Thanks to all those who sent the comments. ^_^ I tried my best to use their advice, so here it is. . .and it looks like I'll have to revise the whole thing. Start from scratch, maybe, but I still want to continue my story. So the next chapters will be on hold for some time.
Email: irene@furinkanhigh.com
O-TOMODACHI
CHAPTER ONE (revised ^^)
"RANMA!" Akane screamed. Ranma was running for
his life, almost literally.
"What did I do now?!" He demanded as he ran atop
the fence, out of her reach. Actually, she was
wielding a bokken this time and reminded him of
Kuno, which was not a good thought. Akane ran
faster, swinging the sword.
"Take back what you said!" She shouted. Ranma
bent back to dodge a sweep of the blade. "Take
it back!"
"If I knew what I said, I might be able to!" Ranma
retorted, running faster. He wasn't sure exactly
how mad she was at him. Maybe he could calm her
down. . .
"So you've trained longer than I have! That doesn't
give you the right to make fun of me!"
"What?" Ranma mumbled as he ran. Oh, yeah. They'd
been practicing in the dojo and Akane had smashed
several blocks. Right. . .and then what happened?
Ranma said something. . .
"How dare you say that I better stick to jogging!"
She yelled, reminding Ranma of his crime. "I was
working hard, you know! Just because I can't beat
you doesn't mean anything!"
"You're jogging now! And doing a very good job
of it!" Ranma smirked. He stuck out his tongue
and turned up his speed be several notches.
Akane gritted her teeth and tried several slashes,
all of which missed. "See? Told ya!"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"
"I said--" Ranma was cut off as the sword made
contact. "Hey!" He yelled. That one had actually
hurt. For a moment, he considered taking back
what he'd said. Then he noticed Akane fuming.
She swung the bokken again. Ranma cringed and
waited for contact.
He opened his eyes to see the sword broken in two.
Akane had missed and hit a fence. Not being Kuno,
she didn't slash through it. She stood, gripping
the hilt, glaring at him. Ranma could just feel
the hot aura surrounding her.
"I'm outta here," he thought. Not a moment too
soon, for Akane came after him once again. "Can't
catch me, baka manuke!" He shouted. Being called
a stupid idiot did not sit very well with Akane.
She ran after hi m, only to see him speeding
away in a blur.
Akane slowed down and tried to get her breath.
There was no way she'd catch him now. She balled
her hands into fists and groaned. She noticed
that she was still wearing her gi and no shoes,
which would doubtlessly earn her a few stares
as she went home.
Never mind, she thought. I'll get him later.
***
Ranma was still running, not taking a single look
back. He was too afraid that Akane might be still
on the chase. Buildings and parks whizzed by him,
as though her were on a train. He looked around
and realized that he couldn't see the river anymore,
and that was his primary landmark. After a few
more minutes, he began to tire. The fence ended
ahead, so he jumped down. He stopped to rest,
but heard something thumping behind him. It was
only a garbage can falling, but he thought it was
Akane again, maybe with a metal sword this time.
He didn't bother to consider anything, and started
running. Hoping to lose her, he dashed down a
small side street, took several turns, and ran
like crazy.
Had he been looking, he might have noticed several
town signs passing him, but he was going too fast.
He looked around and noticed that wherever he was,
he sure wasn't in Nerima anymore. The houses looked
different. They were newer, and a fair bit larger.
Ranma had had enough. He noticed that he was next
to a small park, which seemed to have a mini soccer
match going on between two boys and a young girl.
As the luck of all Jusenkyo victims goes, there was
a shout from the kids.
"Oi! Abunai yo!" The girl yelled. Ranma turned
around and was greeted by a soccer ball in the face.
It bounced away, and Ranma landed in a pond.
Spluttering, Ranma climbed out, feeling her clothes
soaked with water and dripping with algae. She
grimaced as she pulled several lotus plants off
her clothes, which were also fairly slimy from the
underwater habitat. She wrinkled her nose and groaned.
She took off her outer jacket, leaving on a white
tank top.
"Baka," she thought. "Now I don't even know where
I am." She looked around, and everything was
unfamiliar. She saw several students walking, and
their uniforms were not the same as Furinkan High
School. That confirmed it.
