Categories > Anime/Manga > Ranma 1/2 > Blessed Curse
Blessed Curse
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi
Author note: Thanks to Blissfull Wulf for betaing this fic.
Chapter 4
“School?” Ranma repeated looking up at Kasumi. It had been two days since the waterproof soap had worn off, leaving Ranma to change back between her original male birth form and the cursed female one that she considered her true body. While it was still a little awkward between her and Akane, the two girls’ friendship had quickly gone back to what it used to be. This morning after Akane and Nabiki had headed off to school, Kasumi had dropped the bombshell that she was going to register Ranma at their school.
“Yes,” Kasumi said with a nod as she sat down beside Ranma at the low table. “You can’t just keep hanging around here all the time, though I do appreciate the help you’ve given me, but you need to go back to school.”
“I just… I haven’t gone to school in over a year,” Ranma said, scratching the side of her neck. “And that’s only cause Pops didn’t want trouble from the cops.”
“Your father didn’t want you to go to school?” Kasumi asked, not sure if she should be surprised or not. Ranma’s father Genma, from what little bit she could glean from Ranma, did not sound like a pleasant man.
“Nah, he always said that school was pointless in the pursuit of the art,” Ranma quoted with a roll of her eyes and a sigh. “When I was little he taught me how to read and write and basic math, always claimed that was all I needed to get by. Only time I ever went to a school was when the local police in whatever area we were staying in for a while forced him to let me go.”
“Oh my,” Kasumi said, bringing her hand up to her lips. “What did you do, surely you didn’t try to get by on such little schooling?”
“Nah, whenever Pops was out doing whatever he was doing, I bet it was either stealing something or scamming somebody,” Ranma shook her head slightly as she thought about her father’s usual activities while Kasumi scowled, ”or when he was drunk off his ass I snuck to the local library. I mean, it wasn’t as good as learning in a school, but at least I wasn’t so far behind that I couldn’t catch up.” Ranma shrugged her shoulders slightly.
“Well, while you are here you are going to school,” Kasumi said firmly. Ranma had no arguments on that, she liked to learn, though most of her focus was on her martial arts. When she was younger Ranma did buy into Genma’s words about not needing to know more than how to read and how to add until one of her friends from childhood had set her straight, even teaching her that learning could be fun. True, Ranma wasn’t the greatest at school work but it was always because she had to rush to catch up with her classmates as she was always behind since she didn’t go to school usually.
“Yeah ok, I’m not going to argue with you,” Ranma said. “How am I gonna pay for a uniform and stuff?” (1)
“I got Nabiki to give me some money, she owed me a couple of favors,” Kasumi said with a giggle. “Think of it as payment for helping me out around the house. Now come on, the mall should be open now, we can pick up your school supplies.”
***
At the local mall, Kasumi and Ranma picked up a black school briefcase and a plain bento. Ranma would have liked one of the cuter ones on the shelf, shying away from the one covered in cats but Kasumi caught the wistful look Ranma gave when the currently boy-shaped girl looked at one covered in little cartoon dogs. But as they had to keep an image, at least for now, Ranma sighed and turned away from the shelf. Kasumi smiled sadly, Ranma wanted to embrace the things that girls wanted but had to play the role of a boy. It broke her heart to see Ranma like this.
At the uniform store, Kasumi picked out a couple of boy uniforms for Ranma to try on so they could find one that fit and found the cursed teen looking at girl uniforms, holding a sleeve of one of the winter uniforms in her hand.
“Ranma-chan?” Kasumi said getting the other’s attention. Ranma quickly looked up, dropping the sleeve of the uniform and stepping back.
“Sorry,” Ranma muttered.
“Do you like dresses Ranma?” Kasumi asked, curious. As Ranma had only recently in the last few weeks come to terms with herself and gained a form that she was comfortable with, Kasumi didn’t know what Ranma’s thoughts on female clothing were.
“A friend I had when I was a kid had a really pretty dress I liked,” Ranma said softly. “Pops flipped when he saw I had it. Had to learn how to keep that kinda stuff buried. I wore a couple of dresses in the village I was staying at before Pops kidnapped me.” Ranma shrugged her shoulders slightly.
“I see,” Kasumi said. “Well go try these on to see if they fit.” She placed the male uniforms in Ranma’s arms and sent her to the dressing room. ‘Poor Ranma,’ Kasumi thought with a sigh. If it wasn’t for the fact Ranma’s legal paperwork still listed her as a boy Kasumi would be tempted to register Ranma in her female form at Furinkan High School. Kasumi saw the hidden desire in Ranma’s blue eyes as she looked at the girl uniforms and the hidden disappoint when she had to play the part of a boy.
‘Well just because she can’t wear girl clothes at school doesn’t mean she can’t wear them at home or anything,’ Kasumi reasoned. They would have to be careful how they planned it of course, her father would never understand why Ranma preferred to act and dress as a girl but Kasumi was sneaker than people gave her credit for. She was sure between her and her sisters they could keep Soun in the dark. ‘We should make it a girls day out this weekend, I’m sure Akane-chan would love to pick up a couple of new dresses and help Ranma find something of her own. Father will never enter Ranma’s room so he’ll never know what’s in her closet. Or she can just keep her girly clothing hidden in my or Akane-chan’s room.’ Kasumi smiled to herself, yes they could make this work out and help Ranma along the way.
***
The next morning Ranma walked into her borrowed bedroom while toweling her wet hair dry. She had gotten up early to do her exercises, while she and Akane took time to have little spars in the dojo Ranma wished she had a sparring partner that could push her to her limits. Akane was decent but she was the one being pushed not Ranma.
‘What I’d give for Shampoo or even Ryoga to be here,’ Ranma thought as Shampoo had given all she was worth when they fought, once Ranma got past the ‘no hitting girls’ thing and showed she was worthy of being one of the Joketsuzoku’s finest warriors when she was older. Ryoga of course had been her sparring buddy back in Junior High. Mousse had been pretty fun to spar with as well, he wasn’t as strong as Shampoo but the taller boy’s Hidden Weapons made the fight interesting, you never knew what was going to fly out of those white robes next.
Ranma sighed as she opened the closet door and looked at the uniforms inside. She was half tempted to just go in her Chinese silks, she had never been one for uniforms, something she was sure came from not having to wear them very often. But Kasumi had gone through all the trouble of getting Ranma the uniforms… Ranma sighed again and grabbed one of the uniforms, putting it on. As she walked out the door to go downstairs she absently pulled her long black hair back into a short braid.
“Morning Ranma,” Akane said as she stepped out of her room as Ranma passed it. “Looking forward to going back to school?”
“Yeah and no,” Ranma said with a shrug. “I don’t mind learning but I know I’m gonna be behind since I haven’t been in school for over a year. Last school I went to was a all-boys school.”
“All-boys?” Akane said with a wrinkle of her nose. “What was that like?”
“Meh, it was school except there wasn’t any girls,” Ranma said. “There was a all-girls school that was nearby I think. We had all the same classes. The only time it really got hectic was during lunch.”
“What happened at lunch?” Akane asked curiously as she and Ranma sat down at the table, Nabiki yawning and sipping her morning coffee.
“Well the cooks would save all the really good bread so at the end of lunch they could throw it out to the students. Everyone would crowd around the lunch counter and the cook would announce what bread it was and throw it up into the air,” Ranma explained. Akane and even Nabiki were looking at Ranma in disbelief.
“You must be joking,” Nabiki said.
“No, it was a free for all everyday at lunch for the last good bread,” Ranma said. “It was like a riot, everyone was crowding together to be the one to grab the bread.”
“Did you ever get involved in that?” Akane asked.
“Yeah, but I just jumped over everyone’s heads and grabbed the bread for myself,” Ranma said. “No one complained because it was first-come first –serve except for one guy I knew that I became… sorta friends with. At least the days he was at school anyway.”
“Why didn’t he go to school?” Akane asked. “Was he sick?” Kasumi came out with breakfast then, setting it out on the table.
“This looks wonderful Kasumi,” Soun said as he folded up his morning paper and put it to the side, he was half listening to Ranma’s tale of his old school.
“Well… Ryoga has a bit of a problem finding his way around,” Ranma said as she rubbed the back of her neck. “So he didn’t always make it to school on time.”
“Dig in everyone,” Kasumi said as she sat down. Ranma happily did so with gusto, filling up the bowl and starting to eat in her usual manner. Akane stared at Ranma, she could never get use to seeing the other teen eating this way, it made Ranma look like a pig!
“Why do you have to eat that way!?” Akane finally snapped, this had been bugging her for days!
“Huh?” Ranma paused in her eating, looking up at Akane.
“You’re acting like a pig Saotome,” Nabiki said. “It’s not a pretty sight.”
“Oh…” Ranma lowered her bowl and chopsticks to the table then rubbed her neck. “Sorry. It’s a habit I had to pick up growing up. Pops liked to turn everything into a martial arts lesson, including meal times. He always tries to steal my food when we eat, if I don’t eat in a hurry he’ll get it.”
“Ah yes, that does sound like Saotome,” Soun said with a chuckle. Kasumi frowned in disapproval; nobody should steal food from their children not even for a lesson. Akane felt bad to for yelling at Ranma.
“Well… no one is gonna steal your food here so… you could take your time you know,” Akane said after a few seconds. Ranma gave Akane a small smile and picked up her breakfast again, she still ate quickly but in a much more controlled manner.
