Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma OneHalf: First steps ❯ Book Four, Chapter Two ( Chapter 34 )

Ranma Onehalf: First steps. Book Four.

Chapter Two.

Naota footsteps echoed off of walls and buildings as the walked the final two blocks into school. Ahead of him he could see other students walking to Furinkan and he could easily hear the usual pre -school noise coming over the walls.

Approaching the gate he sighed and steeled himself as he approached the gate.

"Well, here goes."

Naota stepped through the gate and began to walk across the schoolyard. As he walked his hearing picked up scattered bits of conversation as people began to notice him.

"Dude, check out his ink!"

"I knew he liked her!"

"Are those real?"

"Where did he get his tattoos done?"

Gritting his teeth and wishing he'd just roof hopped in Naota kept walking. As he neared the doors Ms Miyaji stepped out. Seeing him she scowled and walked towards him.

"Face paint is not allowed-" she began before Naota cut her off.

"It's not face paint Ms Miyaji." Naota said as he rubbed his face. "And the ears and tail are real."

Ms Miyaji stared at Naota as he walked past her and into the school. Behind him he could hear the other students whispering amongst themselves.

"Did you hear that! He talked back to a teacher!"

'Whats with him? Where did he the attitude?"

With a snort of derision Naota walked into the school mud room and headed for his locker. As he approached his row Naota smelled the scents of extremely strong green tea and immediately thought of Kenji.

Turning into his row Naota wasn't the least bit surprised to see his friend leaning against the bank of lockers, his blue plastic and stainless steel travel mug in his hand.

"Hey Kenji." Naota said as he headed to his locker.

"Hey Naota, you're running...." Kenji trailed off when he saw Naota.

"Good morning to you too." Naota said as he pulled his uwabaki from his locker.

Kenji blinked a few times and shook his head.

"Naota, what the hell happened to you?" Kenji asked.

Naota growled as he undid the laces on his sneakers and began to slip them off. Putting them into his locker Naota looked up at Kenji.

"Let me put it this way Kenji: I learned to keep my mouth shut." he said.

"Say what?" Kenji asked, totally confused by Naotas answer.

"I'll explain after school, okay?" Naota said. Jerking a thumb at the knot of students that had gathered at either end of the row he continued. "When we don't have an audience."

Suddenly in the spotlight their fellow students suddenly discovered they had pressing business elsewhere and dispersed.

Gritting his teeth in annoyance Naota slammed his locker door shut.

"Now I know how Lia feels." he muttered. "Lets get to class. The sooner we get the circus over the better."

Not knowing what to say Kenji merely nodded as he and Naota headed to class. Reaching into his book bag Kenji pulled out an insulated bottle and tapped Naota on the shoulder with it.

'Maybe this'll help." he said.

"Huh? Oh, thanks." Naota said as he took the bottle. Taking a swig his eyes crossed and his hair stood on end as the tea hit his throat. "Just right." he wheezed.

Kenji chuckled as Naotas tail stood out straight from his body, stiff as a board.

"Nothing like my tea to make the world right." he said.

"That or rocket fuel." Naota wheezed as the caffeine hit, making his tail kink.

Kenji considered his travel mug thoughtfully as they mounted the stairs.

"You know, I don't think there's much difference between the two." he said. "You remember when we conned the track team into drinking it?"

Naota chuckled evilly as he remembered the event.

"I don't think their feet even touched the ground." he said. "I'm surprised they survived."

"Well, it was the weak stuff." Kenji said as they reached their floor. "If it had been full strength their hearts would have exploded."

The two laughed at the memory as they headed down the hall to their classroom. When they stepped into their classroom the babble of conversation stopped, leaving a deafening silence. Hearing the stop in conversation their first teacher of the day stopped writing out the lesson on the blackboard and looked around.

Seeing Naota as he walked to his seat the teacher cleared his throat.

"Sano!" he said. "Go wash that stuff off."

Sighing Naota stopped and turned to face the teacher.

