Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma T ❯ Arrival at Furinkan ( Chapter 3 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Disclaimer: All characters and concepts in this story are owned and copyrighted
by their respective creators. They DO NOT belong to me. I'm just using them in
this story I wrote for fun.

<text> is spoken in Chinese
text is animal signs, for cursed people
*text* is thoughts
~text~ is sounds/actions

Ranma T
By Trooper1023

Chapter 3: Arrival at Furinkan
______________________________________________________________ ______

A new day broke on the district of Nerima. Occasional birdcalls joined with
the other sounds of the morning.

At the Tendo dojo...

"School?" Ranma asked as he sat before his father.

Genma nodded. "Yes. After all, we are going to be staying a while."

"It's the same school me and Akane go to. I'll see you there!" said Nabiki,
poking her head through the open screen. Akane came running up.

"Nabiki, wait! I'll go with you."

"What're you talking about?" the middle daughter asked. As she left, Nabiki
said over her shoulder, "Ranma is your fiancée, remember? You should walk him
to school." With that Nabiki was gone, leaving Ranma and Akane behind,
speechless.

"..."

"..."
_________________ ___________________________________________________

Akane and Ranma were walking to school. Since it was his first day, Ranma
didn't have a uniform, so he was dressed in a sleeveless white Chinese-style
shirt, wooden ties and all, a black pair of Kung Fu pants, tied down at the
ankles, and black fighting slippers. *Though it's not like I'm EVER gonna
where one of those uniforms with my curse. I'd probably rip the seams every
time I changed!*

Akane was dressed in the standard high school girl's uniform. She strolled
along, eyes straight ahead, looking somewhat upset. "Why are you doing that?"
she suddenly asked.

Ranma looked at her. "Doing what?"

"That!"

"What?"

"ARGH! Why are you walking on top of the fence!" Indeed, Ranma was walking
atop a fence as easily as if he was walking on level ground.

He shrugged. "Balance practice."

"Show-off," muttered Akane. Silence reigned again for several minutes. "We're
NOT going to get married, you know..." she growled suddenly.

Ranma snorted. "You're telling ME?"

"...So don't hang around me in school!"

"Don't worry," said Ranma, rolling his eyes. "I can't stand violent tomboys
like you anyway." Before Akane could chuck her book bag at Ranma, his father
came running up the fence from behind and slammed a fist into the back of his
head. Ranma did a front-back split in an attempt to stay on the fence. "POP!
What're ya--"

Genma cut him off and yelled, "Listen Ranma! You're in no position to be
choosy about women! I'll tell you only onaaah!" ~SPLASH~

"You were saying Pop?" Ranma taunted from his perch on the fence. Genma-panda
growled angrily at his son, who had tripped and sent him into the canal on
the other side of the fence. He sprung up and swung at Ranma, who dodged out
of the way by flipping off the fence... "HA! Check that, oyaji!" ...just to
receive a face full of cold water from some old lady with a ladle.

"Something wrong?" Akane asked innocently.

Ranma-saiya looked down for a moment, then turned and started walking back
toward the dojo. "I think I'll go take a bath."

"You'll be late."

He stopped. "Do YOU think I should start school like this?" he asked,
indicating his tail.

"But hot water is all it takes to turn you back, right?"
_______________________________________________________________ _____

"Hot water? Just a moment."

"Thank you," Akane said to the older woman at the door. A pair of signs at
the gate of the office read: Acupressure, Acupuncture, Moxibustion.

Ranma-saiya stood just beyond the gate, trying to look inconspicuous.
*Hoooo-boy. What a way to start the day. I wonder what else will go wro--*
Ranma-saiya's thought cut off as a hand came to rest on his shoulder. He
flicked a glance behind him and got a good look at the owner of the hand.
"GAH!" Startled by the sight of a skeleton practically on top of him,
Ranma-saiya jumped up onto the top of the nearer of the signs. Looking back
down, he saw that the skeleton was nothing more than a doctor's model, held
and manipulated by a kindly looking spectacled man in his 20s.

"Oh, pardon me. I didn't mean to startle you like that. This is Betty, my
skeleton."