**
As soon as they ran outside, Ranma jumped onto the fence by the sidewalk, running along the top of it. Akane looked up at Ranma in surprise, watching with a small amount of envy as Ranma easily kept her balance.
“What are you doing?” She asked.
“This is great for balance practice,” Ranma told her. “You should try it.”
“There is no way I’m going to run on top of a fence in a dress!” Akane yelled. “Everyone would see my underwear!”
“You could always wear shorts under your skirt,” Ranma suggested.
“I would still have perverted boys trying to sneak a peek,” Akane said with a shake of her head. Ranma sighed softly and shook her head.
“Well maybe after school then, like when you go on your run?” Ranma suggested instead. “You wear your gi then so no one will be able to see anything.” Akane considered this suggestion, it wasn’t too bad of an idea she guessed and if Ranma could do it so could she. As the fence came to an end Ranma leapt to the ground, her stride never breaking as she kept in step with Akane. As they passed the walkway leading up to one of the houses, Ranma yelped as she was splashed with cold water, halting her run as she looked at the old lady holding a ladle in one hand and a bucket of cold water in the other. The sidewalk was wet where the elderly woman had been tossing the water.
“Hey, watch where you toss that,” Ranma said. Akane skidded to a stop and turned back, seeing Ranma female once again. The boy’s uniform was hanging off Ranma’s smaller girl form, the sleeves hanging past her hands and pants baggy as she lost height.
“Err? What’s that girly?” The old woman said as she squinted up at Ranma. “Well, aren’t you a pretty young thing. But you need to lose the outfit missy, young thing like you needs to be wearing a nice dress not baggy boy clothing.” The old woman adjusted her glasses then turned to walk slowly up to her house, muttering to herself about how awful styles were today. Akane snorted with laughter while Ranma watched the woman a bit dumbfounded.
“Okay… never had that happen to me before… this isn’t funny,” Ranma said turning to Akane. She held up her arms to push her sleeves up. “I can’t go to school like this.”
“Just hot water right?” Akane asked as she looked at her watch. “We’re close to Dr. Tufo’s clinic, we have enough time to stop by and get some hot water.”
“Alright,” Ranma said, following after Akane.
*****
“Dr. Tofu?” Akane called as they entered the clinic. She looked around when she didn’t get an answer then looked at Ranma. “Maybe he’s upstairs or something. Just wait here, I’ll go get the water.”
“’K,” Ranma said, watching as Akane went into the back where the exam rooms were then looked around the lobby. She didn’t sense anyone behind her until a bony feeling hand landed on her shoulder, making Ranma yelp and leap into the air. She twisted around to face whoever was behind her, coming face to face with a smiling Tofu and a skeleton.
“Hello Miss Saotome,” Tofu said. “Say hello to Betty, she thinks you have some really good reflexes.”
“You scared the crap out of me,” Ranma said.
“Sorry, just having a bit of fun, didn’t mean to scare you,” Tofu said as he rolled the skeleton back into the corner.
‘I couldn’t even tell he was behind me,’ Ranma thought as she watched Tofu. ‘He’s a really good martial artist; no one’s snuck up on me like that in a long time except Cologne.’
“So what brings you to my clinic Miss Saotome,” Tofu asked as he faced Ranma again. “Your head isn’t bothering you from your injury is it?”
“What?” Ranma asked as she touched her head. “Oh, no it’s fine. I’ve had worse than that and bounced back from it.”
“I see,” Tofu said with a bit of a frown as he adjusted his glasses. As a doctor, he wondered what sort of things this young woman had gone through that she just brushed off a head injury like it was nothing.
“Here you go Ran- Dr. Tofu!” Akane said when she saw the man, a light blush covering her cheeks. Ranma raised an eyebrow at seeing it then smirked a little.
“Akane-san, what brings you and your friend? Shouldn’t you two be at school by now?” Tofu asked. Akane looked at Tofu then glanced at Ranma then turned her gaze to the glass of hot water in her hand.
“Just give it here Akane,” Ranma said with a sigh as she held out her hand. “He’s gonna find out anyway.”
“Find out what?” Tofu asked, watching as Ranma took the glass and poured the water over her head. He watched amazed as the petite redheaded girl turned into a taller lean young man. “I see… that does explain a few things.”
“Huh?” Ranma asked.
“I was a bit confused by your chi, it seemed a bit off but I couldn’t understand why but now I think I do,” Tofu explained. “Tell me Miss, or should it be Mr. Saotome?”
“Errr? Born mister but really a miss?” Ranma said.
“I see,” Tofu said with a nod then turned to Akane. “She’s the reason why you were asking about transsexuals the other day.”
“Yes Dr. Tofu,” Akane said as she hung her head shyly.
“And your ability to change between genders is magic I suppose?” Tofu asked, turning back to Ranma.
“Yes but don’t make any mistake, I’m a girl even though I turn into a boy,” Ranma said.
“I understand,” Tofu said. “When you have time I would like you to return to answer a few questions I still have but I think you two need to head on to school before you’re late.”
“What?!” Akane checked her watch then grabbed Ranma’s arm, dragging the other teen out of the clinic. “Come on Ranma! Bye Dr. Tofu!” Tofu chuckled softly to himself as he watched the pair leave.
‘A most curious type of magic,’ Tofu thought as he finished setting up his clinic for the day and waited for his first appointment. He had always been curious about the occult and was eager to learn a bit more about Ranma’s curse.
Outside as the girls headed toward the school Ranma grinned over at Akane.
“So… you have a crush on the doc?” Ranma asked, laughing as Akane blushed and gave a small embarrassed yell, dodging as Akane playfully tried to punch the other girl in the shoulder.
****
As they neared the school, Akane started to chant something under her breath. Ranma looked at her in alarm as a look of anger crossed her friend’s face and Akane’s hands balled into fists.
“I hate boys, I hate boys, I hate boys, I HATE BOYS!” Akane steadily chanted, growing louder with each word until she was yelling as they approached the gate. Ranma looked ahead and saw a huge group of boys standing in-between the gates, wearing various types of sports uniforms and some holding sport equipment.
“There she is!” Ranma heard one boy call.
“Get her!” Another yelled.
“I HATE BOYS!” Akane yelled in response as she ran at the group. The boys yelled and charged Akane who was already swinging her fists. Ranma jumped onto the top of the gate and watched with wide eyes as Akane fought the group.
‘Wow, no wonder she doesn’t fight well one-on-one, she’s a brawler,’ Ranma thought as she watched Akane move. Akane was better at fighting large groups at once and was taking the boys down two and three at a time with ease. And that was no easy feat, the boys weren’t working together when they fought Akane, hitting each other as much as trying to hit Akane making it pure chaos but Akane managed to duck and dodge between flying limbs as she delivered her own hits.
“Hey Ranma!” Ranma turned when she heard Nabiki’s voice. “Hurry up or you’ll be late! Don’t worry, she does this every morning!”
“Go… on… Ranma….” Akane yelled as she ducked under a hockey stick then planted her fist in the stomach of a boy dressed in a kendo uniform. “I’ll… be… done… soon…” She twisted and kicked the feet out from under another boy.
Ranma hesitated for a moment, it was against her nature to just leave her friend in case Akane was overwhelmed, then remembered that Akane did do this every school day and she did look like she had it under control. There was also another lesson that she learned from the Amazons, never interfere with another person’s fight unless it was life or death because you insult the person by saying they were weak.
“Alright, see you inside Akane,” Ranma said with a wave of her hand and headed inside the school.
****
Nearby in the shadows of the trees that dotted the grounds of Furinkan High School, Tatewaki Kuno narrowed his dark blue eyes as he watched the dark haired boy that had arrived with Akane run into the school. He felt that the boy had been too familiar with the lovely Akane Tendo and wondered what sort of relationship he had with the girl.
‘I shall have to approach Tendo Nabiki to find out about the boy,’ Kuno thought as Akane finished with the last boy in the mob, taking that as his cue. He took the red rose he carried with him and tossed it in Akane’s direction. Akane sighed and caught the rose in midair then turned toward Kuno.
“Truly a brutish lot,” Kuno said as he stepped out of the shadows, his bokken held loosely at his side.
“Can we just get this over with?” Akane asked with a roll of her eyes. “I don’t want to be late for class.”
“Tendo Akane, if I defeat you then you shall go on a date with me but if you defeat I-“ Kuno started to say before Akane broke in.
“’Then I shall allow you to date me.’ Blah blah blah, you say the same thing every day and the answer is still no,” Akane said as she slid into her stance.
“Prepare yourself!” Kuno said holding his bokken out in front of him before attacking Akane.
Up in the school Ranma stood looking out a window as she watched Akane fight Kuno.
‘He’s holding back on her,’ Ranma thought as she narrowed her eyes. Ranma wondered if Akane knew and somehow doubted it as Akane quickly knocked Kuno onto his back in the dirt and kicked the older teen’s wooden sword away.
Down below Akane brushed off her hands and headed into the school as Kuno lay in the dirt.
‘Ah the fiery Tendo Akane,’ Kuno thought fondly to himself as he stood up, grabbing his bokken then heading into the school to change into his school uniform. He would try again that afternoon to get Akane to go out with him but for now he needed to see Akane’s sister Nabiki to find out more about the strange boy.
*****
“Class we have a new student joining us today,” The teacher currently over the class said as she introduced Ranma. “This is Saotome Ranma, he’s been on a 10 year training trip and has just recently traveled to China.”
The class broke out in excited whispers, it had been a long time since they had a new student.
“Wow, he’s so cute.”
