Forces of Nature

By DarkHorse

Updraft

Hikaru Shidou took a deep breath and closed her eyes, relishing the cool wind sweeping through her face. Umi Ryuuzaki took her eyes off the road for a moment to cast an amused glance at her redheaded friend. She then glanced back at Fuu Hououji, sitting demurely at the backseat.

They were all in Umi's new Toyota Celica convertible. It was a high school graduation gift from her father.

"Makes you wonder whether Hikaru is enjoying my new car more than I am," Umi said cheerfully as she turned her eyes back on the road. Hikaru opened her eyes briefly and chuckled.

"I don't know. I just feel so...free," the redhead took another deep breath.

"Miss Hikaru is too busy enjoying herself to be minding the map, I think," said Fuu, her green eyes darting here and there, trying to find recognizable landmarks. "This place doesn't look at all like Ginza."

Hikaru bolted upright and began scanning the passing establishments, focusing on some of the street names. "Oops," Hikaru whispered, hurriedly unfolding the map on her lap.

"I heard that, Hikaru. What do you mean 'oops'. Where are we?" Umi cried, her eyes moving back and forth between the road ahead and her navigator friend.

Hikaru shot Umi a wide-eyed, innocent look. "I think you made a wrong turn, Umi."

"Me?" Umi asked incredulously and then cocked an eye at the other. "Well, it doesn't matter anymore."

"I suppose the important thing to do now is find out exactly where we are." The two girls in front turned their heads back to look at Fuu before glancing at each other. They then burst into giggles.

Fuu looked at them alternately; the expression on her face giving the impression that she thought her two friends had gone mad. "What did I say?"

"Nothing, Fuu," chorused the other two in a singsong way.

Hikaru began studying the map, darting her eyes quickly between the markings on it and the passing street names. After a while, she gave up and faced Umi. "Umi, you'd better pull over. It's hard to track the streets against the map."

Umi pursed her lips and then swung the car off to the side of the road. All three heads bent to look at the map. Fuu's head came up abruptly, a worried expression on her face.

"What's the matter, Fuu," Umi asked, feeling sense of trepidation after seeing the look on her friend's face.

"We are in Nerima," was the blonde teenager's terse reply.

"So?" the redhead asked, a look of confusion crossed her face.

"You really don't get out much, do you, Hikaru? Nerima has been known to be a disaster area. This ward has seen more destruction than the last major earthquake."

"Oh, c'mon, quit kidding around, Umi," Hikaru said, shaking her head in disbelief. "I may not get out much, but I'm not that gullible."

"It's true, Miss Hikaru," Fuu interjected. "There have been many reports of strange occurrences here and sightings of bizarre creatures. Many people also claim that this place is home to people who have...unique abilities."

Hikaru glanced skeptically at both Umi and Fuu trying to decide whether to believe them or not. "Well, assuming you both are right and Nerima is a weird place, why should we be afraid? We're Magic Knights, aren't we?" the redhead said cheerfully.

"I suppose--"

The three girls jumped in surprise and immediately ducked as the clump of trees just ahead of where they were parked blew apart. They all looked at each other. Umi had the "I told you so" expression on her face, which she directed in full force to Hikaru.

"You can't be serious, Umi," Hikaru protested, her voice hushed. "I'm sure that was just a coincidence."

"Hello!" Umi countered, also in a whisper. "Stop being so naïve, Hikaru. This is just an example of what goes on here everyday!"

"Excuse me but why are we whispering?" Fuu asked, pushing her glasses further up her nose.

Both Hikaru and Umi looked first at Fuu and then at themselves. "Yeah, why are we whispering?"

"Ranma Saotome, you cur! How dare you pummel me through the trees? Have you no respect for your betters?"

The three girls looked up just in time to see a guy in a kendo outfit struggle to get up using his bokken as a prop. "Where did that guy come from?" Umi asked.

Just then, another figure emerged from the damaged clump of trees, drawing the girls' attention. He had long, black hair tied in a pigtail and he was wearing some sort of red, sleeveless Chinese shirt over dark pants. He appeared to be very well built.

"You better stay down, Kuno. Coz I'm getting' really pissed at your nonsense. For the last time, stop with the pigtailed girl routine. It's getting old."

"For as long as blood courses through these veins, I shall not rest until my pigtailed goddess is released from your foul sorcery! Um...just give me a minute and we shall do battle once more, you wretch!"

"Aww, give it a rest already!"

"Kuno?" Hikaru's brows furrowed. "Hey, I know that guy. He's a champion kendoist." Her scowl deepened. "And that guy is beating him up!" The redhead opened her door and stomped out of the car.

"You know, that guy with the pigtail is kinda cute, don't you thi--Hikaru!"

"Oh no, Miss Hikaru!"

"Oh why is Hikaru so...so headstrong! C'mon, Fuu." Umi and Fuu leaped out of the car and hurried to catch up with her.

* * * * *

"All right. I am ready. Prepare to die, Saotome!"

Ranma let out a sigh of exasperation. "That's it! I've had it! I've really, really had it. I'm going to give you a beating you're not ever gonna forget, Kuno." The master of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts rushed forward intent on reintroducing Tatewaki Kuno to his fists. "Yaaaaah--whoa!" He skidded to a stop as a redheaded girl blocked his path, from out of nowhere.

