Continuing on the C&C backlog, with another Lawson fic...

The alarm went off.  Ranma opened an eye and stared an accusation at it.

"Yes, I knew it...YOU'RE the killer!"

But there was no real force to it; she had been nearly awake anyway.
Somehow, somewhere, in the past six years she had developed the habit of
getting up early and on time.  That, more than anything, seemed to

indicate

that her childhood had ended.  Dammit.

"That means I can't sit around all morning watching cartoons and eating
cereal anymore. ;_;"

After a quick change of clothing she was ready to leave.  She scooped up

her

backpack and walked across the room to a pile of blankets, books, and

light

snoring.  Ranma frowned down at it.

"Dammit, I told these books to stop with the snoring!"

Except, of course, it really was innnocence.  It was a convenience, since
the form currently huddled on the wooden floor often stayed late, studying
and whatnot.  And while the second-hand futon Ranma had purchased had

ample

room for two, she had never offered to let this other person sleep in it,
and he had never asked to accompany her to it.

Which was mildly creepy.

"You'd think a guy'd jump at the chance to bed down with a hot chick like
me..."

And, frankly, it would almost be a relief if that turned out to be the
truth.  If he had ever asked to share her bed, she likely would have had

to

restrain herself from hitting him.  Hard.

In the nuts.

She looked at his face another moment, then turned and left the apartment.
While Ranma greatly enjoyed being with him and being near him, there were
still times, still moments, where she simply couldn't bear to be near
Kentaro.  Just looking into his eyes as he was waking up was enough to

creep

her out.  And yet, she could have just walked past him, left without
disturbing him.  She'd wanted to look into his eyes, wanted to see him

awake

and smiling at her.

Someone needs to make up their mind.

Stupid conflicting desires.  Why couldn't she just be normal?

What fun would THAT be?

Ranma sighed and pushed away the melancholy.  She had other things to

focus > on.

Like the GIANT TENTACLE MONSTER COMING OUT OF THE CEILING
OMGRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!

The locker room was already bustling when she entered.  She got various
greetings, which she returned.  Ranma made her way over to her locker - in
the back, near the showers - and opened it up.  The one thing that had not
changed over the years was how uncomfortable she felt in a room full of
partially clothed and naked women.  She had managed to mask the

discomfort,

though, so she didn't flinch as one of the other women approached her

while

Ranma was stepping into her leotard.

But she DID flinch when the other woman started spraying black rose petals
everywhere.

The exercises went on for a few minutes, Ranma feeling completely
comfortable leading the way.  This part was easy, just like teaching

martial

arts.  It was the unusual personal problems she had to face that made

being

team captain a completely unexpected challenge.  Someone asking for

personal

advice had been completely foreign to Ranma's existence.

"Senpai, do you ever get that...not-so-fresh feeling?"

Nodding in satisfaction, Ranma swept her gave across the men, preparing to
turn back towards her team, when she noticed one man was still looking
rather defiantly at her.  The leer on his face was quite open, even
exaggerated.  The challenge was quite evident.

Oh dear. We have a problem.

She stopped two feet away.  "You got a problem, bud?"

"No problem."  The smugness was overwhelming.  "You wouldn't mind leaning
forward just now, would ya?  I wanna see if those are real or just

plastic."

This guy is COMPLETELY *STUPID*.

There was an uncomfortable shifting away from her challenger.  Ranma
clenched her jaw, took a step forward and tried to grab his wrist.  He

spun

his arm away, and as she tried to grab it he bounced back a step, assuming

a

stance.  A martial arts stance.

Oh lovely. He's REALLY asking for it now.

Ranma reassessed.  The guy was younger than she was, almost certainly a
freshman.  He was small for a man but still taller than Ranma.  His body

was

deceptively slight but now that Ranma looked more closely, she could see
that his muscle tone was firm and even throughout his body.

Like that even matters. It just means three seconds instead of two.

She studied his eyes, which were watching her closely, challenge and
amusement in his expression.  He was enjoying this immensely.

And he'll enjoy it all the way to the hospital.

"Listen, bud-"

"Chihiro."