"Darn it, I'm turnin' into Ryoga," Ranma thought
angrily. "Oh, well, guess I'll find a bus and go
home on that. . .if I have any money." She searched
through her pockets and found a single hundred
yen coin. "Or I won't do that. Guess I'll ask
someone the way home." She looked around for anyone
to ask.
"Are you okay?" a voice asked behind him. Ranma
turned around and found herself facing a girl.
Her face was pretty and delicate, a pale heart
shape. At the moment, her cheeks were lit up.
Her hair was very dark brown, with glossy, golden-
brown highlights where the light struck. Her eyes
were dark blue, the same shade as his, Ranma
realized. Her figure wasn't as well-endowed as
Akane, perhaps, but she was more slender. He
could see that she had a small-hipped, willowy
figure. The red and orange sunset illuminated
her face shades of gold and cream. Ranma swallowed
and wished he hadn't taken such a careful look.
She was smiling sweetly and in concern, but her
look turned to disgust when she saw Ranma's clothes
and hair. "And by the way, you have a nice little
plantation of duckweed in your hair." She added
in a dry tone.
Ranma reached up and plucked it off. "Gee, thanks.
Um, yeah, I just. . .um, fell. I lost my way. . .
do you know where I am?"
"Sure!" The girl snapped. "You're in the Azuba
district of Tokyo. How long are you staying?"
"I'm. . .I'm Saotome Ranma," she said lamely and
shook hands. The girl almost didn't reach out,
but finally she did, trying not to grasp Ranma's
hand very hard. "Well. . .I'm Takeno Himeko.
Nice to meet you. Yeah."
"What. . .what happened to you?" Himeko asked,
trying to distance herself. Ranma guessed that
it was the smell of pond scum.
"I fell. Long story." Ranma said stonily. At
least the stupid girl could try and be helpful.
It wasn't _her_ fault about the stupid pond.
The girl instantly turned sympathetic. "Oh, so
you're not. . .never mind. You're all wet. At
least it's not that cold out, considering that
it's November." She looked around. "I have some
hot chocolate, but I don't have a cup. You'll
have to use the cap."
Ranma was shivering a bit. "Sure, that sounds
great."
Himeko took off the cap and started to pour the
hot liquid. "Sorry about what I said. It's just
that there are always these. . .idiotic clowns
in the neighborhood. At least you're not drunk
or something."
"Not very tolerant, is she?" Ranma thought dryly.
Just then, there was a thump. Ranma looked up to
see a soccer ball coming at them. "ABUNAI!" Ranma
shouted.
The projectile struck Himeko in the head. She
fell over, released the cup. . .which splashed
all over Ranma. As Himeko cried out and fell,
Ranma automatically went to catch her. . .
. . .
Himeko opened her eyes to find herself looking
at a very handsome, very well-built young man
of sixteen years.
He was dressed in the same fashion the red-headed
girl had been.
She wanted to scream and slap him. How dare a
boy grab her like that? And this was a public
park! She couldn't believe it. Her whole body
was reacting.
But as she looked up at him, it was all forgotten.
His hair was black, tied into a thick braid.
His eyes, looking at her in concern, were a beautiful
shade of deep, dark blue. His face was too beautiful
to be true. Himeko had never fainted in her life,
but all of a sudden, she felt dizzy and lightheaded,
as if something was about to happen. . .
"You. . .who are you?!" Himeko demanded. Her face
turned a flaming shade of red. She wanted to
disentangle herself from his arms, but something
in her just didn't want to let go. His arms were
so warm, so strong. . .Himeko swallowed. She
hated having guys touch her, but. . .somehow,
she didn't mind this time. Even with hot chocolate
all over his hair, his face, and his shirt, he
still looked cute. She wondered what she was
going to do. Boys never did this to her. She
wasn't bad looking, but she certainly didn't
compare to some other girls at school.
Then natural instinct kicked in. Himeko screamed,
slapped him, and jumped away. "WHO THE HECK ARE
YOU? WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE _DOING_?! HOW DARE
YOU!!!!" She moved a little further away, panting
for breath. She had her arms crossed over her
chest, and she'd dropped the thermos. Chocolate
was now spilled all over the front of her dress
and skirt. She took several deep breaths,
readying for another round of insults.
