* * * * *
Ranma arrived on the school grounds with one Kasumi and her arms clutching
his neck with a deathgrip. He let her feet touch the ground. "You can open
your eyes now."
Hesitantly, she did so. Instantly, her eye fell upon what seemed to be a
hundred boys dressed in all sorts of sports uniforms, from baseball and
basketball players to sumo wrestlers. There was even one dressed up like a
chess piece, holding a scepter. She also realized that they were staring at
her and Ranma in some confusion. Whispers were passed around.
"Aoshi, I thought you said you saw only Akane coming here."
"Yeah, Jin. She's all I saw."
"Then, where the hell did these two come from?"
"I don't know!"
"Jin?"
"What?"
"Here comes Akane now, and boy does she look pissed."
"Also, she changed her hairstyle today. Pigtails!"
The group sweatdropped. How Tatsu was able to tell if a girl did so much as
trim her hair was beyond them.
"Anyway, that's good!"
"It is? But I don't wanna die!"
"Oh, hush, Katsuhito. If she's angry, then she won't be concentrating, and
we can beat her."
"And what happens when someone beats Akane?"
"We can all date her!"
"Ready?" One hundred heads nodded in unison. "Let's do it!"
The horde surged to life, shouting their battlecry. "AKANE, WE LOVE YOU!!"
The masses threw themselves upon their angry goddess in an attempt to beat
her for a date.
Had they known just why she was angry, the boys would have never dared to
disturb her for a few days. After suffering four serious embarrassments
within the last twenty-four hours, Akane thought that things could not get
any worse. She was wrong, as a Ranma carrying Kasumi blasted past her like
she was standing still. Another embarrassment....
She had had it. Her temper flared out to new heights, and she desperately
needed something to release her fury upon. That was when her fan club came
to greet her. For once in her life, she was never so happy to see their
lecherous faces.
Five seconds, and over one hundred groans of excruciating pain, later, Akane
took a deep breath, counted to five, then raised her hand to catch a speeding
object heading towards her. She looked at the rose between her fingers, then
carelessly tossed it over her shoulder. "Sempai, I'm not in the mood today.
Can't you just go away?"
A tall, noble-looking boy slipped out from behind a tree. Barefoot and
wearing a navy blue keigoki, a woven cotton top of kendo practitioners, and
black hakama. The latter gave him the appearance of wearing a dress, but in
fact, they were the pants of kendo users. In his hand, he held a polished,
wooden bokken. He flashed Akane a smile intended to win over girls of all
walks of life; to the target of his smile, however, it only made her
squeamish. "Alas, my fiery, fair maiden, I cannot leave your presence, that
which bathes me in your warmth and spirit. One such as yourself is reserved
for only the truly worthy, and his name is the Blue Thunder of Furinken
High-" He struck his bokken into the air, and a flash of lightning and a
crash of thunder followed on cue. "-and rising star of the kendo world,
Kunou Tatewaki, age seventeen."
"Blue Thunder?" Nabiki said as she made it to the gates of the high school,
panting. "Last week, he was calling himself Shooting Star."
"You don't say," Ranma replied, keeping his eyes on Kunou and Akane. "I wish
he'd shut up and get on with the fight."
"Well," Nabiki began, looking up to the darkening sky. "It may have to wait
until after the rain."
He snorted. "Wimps."
"It is with the greatest of pleasures that-"
"Hey, True Blunder! Stop yappin' and just fight her!"
A wave of snickers rifled through the air. Kunou completely lost his
composure and glared in Ranma's direction. "Insolent cur. And who, may I
presume, are you, peasant? And why are you being familiar with the mercenary
sister of my love?"
He stepped forward. "The name's Saotome Ranma, of the Saotome School of
Anything Goes Martial Arts. I'm stayin' with the Tendos-"
"What?! You live under the same roof as my goddess?!" Kunou shouted in
disbelief. Seeing her classmate seethe and the sky growing darker, Nabiki
edged towards her older sister and slowly took her hand.
"Yep, the same roof that cutie sleeps under."
"Shut up, Ranma!" Akane shouted at him. "Don't call me that!"
A vein popped out on Kunou's forehead. "How dare you attempt to use trickery
to seduce that which is pure for the satiation of your own dark, base
desires!"
