Blue Tides

By Kyle Emmerson

Ranma 1/2 is the sole intellectual property of Rumiko Takahashi. I take no 
credit in the creation of these characters and situations. Enjoy.

Prologue: The First Wave

----

	The morning air chilled Ranma's face as he ran, but that was to be expected 
after first being drenched by an old woman watering her walkway, and then 
stopping at the local acupuncture clinic to get some warm water. It was the 
beginning of his second day in Nerima Ward, and he had always been a firm 
believer that bad news came in threes.

	The first, he thought as he ran along the chain link fencing that bordered 
the street from the road, was the news that he would be attending the local 
high school. School had never been Ranma's strong point. He believed all he 
needed to know in life was to be learned from the art. The indiscriminate 
Anything-Goes style of the Saotome and Tendo Clans had taught him much over 
the years. What he had learned more than anything else over the years was 
that his father was not to be trusted.

	The second came simply enough in the form of the old woman watering her 
walkway, catching him entirely off-guard while he had been taunting Akane, 
his new favorite pasttime, and changing his form.

	And then the brief visit to the clinic, where he met Doctor Tofu. While not 
necessarily bad news, the visit had left him wondering quite a bit.

	"He was pretty good," Ranma said, breaking the silence between him and 
Akane. "Martial artist?"

	Akane looked up at him inquisitively. "You could tell?" she asked.

	"Yeah," he said, concentrating on where his feet were going. "I mean, he 
snuck up on me without me noticing him. To hide himself from my senses that 
well... he'd have to be pretty damn good."

	Akane smirked. "Well, he's been--"

	"Whoa! Heads up!"

	It took all of Ranma's skill and talent not to be knocked off of the fence 
by a flying projectile that was closing in on his head. However, running 
along a fence, and not being able to dodge well enough rendered all his 
skill and talent useless.

	'Three,' he thought as he was struck on the side of the head, and fell off 
the fence, landing rather roughly on his rear on the road. After using a 
moment to clear his head and regain his bearings, he jumped back up onto his 
feet and prepared to face his assailant.

	What he saw wasn't something he had expected, however. A boy around his own 
age slowed to a halt about three yards away from Ranma, bent over to pick up 
the projectile, which, Ranma now saw, was a skateboard.

	"What the hell was that for?" Ranma yelled.

	The guy looked over at Ranma and allowed him to get a good look. He was a 
tall boy, with short hair. He wore a red bandanna on his head, a yellow 
hooded sweatshirt and a pair of extremely wide-leg jeans. Ranma also noted a 
metal chain that ran from his back pocket to just under the hoodie.

	"Whoa, man," he said. "I'm really sorry about that. You okay?"

	"I'm fine," he said. "No thanks to you." He motioned to the skateboard. 
"Now tell me why is it I'm trying to dodge flying skateboards."

	"Dude, the fences out here are weak, man. I'm just grinding along, and 
there must have been a slippery spot on the fence, 'cause it just slipped 
out from under me. I gave you a heads up. I'm really sorry, dude. When I saw 
you running along the fence, I figured a heads up would be all you needed. 
You musta been distracted, huh?"

	"What are you talking about?" Ranma said, looking sheepishly at
Akane. "I wasn't distracted."

	"No, man. You had to have been. You're either a gymnast or a martial 
artist, right?"

	Ranma rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I'm a martial artist. So?"

	"Well," the boy continued. "Martial artists who can run along the top of a 
chain link fence can usually tell when someone else is on the fence, even if 
they can't see them. These things don't exactly have the best suspension, 
you know what I mean?"

	"Well, yeah, but I wasn't distracted. I don't get--"

	"Look," Akane interupted. "You two can argue till you're both blue in the 
face, but I need to get to school." She turned and made her way down the 
road. "And I suggest you hurry, too Ranma. That stop at Doctor Tofu's didn't 
help us out in the time department."

	"Shit!" the boy said. "School! I'm gonna be late, too!" He dropped his 
skateboard on the ground and started to ride, passing by Ranma and Akane in 
mere seconds.