“I wonder if he’s got a girlfriend.” Akane could hear two of her classmates whisper behind her.
‘If only you knew,’ Akane thought with a small smirk.
“Why don’t you sit in the free seat next to Tendo-san,” The teacher told Ranma. “Once I finish with today’s lesson, I’ll see how far along you are while the others work on the class work.”
“Hai sensei,” Ranma said before going to sit down at her desk.
In another part of the school, Kuno approached Nabiki at her desk as the class had a free period since their usual teacher was out sick and the substitute didn’t feel like teaching.
“Tendo Nabiki,” Kuno said. Nabiki smiled that little irritating half-smile/half smirk she always had when she dealt with the other teen.
“Morning Kuno-baby,” Nabiki said, brown eyes glinting in humor as Kuno’s jaw tensed a little bit.
“Do not call me that woman,” he said as he hated that nickname. “Who was the boy with your sister this morning?”
Nabiki found herself at a bit of a dilemma, while she would love to sell Kuno info about certain things like the possible engagement between her family and the Saotome’s, leaving out that it could apply to her or one of her sisters to let Kuno assume it meant Akane and watch the chaos that resulted, she did promise Kasumi she would be good. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t still cause a little mayhem while making a tidy profit from the wealthy boy in front of her.
“You know my usual fee,” Nabiki said. Kuno took out his wallet and laid a large amount of yen on the desk in front of Nabiki. She picked it up, counting the bills as she said, “He’s a family friend, his dad knows ours. He’s staying at our house while his dad is out working.”
“And what is his relationship with your sister?” Kuno asked as he mulled over the information.
“Oh they have become very good friends,” Nabiki said as she smirked again. “Especially after Ranma defeated Akane in a sparring match.”
Outside school the birds sitting in the trees took to the air as Kuno yelled “WHAT!!”
“Kuno-san, sit down this instant!” A teacher that had been wandering the hallways said as she checked in on the class.
***
“Come on Ranma, meet my friends,” Akane said at lunch time as she grabbed Ranma’s hand and dragged the cursed girl out of the classroom to go eat lunch outside. She had seen those two perverted boys, something everyone in the school agreed on, Daisuke and Hiroshi eyeing Ranma to get her to join their group. Ranma let Akane drag her outside, bypassing the aforementioned boys before they could invite Ranma to hang out with them. “Sayuri, Yuka!”
“Akane!” One of the girls Akane called to waved from where they saved a seat for her. “Over here!”
“So you’re the new boy in class right?” The other girl asked as they sat down. “I’m Sayuri and this is Yuka.”
“Yo,” Ranma said with a small wave as she took out her bento.
“So how do you know Akane?” Sayuri asked.
“Yeah, I thought you hated boys Akane,” Yuka added.
“Let’s just say Ranma is a special case,” Akane said. “His father is friends with my dad.”
“Oh… so are you two dating?” Yuka asked. Ranma and Akane nearly choked on their lunch at Yuka’s question.
“We are not dating,” Akane said.
“I don’t like girls,” Ranma said at the same time. Yuka and Sayuri stared at Ranma for a moment then started to giggle. “What?”
“I see, so you’re gay?” Sayuri asked. Ranma scowled slightly and opened her mouth to disagree when Akane grabbed her pigtail and pulled her head closer to whisper in her ear.
“They don’t know that you’re a transsexual Ranma,” Akane whispered. “And you’re a boy right now so just go along with it. If you need to, you can tell them later about that part of you cause I don’t think you want the whole school to know.” Ranma grimaced and nodded her head.
“Yeah, I like guys,” Ranma told Sayuri. Sayuri and Yuka giggled again.
“I get it, so you’re her new gay best friend,” Yuka said. “No wonder Akane doesn’t mind hanging around you, you’re not trying to get into her pants.”
“And thank Kami for that,” Akane said as she calmly took a bite of her lunch. “Ranma always beats me in our sparring matches.” This time it was Yuka and Sayuri who choked.
“What? Really?” Yuka asked.
“Hmm,” Akane nodded. “He’s been training harder than I do.”
“Akane’s alright one-on-one but she’s a hell of a brawler,” Ranma said. Akane blinked and turned to Ranma.
“Huh? Brawler?”
“You fight much better when you got more than one person comin’ at ya,” Ranma explained. “I guess it’s habit after fightin’ all those guys every day. By the way, I wanted to tell you that the guy with the swo-“
“I will not allow it!” A voice rang out over the school yard. Everyone turned to see Kuno walking quickly across the schoolyard with his bokken in one hand. He hadn’t had time to change into his kendogi as he wanted to make sure he confronted Ranma before lunch was over. Everyone stared at Kuno as he stalked across the grounds toward Akane and Ranma. “I will not allow you to date Tendo Akane!”
Ranma and Akane groaned as the other students around them erupted into whispers.
“We’re not dating!” Akane and Ranma said loudly at the same time.
“Fiend, who are you to sully Tendo Akane’s purity?” Kuno said as he came to a stop in front of Ranma, pointing his bokken at the cursed teen. Ranma scowled and stood up to face the taller boy.
“My name is Saotom-“ Ranma started to say but was cut off by Kuno.
“Nay, but tis proper to give one’s name first,” Kuno said, flipping his hair a little. “I am the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!” He held up his sword and gave a dramatic pose while a rumble of thunder and a crash of lightning showed up on cue.
“Blue Thunder?”
“Wasn’t he calling himself ‘Shooting Star’ a few weeks ago?” The other students in the yard said to each other.
“Kuno Tatewaki, age 17,” Kuno continued, ignoring everyone else.
“Is this guy for real?” Ranma asked Akane who sighed and nodded her head. “O-k… My name is Saotome Ranma of the Anything Goes school of Martial Arts. And you’ve got this all wrong, me and Akane are not dating at all.”
“Yeah Kuno-sempai, Akane plays on the wrong team,” Yuka said, her and Sayuri giggling loudly. Kuno gave them a confused look, not understanding what Akane playing on a team had to do with anything while Akane rolled her eyes at her friends.
“You lie,” He said to Ranma instead, deciding to ignore the giggling females. He pointed his wooden sword at Ranma once again. “I will not allow you to date Tendo Akane, you are not worthy of her attentions.”
“We’re not dating, and we’ll never date,” Ranma told him in an annoyed tone.
“You say that Tendo Akane is not good enough for you?” Kuno asked outraged. Ranma groaned as she face palmed.
“Will you stop jumping to conclusions?” Ranma asked.
“I challenge thee cur,” Kuno said, once again pointing his bokken at Ranma. “For the hand of Tendo Akane.”
“I’ll accept your challenge to fight, but not over Akane,” Ranma said annoyed as she crossed her arms over her chest. She never could turn down a challenge, another thing Genma had always taught her was to accept any challenge thrown her way. Most of the time Ranma had ended up fighting someone that Genma had either conned or pissed off in some way. “Akane-chan and I are just friends, but now I just wanna beat you into the dirt for being so damn annoying. But not right now.”
“And why pray tell shouldn’t we fight now?” Kuno said.
“Lunch is almost over,” Ranma said, pointing over to the clock on the side of the school. The rest of the students in the yard turned to look as well then scrambled to either finish their lunch or pack up to head back into the school. “So we’ll fight after school,” Ranma turned and grabbed her bento, quickly eating what was left over then running toward the school doors with Akane and her friends.
“Ranma do you think that was really a good idea to challenge Kuno to a fight?” Akane asked. “He’s one of the better fighters in the school.”
“Akane, if you can beat Kuno everyday then he’ll be a cinch for me,” Ranma pointed out. Akane scowled slightly but had to agree with the other girl.
“Alright,” She said with a sigh as she could see there was no talking Ranma out of fighting the upperclassmen.
***
“Did you hear, Kuno is gonna fight that new kid after school,” Nabiki perked up as she heard, grinning to herself as she heard the other students gossip. She had hoped that telling Kuno about Ranma winning her and Akane’s spar would enrage the boy and push him to confront their house guest. While she had promised Kasumi she wouldn’t directly use Ranma in anything, she could still set up betting pools for any fights that might involve the teen. She had planned on going down to the grounds to watch the confrontation herself, thinking Kuno and Ranma would fight then but on her way out the door Nabiki had been waylaid by a teacher about one of her class assignments.
‘Looks like I’m still going to get a big payoff,’ Nabiki thought happily, glad to know she hadn’t missed her opportunity after all.
“Do you think the new kid can win?” A boy asked making Nabiki grin like a shark.
“Why don’t you put down some bets,” Nabiki suggested as she and two of her ever present lackeys walked up. As soon as she laid down the odds, in Kuno’s favor as no one had seen Ranma fight yet therefore didn’t know how good the cursed teen was, Nabiki was surrounded by her classmates as they placed their bets. Nabiki made sure to tell everyone to spread the word so she could book even more bets after school. (2)
****
“Where the hell is that jerk?” Ranma asked as she and Akane waited by the front gates for Kuno to show up.
“Knowing him, he’ll want to make a dramatic entrance,” Akane said with a sigh as she leaned back against the wall surrounding the school grounds. She was annoyed that Ranma had accepted Kuno’s challenge, only calmed down a little by the fact that Ranma had made sure to enunciate loudly that it wasn’t over who got to date Akane but just to beat Kuno into the ground for being annoying. She looked around, word had gotten around that Kuno was going to fight Ranma and most of the students had stuck around after school to see the fight. There were no teachers to be seen of course, with Kuno’s father being the principal he got away with things like this. She knew it drove the Vice Principal crazy, he had tried to stop the frights in the morning only to be told over a long distance phone call by Principal Kuno to leave them be or the man would be out of a job. As long as nobody was killed, these sorts of crazy things were allowed to go on.
