Here's chapter 2 people. C&C would be much appreciated but flames would
be laughed at and thrown away.
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I make no claim or
money in the writing of this story.
This fanfic is archived at
http://www.geocities.com/LightHawk19/THOTW.html
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Two Halves of the Whole
Chapter 2
The twilight hours of Nerima are often the quietest hours of the day.
This is true mainly because there are the fewest number of martial
artists on the streets at any given time and yet people are still awake
enough to notice it. The twilight hours is also the time that Ranma
uses to brood on the roof of the dojo.
Things haven't really changed since Jusendo and the wedding. Ukyou had
written a formal letter of apology to Ranma for her actions and had been
forgiven but she still wanted to marry him, if not so aggressively.
Shampoo did not care about her actions during the wedding and continued
on with reckless abandon to capture her 'airen.' Kuno and Mousse remain
unchanged and continue to attack him on sight or hug him as the case may
be. Ryoga has been giving Ranma the benefit of the doubt more often,
though. Ever since he learned the shishi hokodan they had been fighting
less and less violently and had been more like friendly rivals than
bitter enemies. When he found Akari, they'd actually become closer,
almost like friends. Neither one was about to admit it though,
especially to other people.
Akane, now, was driving him crazy. She decided that she was tired of
getting kidnapped and managed to get her father to start training her
again. He didn't mind her wanting to train with her father one bit.
What bothered him was that after her work outs she was very tired and
VERY cranky and took any and all frustrations out on him. It did not
even matter if her problems were related to him or not. Mr. Tendo told
him that the control exercises he was giving her left her frustrated and
angry after class. Ranma really hoped that those exercises worked soon,
it hurts when you get hit through walls and ceilings twice a day.
When Akane wasn't angry at the world on general principles, she could
be disgustingly nice, and cute, and other things Ranma didn't want to
think about. It was true that they didn't argue quite as much but
sometimes he wished he had his tomboy back and not just this wonderful
girl.
Ranma continued his thoughts about himself and the people around him
for about a half hour before storm clouds rolled in and signaled that it
was time to get inside. Gracefully jumping off the side, Ranma
performed a landing that Sharon Miller would envy and bowed to his
family who watched him as he walked in.
"Show off," muttered Akane as she turned her head away from him and it
appeared that she had recently finished another round of training with
her father. All others just shook their heads and went back to what
they were doing. Kasumi was the only exception, who offered Ranma a
brownie and some milk. Ranma gave his thanks and quickly went to work
on the brownie and milk.
Ranma was in a good mood, after getting his problems off his chest up
on the roof and Kasumi's brownies it was just hard not to be in a good
mood. He knew it was not to last, since tomarrow was a school day.
Therefore he headed over to the TV to try and catch a Jackie Chan film
or something and avoid any problems, if possible. It might have even
worked if the first show to come to view wasn't the "Iron Chief," which
was Akane's favorite show. The two went into instant bicker over what
to watch. Akane ended up the victor when she threw Ranma out into the
now pouring rain and into the even wetter koi pond. Ranma-chan then
headed in the general direction of the bathroom while muttering
something about uncute tomboys under her breath. No, maybe the tomboy
should go away and never come back and leave the wonderful girl behind.
The next morning went by fairly mechanically for Ranma. The morning
sparring session with Genma and resulting bath never really registered
in his mind, he was so used to it. It wasn't until the morning run to
school before he really woke up. When they reached the school gates
they saw Kuno standing in the middle with a bokken in the left hand and
a bouquet of roses in the right. Usually it was the other way around
and when Kuno went to throw the roses to Akane he tossed the bokken
instead. Ranma decided to let Kuno play this out while he went on a 3
minute tirade about how Akane Tendo and the Pig-tailed Girl must bow to
Ranma's every beck and call and how he should put it all to an end that
day. Ranma was able to maintain his control over the laughter that was
about to burst forth until Kuno struck a dramatic pose (for Kuno anyway)
holding the bouquet like a sword. It was then that Ranma toppled over
with laughter.
"Geez, Kuno. I didn't think it was possible for you to get anymore
stupid but you've managed to pull it off."
"You dare mock the great Blue Thunder! I shall put an end to your vile
nature at once!" Kuno shouted as he brought his rosy weapon to bear.
Ranma easily dodged Kuno's thrusts and promptly booted him in the head,
sending him somewhere in the direction of Kobe.
"Come on, Akane. Let's get to class." Akane tossed the bokken off to
the side before following the still chuckling Ranma. Ranma apparently
didn't notice the dark rings under Kuno's eyes earlier, it was easily
apparent that he hadn't slept a wink the night before. Akane briefly
wondered why before putting the thought aside with the notion that she
didn't care.