	"Sorry again, man!" he yelled as he left earshot.

	Ranma frowned. "Who the hell was that?" he asked nobody in particular. 
"Damn weirdoes." He ran to catch up with Akane.

	"Who was that guy, anyway?" Ranma he asked as he caught up.

	Akane shrugged. "I dunno," she said. "He might be one of the new kids 
everyone's been talking about."

	"New kids?"

	"Yeah," she said. "I mean... you were a surprise to say the least, but the 
whole school has been buzzing about the news kids coming from America. One 
of them is supposed to be in our class, and the other is going to Nabiki's."

	"Why from America?"

	"Well, the new Headmaster has been living in Hawaii for a few years," she 
explained. "And his kids were born here, but raised over there. Technically, 
they're Americans, but legal Japanese."

	Ranma remained silent in thought for a few more moments, but soon, the 
sight of Furinkan High School loomed in the distance. "Great," he said. 
"Just great."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

	"Students," the teacher began, standing at the front of the room. "Please 
rise."

	The students did so, without many complaints.

	The teacher waited until everyone was still and silent before she began. 
"We have a special surprise today, class. As it turns out your homeroom will 
have not just one, but two new students in class. She motioned to a girl 
standing off to one side. "This is Kodachi Kuno, whom we have been 
expecting. She, as you know, is the daughter of Headmaster Kuno. Let's give 
her a warm welcome, shall we?"

	The class bowed at her presence as she walked up to the center. Unlike the 
other girls in the classroom, she wasn't wearing the traditional Furinkan 
uniform. Rather, she was wearing a red tank top, and a pair of worn blue 
jeans that had seen its day long ago. She gave the class a brief nod and a 
wave.

	"Hey," she said, seeming almost disinterested.

	"Kodachi, as you well know, spent most of her life in Hawaii. Isn't that 
right, Kodachi?" the teacher asked.

	Kodachi gave a nod. "Yeah," she said. "My brother and I used to come here 
during summer break every year, but we've never really lived here."

	"How new and exciting this must be for you, to get back in touch with your 
roots. I'm sure you'll have a great time here in Nerima," the teacher said, 
then motioned to an empty seat near the window. "If you'll take your seat, 
I'll introduce the next student."

	Kodachi shrugged and then moved over to her assigned seat.

	"Next, we have Ranma Saotome," the teacher said, motioning Ranma over. 
Ranma walked to the front of the class and nodded, much in the same fashion 
Kodachi did.

	"Ranma has just returned from a long trip in China," she stated. "A few 
years, isn't that right, Ranma?"

	Ranma nodded. "Yeah," he said. "My Pop and me did a lot of training out 
there."

	"I also understand you're a talented martial artist," she said.

	Ranma nodded again. "Yup."

	"Very good," she said. "You may take your seat as well, Ranma."

	Ranma did just that, finding an empty spot near the rear of the class.
	The teacher began gathering her notes for class, and then looked up. "I'd 
also like to remind our new students that while you may attend today sans 
uniforms, you are required to wear them starting tomorrow. Am I understood?"

	Both Ranma and Kodachi gave an annoyed nod.

	"We'll start lessons in a few minutes, when I return," the teacher said, 
then left the room.

	The teacher hadn't been out of the room for two seconds before most of the 
class had flocked around Kodachi and Ranma's desks, barraging them with 
question after question.

	"Is it nice in America?" "Wow! China?" "You're a martial artist?" "How do 
you get your hair like that?" "Can we be friends?"

	The barrage had taken both of them entirely off-guard, and they both stood 
up in a hurry, worried that someone would get a little too close. Besides, 
with that many people packed in such a small area, lack of oxygen would be a 
growing concern.

	Ranma looked over at Akane, who smirked at him and shook her head. She was 
used to this type of behavior. He then looked over at Kodachi, who looked 
back at him with shock apparent on her face. She mouthed the words "Help 
me," at him.