"It's not paint sensei." he said, rubbing his forearm. "They're permanent, see?" he said as held up his forearm.

Around him Naotas classmates began talking all at once.

"They're real...."

"Where'd he get them?"

"Why he have tattoos and Lia doesn't?"

Walking up to Naota the teacher bent forward and looked at him. He looked at Naotas eyes and ears then frowned.

"You're cursed like Lia?" he asked.

"Something like that." Naota said with a twitch of an ear. "And that's all I'm gonna say."

"Okay." the teacher said before walking back to the front of the classroom. Picking up his teaching manual he turned to face the class. "Class, to your seats. We are here to learn, not gawk at our classmates.."

Sitting down at his desk Naota winced at the teachers words.

"Encourage them why don't you?." he thought. "Imbecile."

_____________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________

The first class of the day was history, normally Naotas favorite class it was boring and their teacher was inattentive so he could get a quick catnap in using a modified Hagakure meditation technique.

Normally it was his favorite, but not today because every five minutes a note would land on his desk asking about his transformation. Finally he got fed up with it and decided to do something about it.

Holding up his hand Naota got the attention of the teacher.

"You have a question Naota?" he asked.

"Yes Sensei." Naota said. "If I called you a moron, could you give me bucket duty till the end of the period?"

Blinking in surprise the teacher looked at Naota with a questioning look on his face.

"And why would you want bucket duty Naota?" he asked.

"Because everyone keeps passing me notes, that's why!" Naota said as he held up a fistful. "I cant focus!"

"I see..." the teacher said, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the class. "That is a good reason Naota. Thank you for telling me about it."

Putting his manual on the podium the teacher addressed the class.

"Alright class. Listen up!" he began. "I want you to quit bugging Naota about his change, alright? If he want's you to know what happened he'll tell you. And if any one bugs him again, it's bucket duty, got it?"

Sweeping his gaze around the classroom he got nods from everyone before he walked over to Naota.

"May I have those notes please?" he asked as he held out his hand.

"With pleasure." Naota said as he handed over the notes.

"Thank you." he said.

Taking the notes up front with him the teacher put them into his pockets for discussion with the authors later. Picking up his manual he continued where he left off and Naota was able to catch some shut eye.

When the bell rang and the class was over Naota slumped forward and rested his head on his desk as he waited for the next class. No one bugged him thanks to the teachers threat but it didn't stop his classmates from gossiping about him.

Sitting there he let his ears shift around, picking up bits of gossip here and there.

"-where he got them-"

"-old you he liked Lia! This is proof-"

"-ears are cute!"

Gritting his teeth in frustration Naota folded his ears back against his skull.

"This is gonna be a long day." he thought.

When the next break came Naota got up and went to use the bathroom. Going to the hall he passed a girl going the other way with a cell phone. From her haircut to the decorations on her uwabaki he recognized her as being part of the 'rich' club.

Naota didn't think anything of it until the way back when he noticed there were a lot more girls than usual in the hall.

"I wonder whats going on?" he thought.

As he walked back to his classroom Naotas sensitive ears picked up the usual gossiping and the slight beeps of cell phones being used.

"Wait a minute..."

Naotas memory flashed back to when he passed the girl in the hall and her cell phone. It was an upmarket model, with the latest designer faceplate. When he passed her she had lifted it up to eye level. Naota had thought she was just trying to read a text message but he had noticed she had the back flipped up.

He had thought it was odd but had paid it no mind.

"Oh great." Naota thought. "I just had my picture e -mailed to half the female population of Furinkan."

As he neared the door to his classroom a pair of girls approached him.

"Excuse me, are you Naota Sano?" one asked.

"Yes." Naota said with a nod. "Can I help you?"

"Are your ears real?" the other one asked.

"Yes. They're real." Naota said.

"Can we feel them?" the first girl asked.

"Yuki!" the other girl hissed.

Naota considered his reply before he spoke.

"Might as well nip this in the bud before it gets out of hand."