Akane could see Nabiki and her friends taking bets on the fight on the other side of the school yard. She straightened up as an idea popped into her head.
“I’ll be right back Ranma,” She said as she headed toward one of Nabiki’s cohorts. Nabiki was always setting up betting pools on just about anything that could be bet on. Akane knew Nabiki had a betting pool set up on how fast Akane defeated the Hentai Horde and Kuno every morning. Akane of course never saw a dime of the money that Nabiki made, nor did she see any money on what Nabiki made off of the photos she knew Nabiki sold of her. She knew most of the money went toward the house, upkeep of the dojo, food and any bills that needed to be paid since their father didn’t work. So Akane didn’t usually complain about it, not much anyway, but it would be nice to have a little extra sending cash.
“Hey Rin,” Akane said, approaching one of Nabiki’s lackeys instead of her sister as she didn’t want Nabiki to know what she was up too.
“Hey there squirt, come to place a wager?” the girl asked when she saw Akane.
“What are the odds?” Akane asked.
“Well most everyone is betting on Kuno of course, 5 to 1, but there is a 10 to 1 odds on your friend over there,” Rin explained. Akane grinned and placed a bet on Ranma, knowing Ranma would wipe the floor with Kuno.
“Don’t tell Nabiki,” She added, slipping Rin an extra tip.
“Got it,” Rin said as she slipped the yen into her pocket. Akane all but skipped back over to Ranma who watched her.
“What was that about?” Ranma asked.
“Nabiki always sets up a bunch of betting pools, everyone is betting on Kuno so when you win we’re going to make a killing off my sister,” Akane said with a giggle. Ranma rolled her eyes but chuckled softly anyway in amusement. At that time the doors of the school slammed open and Kuno walked out dressed in his kendo uniform once again.
“Saotome, today I shall smite thee for the hand of the lovely Tendo Akane!” Kuno said as he reached the middle of the school yard. Ranma rolled her eyes again, handed Akane her school briefcase then walked out to meet Kuno.
“For the last time you idiot, I’m not going to fight you over Akane,” Ranma said loudly. “Akane and I are not dating, but I am gonna kick your ass.”
“Have at thee then!” Kuno said as he brandished his bokken at Ranma. “I strike!” He rushed forward, his sword raised above him. Ranma jumped backwards avoiding Kuno’s attempt to hit her then rolled to the left as Kuno followed up the attack with an upward strike.
“Come on, can’t you do better than that?” Ranma taunted knowing that if an opponent was angry they would start making mistakes. Kuno growled and surged forward, Ranma side stepping the attack then planting her elbow in Kuno’s back as he passed her.
“Perhaps you do have a little skill,” Kuno said after he stumbled forward, almost falling to the ground but managed to catch himself at the last second. “But try this on for size! Strike! Strike! Strike!”
Kuno swung his bokken again and again trying to hit Ranma but she ducked and dodged past every attack. The older teen started to become frustrated in his inability to hit Saotome and decided to use his most deadly attack against the other teen.
“HA!” Kuno yelled as his sword came down in a sharp arc which Ranma avoided by jumping to the side. Her eyes widened as the statue behind her exploded and a sharp pain hit her side where she was grazed by the waves of air pressure from Kuno’s attack.
‘I knew he was holding back!’ Ranma thought to herself, her hand briefly pressing against her side. ‘Fuck that hurt. I’ve got to stop this fight before this idiot hurts someone.’
‘When did he learn to do something like that!?’/Akane thought as the others whispered around her. She had never seen Kuno use an attack like that before and never against her. /‘Has…has that jerk been holding back on me!?’
“Pretty good Kuno, I knew you had something ya could do,” Ranma said as she seemed to dance around Kuno, never letting him land an attack. “How come you never used that on Akane?”
“Tendo Akane is but a delicate flower,” Kuno said as he tried to keep up with where Ranma was at all times. “My power is too great for her.” Ranma snorted in amusement.
“You’re not that great,” she said as she moved closer to Kuno. “My turn now!” Ranma yelled as she let loose a series of punches that were almost a blur to the naked eye. Back at the village Cologne had started to teach Ranma an attack called the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken, a move that taught Ranma how to move her arms at high, near supersonic speeds to deliver a hundred blows at a time. Of course thanks to Genma pretty much kidnapping her Ranma hadn’t been able to fully learn the attack and while she did her best to practice while on the road she didn’t have the move down pat. But she was fast enough to rain a few good punches that hit Kuno in all his vulnerable parts.
As Ranma drew back her attack, Kuno stood before her swaying slightly on his feet, his bokken held up in front of him.
“I… will… not… admit… defeat….” Kuno wheezed through the pain. Ranma snorted and reached up to flick Kuno on the forehead. With a groan Kuno fell backwards onto the ground, twitching every now and then. Nabiki walked up, checking on Kuno then stood up and grabbed one of Ranma’s hands, holding it up into the air.
“The winner!” Nabiki announced loudly for everyone to hear. There was a roar of groans, a lot of the students had betted on Kuno winning, and a small group of gleeful cheering. Akane was among that group as she had known Ranma would win. Ranma pulled her hand out of Nabiki’s grip and ran over to join Akane.
“That was great!” Akane said with a grin then scowled in anger. “I can’t believe that jerk, he’s never even tried to use any attack like that on me.”
“Yeah I tried to tell you at lunch that I thought he might be holdin’ back on ya,” Ranma said as she rubbed the back of her neck. “I think he thinks you’re weak or somethin’, he called you a ‘delicate flower’.”
“I’ll show him a delicate flower,” Akane muttered under her breath. “What was that last move you used anyway?”
“Something Cologne started to teach me,” Ranma said. “She didn’t get a chance to finish before Pops dragged me back here to Japan so that move wasn’t perfect.”
“Well it got the job done,” Akane said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Come on, I’ve got to collect my winnings.” She grabbed Ranma’s arm and dragged her friend over to Nabiki where she was paying out the very few winners of the bets.
“What are you doing here sis?” Nabiki asked as soon as she saw Akane. “You two head on home, I’ll be a while.”
“Oh I’m not here for you,” Akane said cheerfully. “I’m here to collect my winnings.”
“Winnings?” Nabiki repeated, her eyes widened as Rin handed over a large wad of cash to Akane, it was a pretty good chunk out of the money she’d collected.
“Here you go kiddo, don’t spend it all in one place,” Rin said cheerfully. Akane beamed happily then turned to hand part of it to Ranma.
“Here, you won so you get a cut of the winnings,” Akane said. Ranma who had very little money of her own since Genma didn’t give her any and what she did have was from a few odd jobs that she’d done, quickly stuffed the yen into her bag. Nabiki gapped as Akane and Ranma left the school grounds then turned to grill her lackey on why she let Akane place a wager.
***
Ryoga groaned softly as he looked up from the map in his hands to the signpost in front of him. He could have sworn he was in the Chiyoda ward but according to the sign he was in the Nakano ward. Either way, he was no closer to being in the Nerima ward which was where he wanted to be right now.
Ryoga was looking for Nerima as that was where he had left Ranka behind by accident. He was also still looking for Ranma but he currently had no idea where Saotome was at the moment. Ryoga was torn up about who he wanted to look for more, Ranma so he could finally beat the hell out of the other boy or Ranka who he had a huge crush on.
‘Damn it, why can’t I find my way just this once?’ Ryoga thought as he balled up the useless map he had been trying to use and tossed it in the nearest trash can. He sighed again then quickly walked up to the nearest person. “Excuse me, have you seen this guy?” Ryoga held up a photo of him and Ranma from Junior High, a copy of the photo that he had originally lost at Jusenkyo. Luckily he had a second copy at his house that he found.
“Nope, sorry,” The man he was talking to said. “Never seen ‘im before in my life.” Ryoga’s shoulders sagged slightly at the news.
“Well do you know which way Nerima is then?” He asked.
“Sure, it’s in that direction,” The man pointed in the general direction of the Nerima ward.
“Thanks!” Ryoga said as he took off in a run… in the opposite direction that the guy pointed.
“But… you’re going the wrong way!” The man yelled but it was too late as Ryoga was already out of earshot. “Idiot.”
*****
“Ahhh…” Ranma sighed happily as she poured the cup of cold water over her head.
“Better?” Akane asked with a giggle.
“Much, I hate having to walk around as a boy,” Ranma said as she took the offered towel from Kasumi to dry her hair.
“You’ll have all night to be in your real body,” Kasumi said with a smile. “Father is out looking for your father again.”
“Yeah good luck with that, I hope Pops is still sitting in whatever zoo he’s in,” Ranma said. Akane giggled again, she found it amusing to know what had really happened to Mr. Saotome and both girls hoped it would be a long time before Genma figured out he could turn back into his human form again.
“We’re ordering out tonight,” Kasumi said. “And I’ve rented a couple of movies I think you might like Ranma so why don’t you two go relax until Nabiki gets home.”
“Hai Nee-chan.”
“Hai Kasumi.” Both girls said as they left the kitchen.
******
Author note: Another chapter finally out. Thanks everyone for putting up with me editing all my stories and hope this chapter was worth the wait.
(1) Never did understand how Ranma always got away with not wearing a school uniform.
