Smarter
By Tari (Previously Ayanami Rei 1)

Chapter 1: Dropping the Act
Ranma Saotome, martial artist extraordinaire, was contemplating his life as he made his way to Furinkan High School. His life had been stuck in a rut lately. It was becoming much too easy for him to predict what should have been random events. Heck, he'd gone as far as marking down calendar dates for Ryoga's next explosive appearances.

'Man,' Ranma thought, shaking his head slightly, 'I really need something new.' He paused on top of the fence he'd been walking on and glanced at the sidewalk below, briefly considering actually walking down there. The idea was quickly discarded when Ranma noticed that he'd already arrived at school. Shrugging, he hopped off the fence and strolled into the schoolyard.

"Hold, foul sorcerer! You will relinquish your control over the pigtailed girl and the beauteous Akane!"

Ranma rolled his eyes. 'Ugh... it's just Kuno.' A foot snapped up as Kuno rushed forward with his bokken held high. 'And there he goes,' Ranma mused, as he watched the deluded kendoist's figure fade from sight. Shaking his head, Ranma continued into the school, still thinking of new things he could try. He'd done almost everything he could think of, from ice skating to cooking to cheerleading (he shuddered at that memory) to singing, and his life still stayed stuck in the same daily pattern. The only thing that he had yet to attempt a single time was studying for school, and he wasn't exactly enthusiastic about that particular idea.

A sigh escaped the pigtailed teen's lips as he slipped into his seat and slumped onto his desk, preparing for a school day full of napping. He could try to bring his grades up, but what was the fun in that? His mind drifted back to something Tofu had told him a few days ago, when he'd complained about how boring his life was becoming: "Ranma, if you really want to learn something new, you should try the library. I know you don't like books or studying, but I learned quite a few of my medical tricks from simply reading books and studying."

'Can't do that, though,' Ranma thought, shaking his head. He'd considered doing what Tofu had suggested, but there was one major obstacle: Nabiki. She didn't have spies following him around all day, and there was absolutely no way any of them could track him if he didn't want them to, but if he vanished for hours on end every day, the middle Tendo sister was bound to get curious and begin searching for him.

Then again, it would be a change in pace if he began to vanish every day and got Nabiki searching for him. He shrugged as he thought about it a bit more. With his life quite so stuck in a repetitive cycle, the risks of getting caught in the library were beginning to look like they were worth taking.

The students that sat around Ranma scooted their desks away as he suddenly sat up and put a finger to his chin. His brows were furrowed in thought, though it soon became obvious that he wasn't concentrating on the class when he ignored the teacher's questions. The teacher sighed and turned to question another student while Ranma tried to figure out an easy way to make it to the library undetected.

'Well, first off, I can't go to the Nerima library, 'cause Nabiki goes there now and then... so maybe the library in Nekomi?' Ranma nodded sharply to himself, causing a few students to jump in their seats and scoot a bit further away. 'Alright. So I can go there, but I'll need some sort of disguise to cover me when Nabiki starts getting curious...'

A few minutes later, Ranma had decided on his disguise. It would be a bit tedious, but he'd switch forms every few times he visited the library. A few sets of common clothing and a bottle of hair-dye would serve as the actual disguises in either form, but the gender-swapping would probably make it harder for people at the library to easily remember his face.

By the time first period ended, Ranma had finished devising his plan and had fallen asleep on his desk, a bit of drool trickling out of the corner of his mouth. The rest of the school day was relatively uneventful, much to the relief of the other students.

The final bell rang and Ranma vanished out the classroom window. Akane glanced over at Ranma's empty desk, then raised her gaze to the window. 'I wonder why he left so quickly today?' She blinked, then gathered her supplies and began to make her way out of the classroom. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed Ukyo's desk was empty. 'He'd better not be visiting one of his other fiancées!' She conveniently didn't notice that she was the last student to leave the classroom.
In reality, Ranma had actually sprinted all the way back to the Tendo residence to start making good on his plan. He hopped into the guest room via the window, dropped his backpack on the ground by his futon, and began to tap the floorboards near one of the walls.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tock.

Ranma blinked, then smiled as he reached for the edge of the last floorboard he'd tapped. A moment later and the board had been pried up and placed to the side. Ranma reached into the hollow below the board and pulled out a small red pouch that contained his personal spending money. Nabiki's constant scheming had sucked up most of Ranma's money, but he had managed to save up a decent amount over time. He'd placed it under the floorboards not to hide it from Nabiki—she was a calculating schemer who'd blackmail people to earn cash, sure, but even she wouldn't steal money—no, he'd hidden it to protect it from his father. He shivered as he thought of what his father would do if he knew about the money and quickly slipped the money pouch into his pocket.