Wait a minute! A redheaded girl! Ranma's eyes grew big as saucers as he realized that this must be another one of Happosai's spells. "No, no, no! You're not getting' me again!" Ranma backed away quickly.

"That's right. You're not hurting Tatewaki Kuno. Not while I'm here," the girl said, her eyes narrowing at him.

"Whatever! Just get away from..." Those eyes... Noticing that the color of her eyes aren't blue like his but brownish red made Ranma realize that this girl wasn't who he thought she was. He began to notice other things too, like her hair is longer and it's tied with a ribbon. His evil twin would never do that.

"Hey, who are you anyway?" Ranma ventured forward cautiously.

"My pigtailed goddess!"

"What the--" The girl was too stunned to initially realize that Kuno's arms were around her...sensitive parts...to be able to react properly.

"My fair maiden! You have come to sacrifice yourself for me--urk!" Ranma decided to oblige. He gave Kuno a solid punch on the forehead, effectively knocking him unconscious. For all his bluster about protecting women, he sure took advantage of them a lot.

He grinned and brushed his hands together. "That should take care of--urk!" Ranma shook his head to get rid of the stars in his eyes. That was weird. He had the distinct feeling that his face came in contact with a fist and that his butt was on the ground. He looked up to see the redhead glaring down at him.

"Serves you right," she said angrily.

"Hey, wait a minute! Did you just hit me?"

"Duh! Would you like to get reacquainted with my fist, just to be sure?"

"What did you do that for? I was protecting you!" Ranma stood up, brushing the dirt off his pants. He towered over the girl, showing her his angry side for good measure.

The girl's jaw dropped. "Protecting me? You were bullying another guy!"

"You know, you're lucky you're a girl. Coz I don't fight girls. I don't know how you got a punch through but you got lucky that one time," Ranma said smugly. "You'd never be able to--gurk!"

The martial artist found himself on the ground again. He reached up to rub a sore spot on his jaw.

"You were saying?" He looked up to see the girl looking down at him mockingly.

"Hey, how'd you do that?" Ranma jumped to his feet and into the ready position. He eyed the other carefully. "Let's see you do that again."

"Gladly," the girl said and her right fist shot out perfectly aimed at his face. Except that Ranma was prepared. She was really fast but he caught her fist in his left hand.

"See?" The martial artist began to smile but it instantly vanished as he saw her other fist rushing to make contact and everything went black again.

Ranma groaned as he struggled to sit up, a hand covering his right eye. He looked up once more at the girl with his one good eye (looking up was becoming a habit for him). Except, there were now three girls looking down at him. Oh no, Ranma thought in dismay, now I'm having double, make that triple, vision.

"What did you do, Hikaru?"

"Nothing. Just taught this guy a lesson."

"That's a very interesting lesson, Miss Hikaru."

Ranma got to his feet slowly and swept his eyes on the three girls. He realized that they were in fact three different girls. The one on the right had long, blue hair and the one on the left had short, blonde hair. He turned to glare at the one in the middle. The redhead. "All right. You got me. But that was just strike two."

"No way! That was strike three," the middle girl said, her eyes narrowing. "I punched you three times."

"Well, the first one doesn't count. I wasn't ready."

The redhead threw up her hands in exasperation. She turned to look at her companions. "Let's go."

"Hey, wait a minute! Let's try that again."

The girl whipped around and eyed him with an expression of disbelief on her face.

Ranma shrugged. "What? I just wanna make sure it wasn't a fluke."

The blue-haired girl approached him and waved a hand right in front of his face and smiled sweetly. "Um, hello? It wasn't a fluke, trust me." She stepped back and wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulder. "You really don't want to hurt that cute face of yours. My friend, Hikaru here, does pack a punch." The girl shrugged her slender shoulders in resignation.

"That's true, Mr. Pigtailed Chinaman. She--"

"Hey, I'm not a Chinaman!"

"Oh, I'm truly sorry," the blonde girl said, seemingly genuine about it. "It's just your...clothes..."

The martial artist looked down and suddenly became self-conscious. "Just don't mind my clothes," he turned to the girl named Hikaru. "C'mon, one more round."

Hikaru stepped forward, a half-smile forming on her lips. "Very well. But let's make things interesting. If I drop you again, you agree to do anything I tell you to do for one whole week."

"One whole week?"

"One whole week."

"And if you don't drop me?"

She shrugged. "Then I get to do anything you tell me to do for the same period of time."

"For one week."

She flashed her eyes at him warningly. "Yes! One week. Okay?"

Ranma's brows furrowed. The girl did hit him three times already. He had to slap himself mentally. What was the matter with him? He defeated a god, didn't he? How difficult could it be to put a redheaded little girl in her proper place?

Hmm...this could actually turn out to be a good thing. There was this essay he needed to do to get into college, which was due next week and he hadn't even started it yet. Plus, he needed to study for the entrance exams so somebody's gotta do the chores. But will she really do it?

* * * * *

"Miss Hikaru, I'm not sure that's a wise bet to make," Fuu admonished, touching her friend's arm. Hikaru turned to Fuu and smiled, patting the hand on her arm reassuringly.

She turned and caught the boy staring at her. He looked skeptical. "You'll do anything?" he asked. A tad too eagerly in Hikaru's opinion.

What a pervert! She narrowed her eyes towards him and took a step closer. "Anything." Whatever. She won't lose anyway.

The pigtailed boy gave her a feral smile and squared his shoulders. "Then let's do it."

Next Chapter - Downdraft