	Ranma couldn't help but look back at her, and mouth back the word, "How?"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

	"Class," Nabiki's first period teacher said, "this is Tatewaki Kuno, who 
has just moved here from America. Please give him a warm welcome," the 
teacher said.

	"Hi," Kuno said, waving. "Call me Tach, or Kuno."

	The class spent a few moments looking him over. Before long, most of the 
girls in the class had made up their minds about him... they liked him.

	However, as physics teach us, every action must have an equal and opposite 
reaction. So thus, the boys in the class decided they didn't like him.

	Nabiki, on the other hand, was giving him a more detailed appraisal. First 
off, she had heard things about him before he showed up in class that 
morning, but not much.

	The most important was that he was rich. This automatically put him in 
Nabiki's good books. Second, that he was widely popular back in Hawaii, 
which obviously meant that he was a social being. Another good point.

	Third, and she only found this out that morning, he was attractive. Very 
much so. Therefore, Nabiki decided that they must become friends.

	Kuno took his seat and the teacher left the class, allowing much of the 
class to converge upon his desk and begin the questioning. Nabiki couldn't 
have that. She stood up and cleared her throat.

	A path was cleared almost immediately. She walked up to a confused looking 
Tachi Kuno, and bowed.

	"Kuno-san?" she asked. "I'm Nabiki Tendo."

	Tachi looked up at her with an appraising look, then smiled. He extended 
his hand. "Nice to meet you," he said.

	Nabiki looked at his hand skeptically, then took it in hers and shook. "I'd 
like to welcome you to Furinkan," she said. "And if you... need anything, 
I'm the person you talk to."

	Tachi blinked for a moment, then smirked. "Gotcha," he said. "I'm good for 
a little while, but I may need to talk to you during the weekend sometime."

	Nabiki nodded in understanding-- although she really had no idea to what he 
was referring to, but she wasn't about to let him in on that.

	"I'd be glad to assist you any way I can, Kuno-san," she said.

	"Great, but can you lose the san?" he suggested. "Back home they either 
called me Tach or Kuno. Either is fine, but this whole Kuno-san thing sucks. 
Got me?"

	Nabiki smiled. "Of course... Kuno," she said.

	A moment later, the teacher walked back into the room, and the class took 
their seats. Lessons commenced.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

	Ranma wandered around the schoolyard during lunch before settling on a spot 
he deemed worthy of his attention. It was a tree branch large enough for him 
to lounge on, and high enough for him to see most of the yard.

	"I dub thee, branchy," Ranma said as he leaned back on it.

	As chance would have it, the tree he took residence in just so happened to 
be the same tree Akane and her friends Yuka and Sayuri sat under to eat 
their lunches. The three were aware of Ranma's presence, so they included 
him in their conversations.

	"So... Ranma, you're staying with Akane?" Sayuri asked.

	"He's not staying *with* me," Akane corrected. "Just in my house."

	Yuka smiled and added her own comment. "Sure. I bet you two are secretly 
lovers, hiding your love from everyone in order to--"

	"Don't get too carried away there, Yuka," Sayuri said.

	Ranma rolled his eyes back and scoffed. "Yeah, right," he said. "Look, I'm 
sorry to disappoint, but I'm not really interested in Akane, okay?" He 
turned and looked down at them. "She's too tomboyish for me."

	Akane glared back up at him. "And he's too girlish for me," she shot back.

	"Ooh," Yuka said. "Lovers spat."

	"We're not lovers!" came the simultaneous reply.

	"Who's not?" a new voice asked. The four of them turned to see Kodachi 
enter the area. "Sorry if I overheard something I wasn't supposed to."

	"No," Akane said, smiling. "Don't worry about it. You're welcome to sit 
with us if you want."

	Kodachi smiled. "Thanks," she said. "I think I will." She took a seat on 
the grass next to the girls and looked up at Ranma. "So.. what were you guys 
saying before I interrupted?"