"Only if you get the permission of Lia Saotome first." he said.

The two girls gaped for a few seconds before turning and walking off in a huff. Smiling Naota chuckled to himself as he walked to the classroom.

"Well, that takes care of that." he thought as he sat down at his desk. "I wonder what the next class is?"

His question was answered as Ms. Miyaji stepped into the classroom. Wincing Naota smacked himself with the heel of his hand.

"I had to ask, didn't I?" he thought.

_______________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ __________________

The next class was gym, much to Naota and Lias joy. Entering into the changing room Naota walked over to his locker and opened it. Feeling everyone's eyes on him Naota gritted his teeth.

"This is starting to get annoying." Naota thought as he unbuttoned his shirt.

Pulling off his shirt Naota put it on a hook and then pulled off his undershirt. He heard a couple gasps of surprise from behind him as his classmates saw the markings on his back.

"Dude, where did you get the ink?" the boy next to him asked.

Naota glanced up at the boy as he unbuckled his belt, giving him his full feline glare. "It's not ink." he said. Flexing his fingers Naotas claws appeared. "And that's all I'm gonna say."

Seeing the centimeter -long claws coming out Naotas fingertips the boy nodded and turned back to his own locker.

"Right." he said. "Sorry to bother you."

Naota grunted as he stepped into his gym shorts. Pulling them up he reached behind him and fumbled with the tail hole for a few moments before getting it closed. Pulling his gym shirt out Naotas mouth quirked up into a smile.

"So this is what Lia has to put up with." he thought as he pulled his gym shoes out.

Slamming the locker door shut Naota headed to the entrance to the locker room where Kenji was waiting for him. Stepping outside Naota instantly noticed there were a lot of girls around the general area of the boys locker room.

"Hey, Kenji, look around." Naota said as he nudged his friend.

"I see Naota." Kenji said.

"Watch them." Naota said. "They're gonna follow us."

"Or more specifically, you." Kenji said as they began to walk to the athletic fields where the running track was.

As they walked Naota was proved right as the girls gradually drifted along with their progress, always keeping an eye on him. Reaching the track they headed over to their gym teacher.

"Good morning Gennosuke -Sensei." Naota and Kenji said as they bowed.

"Naota, Kenji." Gennosuke replied. "I like the new look Naota."

"Thank you." Naota said. "I'm finding it to be a pain though."

"Everyone keeps bugging you about it, right?" Gennosuke said as he arced an eyebrow.

Naota nodded. "Yes sir." he said.

Gennosuke chuckled as he looked over Naotas appearance.

'Well, look at it this way. Maybe now Lia will like you." he said.

"Or she'll just kill me." Naota said.

"Chin up, Naota." Gennosuke said. "Have a little faith."

"If you say so Sensei." Naota answered.

Hearing other students calling his name Gennosuke turned away.

"If you'll excuse me gentlemen." he said. "I'm needed elsewhere."

"Yes Sensei." Naota and Kenji said.

After the teacher was out of earshot Kenji leaned over to Naota. "You know, this act of you and Lias is starting to get hilarious." he said.

"Tell me about it." Naota said with a chuckle.

_______________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ __________________

For Lia and Matoko it was much less entertaining than it was for Kenji and Naota. Coming in from gym they found their uniforms, along with the rest of the contents of their gym lockers had been stolen.

The only thing left had been a note in Lias locker detailing what the thieves thought of her and matoko, and of Lias supposed 'hogging' of Naota. Lias reaction resulted in the demolishing of the thieves lockers and making every girl in the locker room run for it, much to the boys enjoyment.

From there it had went downhill for them, Lia being sniped at by every girl she met and Naota being the object of attention of every girl he met. Lias discovered at lunch that someone had spiked her bento with salt, and someone tripped Kenji as he was walking over to Naotas desk, resulting in Naota needing to go clean up.

In the bathroom Naota was drying his hands when he saw a hole at eye level in the casing of the towel dispenser. Most days he would have overlooked it without a second thought, but the days events had left him paranoid so he double checked it.