*CHOKES*

She stared at him with a deliberate lack of understanding.

"Tange Chihiro.  Learn it, love it, use it."

Oh my GOD. XD How this guy has ANY self-esteem at all...

"Trouble?  If you mean whether or not you'll clean my room once I'm done
with you, I can handle it.  Just make sure you leave right away, I don't
want you clinging to me begging for more."

Oh, he is ASKING for it now.

He tried to jump back but she still made contact.  Tange grimaced,
staggered, and bent forward at the waist.

NUTSHOT! XD

Horie smiled at Ranma as she took her turn helping her partner stretch.

"I

see what you mean, Saotome.  Kick, not lift.  Much more effective."

*DIES LAUGHING* Good one!

Ranma joined in the chuckling.  As the women laughed together, Ranma stole

a

glance across the gym.  Tange had one hand over his crotch but seemed to

be

recovering all right.  He was staring daggers at Ranma.  She refused to
return his look, instead putting her back to him again.  Hopefully he was
capable of learning.  Hopefully he could control himself in the future and
not repeat dumb mistakes.

As if that's really possible.

Ranma looked over at the door.  There, leaning against the frame, was

Tange.

Yep. Learning-impaired.

"Ha."  He straightened, his eyes glittering.  "How about, instead, I
challenge you to a match.  For the honor of your 'dojo'.  Such as it is."

VERY learning-impaired.

"Who says we have a problem?"  Tange smirked.  "I just haven't ever met
someone who could even begin to match my skill.

He hasn't met too many people then, has he?

"Hah.  Don't get all mystical on me.  Martials arts is always about
fighting.  I know it and you know it.  So c'mon, let's do what we both

want

to do.  Otherwise, you're just a coward who thinks she can hide behind

words

and her students."

Man, he's REALLY arrogant and stupid. I can't wait to see her hand him his
ass on a ciabatta.

Ranma spun, dropping her backpack and Kentaro's hand at the same time,
assuming a stance.  Tange was behind her, a look of disgust on his face.

"I

saw him practicing.  He's no damned good, never will be.  You should be

with

a real man, not that no-talent idiot."

Man, this guy REALLY doesn't know when to quit!

It took Ranma a minute to be sure her voice wouldn't be shaking with

anger.

"One and only warning.  Don't follow me.  Ever.  Again."

With a leisurely movement, Tange assumed his own stance.  "Or what?"

Baaaaad move, girly-man!

"Or we'll phone the campus police and report you for harassment."  Kentaro
stepped between Ranma and Tange, breaking their line of sight.  "They take

a

pretty dim view of stalkers."

Tange laughed.  "Is that how it, Saotome?  Can't fight your own fights?
Gotta have your man fight them for you?"

Oh hell, he's done it now.

After a moment, Kentaro ran up beside her.  "You all right?"

"This would be an excellent time to shut up," Ranma barked.

Ouch.

*snippage*

Re: The long explanation of Kentaro's college debt and all: See again my
previous comments about Japanese college life, and feel free to ignore them
anyway. ^_^

Kentaro walked over to the futon and place a cup of tea on a small plastic
tray that sufficed as a bedside table.  He walked around to the other side
of the futon and carefully sat down amidst some more pillows.  He took a

sip

of his tea, then put it down on another plastic tray.  He brought out a

much

larger textbook and began to read it.  Ranma flipped a page of her book,
mentally chastising herself for paying such close attention to everything

he

did.  There was a kind of electrical awareness between them, full of
anticipation on his part and a mild kind of dread on hers.

"He's going to fart, I just KNOW it."

So Ranma did everything she could not to flinch when Kentaro moved his

hand

and began massaging her breast.

Well, at least he's not HONKING it...

Ranma let out a breath through her nose, still kissing him but not as
forcefully.  It actually didn't feel too bad.  Strange and alien - that

was

a part of her body that she hadn't thought of as particularly sensitive.
But somehow the manipulation was pleasant.

A lot better than having it grabbed and honked, anyway.