The floorboard was quietly placed back in position and stomped down before Ranma dashed out the window and began roof-hopping towards Nerima's shopping district. He'd only just hopped onto the neighbor's roof when Akane and Nabiki returned home. Neither sister noticed his figure vanishing over the rooftops as they stepped into the house.

Ranma shivered slightly as he hopped from roof to roof. That had been a close call. If the sisters had arrived just a moment earlier, or if he'd taken just a few seconds longer... but no, he'd gotten away safely. He shook his head to clear it, then sighted the store he was headed for a few blocks away.

He slipped into the Umisenken and dropped to the bustling streets below, fluidly slipping through gaps in the crowd. He came to a stop in front of a weathered off-white store with an old wooden sign that read "Mariko's Hair Supplies." He nodded and waited until a customer stepped out before slipping through the open doors. He dropped the cloak the moment he was inside, startling an elderly man who was resting on a bench by the door, and made his way to the bathrooms in the back of the store.

A moment later, a red-haired girl stepped out of the bathrooms and walked over to the wooden desk at the front of the store. It was devoid of any employees, though the cash register was open and a number of papers were scattered across the desktop. The now female Ranma blinked and leaned over the desk, searching for someone to help her. A blonde-haired woman kneeling behind the desk glanced up at her and quickly tried to stand up.

Wham! Chink-clink. "Ow! Stupid little…" the woman trailed off into quiet cursing as she rubbed her head, having hit it against the register drawer. She shoved the drawer closed, ignoring the coins that had been knocked out, and turned her attention to Ranma. "Sorry 'bout that," she began, unintentionally using Ranma's usual opening phrase, "I didn't notice you there." She offered a friendly smile, then leaned forward on the desk. "So, what can I help you with?"

"Well, I was hoping to dye my hair black," said Ranma, tugging on her pigtail.

"Why ever would you want to do that?" The blonde woman raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. "Oh well, I guess it's not really any of my business, huh? Anyway, follow me." She stepped out from behind the desk and made her way across the store to a small glass cabinet. "So," she said as she unlocked the cabinet, "what type of dye do you want? The easily washed out type or the long-lasting type?"

Ranma blinked. "Um... the easy to wash out one, I guess..."

"Not so sure, huh?" The older woman shrugged, then reached up and grabbed a bottle from the cabinet. "It's best to start with the short-lasting type if you're not sure about it. That way you can at least wash it out if you don't like it." She handed the bottle to Ranma, then locked up the cabinet and walked back to the desk. "Right," she said, stepping over to the register, "That'll be nine-hundred yen."

Ranma nodded and dug around in her small pouch before producing the necessary amount of money. "Um," she mumbled, "is there somewhere I can—"

"Test the dye or something? Yeah, back there. Go past the bathrooms." The blonde-haired woman smirked as she interrupted Ranma and waved in the general direction of the bathrooms. Ranma nodded and walked towards the back of the store again as the older woman knelt down behind the desk and started picking up the coins that had gotten thrown from the register earlier.

A few minutes later, Ranma re-emerged from the back of the store, the bottle of dye in her pocket and her hair a solid black color. The woman who had helped her was lounging in a chair behind the desk when she walked out. She blinked and shook her head, smiling at Ranma. "I don't see why you wanted to change your hair color, but hey, you still look good, kid."

Ranma smiled back. "Thanks for helping me." She waved to the older woman, then stepped out of the store. She glanced around and her eyes landed on a digital clock on the storefront across the street. '5:20, huh? I still have time.' Ranma nodded to herself, then jogged down the sidewalk, looking for a clothing store.

'That'll do,' she thought, noticing a cheap-looking apparel shop off to the right side of the street. She made her way in and immediately found the men's clothing section. She grabbed a few casual shirts and pants for her male form, then shuddered as she turned to the female clothing section.

A bit of searching later and Ranma had a few simple outfits for her girl half, none of them dresses or skirts. The underwear she was holding was a bit more worrisome, but the saleslady hadn't let her grab any of the outfits without also grabbing some underwear. Ranma ruefully shook her head as she recalled why she knew her measurements. She'd been forced to memorize them when her mom had taken her shopping a few months ago, and she really hadn't thought she'd ever need them again.