And was annoyed to find a hidden camera behind the front of the casing. Smashing the camera Naota walked back to the classroom, by all appearances calm on the outside but inside he seethed.

The day dragged on and on, but eventually came to an end. After the last bell Lia and Matoko left the school and were three blocks away by the time Kenji caught up with them.

"Wait up!" he called as he ran.

The two girls stopped and waited for Kenji to come up to them. As he approached Lia looked around and scratched her head.

"Hey Kenji, where's Naota?" she asked.

"He had some business to take care of back at the school." Kenji said. "Naota said he'd catch up."

"Oh." Lia said as they started walking. "What kind of business?"

Kenji shrugged. "He said something about Otada Suzuki and the boys bathroom."

Lias ears folded back at the mention of Otada. "What's that hentai up to?" she growled.

"His old tricks."

Lia turned to Naota while Matoko 'eeped' and grabbed onto Kenji.

"What was he doing?" Lia asked. "A hidden camera?"

Naota nodded. "Yeah. It was in the towel dispenser in the boys bathroom."

Lias eyes bugged out and her tail stood on end.

"Just what kind of hentai is that freak?" she asked.

"He did it because some girls paid him to." Naota said. "That accident at lunch was a setup."

"Now you know what my life is like." Lia said.

"Tell me about it." Naota said as he looked at Kenji, who had been put into la-la land when Matoko had grabbed onto him. "So where are we gonna spar today? The dojo or the roof?"

"Dojo." Lia said as she noticed Kenji. "Whats with him?"

"I think it's because Matoko held onto him." Naota said.

"My hugging him did this to him?" Matoko said as she waved her hand in front of Kenjis face.

"It's the first time a girls touched him." Naota said as he shook Kenjis shoulder. "Hey Kenji, snap out of it."

Kenji blinked and shook his head. "Huh-oh, sorry."

"You okay Kenji?" Naota asked. "You drifted off there for a moment."

"I'm fine." Kenji nodded as a slight blush began to color his cheeks.

Lia looked at her sister and Kenji as they both began to turn red. Shaking her head Lia pointed down the street.

"Well that's good to hear." she said. "Now lets get going. There's some of Kasumis leftovers in the fridge and I want to get home before Christian does."

"By all means then, lets get going." Naota said.

As they began walk Lia fell into step with naota.

"So, besides a hidden camera in the bathroom, how was your first day at school as a demon?" she asked.

"Well, other than having almost every girl in school watching me and getting bugged about my appearance, it was pretty quiet." he said. "I just wonder why I'm suddenly so attractive."

Lia smirked and looked up at Naota. "Let me show you." she said.

Reaching up Lia gave both of Naotas ears a tweak. As she leaned in close Naota got a full whiff of Lias scent, and something about it made his brain buzz.

"That's why Naota." she said. "Those ears of yours are cute."

Naotas eyes bugged out. "Cute?" he said. "My ears are cute?"

Lia nodded and Naota hung his head.

"Arrggg..." he said. "Just my luck I get turned into a cute demon." he groaned.

"There, there." Lia said as she patted Naota on the back. "You're still the big tough ninja you've always been. Just cuter."

"Thanks, I think." Naota said.

"You're welcome." Lia said. "At least you had a relatively good day. I didn't"

"Oh? What happened?" Naota asked.

"Where do I start?" Lia asked. Looking up at the sky Lia continued. "Well, for beginners I three tons of notes on my desk.

Naota listened to Lia as they walked on. While he listened Naota thought about Lias scent and the effect it had on him.

"What's with Lias scent?" Naota asked himself. "There's something a little different about it today, an underlay of something but I don't know what it is."

"- and then Matokos and I's uniforms were stolen in gym, and then-"

Naota blinked and looked at Lia. "Your uniform was stolen?" he asked.

Lia nodded. "Yeah."