Wordlessly, Ranma-saiya hopped down from his perch, just as Akane came from
inside the gate with a steaming kettle. "Ranma, here's the hot..." she began,
only to stop at the sight of the other person standing before her.

"Well, hello Akane!"

"Oh! Doctor Tofu, um, Good morning!" Akane bowed, and with the kettle nudged
Ranma-saiya into doing the same.

"Good morning to you!" He bowed as well, and made 'Betty' copy.

*Hmmm? What's up with Akane? She ain't usually like this...* Ranma-saiya
thought.

Doctor Tofu continued, "You haven't been by lately. No new injuries?"

"No, sir." Akane looked a little flustered. "I mean... I haven't been doing
anything that would..." As Akane continued to chat with Dr. Tofu, Ranma-saiya
slipped out of the conversation, kettle in hand.

*Interesting,* he thought as he poured the water over his head and shrunk
down to his normal form.

A few minutes later...

"Who was that guy?" asked Ranma as he followed Akane from up on another
fence.

"Dr. Ono Tofu, the local chiropractor." Akane was running. Hopefully she'd be
able to get to class on time, despite the setback.

*That answers that. Good to know too, 'cause I never know when I'll be in a
fight and have to get patched up.* Out loud, Ranma asked, "Martial artist
too, isn't he?"

"Huh? How'd you know?"

"He snuck up 'n' surprised me. To do that, he'd have to erase all sense of
his presence. And he did darn well."

"Yea, he's very good. But he doesn't look like he'd be, right?" Akane paused.
"Ever since I was little, he's taken care of my injuries."

Ranma left the fence to run side by side with Akane. "So... isn't he a man?"

Akane gave him a funny look. "Yes. So?"

"I thought you said you hate men."

Akane didn't respond for several seconds. She looked up as the sounds of a
large crowd first reached Ranma's ears. "No," she growled as they closed on
the school gate. "I..." Ranma became concerned as the sounds of the crowd
became louder and more like a mob. "...HATE..." The general hubbub dissolved
into individual yells and Akane finished her statement. "...BOYS!!!"
__________________________________________________________ __________

"What the?" Ranma leapt up onto the schoolyard wall, away from Akane, and
blinked in confusion as the crowd burst out in challenges to Akane. It was a
motley gang of high school boys; some were in boxing gear, some were from a
variety of martial arts clubs, a few were in full kendo garb, and the rest
were from an assortment of sports teams.

Akane answered by increasing her speed. "Out of my way! I'M LATE!" She hit
the crowd fill tilt and blasted through the first line with a vicious series
of punches and kicks. ~WHAM~ ~WHAM~ ~CRACK~ ~THUMP~ ~POW~

Ranma sweatdropped from his perch on the wall. At a window on one of the
upper floors of the school, a small group of girls watched the 'battle',
Nabiki among them. "Oh Ranma! Get in the building! Now!"

"But... But..." Ranma gestured to the carnage in the yard.

"Don't worry about Akane! She does this every morning!"

*EVERY morning?! What the heck is going on here!?* Ranma turned his attention
back to Akane and noticed that the 'battle' had stopped. Though 'slaughter'
would be a better word for it...

Akane flicked her long hair back, sweat dripping off her brow. "Jeez, it's
the same thing every morning! What a drag!" Suddenly, Akane shot her hand up
to intercept... a rose?

"Truly. Such a boorish lot." The newcomer who stepped into view and spoke was
an older boy, probably seventeen or eighteen. He was dressed in kendo garb
and carried a boken. He was tall and lean with dark hair and eyes. Ranma
noticed that while the kendoist was taller than himself normally, his
saiyajin form was taller still. Whoever he was, he could have been called
handsome, but the haughty, pompous way he carried himself killed whatever
attractiveness he might have had otherwise. He continued, "Evidently each of
them intends to ask you out, oh fiery one... on the dawn that he finally
defeats you."

Akane sighed, exasperated. "Oh. Kuno-sempai. Good morning," she said with a
total lack of enthusiasm.

The upperclassman went on. "And now... Akane Tendo... might I take the honor
of fighting you?"

Up on the yard wall, Ranma decided enough was enough. He leapt off the wall
and landed beside Akane. "Man. You're popular, ain't ya?" he said with a
smirk.