Ranma blinked. "Wha?"
That did it. Forgetting subtlety, Nabiki yanked Kasumi out from beside Ranma
and dragged her towards the school building.
"Have at thee!" The older boy sprang forward, his bokken raised high into
the air.
Ranma smirked as the kendoist came racing towards him. He sidestepped the
downward chop that tore through the concrete wall with the greatest of ease,
then hopped over the horizontal slash that decimated a nearby tree. His
actions served to enrage Kunou further, and the older boy launched more
attacks. All of his strikes met empty air; Ranma bobbed and weaved around
his bokken without breaking a sweat.
"Wow, he's good," Nabiki stated as she and her sisters convened within the
archway of Furinken. Anyone that could made a fool out of Kunou in the
martial arts department without breathing hard had to be good. More to the
point, this was Ranma sans Saiyajin attributes.
"He has been training with Saotome-san in the wild for years, Nabiki," Kasumi
said, her vision transfixed on the battle unfolding before them.
Akane didn't say anything, only sighed softly. "Come on, Nabiki, we'll be
late for homeroom." She turned and trudged into the building.
Nabiki glanced first at Akane and her somber mood, then Kasumi and her
fascination with the deadly game of tag raging on before her. "Hey, sis.
Are you going to be all right here? It's kind of dangerous to go to the
pharmacy now, especially when it's going to rain."
Kasumi smiled at her younger sister. "I'll just wait until after it stops
raining before I go to the pharmacy."
Gotcha! Nabiki grinned a Cheshire's grin.
"Thank you for reminding me about the pharmacy; Father made mention of
running low on cigarettes earlier."
Nabiki sighed. So much for that idea. "I'll see you when I get home, sis.
Ta ta for now."
She nodded. "Goodbye, Nabiki. Have a good day in school." Once her younger
sister left, Kasumi turned her attention back to the battle. Kunou ranted
and raved while Ranma dodged his blows with a bored look on his face.
Overhead, a couple of random drops of rain fell.
"Come on, moron. I thought you'd be a good challenge for now. I'm fallin'
asleep here."
"Stand still so I can smite you, fiend!"
"Ha! You couldn't--ACK!" Suddenly, his legs gave out on him, causing the
pigtailed martial artist to tumble flat on his back. "What the hell?!" They
stopped responding altogether. "What did you do to me?!" he cried out the
his opponent.
"Ahah! The just and pure will always defeat the dishonorable curs such as
yourself. Prepare to taste my righteous fury, sorcerous fiend!!" Kunou
raised his bokken high into the air, prepared to bring it down in a fell
swoop.
"RANMA!!" Kasumi started towards her fallen fiance.
Ranma looked at Kunou's triumphant stance, angry with himself. How did this
weakling paralyze him without his knowing? There's no way he could have even
came close to touching him! How did he distract him long enough to...wait a
sec.
* * * * *
"Yup." He looked at the doctor carefully. "Why do you seem nervous?"
Tofu blinked, then laughed aloud, if a bit nervously. "Oh, i-it...it's no
reason, really. I...I was a little concerned about Ka-Kasumi ever finding
someone el...out there, excuse me, for her. She...she's such a sweet woman
with a lot to offer to that lu-lucky boy who-who gets her."
"Oh...for a moment, I thought you liked her and would try to win her over."
He yelped suddenly as hot water was unceremoniously dumped onto his head. He
glared at Nabiki who was holding an empty kettle. "Hot, not boilin'!"
Before she could respond, Ranma was slapped on the back by a deliriously
laughing Tofu. "Oh, don't be silly! Why would I even think of getting in
the way of Kasumi's happiness?"
* * * * *
The doc! He was going to kill him! But first, he had to figure out how to
beat Kunou.
Just then, lightning crashed against the dark sky and it began to rain in
earnest.
* * * * *
"Die!" Kunou put every ounce of power behind his deathblow, grinning his
confidence. It was soon wiped off of his face as Saiyajin-Ranma caught the
bokken between his thumb and first two fingers. Disbelief engraved itself on
the kendoist's expression.