"So thats what caused all that screaming." Naota said. "We thought a rat or something had gotten into the girls locker room."

Lia scowled at the memory. " 'Rat' isn't the term I'd use to describe the girls who stole my stuff." she said.

Naota chuckled and nodded. "I know what you mean." he said.

"Ah, Naota..."

Naota looked backwards at Kenji, who had recovered from Matokos hug.

"You were going to tell me what happened?" Kenji asked.

"Oh, yeah." Naota said. "You want the long or the short version?"

Kenji blinked and thought for a second. "Long version." he said.

"Okay." Naota said. "Long version it is. It goes back to New Years."

"New years?" Kenji asked.

"New Years." Naota confirmed with a nod. "I ran into Lia coming out of Mass, and she and her family were going to a temple."

"Okay." Kenji said. "Go on."

"Well, they invited me along." Naota said. "While there I wrote a wish on an ema."

"You wrote a wish, and?" Kenji asked.

Naota sighed and looked up at the sky for a moment before he looked back at Kenji.

"And I got an answer." Naota said. "On summer break."

"So what happened? You wake up like that?" Kenji asked.

Naota chuckled and scratched his head. "Something like that." he said. "I was goofing off in my room and when I got up to get something I saw a cat in the living room."

"The cat did it?" Kenji asked.

Naota nodded. "Yep. I shooed him out and went back to my room." he said. "He came back a few minutes later and talked to me."

"What'd he say?" Kenji asked.

"That he was answering my wish." Naota said. "Then I opened my big fat mouth and called him a demon and chased him out again."

"So you insulted a kami." Kenji stated.

Naota nodded. "Yep. And to avenge the insult he turned me into a cat -demon." he said. "I only knew about it when my crucifix burned me."

"Ouch." Kenji said. "That must suck."

"You have no idea Kenji." Naota said. "I cant step onto church grounds either."

Kenji winced and looked at his friend. "So you're stuck." he said.

"Basically, yeah." Naota said. "Until I find a way reverse this."

"If I can help, let me know." Kenji said.

"I will." Naota said.

__________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ _______________

When they arrived at the Saotome house Naota was still puzzling over what he had picked up in Lias scent but dropped it when the leftovers were brought out. Afterwards he and Lia changed out of their uniforms(2) and met up in the dojo.

Slipping into her modified Tiger stance Lia grinned and faced Naota. Smiling slightly she looked him the eye.

"You ready Naota?" she asked.

"Yeah." Naota nodded.

Lias smile turned into a feral grin before she blurred and disappeared. Naota tensed, waiting for an attack as his ears fanned out, listening for footsteps. Not getting attacked Naota relaxed and began to use his demonic hearing to listen for noise.

Hearing nothing Naota closed his eyes and began to focus on his hearing. Rotating his ears like radar dishes he began to scan.

"C'mon Lia, I know you didn't stop your heart." he thought. "Gotcha!" he thought, picking up a heartbeat.

Snapping out with a mid-level kick Naota heard the 'thump -thump' of footsteps on the hardwood floor of the dojo as Lia dodged his kick. Hearing a hiss he finalized her position and lashed out with a flurry of sweeping kicks.

Pressed backwards by Naota Lia dropped the Umi -Sen -Ken and counter attacked with a burst of Chestnut -fist punches. Naota blocked and parried for a few moments before he surprised her with a Chestnut -fist burst of his own

Taken totally off guard by the attack, which was on par with Ranmas Lia was forced backwards to the wall. Her backwards travel arrested Lia stopped and pushed herself to the max as she tried to break out of the attack.

"Damn, but how did Naota get so fast so quick." Lia thought as she tried slip around Naotas attack and break free.

Naota however wasn't going to let her and kept blocking every move she made. Pushing himself with an extra burst of speed Naota grabbed Lias wrist and slammed her arms against the wall, effectivly pinning her.

"So Lia," Naota asked. "How are you going to get out of this one?"