(2) I have no idea how betting works outside of table game odds at a casino.
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi
Author note: Thanks to Blissfull Wulf for betaing this fic.
Chapter 4
“School?” Ranma repeated looking up at Kasumi. It had been two days since the waterproof soap had worn off, leaving Ranma to change back between her original male birth form and the cursed female one that she considered her true body. While it was still a little awkward between her and Akane, the two girls’ friendship had quickly gone back to what it used to be. This morning after Akane and Nabiki had headed off to school, Kasumi had dropped the bombshell that she was going to register Ranma at their school.
“Yes,” Kasumi said with a nod as she sat down beside Ranma at the low table. “You can’t just keep hanging around here all the time, though I do appreciate the help you’ve given me, but you need to go back to school.”
“I just… I haven’t gone to school in over a year,” Ranma said, scratching the side of her neck. “And that’s only cause Pops didn’t want trouble from the cops.”
“Your father didn’t want you to go to school?” Kasumi asked, not sure if she should be surprised or not. Ranma’s father Genma, from what little bit she could glean from Ranma, did not sound like a pleasant man.
“Nah, he always said that school was pointless in the pursuit of the art,” Ranma quoted with a roll of her eyes and a sigh. “When I was little he taught me how to read and write and basic math, always claimed that was all I needed to get by. Only time I ever went to a school was when the local police in whatever area we were staying in for a while forced him to let me go.”
“Oh my,” Kasumi said, bringing her hand up to her lips. “What did you do, surely you didn’t try to get by on such little schooling?”
“Nah, whenever Pops was out doing whatever he was doing, I bet it was either stealing something or scamming somebody,” Ranma shook her head slightly as she thought about her father’s usual activities while Kasumi scowled, ”or when he was drunk off his ass I snuck to the local library. I mean, it wasn’t as good as learning in a school, but at least I wasn’t so far behind that I couldn’t catch up.” Ranma shrugged her shoulders slightly.
“Well, while you are here you are going to school,” Kasumi said firmly. Ranma had no arguments on that, she liked to learn, though most of her focus was on her martial arts. When she was younger Ranma did buy into Genma’s words about not needing to know more than how to read and how to add until one of her friends from childhood had set her straight, even teaching her that learning could be fun. True, Ranma wasn’t the greatest at school work but it was always because she had to rush to catch up with her classmates as she was always behind since she didn’t go to school usually.
“Yeah ok, I’m not going to argue with you,” Ranma said. “How am I gonna pay for a uniform and stuff?” (1)
“I got Nabiki to give me some money, she owed me a couple of favors,” Kasumi said with a giggle. “Think of it as payment for helping me out around the house. Now come on, the mall should be open now, we can pick up your school supplies.”
***
At the local mall, Kasumi and Ranma picked up a black school briefcase and a plain bento. Ranma would have liked one of the cuter ones on the shelf, shying away from the one covered in cats but Kasumi caught the wistful look Ranma gave when the currently boy-shaped girl looked at one covered in little cartoon dogs. But as they had to keep an image, at least for now, Ranma sighed and turned away from the shelf. Kasumi smiled sadly, Ranma wanted to embrace the things that girls wanted but had to play the role of a boy. It broke her heart to see Ranma like this.
At the uniform store, Kasumi picked out a couple of boy uniforms for Ranma to try on so they could find one that fit and found the cursed teen looking at girl uniforms, holding a sleeve of one of the winter uniforms in her hand.
“Ranma-chan?” Kasumi said getting the other’s attention. Ranma quickly looked up, dropping the sleeve of the uniform and stepping back.
“Sorry,” Ranma muttered.
“Do you like dresses Ranma?” Kasumi asked, curious. As Ranma had only recently in the last few weeks come to terms with herself and gained a form that she was comfortable with, Kasumi didn’t know what Ranma’s thoughts on female clothing were.
“A friend I had when I was a kid had a really pretty dress I liked,” Ranma said softly. “Pops flipped when he saw I had it. Had to learn how to keep that kinda stuff buried. I wore a couple of dresses in the village I was staying at before Pops kidnapped me.” Ranma shrugged her shoulders slightly.
“I see,” Kasumi said. “Well go try these on to see if they fit.” She placed the male uniforms in Ranma’s arms and sent her to the dressing room. ‘Poor Ranma,’ Kasumi thought with a sigh. If it wasn’t for the fact Ranma’s legal paperwork still listed her as a boy Kasumi would be tempted to register Ranma in her female form at Furinkan High School. Kasumi saw the hidden desire in Ranma’s blue eyes as she looked at the girl uniforms and the hidden disappoint when she had to play the part of a boy.
‘Well just because she can’t wear girl clothes at school doesn’t mean she can’t wear them at home or anything,’ Kasumi reasoned. They would have to be careful how they planned it of course, her father would never understand why Ranma preferred to act and dress as a girl but Kasumi was sneaker than people gave her credit for. She was sure between her and her sisters they could keep Soun in the dark. ‘We should make it a girls day out this weekend, I’m sure Akane-chan would love to pick up a couple of new dresses and help Ranma find something of her own. Father will never enter Ranma’s room so he’ll never know what’s in her closet. Or she can just keep her girly clothing hidden in my or Akane-chan’s room.’ Kasumi smiled to herself, yes they could make this work out and help Ranma along the way.
***
The next morning Ranma walked into her borrowed bedroom while toweling her wet hair dry. She had gotten up early to do her exercises, while she and Akane took time to have little spars in the dojo Ranma wished she had a sparring partner that could push her to her limits. Akane was decent but she was the one being pushed not Ranma.
‘What I’d give for Shampoo or even Ryoga to be here,’ Ranma thought as Shampoo had given all she was worth when they fought, once Ranma got past the ‘no hitting girls’ thing and showed she was worthy of being one of the Joketsuzoku’s finest warriors when she was older. Ryoga of course had been her sparring buddy back in Junior High. Mousse had been pretty fun to spar with as well, he wasn’t as strong as Shampoo but the taller boy’s Hidden Weapons made the fight interesting, you never knew what was going to fly out of those white robes next.
Ranma sighed as she opened the closet door and looked at the uniforms inside. She was half tempted to just go in her Chinese silks, she had never been one for uniforms, something she was sure came from not having to wear them very often. But Kasumi had gone through all the trouble of getting Ranma the uniforms… Ranma sighed again and grabbed one of the uniforms, putting it on. As she walked out the door to go downstairs she absently pulled her long black hair back into a short braid.
“Morning Ranma,” Akane said as she stepped out of her room as Ranma passed it. “Looking forward to going back to school?”
“Yeah and no,” Ranma said with a shrug. “I don’t mind learning but I know I’m gonna be behind since I haven’t been in school for over a year. Last school I went to was a all-boys school.”
“All-boys?” Akane said with a wrinkle of her nose. “What was that like?”
“Meh, it was school except there wasn’t any girls,” Ranma said. “There was a all-girls school that was nearby I think. We had all the same classes. The only time it really got hectic was during lunch.”
“What happened at lunch?” Akane asked curiously as she and Ranma sat down at the table, Nabiki yawning and sipping her morning coffee.
“Well the cooks would save all the really good bread so at the end of lunch they could throw it out to the students. Everyone would crowd around the lunch counter and the cook would announce what bread it was and throw it up into the air,” Ranma explained. Akane and even Nabiki were looking at Ranma in disbelief.
“You must be joking,” Nabiki said.
“No, it was a free for all everyday at lunch for the last good bread,” Ranma said. “It was like a riot, everyone was crowding together to be the one to grab the bread.”
“Did you ever get involved in that?” Akane asked.
“Yeah, but I just jumped over everyone’s heads and grabbed the bread for myself,” Ranma said. “No one complained because it was first-come first –serve except for one guy I knew that I became… sorta friends with. At least the days he was at school anyway.”
“Why didn’t he go to school?” Akane asked. “Was he sick?” Kasumi came out with breakfast then, setting it out on the table.
“This looks wonderful Kasumi,” Soun said as he folded up his morning paper and put it to the side, he was half listening to Ranma’s tale of his old school.
“Well… Ryoga has a bit of a problem finding his way around,” Ranma said as she rubbed the back of her neck. “So he didn’t always make it to school on time.”
“Dig in everyone,” Kasumi said as she sat down. Ranma happily did so with gusto, filling up the bowl and starting to eat in her usual manner. Akane stared at Ranma, she could never get use to seeing the other teen eating this way, it made Ranma look like a pig!
“Why do you have to eat that way!?” Akane finally snapped, this had been bugging her for days!
“Huh?” Ranma paused in her eating, looking up at Akane.
“You’re acting like a pig Saotome,” Nabiki said. “It’s not a pretty sight.”
“Oh…” Ranma lowered her bowl and chopsticks to the table then rubbed her neck. “Sorry. It’s a habit I had to pick up growing up. Pops liked to turn everything into a martial arts lesson, including meal times. He always tries to steal my food when we eat, if I don’t eat in a hurry he’ll get it.”
“Ah yes, that does sound like Saotome,” Soun said with a chuckle. Kasumi frowned in disapproval; nobody should steal food from their children not even for a lesson. Akane felt bad to for yelling at Ranma.
“Well… no one is gonna steal your food here so… you could take your time you know,” Akane said after a few seconds. Ranma gave Akane a small smile and picked up her breakfast again, she still ate quickly but in a much more controlled manner.
**
As soon as they ran outside, Ranma jumped onto the fence by the sidewalk, running along the top of it. Akane looked up at Ranma in surprise, watching with a small amount of envy as Ranma easily kept her balance.