Akane narrowed her eyes and without looking at him said, "Stay out of the
way. This is my fight."

"What's going on?"

"You'll see."

Suddenly Ranma found the boken thrust at him by the upperclassman. "You
there!" he called.

"What?" asked Ranma, turning his attention from Akane.

Storm clouds began to gather in the distance, like some kind of ominous
warning, as the upperclassman spoke again. "You are being quite familiar with
the tigress Akane!"

Ranma turned back to Akane. "Tell him Akane... Akane?"

"Tell him what?" she asked innocently, looking away.

Before Ranma could say anything back, the upperclassman spoke fiercely,
cutting him off. "Who are you, boor? Ah! But it is the custom to give one's
own name first! Fine, then! Mine I shall give!"

"..." *What's with this guy?* Ranma thought. "If you want..." he said,
indicating the kendoist.

"My name..." the upperclassman paused for dramatic effect, "...is Tatewaki
Kuno. Junior Group E. Captain of the Kendo Club. Undefeated young star of the
high school kendo world. But my peers call me... the Blue Thunder of Furinkan
High!" ~KRAK-BOOOOM~ Perfectly timed, a bolt of lightning lanced down from
the darkened sky, followed by a deafening peal of thunder.

Inside the school building, more people were beginning to crowd around
windows overlooking the yard. Comments and questions abounded when Kuno gave
his title.

"Blue Thunder?"
"That's a new one."
"Last week he was calling himself the Shooting Star."
Noticing many questioning looks, Nabiki remarked, "News to me."

Back out in the yard...

Ranma scratched his chin with a finger. "Okay... I'm, uh... I'm staying at
the Tendo Dojo..."

Kuno stiffened. "WHAT?! Under the same roof as the beauteous Akane?! HOW DARE
YOU, PEASANT!!!" Running forward, Kuno lashed out with his boken in a
vicious overhead strike...

...Which Ranma back-flipped away from easily. Loosening the straps on his
book bag, Ranma said in a loud and clear voice, "As heir to the Saotome School
of Anything Goes Martial Arts..." Righting himself in mid air, "Here, hold my
bag for a sec," Ranma tossed his bag to Akane. Landing on his toes, Ranma took
up an unarmed ready stance and said, "...I, Ranma Saotome, accept your
challenge!"
__________________________________________________ __________________

Lightning flashed overhead as the entire conscious population of Furinkan
High gathered at the windows to see the events transpiring in the school
yard.

"Hey, check it out! Somebody's taking on Kuno!"
"Talk about dangerous!"
~Sigh~ "Too bad. He's a cute one."

Down on the ground level...

"So, you dare to hound Akane? Scoundrel! I, Tatewaki Kuno, shall bring thee
to justice!" Kuno raised his boken in preparation to strike.

"He's only staying with us, Kuno!" Akane said.

Ranma growled, "Who's hounding who anyway?"

"SILENCE, FOOL!!" roared Kuno, and he charged straight at Ranma. The boken
descended towards the pigtailed martial artist, and passed through nothing
until it encountered the stone wall beyond, ~CRAAACK~ gorging a vertical cut
in its surface. All onlookers gasped as the challenger disappeared from under
Kuno's boken and reappeared to his right.

"Did you see that?"
"No I didn't! He moved too fast!"
"Whoa..."

Kuno snarled as he realized that his lowly cur of an opponent had somehow
dodged his righteous blow. Turning to face Saotome again, he instantly lashed
out again in a flat, sideward cut.

Ranma wasn't expecting the upperclassman to recover so quickly and was caught
by surprise slightly. He bumped his speed up another notch, leaping up over
the slice. Ranma was about to taunt his stuck-up opponent when he heard a
crash behind him. A quick glance showed Ranma that Kuno had cut THROUGH the
tree he had been standing in front of, with a boken nonetheless! *This is
serious! He cut through that tree like nothing! I gotta end this quickly,
before Kuno does something we'll both regret!*

Landing lightly, Ranma glared at the upperclassman. "Now hold on..." Blurring
into motion, Ranma covered the dozen feet between them in under a second.
"...Let me make this perfectly clear..."