English, their first class, went by pretty normally for Ranma and Akane
until Miss Hinako decided to stand over a sleeping Ranma and wake him
with the question, "Would MISTER Saotome like to translate paragraph two
on page 231 of this book? I'm sure the whole class would like to hear
it." Well, that question and a whap to the head with previously
mentioned book.
"Huh, what? Oh, howz it goin' teach." Ranma said groggily as a young
Hinako looked angrily down on him, or up as her case may be. "Wadduya
want?"
"I said, translate paragraph two on page 231 or you will be punished
for sleeping in class," the latter part was said as a 50 yen coin was
brought out. It was obvious that Miss Hinako was hoping that he
wouldn't get the translation right.
Ranma flipped through the book until he found the page he was looking
for. It wasn't until he looked over the words a second time before he
realized the book wasn't even in English. "What's goin' on here teach?
This book ain't even in English, it's in German or something."
"At least you know what English isn't, Mister Saotome. You know the
rules about sleeping in class. HAPPO 50 YEN SATSU!!" Ranma dodged the
attempt at draining his ki. Hiroshi and Daisuke weren't so lucky,
however, and were hit with Hinako's vicious attack.
"Thanks a lot, Ranma." "Some friend you are." The two mumbled as they
lost conciousness.
It took 5 minutes for Hinako and Ranma to settle down to the point
where class could start again. At that point Akane was shaking her head
and pointedly ignoring him. After class, Hinako made an announcement.
"Due to several teachers at this school quitting due to stress
disorders, I will be teaching all of your classes for the rest of the
semester except gym. I know you all are just happy to hear this!"
Because the draining of Hiroshi and Daisuke did not last long, the
teacher said this in her super cute, childish way Because of this, the
students could only muster was a loud groan instead of maiming Ranma
like they wanted to do.
From that point, until the end of classes for the day, things were
pretty dull for Ranma and nothing of any importance happened, at least
to him. A loud ranting during third period marked the return of True
Blunder. He and Akane had eaten lunch outside together and were
pleasantly surprised no one came to bother them.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Tokyo....
Jay Scott looked around at the neighborhood he would now be living in
for the time being. The apartment he had just rented had been recently
vacated by its prior tenants for some reason, so he was lucky to get
it. The manager didn't say why but it didn't matter in the end. He had
found the dojo that his old master had pointed him to. It wasn't hard
to find since it was apparently well known to the locals around here.
He hoped that the dojo was taking on new students, but didn't care
either way since he was going to be staying at the apartment for a
while. Jay was very tired of traveling all over the place and just
wanted to just settle down for a while.
He was about to head out to talk to the dojo's master when his stomach
rumbled. [I guess I'll have to grab a bite before I talk to this guy.
I wonder if there are any good places to eat around here.] With that
thought in mind, Jay headed out to find some food.
Jay noted several restaurants that looked good but turned then down for
various reasons. He wasn't in the mood for ramen and the line at the
okonomiyaki place was long and filled with high school students.
Something about the place did seem kind of familiar though. He kept the
two places in mind to visit later. He eventually found a local
McDonald's. 'Those things are popping up everywhere,' he thought, and
decided that some American would be good.
A half hour later, a somewhat satisfied Jay walked out onto the street
and walked around for a bit. Jay was in no hurry to get to the dojo and
decided to get to know the area a little bit in case he got lost.
After an hour of walking around, Jay began to notice the wary looks
that most people were throwing towards him. Many people were whispering
to others while glancing in his direction. He managed to catch some of
what they said as he walked past. "Not another one," was what he heard
the most but he put it out of his mind and continued on. It wasn't long
before his wandering brought him towards the object of his search.
Meanwhile, at the Tendo Dojo.
Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome were sitting in the breezeway and playing
a game of shogi while Kasumi was at work cleaning up the living area.
It was a good day for quiet contemplation and that was what the two men
were currently doing. The two had decided after the failed wedding
attempt, to back off Ranma and Akane a bit. They still plotted out
several schemes, however, just in case they saw an opening.
Their contemplation was disturbed, however, by a knocking at the front
gate. "It seems we have visitors," said Kasumi as she headed towards
the door. "I'll be right there."
Jay waited by the gate for a moment before a young girl around his age
opened the door and smiled kindly at him. "Hello, how may I help you?"
she asked.
"Um, hi. I'm here to speak to the proprietor of the Tendo Dojo. Is he
around? Or have I come at a bad time?" Jay asked.