"What was that, asshole?" He sat up, still holding the bokken firmly against
the oldest boy's tugging. His tail looped around Kunou's ankle and yanked it
out from him when went for another pull. The kendoist fell backwards on the
slick, green grass. Saiyajin-Ranma sat up on his hands and essayed his legs.
Already, he could feel motorization returning to them, but not enough to
fight on his feet right then. Instead, he would fight using his feet.
Pulling himself up into a pseudo handstand, the pigtailed martial artist
pivoted on one hand, swinging himself into a double leg sweep that took out
Kunou's legs from beneath him again when he tried to stand up. Continuing
the motion, he proceeded to nail his downed foe with many sweeping kicks to
both his head and body. With strength rapidly returning to his lower trunks,
Saiyajin-Ranma pounced upon Kunou's bruised form, rolled backwards, and shot
him up into the sky. Rolling onto his feet, he sprang after the Blue
Thunder, and the two teenagers disappeared against the grim sky. Lightning
struck a few seconds later; along with it came Ranma and Kunou. The former
landed neatly just inside of the archway where Kasumi was, carrying the badly
beaten and unconscious form of the latter. Unceremoniously, he dumped his
load onto the ground. Shortly thereafter, the storm abated as quickly as it
came.
Kasumi stepped up to Saiyajin-Ranma. "Ranma, are you all right?"
His reply caught her completely off-guard. He swept her into his arms,
kissing her hotly upon her mouth. Her eyes flew wide, and her mind
overloaded, then froze, right along with the rest of her body. She almost
tumbled backwards when he did let go.
"I feel great, Kasumi." He smiled at her unblinking form.
"Ye-yes...I think."
"Well, I guess I better get to class, then, since we're here and all."
"All...all right, Ra-Ranma. Go-goodbye...."
He smiled once more. "Goodbye." Saiyajin-Ranma slipped inside the building.
Once he was out of her sight, Kasumi fell against the closest wall. "Oh,
my..." she breathed. She spared a glance at the comatose Kunou.
Immediately, her eyes settled upon his forehead, where there were three
characters impressed into its surface clearly. She read the kanji aloud.
"Bakamono..." She blinked. "Stupid person?"
"I'll agree with that."
Kasumi looked up to the owner of the voice who was leaning against the frame
of the doorway. "Nabiki!"
"Oh, don't worry about him, sis. I'll take him to the infirmary."
"Nabiki, aren't you supposed to be in class now?"
"Not to worry. It's all routine. You just go on home and start dreaming
about that kiss and what else Ranma can do."
She blushed darkly. "Nabiki!"
"Kidding, sis!" The grin on her face said otherwise.
* * * * *
After getting directions to the wash room, Saiyajin-Ranma enter and turned on
the hot water tap. Even though he liked his cursed form immensely, Kasumi's
reminder about his tail did worry him since it had a habit of uncurling from
around his waist from time to time. He cupped his hands underneath the
miniature waterfall, collecting a good amount of steaming water, then
splashed his face with it, reversing the effects of iseijinichuan. He looked
into the mirror at himself-his old, familiar self-and smiled weakly to the
reflection. His thoughts continuously bounced all over the place: fighting
Kunou, thinking about what the "good" doc did to him, changing into his
Saiyajin form, the adrenaline that sang in his blood as he utterly creamed
the kendoist, kissing Kasumi, writing bakamono on that idiot's-
Kissing Kasumi?!
He facefaulted. "Why the hell did I do that for?!" Ranma got up and buried
his face in his hands. "Oh, man, what was I thinking then...?"
* * * * *
The flying girl slowly approached a very large institution. "That must be
it." Glowing crimson, she streaked to the outside gates. Upon landing, she
walked up to a metal plate and read what it said. "Furinken High School. At
last Ranma, I've finally found you." She laughed softly a sinister laugh,
clutching a fist. It flared red, tendrils of its ruby light crackling and
spiraling around. Pointing the burning fist at a lone tree in an empty lot
across from the school, she cried out, "Tenma Hitodamadan!" Her palm snapped
open, sending a burning sphere tearing across open space. The ball of
crimson struck its target true, and the tree exploded in incendiary fashion,
scattering bits and pieces of charred wood everywhere.
"Prepare to die..."
FINALLY!! Got the whole thing through in one. Think I'll go celebrate my
victory over the tyranny of AOL. ^o^