Kentaro shifted his positioning a bit, and then he was pressing his lips

to

her flesh, at the base of her breasts, slowly climbing up.  The shudder
tried to come again but Ranma held it off, trying to feel, curious if it
would feel good.  It did, to her surprise.  As his lips moved towards the
apex of her breasts, the sensation got better.  And then he was suckling
her, using his lips and tongue.  And it was a good sensation, very
interesting, not a bad thing.  Her breath quickened a little, she raised

one

hand and began stroking his hair.  This seemed to drive him on to greater
efforts, and then...

She farted.

Of course he did.  He thought Ranma was a woman.  At that particular

moment,

she despised Kentaro for his disbelief.  Ranma squeezed her eyes shut and
spoke in a low voice.  "I hate this.  I hate my body.  I want my old body
back.  I want... I want to be you, Kentaro.  I want to be the one...
touching a woman.  I was a virgin at sixteen, of course I had all the time
in the world, except time ran out and now I can't ever have sex as a man,
never ever, and I want to, I want to so badly..."

Aww.

Ranma ran a few scenarios threw her head - the most amusing being someone
running up and dumping Jusenkyo water on Kentaro's head - only to have it
all fly out of her mind by the appearance of Kentaro himself.

He was hurting, clutching the doorframe, barely able to hold himself
upright.  Ranma gasped and ran over to him.  She caught him as he began to
collapse and gently laid him on the ground.

Saw THAT coming.

Kentaro shook his head.  "It worked.  I attacked him out of anger.  He
counter-attacked and did this to me.  If I hadn't let him get to me, this
never would have happened."

Wow, it must have been SOME verbal attack to piss KENTARO off like that. @_@

"He knew what buttons to push."  Kentaro winced as Ranma probed a tender
spot.  "And I let him push them.  I didn't exhibit good self-control.  I

was

there when he tried to do the same thing to Sensei.  He did everything he
could to provoke an attack.  She simply turned her back on him and walked
away.  Sensei showed a lot more self-control than I did.  Let that be a
lesson to you all; just because you have the ability to fight doesn't mean
you should.  Follow Sensei's example, not mine.

Awful mouthy for a guy who just got his ass kicked.

"It is now."  Ranma flexed her hands, already beginning to prepare

herself.

"He wants a fight, he gets a fight."

More like a beating. Which he richly deserves.

The grin on Tange's face widened.  "I can't tell you how much I've been
looking forward to this.  When we're done, you'll be worshipping the

ground

I walk on.  You'll dump that loser of a boyfriend so you can hook up with

a

real-"

"Tange-san," Ranma interrupted smoothly.  "I've already agreed to a fight.
Stop talking and do it."

"Words I'm sure you'll be telling me again."

Someone wire this asshole's jaw already.

Block, block, duck, spin, block and then he was away.  Tange leered
triumphantly from across the room.  Ranma glanced down and saw that he had
managed to loosen her gi.  It was open in the front, revealing her sports
bra.

If SHE doesn't kill him, her students WILL.

"Bah."  He turned away.  "Maybe I'll be here, maybe I won't, you'll just
have to wait in breathless uncertainty until Monday."

This guy's like a miniature Pantyhose.

Kentaro looked to one side.  "I'm... not certain you want a guy like me.
If... you're going to adjust to being with a guy, maybe it should be

someone

like him.  You certainly seemed to... connect to him faster than I've seen
you warm up to any man.

....

You're stuck with me until either I decide I can't stand the sight of your
stupid face or you decide you've had enough of my weirdness.

Awww. How...um...sweet.

As quickly as she ever had, Ranma whipped her hand out and grabbed his
throat.  "Stop talking.  You say too much too often and I am sick of

hearing

it.  You don't talk to me.  Maybe never again.  Clear?"

Ouch.

Ranma smiled slightly.  "Maybe one day I'll take you on a training trip to
China."

*SNRK*

Ranma nodded.  "Good.  But... I like life better with you than without

you.

I want you to know that, too."

Awwwwww.

================================
It's not a butthole, it's a mangina.
              ~~*~~
The Eternal Lost Lurker
www.lurkerdrome.com



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