“What are you doing?” She asked.
“This is great for balance practice,” Ranma told her. “You should try it.”
“There is no way I’m going to run on top of a fence in a dress!” Akane yelled. “Everyone would see my underwear!”
“You could always wear shorts under your skirt,” Ranma suggested.
“I would still have perverted boys trying to sneak a peek,” Akane said with a shake of her head. Ranma sighed softly and shook her head.
“Well maybe after school then, like when you go on your run?” Ranma suggested instead. “You wear your gi then so no one will be able to see anything.” Akane considered this suggestion, it wasn’t too bad of an idea she guessed and if Ranma could do it so could she. As the fence came to an end Ranma leapt to the ground, her stride never breaking as she kept in step with Akane. As they passed the walkway leading up to one of the houses, Ranma yelped as she was splashed with cold water, halting her run as she looked at the old lady holding a ladle in one hand and a bucket of cold water in the other. The sidewalk was wet where the elderly woman had been tossing the water.
“Hey, watch where you toss that,” Ranma said. Akane skidded to a stop and turned back, seeing Ranma female once again. The boy’s uniform was hanging off Ranma’s smaller girl form, the sleeves hanging past her hands and pants baggy as she lost height.
“Err? What’s that girly?” The old woman said as she squinted up at Ranma. “Well, aren’t you a pretty young thing. But you need to lose the outfit missy, young thing like you needs to be wearing a nice dress not baggy boy clothing.” The old woman adjusted her glasses then turned to walk slowly up to her house, muttering to herself about how awful styles were today. Akane snorted with laughter while Ranma watched the woman a bit dumbfounded.
“Okay… never had that happen to me before… this isn’t funny,” Ranma said turning to Akane. She held up her arms to push her sleeves up. “I can’t go to school like this.”
“Just hot water right?” Akane asked as she looked at her watch. “We’re close to Dr. Tufo’s clinic, we have enough time to stop by and get some hot water.”
“Alright,” Ranma said, following after Akane.
*****
“Dr. Tofu?” Akane called as they entered the clinic. She looked around when she didn’t get an answer then looked at Ranma. “Maybe he’s upstairs or something. Just wait here, I’ll go get the water.”
“’K,” Ranma said, watching as Akane went into the back where the exam rooms were then looked around the lobby. She didn’t sense anyone behind her until a bony feeling hand landed on her shoulder, making Ranma yelp and leap into the air. She twisted around to face whoever was behind her, coming face to face with a smiling Tofu and a skeleton.
“Hello Miss Saotome,” Tofu said. “Say hello to Betty, she thinks you have some really good reflexes.”
“You scared the crap out of me,” Ranma said.
“Sorry, just having a bit of fun, didn’t mean to scare you,” Tofu said as he rolled the skeleton back into the corner.
‘I couldn’t even tell he was behind me,’ Ranma thought as she watched Tofu. ‘He’s a really good martial artist; no one’s snuck up on me like that in a long time except Cologne.’
“So what brings you to my clinic Miss Saotome,” Tofu asked as he faced Ranma again. “Your head isn’t bothering you from your injury is it?”
“What?” Ranma asked as she touched her head. “Oh, no it’s fine. I’ve had worse than that and bounced back from it.”
“I see,” Tofu said with a bit of a frown as he adjusted his glasses. As a doctor, he wondered what sort of things this young woman had gone through that she just brushed off a head injury like it was nothing.
“Here you go Ran- Dr. Tofu!” Akane said when she saw the man, a light blush covering her cheeks. Ranma raised an eyebrow at seeing it then smirked a little.
“Akane-san, what brings you and your friend? Shouldn’t you two be at school by now?” Tofu asked. Akane looked at Tofu then glanced at Ranma then turned her gaze to the glass of hot water in her hand.
“Just give it here Akane,” Ranma said with a sigh as she held out her hand. “He’s gonna find out anyway.”
“Find out what?” Tofu asked, watching as Ranma took the glass and poured the water over her head. He watched amazed as the petite redheaded girl turned into a taller lean young man. “I see… that does explain a few things.”
“Huh?” Ranma asked.
“I was a bit confused by your chi, it seemed a bit off but I couldn’t understand why but now I think I do,” Tofu explained. “Tell me Miss, or should it be Mr. Saotome?”
“Errr? Born mister but really a miss?” Ranma said.
“I see,” Tofu said with a nod then turned to Akane. “She’s the reason why you were asking about transsexuals the other day.”
“Yes Dr. Tofu,” Akane said as she hung her head shyly.
“And your ability to change between genders is magic I suppose?” Tofu asked, turning back to Ranma.
“Yes but don’t make any mistake, I’m a girl even though I turn into a boy,” Ranma said.
“I understand,” Tofu said. “When you have time I would like you to return to answer a few questions I still have but I think you two need to head on to school before you’re late.”
“What?!” Akane checked her watch then grabbed Ranma’s arm, dragging the other teen out of the clinic. “Come on Ranma! Bye Dr. Tofu!” Tofu chuckled softly to himself as he watched the pair leave.
‘A most curious type of magic,’ Tofu thought as he finished setting up his clinic for the day and waited for his first appointment. He had always been curious about the occult and was eager to learn a bit more about Ranma’s curse.
Outside as the girls headed toward the school Ranma grinned over at Akane.
“So… you have a crush on the doc?” Ranma asked, laughing as Akane blushed and gave a small embarrassed yell, dodging as Akane playfully tried to punch the other girl in the shoulder.
****
As they neared the school, Akane started to chant something under her breath. Ranma looked at her in alarm as a look of anger crossed her friend’s face and Akane’s hands balled into fists.
“I hate boys, I hate boys, I hate boys, I HATE BOYS!” Akane steadily chanted, growing louder with each word until she was yelling as they approached the gate. Ranma looked ahead and saw a huge group of boys standing in-between the gates, wearing various types of sports uniforms and some holding sport equipment.
“There she is!” Ranma heard one boy call.
“Get her!” Another yelled.
“I HATE BOYS!” Akane yelled in response as she ran at the group. The boys yelled and charged Akane who was already swinging her fists. Ranma jumped onto the top of the gate and watched with wide eyes as Akane fought the group.
‘Wow, no wonder she doesn’t fight well one-on-one, she’s a brawler,’ Ranma thought as she watched Akane move. Akane was better at fighting large groups at once and was taking the boys down two and three at a time with ease. And that was no easy feat, the boys weren’t working together when they fought Akane, hitting each other as much as trying to hit Akane making it pure chaos but Akane managed to duck and dodge between flying limbs as she delivered her own hits.
“Hey Ranma!” Ranma turned when she heard Nabiki’s voice. “Hurry up or you’ll be late! Don’t worry, she does this every morning!”
“Go… on… Ranma….” Akane yelled as she ducked under a hockey stick then planted her fist in the stomach of a boy dressed in a kendo uniform. “I’ll… be… done… soon…” She twisted and kicked the feet out from under another boy.
Ranma hesitated for a moment, it was against her nature to just leave her friend in case Akane was overwhelmed, then remembered that Akane did do this every school day and she did look like she had it under control. There was also another lesson that she learned from the Amazons, never interfere with another person’s fight unless it was life or death because you insult the person by saying they were weak.
“Alright, see you inside Akane,” Ranma said with a wave of her hand and headed inside the school.
****
Nearby in the shadows of the trees that dotted the grounds of Furinkan High School, Tatewaki Kuno narrowed his dark blue eyes as he watched the dark haired boy that had arrived with Akane run into the school. He felt that the boy had been too familiar with the lovely Akane Tendo and wondered what sort of relationship he had with the girl.
‘I shall have to approach Tendo Nabiki to find out about the boy,’ Kuno thought as Akane finished with the last boy in the mob, taking that as his cue. He took the red rose he carried with him and tossed it in Akane’s direction. Akane sighed and caught the rose in midair then turned toward Kuno.
“Truly a brutish lot,” Kuno said as he stepped out of the shadows, his bokken held loosely at his side.
“Can we just get this over with?” Akane asked with a roll of her eyes. “I don’t want to be late for class.”
“Tendo Akane, if I defeat you then you shall go on a date with me but if you defeat I-“ Kuno started to say before Akane broke in.
“’Then I shall allow you to date me.’ Blah blah blah, you say the same thing every day and the answer is still no,” Akane said as she slid into her stance.
“Prepare yourself!” Kuno said holding his bokken out in front of him before attacking Akane.
Up in the school Ranma stood looking out a window as she watched Akane fight Kuno.
‘He’s holding back on her,’ Ranma thought as she narrowed her eyes. Ranma wondered if Akane knew and somehow doubted it as Akane quickly knocked Kuno onto his back in the dirt and kicked the older teen’s wooden sword away.
Down below Akane brushed off her hands and headed into the school as Kuno lay in the dirt.
‘Ah the fiery Tendo Akane,’ Kuno thought fondly to himself as he stood up, grabbing his bokken then heading into the school to change into his school uniform. He would try again that afternoon to get Akane to go out with him but for now he needed to see Akane’s sister Nabiki to find out more about the strange boy.
*****
“Class we have a new student joining us today,” The teacher currently over the class said as she introduced Ranma. “This is Saotome Ranma, he’s been on a 10 year training trip and has just recently traveled to China.”
The class broke out in excited whispers, it had been a long time since they had a new student.
“Wow, he’s so cute.”
