Kent Hyam wrote:
First off, I forgot to includethe author's notes in the last chapter of
Mixed Signals. So, David Johnston and Hiroyuki Yoshiro preread and you
can check out the earlier chapters at
http://members.xoom.com/Yoshiro_san/cwires . If you have any comments
you want to offer feel free.
Secondly, this post has nothing to do with Mixed Signals. There will be
another sequel, but not for quite a while. This is just something I've
been working on and I wanted to know how much interest there is in it.
Any offers to preread are welcome.
Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2 or any of the ideas associated with
it. Rumiko Takahashi and Shogakukan, Inc do. Rights in North America
belong to Viz Communications
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 1: Arrival
Honored Father, I don't know if I will send you this letter.
However, I feel the need to tell someone of recent events. As you
know, I decided to abandon my vendetta against Ranma and Genma Saotome
and continue my life. What you do not know are the events that occurred
after I enrolled in Furinkan High.
Why?
===================
I was admittedly nervous on my first day of school. After all, I'd
spent ten years trying to eradicate every trace of my femininity.
Attending a mixed gender school was the first step to reclaiming it.
I'd registered as a boy, but that was just to get an idea of how girls
behaved.
So her plan was to spend a year in a mixed school and then move onto another
school as a girl?
I slowly walked towards the school entrance, lost in my own thought
until the sound of a struggle drew my attention outwards. A horde of
boys were attacking a lone girl armed only with a book bag. She seemed
to be holding her own though. Naturally I jumped into the fight to help
her. It didn't take long after that, none of the boys were very good
and they didn't work together.
"I didn't need your help."
I didn't expect the girl I'd rescued to take such an angry tone, so
I turned to examine her more closely. With long dark hair and a school
uniform she appeared to be a fairly typical schoolgirl, although
prettier than most. The clenched fists and snarl did detract slightly
from her appearance. "Hi. I'm Ukyo Kuonji."
"I'm Akane Tendo. Um, thanks for helping me." Akane blushed
slightly. I figured that either she didn't apologize often or was
embarrassed by her earlier rudeness. Maybe both.
She hasn't apologised.
"Hold peasant. Who are you to hold discourse with the beauteous
Akane in such a manner?"
When I turned to look at the speaker, my first thought was that he
must spend a lot of time working on his hair. I don't know how I missed
the bokken and kendo gear. "My name's Uk-"
"Ah, but it is more polite to give one's name first. I am Tatewaki
Kuno, age seventeen, the Shooting Star of Furinkan High, captain of
kendo club and undefeated-"
At that point I'd heard enough to give me a pretty good idea where
this was going, so I just unloaded on him with my spatula. Seeing him
crumple to the ground was satisfying, but not having to listen to the
rest of his speech was even better.
Well! That was rude of her.
Akane's expression was a weird mix of anger and relief, but she
shook it off quickly. "Come on. If we don't hurry, we'll be late for
class."
I lingered for a moment, until I saw a short-haired girl appear to
drag Kuno off. Since someone else was taking care of him, I set off for
my first class.
==================
It turned out that I'm in the same class as Akane. I got the
feeling that she wasn't very happy with me though, probably because we
were both late for class.
Why? The fight with the boys would have taken less time with Ukyo on
Akane's side, and the fight with Kuno _definitely_ would have taken
less time, particularly since Ukyo doesn't have to go off and turn into
a boy. They both should be on time.
"This is your fault, you know. I finish my fight on time every
morning." I didn't really know why Akane was so angry. It's not as if
the buckets of water the teacher gave us to hold were much of a problem
for her.
It seems to me that Ukyo could understand that Akane doesn't like being
trouble or being embarassed in front of everyone else.
"I said I'm sorry, but you didn't have to stop to wait for me.
What was all that about anyway? I mean, do those boys attack you every
morning. You didn't seem very surprised."
"Well, they've done it ever since Kuno announced that anyone who
wanted to date me had to defeat me in combat first."
I snorted in disbelief. "Isn't that a bit much? Not that you
aren't cute," I said hurriedly. "It just seems strange for so many guys
to be chasing a girl who doesn't want anything to do with them."
"They're just a bunch of jerks. Kuno's going be trouble though.
He really is a very good fighter." Akane added the last words
grudgingly.
"It doesn't sound like you've had much trouble beating him.
"He doesn't fight all out against me," Akane said angrily. "I
could still beat him though."
I shrugged the best I could while holding on to the pails. From
what I'd seen, Akane could be right. She was very skilled herself. I
was definitely better though and I didn't expect that Kuno would give me
many problems.
=================
"You're pretty good, but isn't a spatula an odd weapon to use?". I
was a bit surprised that Akane had spoken to me again after she'd
ignored me all through class, but I already liked her. At least there I
had something in common with one girl.