*This guy... is GOOD!* Kuno was actually starting to sweat.

All the spectators were astounded.

"Ho-ly! That new guy IS fast!"
"Man, I've never seen anybody move like that!"

Akane saw her observations from the previous night confirmed. *Whoa! Ranma
was in Kuno's face before he could blink! Ooooh, first the battle aura, now
that incredible speed! I so have to have him train me and...*

Now in the kendoist's face, Ranma yelled, "...I am NOT hounding Akane!! If
you want to chase that violent tomboy, be my guest!"

*...I'm a WHAT?!?* "Why, you FREAK!" screamed Akane, throwing Ranma's book
bag at him from behind.

"Would ya quit callin' me a f--"

~WHOOSH~ "Speaking ill of Akane?! I FORBID IT!" Kuno's boken flashed through
the air where Ranma had been a second before and cut the flying book bag in
half. *Wha... I missed again? How?!* Suddenly Kuno felt something above him.
Raising his boken into a high guard, Kuno saw his foe almost hanging in the
air, two fingers descending toward the kendoist's forehead.

*...This should remind Kuno of just what kinda person he--* Ranma's thought
cut off as he felt the first drops of rain, *--AH KUSO!!* and his Jusenkyo
curse kicked in.

Kuno's eyes widened as Saotome seemed to grow bigger. The last thing he saw
before a snap kick knocked him out cold was his foe's face, with spiky hair
and dark eyes...

*Gotta move! Gotta move! Can't let anyone realize somethin's changed!*
Ranma-saiya kicked the upperclassman head over heels and took off for the
main entrance to the school.

*That idiot! He should have noticed it was starting to rain! At least his
father noticed and has some more hot water for him. Now to find the baka...*
Akane thought sourly.

Back to the students watching the battle.

"Hey, didn't that new guy seem to get... bigger?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Yea, what're you talking about? I didn't see anything different about him."
"I don't know. Maybe you're right..."
_____________________________________________________________ _______

A few minutes later, inside the gym equipment storage room...

Ranma-saiya rung the water out of his shirt, glad that his father had showed
up with a kettle of hot water. "Dang it. If it hadn't started raining like
that, I'd have pounded that pompous jerk out for good. Instead, I gotta settle
for one lousy kick--"

A voice from the window interrupted him. "I wouldn't be so sure."

"Whadda ya mean, Akane?" he asked, turning around.

"Check your throat," she said, pointing with a finger.

"Huh? A bruise..." Thinking back, Ranma-saiya remembered the very end of the
fight, just before the rain changed him. The upperclassman's boken had been
an inch or so from Ranma's neck. "...from that?!" He whistled, slightly
impressed. "And he didn't even touch me!" Genma, now a panda also due to the
rain, choose that moment to dump the hot water on Ranma-saiya.

Akane continued speaking. "If he had, you'd be breathing through a hole in
your neck. I'd say it was a pretty even fight."

Ranma, normal again, blinked. "Oh, I wouldn't say that..."

Elsewhere, in class 2-E...

"Hmmmmm..."

"Amazing. And you can't remember him ever touching your forehead?" Nabiki
asked as she watched Kuno rub at the Kanji character for "buffoon", imprinted
on his brow.

"No I cannot. But no matter, for my foe cannot even spell! This is how you
spell it!" Kuno snatched up a piece of chalk and wrote out the same character
on the board, 'spelled' slightly differently. "No, this!" He tried again.

Nabiki sighed. "Hate to break it to you Kuno-chan, but Saotome got it right,
and you didn't."

"I despise you."

"I'm SO glad."

In class 1-F...

"Class, we have a new student today. His name is Ranma Saotome." Said new
student stepped into the classroom. Several of the girls in the room
whispered among themselves.

"Ooh! He's cute!"
"What a hunk!"
"Those eyes are sooo dreamy!"
"Watch it Sayuka! You're drooling!"
"I wonder if he's taken... I hope not!"

The teacher continued. "I understand that you were in China until recently...
but that doesn't change the fact that both you and Akane Tendo were late. Ms.
Tendo? Please show Mr. Saotome where the buckets are kept."