"Yes, Father is here and I'm sure he would be happy to see you. Please
come in." Kasumi said sweetly as she gestured for him to come inside.
"Thank you miss. I hope I don't put you into too much trouble."
"Oh, it's no trouble at all."
Kasumi led Jay to the living area and told him to have a seat at the
table while she went to get her father. Soun walked in a minute later
and sat across from Jay at the table.
"I'm Soun Tendo of the Tendo Dojo. How may I help you?" he asked with
a serious expression on his face. He was afraid this had something to
do with Ranma.
"Good Afternoon," Jay said with a bow. "My name is Jay Scott and I
would like to know if you are taking on any new students. One of my old
masters recommended you as an instructor. He said that you were a
former pupil of his."
"I see, son. I currently have no students besides my daughter but I do
accept new students from time to time. Please tell me, how is the old
master doing?"
"He is well. I spent nearly two years under him to help further my
sword training. His grandson proved to be an excellent training
partner. When I asked if he knew anyone that could work with me on my
unarmed skills, he recommended you. He gave me a letter of
recommendation to give you if you wanted it."
"No, that's quite all right, son. However, I do need to know what kind
of training you have received. A brief history of your training and a
small demonstration should be enough to determine your level."
"Do you only wish to know about my unarmed skills or do you wish to
know both armed and unarmed?" Jay asked to give time to think about
what to say.
"Unarmed will be fine for now. Later, I might need to know your full
range of skills."
"Very well then." Jay then spent the next 5 minutes giving a brief
overlay of the training he received from his mother and grandmother in
his family's style of unarmed martial arts.
Genma, who was unusually quiet while listening to the two talk earlier,
finially spoke after Jay finished. "He would fit in your school,
Tendo. His style is defensive in nature and spends most of the time on
the ground. I would have to retrain the boy to use my style but you
won't have to very much in yours."
Soun nodded thoughtfully and agreed. "I believe you're right,
Saotome. It shouldn't be too hard to work his style onto the Tendo
school."
Jay looked thoughtful for a second, he knew he had heard that name
before. It took a few moments before he made the connection.
"Saotome. Excuse me sir, but you wouldn't be related to Ranma Saotome
by chance would you?"
Genma looked upset for a moment and was poised to flee before he was
restrained by his friend. He then turned to Jay and answered angrily,
though it didn't seem directed towards him. "Yes, I'm his father. What
has my ingrate son done now?"
Jay was confused for a moment. He had no clue what the man's problem
was and tried to answer the question. After several failed attempts to
form the words he finally came up with them. "Well, Ranma has done
nothing to me personally but I did run into him in the mountains a
couple of weeks back. We talked for a bit and agreed to have a sparring
match before I continued on my journey. It is true that he did win, but
he was the better fighter and I conceded the match to him. I didn't
know that he lived here though."
Relief showed briefly on both men's faces before absolute pride shown
on Genma's. "That's my boy! He knows better than to lose a fight,
sparring or real." Genma continued on for a while about how the student
reflected on the teacher and such. Soun, and eventually Jay as well
tuned him out.
The two began to talk about various topics, such as a training
schedule, what days would work best for each other, and whether or not
he preferred to train alone or with others. When the topic came to
payment, Soun referred him to his middle daughter and said that she
should be home from school shortly.
"Thank you, Mr. Tendo. I appreciate you taking me on as a student and
I hope that the classes will be mutually enjoyable." As Jay was about
to stand up to leave, Kasumi came in with a tray of tea and rice
crackers.
"Will you be staying here for dinner? We would feel honored to have
you for company." Kasumi's request was just too kind for Jay to even
consider refusing such an offer.
"Thank you, but I don't want to put you to any trouble."
"Oh, it's no trouble at all. I'm sure the others would be more than
happy to have you here as well." Kasumi's overpowering kindness forced
Jay to accept it without further reluctance.
Author's notes and ramblings:
Normal speech (In this case, Japanese) will be in normal quotes " ".
Thoughts will be in single quotes ' '.
Words spoken in English are in brackets [ ].
Chinese will be spoken later with curly braces { }.
Please note that I will have Jay speak Japanese rather stiffly for
most of the story. I am doing this for a reason that will be explained
later. If you have problems with anyone else, please correct them.
Lot's of thanks to my prereaders. Without you, I would still be in the
dark about my writing skills.
--
Tomorrow sees undone, what happens not today. Indecision brings delays,
days lost lamenting lost days -Ryoga Hibiki
Email me at LightHawk@nc.rr.com
or
visit my web site at http://www.geocities.com/LightHawk19/Index.html