
"Honestly," grumbled the girl as she turned back to see Ranma ignoring
them completely. It was as if the two boys didn't even know each other
existed.
He looked over at her and blinked. "Oro?"
"It's nothing," she muttered as she turned away.
A short time later she sat in gym class with her friends surrounding
her. "What are you talking about?"
"You're so lucky Akane, a fianc�e like him. I mean look at him, he's
polite, and handsome. The perfect gentleman all the time!" sighed one of
the girls dreamily.
"He's not," grumbled Akane knowing perfectly well that she was right.
"Does he kiss good?" squealed another one of the girls.
"How should I know?" she retorted with a little irritation in her voice.
"Oh come on Akane, aren't you going to tell us anything at all?" cried
one of the girls.
"No," she snapped.
A short time later Ranma sat watching the girls play softball with his
class while waiting for their turn on the gymnastics bar.
"Man she's cute," said Daisuke, the boy who sat next to him with his
friend Hiroshi.
"Isn't she though?" agreed Ranma.
"You lucky dog!" grumbled Hiroshi with more than a hint of jealousy.
"You'd think that wouldn't you?" sighed Ranma.
"So, what's she like? Have you @#%% yet?" said Daisuke as he leaned in
close.
"Well, we aren't married yet, so no," said Ranma with a shrug.
"Liar, you've #@&& huh?" pressed Daisuke.
"I'll bet you've even @##$!" screamed Hiroshi as he pulled Ranma into a
headlock.
"Oro?"
Akane stared at Ranma with a gaze of almost pure contempt as he
approached her after school. "This is all your fault!"
"Oro?" Ranma stood in confusion as he watched her stomp off towards the
Tendo dojo. "I'll never understand these people."
He turned as someone called his name. His mood brightened slightly when
he discovered it was not another disgruntled male student. "Ukyo? You go
to school here?"
"I'm in your class!" cried the girl in shock.
"Oh, sorry," muttered the boy in embarrassment.
"Don't worry, I'm not offended. I can see you spend most of your time
looking at you fianc�e in class." She giggled slightly at his embarrassed
reaction to this.
"I just don't understand people sometimes," he said with a shrug.
"Sometimes she's very nice, other times it seems like she's angry for no
apparent reason."
"Father says that women are strange creatures indeed," said the girl
with a small shrug.
"You'd think I'd know that by now," said Ranma jokingly.
"You'd definitely think you had more experience than anyone else. Well,
I just stopped to say hi Ranma, see you later." She jogged off towards
the Konji restaurant.
"She's a good kid," muttered Ranma cheerfully, he didn't seem to notice
one of Nabiki's underlings sneak away behind him.
"I've found it at last!" cried Ryoga Hibiki as he stood in front of
Furinkan High School. He held his arms up in triumph as the students made
their way out of the building. He grabbed one of them and held him up by
his collar. "Where is Ranma Saotome?"
"Uh, who?" said the eight year old boy in confusion.
"Ranma Saotome, Ranma Saotome! Don't you know him?" cried the man in
frustration. The little boy started to cry. "Stop that! Aren't you a
man?" He lost his grip on the child as a sharp pain hit his shin.
"You leave him alone you bully!" cried Yuriko angrily as she kicked him
again.
"Ow! Stop that you little punk!" cried the lost boy angrily.
"Take this!" cried Yuriko as she kicked him again. "With a jacket like
that you must be in a gang!" Her fist punched towards his crotch and he
blocked the strike casually.
"Hey watch it kid!" he snorted as he grabbed her shirt and held her in
the air.
"Jerk! Pervert!" she screamed.
"Hey! What's going on here?" cried a woman in her late twenties as she
approached the situation. "You put her down this instant!"
Ryoga complied and turned to face the angry teacher. "Where is Ranma
Saotome?"
Yuriko stopped kicking him in the shins again and looked up at him in
shock. He glared at her coolly for a moment before returning his gaze
back on the woman again.
"I don't care why you're here! You don't touch the students!" she
screamed angrily.
"I was looking for Ranma when this girl attacked me, I wasn't going to
hurt her," shouted Ryoga defensively. "Are you going to tell me where he
is or not?"
Yuriko stepped away from him. "What do you want with Ranma?"
Ryoga narrowed his eyes. "That's my business. Where is he, I know he
goes to school here."
Yuriko blinked. "What the? This is an elementary school you fool!"
The woman sighed and turned towards her in what appeared to be an
already old practice. "Yuriko, how many times do I have to tell you to
watch your mouth?"
"Sorry," replied the girl with a small blush.
Ryoga stood between them and blinked. He laughed nervously and turned
towards the woman. "Where is Furinkan High School?"
"High school? You thought this was a high school?" said the teacher in
disbelief. She looked around and indicated the children that now
surrounded them. None of them were any older than twelve. "She's right,
you are a fool!"
Ryoga laughed nervously and turned away to find his destination on his
own.
Yuriko frowned and watched him walk. "He might not look like much, but
he feels strong. I'd better warn Ranma about him."
TBC...
Next Time: Ryoga, the lost warrior.
C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com
URL: Http://www.geocities.com/misatira/