Defiantly Lia remained silent as her mind raced to find a solution. Sweat poured off of them in buckets as they stared into each others eyes, each silently daring the other to blink first. As he stared into Lias eyes Naota became aware of a few things.

One, he had finally bested Lia in a no holds barred sparring session. Two, he wasn't even the least bit tired where before he had been drained, and Lia looked like she had been put through the wringer.

Three, her heart was a triphammer pounding in her chest. And fourth and most importantly, he was aware of her scent. Amplified by exertion it mingled with their sweat and the undertone Naota had picked up earlier was now very strong.

It filled his head and Naota suddenly found he couldn't concentrate. His sight kept slipping in and out of focus as he tried to maintain control.

"What the hells happening to me?" Naota thought as he grit his teeth. "Is this part of being a demo-" he thought before Lia, using his distraction kissed him to knock him off balance and escape.

All conscience thought was blotted out of Naotas mind as his youkai instincts took over. With a feral growl in his throat Naota responded to Lias kiss.

Lias eyes went wide as Naotas tongue entered her mouth. Surprised at how good it felt Lia her knees go weak.

" damn but this feels good...." she thought.

As his tongue and hers explored each other Lia moaned slightly. Naotas eyes went tide as he realized what he was doing and his mental conditioning reasserted itself. Pushing backwards with his arms Naota broke the kiss and stumbled backwards onto his butt.

The spell broken Lia slid down the wall to the floor, limp as a rag doll. Looking up she Naota staring wide eyed at the floor, mumbling a mantra as he focused his mind and tried to get his brain under control.

Feeling the hormonal forest fire in his brain ebb Naota looked up at Lia.

"What the hell just happened?" he asked.

Naotas question knocked Lia out of her stupor and she looked up at him.

"I- I- I think we just had out first kiss Naota." she said.

"Oh." Naota said with a nod. Looking up he gave Lia a questioning look. "Why did you kiss me anyways?" he asked.

"I saw you were distracted and I was gonna use the kiss to surprise you." Lia said as she looked down at the floor with a slight blush on her cheeks.

Naota found himself blushing as he looked away. "It worked." he said.

"So I noticed." Lia said as she began to refocus her mind. "Though did you react that way?" she asked.

"Uh, your scent for some reason is driving me wild?" Naota thought. Looking up at Lia he shrugged. "The stress from today, combined with our close proximity and physical attraction combined with the kiss is probably why." he said.

Lia blinked and looked up at Naota, surprise written all over her face. "You attracted to me like that?" she said.

Naota sighed and looked down at the floor. Taking several deep breaths he centered him self before responding.

"Lia, I'd have to be either dead or gay to not be attracted to you like that." he said. "Any guy would be. But I don't think of you in that way."

"So how do you think of me?" she asked. "Where do I fit in you're sceme of things?"

Naota lifted his head and looked Lia square in the eye. "As a friend." he said.

Lia nodded and ran her hands through her hair. "Okay." she said. "Just making sure."

"I understand." Naota answered.

"But do you want to be more than friends?" she asked.

Naota blinked a few times and chewed on his lip for a moments before he answered. "Yes." he said. As Lias eyes went wide he continued. "Eventually. But for now we have other, more important things to worry about."

"Like what?" Lia asked.

"School. And college." Naota answered. "And we're way too young to be in a situation like that."

"I agree." Lia nodded as she got to her feet. Her legs wooden she began to walk towards the dojo door. "I'm gonna go take a cold bath." she said.

" I think I need one too." Naota said as he got to his feet. "How about we lay off sparring for a few days? Give us time to cool off."

Lia nodded. "Good idea." she said. "If we had another incident and Dad caught us..."

"I'd be a dead man." Naota finished.

"Demon."

Naota shrugged. "Whatever." he said.

There was a pause as they looked at each other and laughed.

"See you tomorrow at school." Lia said.

"See ya." Naota said as he walked to the porch.

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1 uwabaki are are the sneakers you wear inside school.

2 Naota as a student of the dojo keeps a change of clothes there.