"Ahh. . ." Ranma thought, holding his cheek.
"Why does this always happen to me. . .and she
was starting to respect me too. . ."
Himeko looked at him. "What? Where'd the girl go?
Is she okay? And what ARE you doing to ME? Do
you _want_ me to call the police? I trusted you
there! You. . .you. . .HENTAI!"
"Er. . .I am the girl. I'm. . .Saotome Ranma still.
I'm the same person. Um. . .cold water. . ." At
least she wasn't going to hit him any more. That
was one difference from Akane, he thought absently.
"You--you--what? I--I don't want to know any
more." Himeko started backing up. This whole
day had been too weird. She wondered if she was
delirious or something. First meeting who she
thought was a derelict, then being grabbed by
a strange guy, who claimed to be that girl. . .
"Um. . .wait! Come back here!"
Himeko slowed her steps and turned slowly. Ranma
nodded. "It's okay. Don't worry about it. I. . .
I understand." He smiled.
She glared and walked away. It was getting late,
and the sun was starting to set over the park. For
the first time, Ranma took a careful look at Himeko.
She was about as tall as his girl form. She was
wearing a seifuku, a sailor suit set with a blue
collar, dark red kerchief tie, and pleated blue
skirt the same shade as the collar and cuffs.
The shirt was long-sleeved and had little cuffs
with red ribbon stripes. The collar also had
the stripes. The shirt ended exactly at the
waist, and when she ran, Ranma could see the
waistband of her pleated skirt. She had little
pearl earrings. She wasn't so bad-looking, Ranma
decided. Nothing like Akane, but. . .well, she
was cute.
"Matte!" He called to her.
"What?" she mumbled.
Himeko sighed to herself. This was going to be
one interesting day. She'd embarrassed herself,
insulted somebody, and made *them* feel bad. But
she had no patience with idiots who did stupid
things. She knew it probably wasn't a nice thing
to say, but she preferred to let them work it out
themselves. She had no idea what was going on
here, and she had a feeling that she didn't
_want_ to know anyway.
"Well, I still need someone to show me the way
home," he pointed out. "Do you know the way
to Nerima?"
She paused. He was speaking to her quite nicely,
actually. He didn't sound like an idiot, or some p
ervert like those at her school who went around
grabbing girls for the fun of it. No, he actually
sounded sincere. In addition, he _was_ very cute,
her brain reminded her. She glanced at him.
Was she supposed to trust this guy? His eyes
looked at her.
"Go ask a policeman," she said, turning away.
"But. . .I'm sorry, Takeno-san," he said, trying
to be polite. That didn't come too easily to him,
considering his usual speech patterns. "I. . .er,
it was my fault. It was an accident, though,
really. You fell, and I had to catch you."
"Umm. . ." she was still undecided. Better not to
trust him, she thought. "No. Like I said, just
go ask a policeman. Sorry."
"Please?" He said. Turning his head, he didn't
see a single policeman in sight. Plus, if she
could mistake him for a bum, probably the
policeman would too. He swallowed. "Please?
I'm sorry."
Himeko decided to relent. Oh, well. If anything
happened, she could always scream. "Nerima? Wow,
you're quite a distance away. . ." she said flatly.
"Yeah, I do know. Come on, it's hard to explain.
I'll have to walk you."
"No problem," Ranma answered easily. "I don't
mind at all. Do you?" He looked over at her
in the eye.
Himeko's heart started racing. She had blushed
more in the last five minutes than in a lifetime.
"No, I. . .I'd love to. I just didn't want you
to think, you know, that I'm. . ." she sighed
deeply, then smiled. "All right, here we go.
It's this way."
Himeko, he thought, running the name over his
tongue. It meant "princess", if he recalled
correctly. Takeno? Didn't that mean bamboo or
something? He looked at her. Well, she was
good-looking enough for a princess all right. . .
he noticed that her long, silky hair went nearly
to her waist. It was tied at the base of her
neck with a wide blue ribbon. Her glossy locks
were fluttering behind her as she walked.
She looked up to see him walking on the fence.
With a smile, she ran, leapt up--her skirt flapped
a bit, giving a view of a lacy slip--and landed
on the fence. Even in her slightly heeled shoes,
she walked very well on the fence. Ranma was
surprised and pleased.