Why would she pay any attention to Ukyo in class?
"Maybe, but its my family's style. Okonomiyaki martial arts."
"it's"
"And I thought that Anything-Goes was a weird style." Akane must
have noticed my curiosity, because she continued after a moment.
"That's my family's style. We have a dojo, but Dad doesn't teach much
anymore."
Akane doesn't seem really familiar with the odder aspects of her style.
"Too bad. I'd like to see your dojo sometime."
"Why don't you come over now then. We can spar a bit."
Question mark.
Normally I'd have been more careful, but the gleam in Akane's eyes
told me that she was looking for something other than a boyfriend.
"Sounds like fun."
"Come on then. Unless you have something else to do."
"No. No, I don't."
=================
"This isn't a real fight." Akane's face was a bit nervous, but I
could understand that.
"I know. You already told me that. There's no one here to see us,
anyway."
"I guess you're right. Let's start."
Akane seemed to be hanging back, so I decided to take the
initiative. Spinning my spatula around, I launched a slow overhand
strike at her lead.
Holding back proved to be a mistake. Akane easily ducked and
launched a side kick that I barely avoided. I recovered though and
easily blocked Akane's punches as she tried to press her advantage.
"Come on, fight back," Akane ordered, anger beginning to creep into
her voice.
I would've be glad to, except for one thing. It's really hard to
his someone with a large spatula without hurting them. Akane could take
"hit"
a bruise, but I was hoping we could become friends and that wasn't the
way to start.
Seeing that I wasn't having any trouble avoiding her attacks, Akane
switched tactics. She began to try to push me backward and trap me
against the wall. That wouldn't work, but it did give me an idea.
Springing backwards, I bounced off of the wall and flipped over Akane's
head. When I landed, I swung my spatula in a low arc taking Akane's
feet out from under her.
"You're pretty good." Akane was grinning ruefully as she clambered
back to her feet. "At least I didn't lose to another girl."
"What?". Considering Akane's attitude towards boys, that was the
last thing I'd expected her to say.
"Well, since so few girls practice martial arts at Furinkan, being
second best would be really embarrassing."
"That makes sense I suppose." On the other hand, she might have
just been trying to put the best face on things.
"I wouldn't want you to lose to Kuno anyway."
"You think that I'm going to have to fight him?". Really, that was
Extraneous period.
a stupid question. He'd wanted to fight me before I knocked him out and
I doubt that unconsciousness improved his mood.
"Yes. My sister, Nabiki, is in his class and she says he's pretty
mad at you." The amusement in Akane's voice made me believe that was an
understatement. "The sparring match was really her idea. I think she
wanted to know what to set the odds at."
"You make her sound like some sort of bookie." Akane didn't
reply. Instead she flushed slightly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to insult
her."
"Don't be. Nabiki likes money a lot."
"There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, I'm planning to open up
a restaurant soon."
"Aren't you a bit young?" Akane asked curiously.
"Maybe, but I'm the best okonomiyaki chef in Japan. If you stop by
after I open it I'll give you a free sample and you can see for
yourself."
"I'll do that. My sister Kasumi's a wonderful cook, but I'm not
that good myself."
"I bet you just need some practice. Cooking is a lot like martial
arts you know."
"Really? Maybe you could teach me then."
"We'll see." Actually that wasn't a bad idea. Teaching her to
cook wouldn't be too hard and I could pick up some pointers from her at
the same time.
Some femininity pointers, that is.
"I hope I'm not interrupting you and your boyfriend, Akane," a
sardonic voice drawled.
"No, we just finished." Akane immediately realized what she'd said
and started blushing furiously. Funny, I wouldn't have figured her for
the type. "Sparring. We just finished sparring.
To blush? But Ukyo's already seen that she blushes easily.
He isn't my boyfriend, Nabiki."
"Relax, Sis." Somehow, discovering that the short haired girl
who'd stayed behind to help Kuno was Akane's sister didn't surprise me.
"I'm her to deliver a message to Ukyo."
"From Kuno I suppose." From what Akane had told me, it wasn't a
hard guess to make.
"That's right," she said, handing me an envelope. Her suddenly
appraising stare made me acutely uncomfortable. Nabiki was definitely
more forward with men than her sister. Of course, the sleeveless
T-shirt and tight shorts she was wearing had made that clear from the
beginning. I realized that I was starting to stare and hurriedly opened
the letter.
"Looks like a challenge. He wants to meet me at ten o'clock on
Sunday at Furinkan's second field."
"Kuno-baby hates to lose," Nabiki commented.
"Heh. I'm not going to give him a choice."
End teaser.
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