“I wonder if he’s got a girlfriend.” Akane could hear two of her classmates whisper behind her.
‘If only you knew,’ Akane thought with a small smirk.
“Why don’t you sit in the free seat next to Tendo-san,” The teacher told Ranma. “Once I finish with today’s lesson, I’ll see how far along you are while the others work on the class work.”
“Hai sensei,” Ranma said before going to sit down at her desk.
In another part of the school, Kuno approached Nabiki at her desk as the class had a free period since their usual teacher was out sick and the substitute didn’t feel like teaching.
“Tendo Nabiki,” Kuno said. Nabiki smiled that little irritating half-smile/half smirk she always had when she dealt with the other teen.
“Morning Kuno-baby,” Nabiki said, brown eyes glinting in humor as Kuno’s jaw tensed a little bit.
“Do not call me that woman,” he said as he hated that nickname. “Who was the boy with your sister this morning?”
Nabiki found herself at a bit of a dilemma, while she would love to sell Kuno info about certain things like the possible engagement between her family and the Saotome’s, leaving out that it could apply to her or one of her sisters to let Kuno assume it meant Akane and watch the chaos that resulted, she did promise Kasumi she would be good. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t still cause a little mayhem while making a tidy profit from the wealthy boy in front of her.
“You know my usual fee,” Nabiki said. Kuno took out his wallet and laid a large amount of yen on the desk in front of Nabiki. She picked it up, counting the bills as she said, “He’s a family friend, his dad knows ours. He’s staying at our house while his dad is out working.”
“And what is his relationship with your sister?” Kuno asked as he mulled over the information.
“Oh they have become very good friends,” Nabiki said as she smirked again. “Especially after Ranma defeated Akane in a sparring match.”
Outside school the birds sitting in the trees took to the air as Kuno yelled “WHAT!!”
“Kuno-san, sit down this instant!” A teacher that had been wandering the hallways said as she checked in on the class.
***
“Come on Ranma, meet my friends,” Akane said at lunch time as she grabbed Ranma’s hand and dragged the cursed girl out of the classroom to go eat lunch outside. She had seen those two perverted boys, something everyone in the school agreed on, Daisuke and Hiroshi eyeing Ranma to get her to join their group. Ranma let Akane drag her outside, bypassing the aforementioned boys before they could invite Ranma to hang out with them. “Sayuri, Yuka!”
“Akane!” One of the girls Akane called to waved from where they saved a seat for her. “Over here!”
“So you’re the new boy in class right?” The other girl asked as they sat down. “I’m Sayuri and this is Yuka.”
“Yo,” Ranma said with a small wave as she took out her bento.
“So how do you know Akane?” Sayuri asked.
“Yeah, I thought you hated boys Akane,” Yuka added.
“Let’s just say Ranma is a special case,” Akane said. “His father is friends with my dad.”
“Oh… so are you two dating?” Yuka asked. Ranma and Akane nearly choked on their lunch at Yuka’s question.
“We are not dating,” Akane said.
“I don’t like girls,” Ranma said at the same time. Yuka and Sayuri stared at Ranma for a moment then started to giggle. “What?”
“I see, so you’re gay?” Sayuri asked. Ranma scowled slightly and opened her mouth to disagree when Akane grabbed her pigtail and pulled her head closer to whisper in her ear.
“They don’t know that you’re a transsexual Ranma,” Akane whispered. “And you’re a boy right now so just go along with it. If you need to, you can tell them later about that part of you cause I don’t think you want the whole school to know.” Ranma grimaced and nodded her head.
“Yeah, I like guys,” Ranma told Sayuri. Sayuri and Yuka giggled again.
“I get it, so you’re her new gay best friend,” Yuka said. “No wonder Akane doesn’t mind hanging around you, you’re not trying to get into her pants.”
“And thank Kami for that,” Akane said as she calmly took a bite of her lunch. “Ranma always beats me in our sparring matches.” This time it was Yuka and Sayuri who choked.
“What? Really?” Yuka asked.
“Hmm,” Akane nodded. “He’s been training harder than I do.”
“Akane’s alright one-on-one but she’s a hell of a brawler,” Ranma said. Akane blinked and turned to Ranma.
“Huh? Brawler?”
“You fight much better when you got more than one person comin’ at ya,” Ranma explained. “I guess it’s habit after fightin’ all those guys every day. By the way, I wanted to tell you that the guy with the swo-“
“I will not allow it!” A voice rang out over the school yard. Everyone turned to see Kuno walking quickly across the schoolyard with his bokken in one hand. He hadn’t had time to change into his kendogi as he wanted to make sure he confronted Ranma before lunch was over. Everyone stared at Kuno as he stalked across the grounds toward Akane and Ranma. “I will not allow you to date Tendo Akane!”
Ranma and Akane groaned as the other students around them erupted into whispers.
“We’re not dating!” Akane and Ranma said loudly at the same time.
“Fiend, who are you to sully Tendo Akane’s purity?” Kuno said as he came to a stop in front of Ranma, pointing his bokken at the cursed teen. Ranma scowled and stood up to face the taller boy.
“My name is Saotom-“ Ranma started to say but was cut off by Kuno.
“Nay, but tis proper to give one’s name first,” Kuno said, flipping his hair a little. “I am the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!” He held up his sword and gave a dramatic pose while a rumble of thunder and a crash of lightning showed up on cue.
“Blue Thunder?”
“Wasn’t he calling himself ‘Shooting Star’ a few weeks ago?” The other students in the yard said to each other.
“Kuno Tatewaki, age 17,” Kuno continued, ignoring everyone else.
“Is this guy for real?” Ranma asked Akane who sighed and nodded her head. “O-k… My name is Saotome Ranma of the Anything Goes school of Martial Arts. And you’ve got this all wrong, me and Akane are not dating at all.”
“Yeah Kuno-sempai, Akane plays on the wrong team,” Yuka said, her and Sayuri giggling loudly. Kuno gave them a confused look, not understanding what Akane playing on a team had to do with anything while Akane rolled her eyes at her friends.
“You lie,” He said to Ranma instead, deciding to ignore the giggling females. He pointed his wooden sword at Ranma once again. “I will not allow you to date Tendo Akane, you are not worthy of her attentions.”
“We’re not dating, and we’ll never date,” Ranma told him in an annoyed tone.
“You say that Tendo Akane is not good enough for you?” Kuno asked outraged. Ranma groaned as she face palmed.
“Will you stop jumping to conclusions?” Ranma asked.
“I challenge thee cur,” Kuno said, once again pointing his bokken at Ranma. “For the hand of Tendo Akane.”
“I’ll accept your challenge to fight, but not over Akane,” Ranma said annoyed as she crossed her arms over her chest. She never could turn down a challenge, another thing Genma had always taught her was to accept any challenge thrown her way. Most of the time Ranma had ended up fighting someone that Genma had either conned or pissed off in some way. “Akane-chan and I are just friends, but now I just wanna beat you into the dirt for being so damn annoying. But not right now.”
“And why pray tell shouldn’t we fight now?” Kuno said.
“Lunch is almost over,” Ranma said, pointing over to the clock on the side of the school. The rest of the students in the yard turned to look as well then scrambled to either finish their lunch or pack up to head back into the school. “So we’ll fight after school,” Ranma turned and grabbed her bento, quickly eating what was left over then running toward the school doors with Akane and her friends.
“Ranma do you think that was really a good idea to challenge Kuno to a fight?” Akane asked. “He’s one of the better fighters in the school.”
“Akane, if you can beat Kuno everyday then he’ll be a cinch for me,” Ranma pointed out. Akane scowled slightly but had to agree with the other girl.
“Alright,” She said with a sigh as she could see there was no talking Ranma out of fighting the upperclassmen.
***
“Did you hear, Kuno is gonna fight that new kid after school,” Nabiki perked up as she heard, grinning to herself as she heard the other students gossip. She had hoped that telling Kuno about Ranma winning her and Akane’s spar would enrage the boy and push him to confront their house guest. While she had promised Kasumi she wouldn’t directly use Ranma in anything, she could still set up betting pools for any fights that might involve the teen. She had planned on going down to the grounds to watch the confrontation herself, thinking Kuno and Ranma would fight then but on her way out the door Nabiki had been waylaid by a teacher about one of her class assignments.
‘Looks like I’m still going to get a big payoff,’ Nabiki thought happily, glad to know she hadn’t missed her opportunity after all.
“Do you think the new kid can win?” A boy asked making Nabiki grin like a shark.
“Why don’t you put down some bets,” Nabiki suggested as she and two of her ever present lackeys walked up. As soon as she laid down the odds, in Kuno’s favor as no one had seen Ranma fight yet therefore didn’t know how good the cursed teen was, Nabiki was surrounded by her classmates as they placed their bets. Nabiki made sure to tell everyone to spread the word so she could book even more bets after school. (2)
****
“Where the hell is that jerk?” Ranma asked as she and Akane waited by the front gates for Kuno to show up.
“Knowing him, he’ll want to make a dramatic entrance,” Akane said with a sigh as she leaned back against the wall surrounding the school grounds. She was annoyed that Ranma had accepted Kuno’s challenge, only calmed down a little by the fact that Ranma had made sure to enunciate loudly that it wasn’t over who got to date Akane but just to beat Kuno into the ground for being annoying. She looked around, word had gotten around that Kuno was going to fight Ranma and most of the students had stuck around after school to see the fight. There were no teachers to be seen of course, with Kuno’s father being the principal he got away with things like this. She knew it drove the Vice Principal crazy, he had tried to stop the frights in the morning only to be told over a long distance phone call by Principal Kuno to leave them be or the man would be out of a job. As long as nobody was killed, these sorts of crazy things were allowed to go on.