Now standing in the hall, holding a bucket of water in each hand, Akane's
face darkened. "This is all YOUR fault!"

"My fault?! How do ya figure that?" Ranma stood next to Akane, buckets of
water also in hand. "It was your fight, right?"

"Yes, but every morning I finish my fight BEFORE school starts!"

Ranma shook his head. "Whatever." A pause. "Hey, what was that all about
anyway?"

Akane's expression turned glum. "Kuno told them..."

-FLASHBACK-
"If you wish to date Akane Tendo, you must defeat her in combat first! I
shall accept no other terms!"
-END FLASHBACK-

Back in class 2-E...

"WHAT!? FIANCÉE?!" Kuno roared.

"That's right Kuno-chan. Ranma is engaged to marry Akane."

"THAT FIEND! I'LL SMITE HIM--"

"Kuno get in the hall! I will not tolerate disturbances in my class." Kuno
didn't even object as he burst through the classroom door. Seconds later he
was back in his kendo garb, boken on his back, buckets in hand, running as
fast as he could.

Back to the hall outside class 1-F...

"You mean you fight with Kuno EVERY morning?!"

"Yup. And I haven't lost yet!"

Ranma looked away. "Well, when a guy fights a girl, he usually doesn't go full
out."

Akane growled back, "If you're so much better than me, why do you try
TEACHING? To see if you really understand what you're doing when you fight."
*There, I've said it.*

"Huh?!" Ranma whipped his head around. "Are you asking me to train you?"

"Uh... damn straight I am! If you don't think I'm a good martial artist then
prove it by helping me get BETTER!"

"Well, I kinda doubt you could get anywhere near as good as me... but I could
help ya get a bit better. I mean, your defense just sucks. After all, to be a
real martial artist you gotta have years of heavy training behind ya. Even a
tough, macho tomboy like you."

"Grrrrrrr..." Steam began to seep out of Akane's ears. Ranma noticed.

"Um... no hard feelings, ok? YAH!!" ~SPLASH~ Ranma barely dodged the wave of
water.

"NEVER, Ranma Saotome!" Kuno snarled viciously, dropping the now-empty bucket
and drawing his boken.

"Kuno-sempai..."

"Whadda'ya think you're--"

Kuno continued, "I will NEVER accept your engagement to Akane Tendo!" And
abruptly windows to every nearby classroom opened up to reveal dozens of
students with shocked looks on their faces.

"What engagement?!"
"You lucky dog, Saotome!"
"No fair!"
"How could you, Akane?!"
"Yea! You said you hated boys!"

To say that Akane and Ranma became somewhat consternated would be an
understatement.

"Wait!" "Our parents decided!" Akane and Ranma began at the same time. "It's
not true! It's--" "We never--" Kuno took that moment to attack. Ranma got out
of the way, but the bucket he held was sliced in half. The pig-tailed martial
artist leapt away from his attacker and the puddle rapidly forming on the
floor.

"Stand your ground and face me, weakling!" Kuno roared.

Ranma grit his teeth and hollered over his shoulder, "This ain't the place for
a fight! Follow me!"

Kuno gave chase. "That I shall!"

Akane found herself surrounded by student eager to see the result of another
fight. She ended up leading the crowd down the hallway after Ranma and Kuno,
ignoring a teacher's order to slow down.

Back to the soon-to-be-combatants...

Ranma slid open an outside window and vaulted through. "Let's take this
outside, Kuno!" The kendoist followed as expected.

"HEY! This is the THIRD FLOOR!!" somebody yelled.

Kuno promptly went "AK!"

Ranma, on the other hand... "No sweat! I'm a... YOW!!!"

"That idiot," Akane moaned, slapping a hand on her forehead.

A classmate remarked, "Boy, those two are so lucky the pool is where it is.

*Lucky he says! YEA RIGHT!!* Thought Ranma just before he hit the water.
________________________________________________________________ _______

The splash was bigger than anyone at Furinkan had seen in a while.

"Hey look! There's Kuno, out cold as usual."
"But what's happened to Saotome?"