"Watch out!" Ranma's eyes snapped up as the yell reached her ears. A flash of light refracted off of the blade of the scissors that were spiraling straight towards her. Ranma's eyes widened and she spun to the side to avoid the sharp cutting tool, but she'd noticed them too late. The scissors sliced straight into her silk shirt and ripped a large hole in the fabric. The spinning tool continued a few more feet before hitting a wall and clattering harmlessly to the floor. Ranma grimaced and fingered the hole in her shirt.

"I'm so sorry about that!" A shorthaired sales clerk had run up to her and was staring at the hole in the silk shirt with her hands over her mouth.

"It's okay, really," Ranma said, waving the clerk aside, sadly continuing to finger the hole in her shirt. 'Silk costs a lot of money... there's no way I can get this fixed easily...'

"I know!" the sales clerk suddenly piped up. "I can let you take one of those outfits home for free, since I damaged your clothing." She smiled at Ranma and motioned towards the clothing in the pigtailed girl's hands. "Just change into one of those and I'll let you take it for free!"

The black-haired girl blinked, then nodded. It wasn't a bad deal, really, though she probably wasn't actually saving all that much money. "Sure," she mumbled, "I guess."

The sales clerk smiled at her response, then practically dragged her to the nearest dressing booth and pushed her in. Ranma staggered as the door closed behind her, then glanced at the few outfits she hand in her hands. She grabbed a blue button-up shirt, then slipped out of her ruined outfit. She pulled the shirt on and buttoned it up before looking in the mirror.

'Huh,' she thought, turning around slowly, 'I don't actually look half bad...' Her eyes narrowed and she leaned towards the mirror as she stared at something on her chest. 'What're those?' She poked at a small bump on the front of her breasts.'…Oh.' Ranma developed a heavy blush as she realized just what she was poking.

She slipped out of the shirt and reached into the small pile of clothing before procuring a white sports bra. She shook her head slightly as, still blushing, she slipped it on and then pulled the shirt on over it. While she didn't really want to wear that particular piece of clothing, she would definitely have attracted too much attention from anyone who saw her if she didn't wear it. The blue shirt was thin and relatively tight fitting, after all.

She gathered up her clothing, including the ruined outfit, and opened the dressing room door. "That looks good on you, Miss!" The sales clerk smiled as Ranma stepped out of the dressing room. "But no, you really need to do this!" The clerk held up a small elastic hair band and Ranma's eyes widened.

"Um, no! It's alright, really!" She took a step back as the clerk stepped forward.

"No, of course it's not! Here, I'll give you a few of these for free, too. Really, You can't just go around with that horrendous pigtail!" The store clerk continued advancing, and Ranma found herself pinned against a wall. Her eyes darted around, but before she could come up with any easy escape, the sales clerk jumped her.

"Argh! What're you doing?" Ranma fell to the floor with the sales clerk on top of her. She felt the dragon's whisker get pulled from her hair and she quickly grabbed it and pocketed it as the sales clerk tossed it to the side. "Get offa' me!" She breathed out a sigh of relief as the sales clerk suddenly stood up, then groaned as she realized her hair had been tied into a ponytail.

She stood up with her clothing in one hand as she reached up with the other to pull the hair band from her hair. "Nuh-uh. You pull that out and I'm charging you for all the outfits." The sales clerk stood nearby, her arms crossed and a small smile playing across her face. Ranma simply groaned, then dropped her arm and followed the giggling clerk to the check-out counter.

A few minutes later, Ranma stepped out of the clothing store and back onto the street, her money pouch significantly lighter than it had been when she'd left the Tendo's. Both her male and female clothing sets were in a bag she had slung across her shoulder as she began walking back to the Tendo residence.

Ranma shuddered as she remembered how the sales clerk had kept asking her about the "boyfriend" the male clothes were for. That sales clerk really was something. She never once believed that Ranma didn't have a boyfriend, instead constantly reassuring her that it was nothing to be embarrassed about. Ranma shook her head and turned a street corner.

"Oomph!" She stumbled back as she collided with another pedestrian. "Ow..." She glanced down at the girl she had knocked the sidewalk. "I'm so sorry about that...?" Ranma blinked. That girl looked like...