Akane could see Nabiki and her friends taking bets on the fight on the other side of the school yard. She straightened up as an idea popped into her head.
“I’ll be right back Ranma,” She said as she headed toward one of Nabiki’s cohorts. Nabiki was always setting up betting pools on just about anything that could be bet on. Akane knew Nabiki had a betting pool set up on how fast Akane defeated the Hentai Horde and Kuno every morning. Akane of course never saw a dime of the money that Nabiki made, nor did she see any money on what Nabiki made off of the photos she knew Nabiki sold of her. She knew most of the money went toward the house, upkeep of the dojo, food and any bills that needed to be paid since their father didn’t work. So Akane didn’t usually complain about it, not much anyway, but it would be nice to have a little extra sending cash.
“Hey Rin,” Akane said, approaching one of Nabiki’s lackeys instead of her sister as she didn’t want Nabiki to know what she was up too.
“Hey there squirt, come to place a wager?” the girl asked when she saw Akane.
“What are the odds?” Akane asked.
“Well most everyone is betting on Kuno of course, 5 to 1, but there is a 10 to 1 odds on your friend over there,” Rin explained. Akane grinned and placed a bet on Ranma, knowing Ranma would wipe the floor with Kuno.
“Don’t tell Nabiki,” She added, slipping Rin an extra tip.
“Got it,” Rin said as she slipped the yen into her pocket. Akane all but skipped back over to Ranma who watched her.
“What was that about?” Ranma asked.
“Nabiki always sets up a bunch of betting pools, everyone is betting on Kuno so when you win we’re going to make a killing off my sister,” Akane said with a giggle. Ranma rolled her eyes but chuckled softly anyway in amusement. At that time the doors of the school slammed open and Kuno walked out dressed in his kendo uniform once again.
“Saotome, today I shall smite thee for the hand of the lovely Tendo Akane!” Kuno said as he reached the middle of the school yard. Ranma rolled her eyes again, handed Akane her school briefcase then walked out to meet Kuno.
“For the last time you idiot, I’m not going to fight you over Akane,” Ranma said loudly. “Akane and I are not dating, but I am gonna kick your ass.”
“Have at thee then!” Kuno said as he brandished his bokken at Ranma. “I strike!” He rushed forward, his sword raised above him. Ranma jumped backwards avoiding Kuno’s attempt to hit her then rolled to the left as Kuno followed up the attack with an upward strike.
“Come on, can’t you do better than that?” Ranma taunted knowing that if an opponent was angry they would start making mistakes. Kuno growled and surged forward, Ranma side stepping the attack then planting her elbow in Kuno’s back as he passed her.
“Perhaps you do have a little skill,” Kuno said after he stumbled forward, almost falling to the ground but managed to catch himself at the last second. “But try this on for size! Strike! Strike! Strike!”
Kuno swung his bokken again and again trying to hit Ranma but she ducked and dodged past every attack. The older teen started to become frustrated in his inability to hit Saotome and decided to use his most deadly attack against the other teen.
“HA!” Kuno yelled as his sword came down in a sharp arc which Ranma avoided by jumping to the side. Her eyes widened as the statue behind her exploded and a sharp pain hit her side where she was grazed by the waves of air pressure from Kuno’s attack.
‘I knew he was holding back!’ Ranma thought to herself, her hand briefly pressing against her side. ‘Fuck that hurt. I’ve got to stop this fight before this idiot hurts someone.’
‘When did he learn to do something like that!?’/Akane thought as the others whispered around her. She had never seen Kuno use an attack like that before and never against her. /‘Has…has that jerk been holding back on me!?’
“Pretty good Kuno, I knew you had something ya could do,” Ranma said as she seemed to dance around Kuno, never letting him land an attack. “How come you never used that on Akane?”
“Tendo Akane is but a delicate flower,” Kuno said as he tried to keep up with where Ranma was at all times. “My power is too great for her.” Ranma snorted in amusement.
“You’re not that great,” she said as she moved closer to Kuno. “My turn now!” Ranma yelled as she let loose a series of punches that were almost a blur to the naked eye. Back at the village Cologne had started to teach Ranma an attack called the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken, a move that taught Ranma how to move her arms at high, near supersonic speeds to deliver a hundred blows at a time. Of course thanks to Genma pretty much kidnapping her Ranma hadn’t been able to fully learn the attack and while she did her best to practice while on the road she didn’t have the move down pat. But she was fast enough to rain a few good punches that hit Kuno in all his vulnerable parts.
As Ranma drew back her attack, Kuno stood before her swaying slightly on his feet, his bokken held up in front of him.
“I… will… not… admit… defeat….” Kuno wheezed through the pain. Ranma snorted and reached up to flick Kuno on the forehead. With a groan Kuno fell backwards onto the ground, twitching every now and then. Nabiki walked up, checking on Kuno then stood up and grabbed one of Ranma’s hands, holding it up into the air.
“The winner!” Nabiki announced loudly for everyone to hear. There was a roar of groans, a lot of the students had betted on Kuno winning, and a small group of gleeful cheering. Akane was among that group as she had known Ranma would win. Ranma pulled her hand out of Nabiki’s grip and ran over to join Akane.
“That was great!” Akane said with a grin then scowled in anger. “I can’t believe that jerk, he’s never even tried to use any attack like that on me.”
“Yeah I tried to tell you at lunch that I thought he might be holdin’ back on ya,” Ranma said as she rubbed the back of her neck. “I think he thinks you’re weak or somethin’, he called you a ‘delicate flower’.”
“I’ll show him a delicate flower,” Akane muttered under her breath. “What was that last move you used anyway?”
“Something Cologne started to teach me,” Ranma said. “She didn’t get a chance to finish before Pops dragged me back here to Japan so that move wasn’t perfect.”
“Well it got the job done,” Akane said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Come on, I’ve got to collect my winnings.” She grabbed Ranma’s arm and dragged her friend over to Nabiki where she was paying out the very few winners of the bets.
“What are you doing here sis?” Nabiki asked as soon as she saw Akane. “You two head on home, I’ll be a while.”
“Oh I’m not here for you,” Akane said cheerfully. “I’m here to collect my winnings.”
“Winnings?” Nabiki repeated, her eyes widened as Rin handed over a large wad of cash to Akane, it was a pretty good chunk out of the money she’d collected.
“Here you go kiddo, don’t spend it all in one place,” Rin said cheerfully. Akane beamed happily then turned to hand part of it to Ranma.
“Here, you won so you get a cut of the winnings,” Akane said. Ranma who had very little money of her own since Genma didn’t give her any and what she did have was from a few odd jobs that she’d done, quickly stuffed the yen into her bag. Nabiki gapped as Akane and Ranma left the school grounds then turned to grill her lackey on why she let Akane place a wager.
***
Ryoga groaned softly as he looked up from the map in his hands to the signpost in front of him. He could have sworn he was in the Chiyoda ward but according to the sign he was in the Nakano ward. Either way, he was no closer to being in the Nerima ward which was where he wanted to be right now.
Ryoga was looking for Nerima as that was where he had left Ranka behind by accident. He was also still looking for Ranma but he currently had no idea where Saotome was at the moment. Ryoga was torn up about who he wanted to look for more, Ranma so he could finally beat the hell out of the other boy or Ranka who he had a huge crush on.
‘Damn it, why can’t I find my way just this once?’ Ryoga thought as he balled up the useless map he had been trying to use and tossed it in the nearest trash can. He sighed again then quickly walked up to the nearest person. “Excuse me, have you seen this guy?” Ryoga held up a photo of him and Ranma from Junior High, a copy of the photo that he had originally lost at Jusenkyo. Luckily he had a second copy at his house that he found.
“Nope, sorry,” The man he was talking to said. “Never seen ‘im before in my life.” Ryoga’s shoulders sagged slightly at the news.
“Well do you know which way Nerima is then?” He asked.
“Sure, it’s in that direction,” The man pointed in the general direction of the Nerima ward.
“Thanks!” Ryoga said as he took off in a run… in the opposite direction that the guy pointed.
“But… you’re going the wrong way!” The man yelled but it was too late as Ryoga was already out of earshot. “Idiot.”
*****
“Ahhh…” Ranma sighed happily as she poured the cup of cold water over her head.
“Better?” Akane asked with a giggle.
“Much, I hate having to walk around as a boy,” Ranma said as she took the offered towel from Kasumi to dry her hair.
“You’ll have all night to be in your real body,” Kasumi said with a smile. “Father is out looking for your father again.”
“Yeah good luck with that, I hope Pops is still sitting in whatever zoo he’s in,” Ranma said. Akane giggled again, she found it amusing to know what had really happened to Mr. Saotome and both girls hoped it would be a long time before Genma figured out he could turn back into his human form again.
“We’re ordering out tonight,” Kasumi said. “And I’ve rented a couple of movies I think you might like Ranma so why don’t you two go relax until Nabiki gets home.”
“Hai Nee-chan.”
“Hai Kasumi.” Both girls said as they left the kitchen.
******
Author note: Another chapter finally out. Thanks everyone for putting up with me editing all my stories and hope this chapter was worth the wait.
(1) Never did understand how Ranma always got away with not wearing a school uniform.
(2) I have no idea how betting works outside of table game odds at a casino.
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