"Do you do martial arts?" he asked her. She
nodded. "I used to, just a little. I didn't
have much time to train. I'm more interested
in science myself. . ." she shrugged. "I. . .
wanted to continue, but I quit when I was eight
or so. Oh, darn." She wobbled a bit, then jumped
off the fence. She ran again and hopped up.
"See? I'm really out of practice."
Ranma knew what she meant. "Yeah, I know the
feeling. You really want to keep going, but
it's a struggle, isn't it?"
Himeko sighed. "Yeah. Kempo took up so much
time. . .I quit. And I didn't regret it one
bit." She frowned. "Well, maybe a little."
"Kempo?" Ranma was pleasantly surprised. "Hey,
that's the one I study, too! Maybe you and I
can practice together!"
Himeko shook her head. "You'd be too good for
me," she said with a grin. Her voice softened
and her eyes got a bit dreamy. She was blushing
fiercely again, and she was looking up at the
heavens as if to thank God.
"Thanks," Ranma said. He wasn't sure what to say.
They walked in silence for a while, and Himeko
turned around. The sky was darkening, the
orange colors changing into darker blues and
violets. He could see a single star.
Himeko kept walking, but she turned around and
started to walk backwards. She took glances every
now and then to make sure she was going the right
way. "We're supposed to turn in a few blocks. . .
I hope I don't miss it." She hopped off carefully
and landed rather awkwardly, but she didn't hurt
herself. Looking around, she beckoned for him
to get off the fence. They turned down several
streets, and Ranma found himself looking at
the river.
"We're here," Himeko announced unexpectedly.
Ranma looked around. Finally, things were looking
familiar.
"I guess you're home now," she said with a wistful
smile. Her eyes were gazing at him earnestly,
but with a little shadow of pain. "I. . .I'll
be going home. Have a good evening." She smiled.
"Hey, wait," Ranma said. "It's getting really
late. Why don't you come over for a bit? Akane
would probably like to meet you."
Himeko bit her lip. "Who's Akane. . ."
"My fianc�e." Ranma glanced at her out of the
corner of his eyes.
"Oh." Himeko said. Of course, the good guys were
always taken. Of course, after the way she'd
treated him, he wasn't going to be too eager to
get to know her better. Shocked, she looked at
her hands and began playing with them. "I mean,
I don't want to. . .impose on you any longer.
It. . .it was great, knowing you. I'm so glad. . .
you. . .you'll remember me?" It was crazy. She'd
insulted him, hit him, yelled at him, and now she
wanted him to remember her.
"What the heck?" Ranma thought. "It's not like
this is our last goodbye or anything." Man, this
girl was weird.
Out loud, he said, "All right, if you're sure.
But it looks like rain. Can I at least get you
an umbrella or something? Don't want you getting
soaked. . ."
He's actually concerned, Himeko thought with a
shiver. "Um. . .that's all right. . .I'm. . .
I'll be just fine."
"Do you want to call your parents from the house?"
Ranma asked.
"Um, no. . .my aunt's not going to be home tonight."
"Aunt?"
"Yeah. I. . .my parents died when I was little. I
live with Obaa-san."
Ranma barely had time to digest this fact when he
saw Akane at the front door.
"Ranma!" She called. "Hey, I was worried about
you! What's going on? And who's. . .she?"
"Is that Akane?" Himeko asked. She walked up and
smiled. "Hey, aren't you Tendo Akane?"
"Um, y-yeah. How'd you know?" Akane sounded rather
surprised.
"Ranma told me about you," she said with a little
smile.
Akane blushed. "Oh, is that so. . .hey, it's going
to rain. Come on in for a bit. We can take you
home later."
"No, I'm going. Thanks for everything." Himeko
turned and ran off.
It was getting darker by the minute. Squinting,
Akane could barely make out Himeko's rapidly
retreating figure. She heard a faint tapping
of heels on concrete, and then no more.
"Dinner's ready. Oh, hello, Ranma," Kasumi said,
jerking him out of his thoughts.
"Oh, ah, thanks," Ranma said mindlessly.
"OK, let's go."
Akane stared after him.
End of Chapter One
________________________________________________________________
Get Email, News, Links and The Best Selection at http://AnimeNation.com