"Same here." Nabiki Tendo absently waved a hand as she stood up. "Don't worry about it." She patted herself off as she picked up a cell phone from the ground and started speaking into it. "Yeah, sorry. I ran into someone. Literally. Anyway..." Her voice trailed off as she continued down the street. Ranma stared after her.

'What the...? She didn't realize who I was?' Ranma blinked and shrugged, then continued on her path back towards the dojo. She glanced at the shops she strolled by along the way and she raised an eyebrow as she passed an eyewear store.

Geeks wore glasses, didn't they? Or was that just the stereotype? Ranma wasn't sure if it was or wasn't a stereotype, but she knew a lot of the guys in the Furinkan Science Club wore glasses, so there was probably at least a grain of truth in the statement. She stared at the store and fingered her money pouch, then pushed open the store's doors and walked in.

It was a small store, but the walls were lined with eyeglasses, monocles, contact lenses, and all sorts of eye-related products. A small, lanky man stood behind a half-circle counter in the middle of the store, wiping a pair of thin, ovular glasses. He looked up as Ranma stepped in and placed the glasses he was polishing down on the counter. "Hey, there!" he called out, "Anything I can help you with?"

"Yeah…" Ranma mused, quietly, "I'm looking for fake glasses."

The store owner blinked, then picked up the glasses he'd been polishing. "You mean like these?" He handed the glasses to Ranma, who held them up and looked through them.

"Yeah, like this," she said, turning the glasses around a few times. "How much is it?"

The small man shrugged. "It's five-hundred yen. Cheap, yeah? Most people don't want those types of eyewear, you know?"

Ranma nodded and pulled out her money pouch. She produced a few coins and handed them to the store owner who in turn nodded and handed her a small case. "The glasses might not actually do anything," he said, "but just like any prescription lenses, they can get scratched if they're not in a case." Ranma nodded again, then slipped her glasses on and looked around the store.

'Heh, these things'll probably come in real handy for my disguise.' She smiled until her eyes landed an a small analog clock that rested on the counter in the middle of the store. '6:40? No way! I've gotta get back!' Her smile was replaced by a worried expression and she quickly thanked the store owner and rushed out the doors, sprinting in the direction of the dojo.

The short man simply blinked at the dust cloud she'd left in her wake, then shook his head, grabbed another pair of glasses, and began to polish them.

A short while later, Ranma hopped into the guest room window and pried the loose floorboard up again. Her purchased clothes dropped into the hole along with her money pouch and the blue shirt and sports bra she was wearing. She tied her hair back into its usual pigtail while kicking the board back into place, then dashed across the room and grabbed one of her standard red silk shirts from her pack. She slipped it on and, after making sure no one was looking, dashed into the bathroom. A quick rinse later and her hair was once again a bright shade of red. She quietly made her way downstairs, a worried expression on her face. 'I hope I didn't miss dinner... I spent way too long shopping!'

She stepped onto the first floor and quickly walked towards the dining room as the smell of food reached her sensitive nose. As she stepped into the dining room, she suddenly became aware of multiple sets of eyes centered on her. She looked around the room. Her father and all the Tendos except Nabiki were sitting around the table, staring at her.

"Um," she said, and the room erupted into chaos.

"You were with one of your other fiancées, weren't you?"

"Son! How could you betray Akane like that!"

"Waaah! My future son-in-law was off seducing another girl! WAAH!"

"YOU PERVERT!"

WHAM! Silence descended upon the dining room as the house reverberated from the blow to Ranma's head.

"Oh my, wasn't that a bit harsh, Akane-chan?"

"Hmph. The two-timing jerk deserved it."

Ranma groaned from her position on the floor.

Nabiki yawned as she made her way back to the dojo, entirely unaware of what had just occurred in her house. She paused mid-step as her mind suddenly replayed her run-in with that black-haired girl. 'No way...' Nabiki blinked and groaned. 'Saotome and I are going to have a looong talk when I get home.'
Author's Notes:

Well, I've restarted this story and I'm amazed by what I've written up. This first chapter covers the exact same material as the original first chapter, but it's over 2700 words longer. Strange.

Anyhow, this story's being rewritten, but it's going to follow the same basic storyline (and events) as the original, since I'm using that as the outline for this newer version.

Hope you guys like it! And sorry to Materia Blade, since I sorta picked up my own dead story before he did.

Oh, and C&C would be great!

-Tari

-V2-

Note: Thanks to those of you who noticed the hair-dye issue. I forgot to write in that Ranma washed it out. I also forgot to get Ranma to fix her ponytail.