Akane kept quiet. *How the heck is he going to get away from everyone without
revealing his curse?*

Under the surface of the pool, Ranma-saiya swam hard, trying to figure a way
to escape his current predicament. An idea came to him. *Hmm... Kuno's still
out cold. Maybe, just maybe...* Swimming up underneath the kendoist, Ranma-
saiya began to move for the edge of the pool, using Kuno for cover. *I just
hope he doesn't--*

"Saotome! I fight on!" Suddenly conscious, Kuno grabbed Ranma-saiya in a
clumsy bear hug.

"GAAH!" *--wake up!*

Up on the third floor, Akane swore to herself. *CHIKUSO! The game's up!*

"Let... me... GO..." Ranma-saiya struggled to free himself.

Kuno tightened his hold. "You won't escape--"

"MORON!!" Ranma-saiya reached back and grabbed Kuno by the head. Flipping both
of them out of the water, he slammed the kendoist down onto the tile flooring
around the pool, hard. ~WHAM~ Then he continued flipping through the air. In
seconds Ranma-saiya was over the fence and out of sight.

Inside the school building, loads of comments and questions sprung up.

"What just happened!?"
"Yow! Saotome is strong! Look at the crater Saotome made when he slammed Kuno
into the ground!"
"It-it's just like this morning!"
"What do ya mean?"
"He was in a big rush this time too. I wonder why..."
"Hey... remember when it started raining on the first fight between Kuno
and Saotome? How all of a sudden Saotome looked bigger? The same thing just
happened again!"
"Whoa, talk about weird... did you guys see Saotome's hair? It was all over
the place!"
"What are you people talking about?"

Akane decided it was best to make a quiet exit and ran to find the nearest
supply of hot water.

Poolside...

Kuno lay on his back, in a fair amount of pain but also in contemplation.
"That man... he was a tall one, taller than myself. And Saotome is only of
average height. Which means..." He sat up instantly and bellowed, "Ranma
Saotome, you wretch! Do you think you've escaped my wrath?!"
______________________________________________________________ ______

Some distance away...

~Huff~ ~Huff~ ~Huff~ *What an asshole. Trying to drown me like that! Jeez...*

Ranma-saiya sat bare-chested on a tree branch, out of casual sight. He wrung
as much water out of his shirt as he could before hanging it on the branch.
*Well, I guess he knows my little secret now.*

"You idiot!"

"Akane? What--"

"Just how dumb can you be? I mean, jumping out a window like that, and right
into a pool too!"

Ranma-saiya pulled an eyelid down and stuck out his tongue in a classic
Japanese Redeye. "Shaddup, you!" Akane simply humphed. "Eh?"

She held up a steaming kettle. "I guess you don't want this hot water then.
Oh well, and I went through ALL the trouble of getting it..."

"Nononono, I do want that hot water!"

Akane suddenly spun around as a sloshing noise reached her ears. *Kuno!*

"STOP FLEEING FROM YOUR RIGHTFUL PUNISHMENT, SAOTOME!" bellowed said kendoist.

"Ranma, catch! I'll distract him!"

"Huh?" Ranma-saiya blinked. Akane didn't even look as she lobbed the kettle up
into the tree. "Oh shit!" He launched himself at the kettle and barely caught
it. Ranma-saiya ended up with his hands holding the kettle and his feet
holding him to the branch. *And just what am I supposed to do NOW?*

Akane approached the upperclassman with a determined look on her face. "Kuno-
sempai! I challenge you!" She took a fighting stance.

"Ah, the lovely Akane Tendo. I never dreamed that you would challenge me..."
He sighed. "So be it. If you win... I shall allow you to date me! Thus, I will
lose with all my might!"

A vein bulged on Akane's forehead. "And who's asking to go out with YOU?!?"
*Ranma... you'd better appreciate this...*

Kuno advanced, striking high with an overhead swing. Akane caught the boken
as it descended and used it to pull Kuno off balance. Tripping her foe, she
rolled onto her back and booted Kuno behind her with a loud "KI-YAH!" only to
realize what, or rather WHO, was behind her. *Oh no!*

Back up in the tree, Ranma-saiya finally pulled himself back onto the branch.
He lifted the kettle, ~KLUNK~, and neatly caught the back of Kuno's head. Hot
water dripped from the deformed kettle.