	Yuka was the first to answer. "Oh, nothing serious. We're just teasing 
Ranma and Akane here."

	"Yeah, they live together," Sayuri said.

	"We don't live together," Akane said. "Just in the same house."

	Kodachi smiled. "Scandalous," she said. "At your age... what will your 
parents think?"

	"It was their idea," Ranma interrupted.

	"Ahh," Kodachi said. "So the tree-borne one speaks. I was beginning to 
think your entire vocabulary consisted of three words."

	"You mean it doesn't?" Akane joked.

	The girls laughed, while Ranma rolled his eyes again.

	"So, Kodachi--" Sayuri began, then paused as Kodachi put her hand up.

	"Please," she said. "Don't call me that. My friends used to call me Kochi 
back home. I'd prefer that name instead. Is that all right?"

	Sayuri smiled. "Of course," she said. "Kochi... What's life in America 
like?"

	Kodachi laughed. "It's like here... except there's more people speaking 
english, school uniforms are non-existant, there's more crime, and there's 
pizza."

	"I had that once," Yuka said. "Pizza. It was pretty good."

	Kochi nodded. "I swear by it," she said.

	"So... what do you do?" Yuka asked.

	"Do?" Kochi replied. "What do you mean... like for fun?"

	Yuka nodded.

	"I'm into gymnastics," she said. "I'm pretty good, too. I won the Hawaii 
State Championship three years running."

	"Really?" Akane asked. "Wow!"

	"Yeah," Kodachi said shrugging. "It's definitely cool. I went to the 
nationals, but I never came in first. Every year I was beat by this bitch 
from Iowa. I swear the only reason she wins every time is 'cause she sleeps 
with the judges."

	"Yeah, Akane's a little bit of a gymnast, too," Yuka said.

	Kodachi raised an eyebrow at her.

	"Yeah, but I doubt I'm as good as you," Akane said. "I'm more of a martial 
artist than a gymnast, so most of my training goes into the arts."

	"A martial artist, eh?" Kodachi said. "Now that's cool." She looked up at 
Ranma. "I understand you're a martial artist, too."

	Ranma yawned and replied. "Yeah. I dabble."

	Kodachi laughed and pointed a thumb towards him. "He of few words, eh?"

	The girls all laughed. Once again, Ranma rolled his eyes.

	"My brother dabbles in it a bit, too," Kodachi said. "He took kendo when he 
was young. Dad said it would make a man out of him. But it didn't last long. 
Tachi got into Aikido and Capoeira after a while, but never really took it 
seriously. He got his black belts, but never continued his training after 
that."

	"Why not?" Akane asked. "Black belts are just the beginning of training."

	Kodachi shrugged. "Well, he found a new hobby he liked better."

	"Skateboarding?" Ranma asked.

	Kodachi looked up at him. "Yeah. That and surfing. How'd you know?"

	"We had a close encounter with him this morning before school," Akane 
explained.

	Kodachi rolled her eyes. "Yeah, he refuses to get a ride anywhere. He's 
always on that stupid thing," she said.

	"Hey, it's not stupid," another voice said from nearby.

	The group turned once again to see Tachi, walking towards them with Nabiki.

	"What up, bro?" Kochi asked.

	"Nothing much," Tachi said. "Just inviting Nabiki here to the bake this 
weekend, then wanted to look for you guys."

	"You guys?" Kochi asked.

	"Yeah, well," he motioned towards Akane, and then Ranma. "I kinda bailed 
this morning, and ran into these two."

	"There's a shock," she replied.

	Ranma leaned up in his branch and looked down. "What's a bake?" he asked.

	Tachi smiled. "A bake... you know, a clamdig?"

	"A... clamdig?" Akane asked.

	"He means a party," Kochi explained. "I was actually going to invite you 
guys myself, but he beat me to the punch."

	"Well, yeah," Tachi explained. "You see, we're still new here. We've been 
in Japan for like... two days, and the only people we know are family, so 
we're looking to get to know some people, and a party is the best way to do 
it."

	Ranma leaned back down and looked at the sky. A party, huh?

	"So, anyway... You guys wanna come? Nabiki already said sure. We'd like to 
keep it small for now. You guys can even bring dates if you want."

	Yuka and Sayuri looked at each other and smiled. "Sure," Sayuri said. 
"We'll be there."

	Tachi clapped. "Awesome!" He looked at Akane and then Ranma. "And you guys? 
Let me make up for this morning," he suggested.

	Akane thought for a moment, and then smiled. "Yeah," she said. "I'd love 
to."

	Nabiki winked at Akane in response.

	And now, all attention was on Ranma. He slowly turned his head to see the 
image of six people looking directly at him.

	With a sigh, he replied. "Sure," he said. "Why not? It'll break the 
monotony."

	Kuno clapped his hands together again. "Awesome!"

	Kochi interrupted. "Can you guys brings dates?"

	Yuka nodded. "I'm sure we can dig someone up," she said.

	Akane shrugged. "I don't really *do* dates."

	"You could always bring Ranma, sis... After all, you two are--"

	"NABIKI!" Akane shouted, then glared at her sister.

	"Are what?" Kochi asked, the looked between the two Tendo sisters. 
Thankfully, nobody noticed the glare Ranma was giving Nabiki. Nobody, except 
for Kuno. He smirked inwardly and shrugged it off.

	"Great!" he said, changing the subject. "Just show up at the place at 8 on 
Monday. Pop by sooner if you wanna chill for a bit."

	"Thanks," Sayuri said. "We'll try."

	With the subject successfully changed, Ranma leaned back in his branch. 
Kuno had changed the subject. Successfully. Either he was oblivious to the 
situation, or he knew exactly what was going on. If the former, then that 
would be fine. But if the latter... it meant there was more to him than an 
annoying skateboarder.

	The bell rang, informing students that it was time to return to class.

	Disembarking from Branchy, Ranma decided that either way, he intended to 
find out.

----

	After four years, I'm finally back in the game, everyone. Starting with 
this one-- now, I wrote the original for this during the one hour challenge 
on #fanfic on irc.nabiki.com. I posted it on the ML, and soon after on the 
page.

	However, since that time long ago, I've learned a great many things about 
life. I've learned a great many things about a great many things. I've also 
learned how to write better than I used to, and I decided to employ it.

	Expect this to be just the tip of the iceberg. I'm working as a security 
guard, doing static patrols. (Meaning I'm basically sitting on my ass for 
6-12 hours a night, doing patrols once an hour.) So I have nothing, if not 
free time. I had a deal going a while back where I had managed to publish a 
novel-- but at the last minute, the publisher pulled out, so I decided I was 
going to use that as an excuse to write more often, and become a better 
writer. One of the best ways for me to do this is to re-enter the world of 
anime fanfiction.

	I'm starting out by revising a lot of my old fics, and writing new chapters 
of unfinished stories, hopefully reaching the end of a few of them (Or 
more). So, yes. Expect to see more Converging Fates. Expect more Trials of 
Destiny, Divinity and Walk Like a Man. Blood-Stained Soul and the Fifth 
Staff. Xanadu and Gladius Sanctus. And maybe... just maybe... a third, epic 
installment of A Day and Night in Tokyo.

	But anyhoo-- C&C is encouraged, appreciated and loved. Notes of 
encouragement, appreciation and love are also welcomed. ;)

	But if I receive any more threats on either Converging Fates or Trials of 
Destiny, (And yes, I *have* received threats.) I'm going to hold off on 
posting new/revised chapters for as long as I can. Are we in agreement? 
Good. Great. Grand. Wonderful.

	Have a good one, folks.

	- Kyle Emmerson
	The Author Formerly Known as Tyd.
	The Author Currently Known as Prozium. (A warm kudos and pat on the back to 
anyone who can figure out where that obscure name comes from.)

http://www.nabiki.com/tydi-oh-ki

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