"..." Kuno turned as best he could. "You're that man I saw at the pool!"

Akane ran up and yelled, "You haven't changed?!"

"What'd you expect!?" Ranma-saiya growled back.

Kuno spoke again. "Did you by chance see a boy smaller than yourself, with a
similar pig-tail?"

Ranma-saiya shook his head. "Uh-uh."

"ARGH! He has fled from me once again!" Ranma-saiya blinked. "The coward must
fear my prowess with the sword!" A few wisps of a battle aura began to form
around the pig-tailed human-turned-saiyajin. "Feh, a weakling--" ~THUD~ "That
was uncalled for."

Ranma-saiya jumped downed to where he'd dropped the raving kendoist. "I'm not
gonna just sit there are let you dis on me. I can put you down anytime! Bring
it on!!"

Kuno took his boken back from Akane and said, "Hmm... Another fool wishes to
test his mettle against me. Very well. Since you are obviously assisting
Saotome in his escape, if I win you will tell me where to find him." With
that, the kendoist attacked.

"And who says you're gonna win?" asked an irate Ranma-saiya as he caught
Kuno's boken with one hand.

Kuno gaped. *W-What?! H-he caught my blade! But that's impossible! How could
he catch my weapon as if it were a mere stick?!* He looked his shirtless foe
over more closely. *He's big, no doubt very strong. But mere physical strength
would not let him catch my weapon that way! Wait... Black eyes?! How could he
have--* ~POW~ A straight punch to the head and Kuno toppled backward. *Ugh...
He's faster than Saotome even...*

Ranma-saiya withdrew his fist and dropped the boken beside the fallen
kendoist. Suddenly he smirked and said, "Don't bug Saotome. Got that Kuno? If
ya do, ya gotta answer to me."

*Who... who is he...?* Kuno thought as he faded out of consciousness.

"Let's head home, Akane. I've had enough for today."

"School isn't over yet, you know."

"So?"
_________________________________________________ ___________________

That night, in the Tendo dojo...

"Son, I hear that your fiancée was looking out for you today."

"Ah, Pops, it's not like I asked her to or anything..."

"Still, you should..."

Elsewhere, in Akane's room...

"Ease up, sis. What's wrong him anyway? So what if he turns into a "saiyajin"
when he's hit with a bucket of cold water? I mean, he's good-looking normally,
but check out that saiyajin bod'!"

"Nabiki!! You're unbelievable!"

"Oh come on now. I'm only human you know."

"Oneesan, everyone's spreading rumors about me! They're saying I'm his
fiancée!"

"Ah, Akane, you ARE his fiancée. You were the one who accepted the engagement,
remember?"

"That doesn't matter!" Akane said hotly. "The whole school has seen Ranma
change, not once but twice! I certainly don't want everyone thinking I'm a
freak too!"

On the other side of the door...

"..." Ranma stopped, turned around, and walked the other way. "And I was
supposed to THANK her!" he growled as he slid down the stairway banister.

To be continued...
__________________________________________________________ __________

Next time: The Samurai and the Demon!

Author's Notes:

Here's the COMPLETE Chapter 3. Sorry about the delay but I had a few summer
reading assignments for school that I had to do.

The whole idea behind this fic is to recreate each major situation in the
manga with a slightly different twist. That twist being, Ranma isn't worried
about preserving his manhood, he's worried about preserving his humanity. I
wanted to see how our favorite jock and martial artist would deal with being
part-time "monkey-demon"! I know I'm being VERY unoriginal, but that wasn't
my objective. If you don't want to see the Ranma 1/2 manga told again with
minor changes at many points, major changes at some points, and a few parts
taken in an entirely new direction, then don't read this fic. Go read
"Ultimate Crisis, Ultimate Warrior" or some other fic.

Japanese words:
Oyaji - old man, disrespectful
Boken - wooden practice sword shaped like a katana
-sempai - upperclassman, (suffix)
Baka - idiot/moron/fool
-chan - younger and/or lesser, (suffix)
Oneesan - older sister, formal

Updated last: 2/8/02

C&C to: bjhaberman@prodigy.net


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