Author's Notes
I obviously don't own Ranma ½ or Change 123. I am using the characters and concepts for the purpose of entertainment only as I am not getting anything for this work other then the simple enjoyment of writing and having people criticize my writing.
I hope you all enjoy this work. Please read and review. And if you spot some errors (spelling or grammar, or even contingency errors) please let me know as I'm looking for a beta for this fic.
Thanks and enjoy.
*****
The school was abuzz with talk of the three new transfer students in the second year's class. It didn't help that Ranma refused to wear the boys' uniform for the school either. Word of his physical feats quickly spread like wildfire throughout the school.
"He did 500 pull ups!"
"No way anyone could do that many!"
"I saw it with my own eyes!"
"I was there too, he didn't even look winded!"
"Yeah, I think he just wanted to do a nice even set of 500!"
"There's no way anyone could do that many pull ups at once!"
"Did you see him run the 100 meters?"
"Of course no, he was too fast!"
"Under 5 seconds!"
"What about that volleyball game?"
"He jumped like three meters into the air!"
"No way! Even American Pro-basketball players can't get that high!"
"Even high jumpers can't get that high!"
"It was a straight vertical jump too – I was there, I saw it."
Ranma sighed as he listened to the rumors around him. It definitely beat the rumors of him and Akane being married back at his old high school, though those rumors had also been true back then.
Despite the chaos and weirdness of things in Nerima Ranma couldn't help but miss the small rural district. Even factoring in all the random and destructive fights, things in Nerima were much more peaceful. Aside from Happosai's daily panty raids there really wasn't any crime in Nerima. No thugs, punks, or troublemakers aside from the local martial artists, and even they tended to leave bystanders alone (though their property couldn't be factored into that as houses, walls, fences, and other structures had been devastated by the powerful martial artists as they fought).
Walking through the hallway the cursed martial artist smiled at his new schoolmates, hoping to make a better impression here then he had back in Furinkan. Getting past the violent crime, Ranma couldn't help but think that the place wasn't that bad. The students were a lot nicer (probably because they didn't have to live in fear of random martial artists destroying the school or the horde of fiancées that would easily crush the girls if any of them seemed to be too friendly with Ranma).
"Ranma!" one of the boys from his homeroom shouted. After having told more then a few guys that he didn't answer to any honorifics word had spread to the rest of the school.
Still not sure of the kid's name (as it wasn't any of the guys he'd played volleyball with) the pigtailed martial artist waved.
"Yo!" he returned.
Behind the initial boy several more scrawny guys emerged.
"Hey Ranma," Kosukegawa said timidly.
"What's up?" Ranma asked tentatively. Clearly something was up.
"The film club is looking to do an action movie for the school festival," the timid boy started.
"And we were wondering if you could help us out," an older boy finished.
Ranma looked skeptically at the others. It wasn't too odd a request; after all, he did play both Romeo and Juliet once.
"We've already got Motoko to play the lead," the initial scrawny guy from his homeroom said. "We just need someone who can play the villain."
The cursed boy blinked, not sure what to make of the request. He had been one (actually both) of the good guys in the last play he'd been in. But hey, it couldn't hurt, could it? "Sure, why not?"
The others gave up tremendous cheer as they now had their lead characters cast.
"Great, now we just have to make adjustments to your costume!"
*****
Ranma couldn't help but have second thoughts about the role he was going to be playing – a giant insectoid alien. It wasn't so much the character so much as the costume (the latex suit was clearly not designed to be put through the wringer or to let him breath right).
"Try not to rip the costume," the costume's designer and creator shouted as Ranma tested the flexibility of the suit. Moving his arms, legs, and he was surprised to find that the outfit allowed him his full range of motion. Even performing a simple (for him) kata wasn't too difficult despite the tightness of the suit. With a smile Ranma nodded as he considered his role in the short film.
The sound of the small crew busily hustling to set up the camera test in the remaining light of day quickly vanished. Not sure what had happened Ranma turned around only to be greeted with the sound of cell phone's clicking as the small production crew (each a member of the club) rushed to take pictures of the scantily clad Motoko.
Damn, she's got some guts, Ranma thought as he eyed the revealing outfit. The too small bikini appeared strained as it fought to contain Motoko's assets. She's got better curves then me.
"You're the lead actress," the director shouted, "you shouldn't worry about people taking pictures."
"Especially since we're the camera men," one of the other crewmen snickered.
Hell, I'd be kicking your asses if that was me, Ranma thought as he noticed the large crowd of crewmen following her out of the school. Having several dozen websites dedicated to his female form (most of them funded by the obsessive Kuno, who also happened to have one of Akane, though most of them were simply sites dedicated to the illicit trade of revealing pictures and pictures were not posted) Ranma couldn't help but think that Motoko was justified should she feel the need to kick some ass over the cell phone pictures that the boys were taking of her in the revealing costume.
Ranma shook his head, clearly wondering just how perverted the guys in his new school were. Hopefully all the guys in the school (or even a good majority of them) weren't like that normally. Then again, maybe having someone like Akane around had kept the boys in Furinkan High from acting out on their perversions (if only because they feared Akane beating the hell out of them). Akane wouldn't have tolerated boys snapping revealing pictures of her (at least not from the boys, but Nabiki and some of her crones had clearly gotten away with it), and Ranma hadn't cared too much about the guys splashing him with water in the locker room as none of them dared to take pictures of him (though Happosai probably would have if he had ever learned to use a cell phone).
Clearly glad to be away from the chaos and perversions of his… rivals and associates in Nerima, Ranma hoped that things at Saotome High would work out better then they had at Furinkan High.
Meanwhile, back in Furinkan High, the student body was slowly adjusting to the absence of their most powerful and entertaining fighter. It wasn't unusual for Ranma to disappear for a week or two during training, but with word that Ranma had transferred out to take a job, things were slowly getting out of hand. Without Ranma around Shampoo (and Cologne) had virtually vanished. Though the purple haired Amazon was still seen around town delivering food and at the Cat Café, her noticeable absence from the school grounds had lead many to speculate how long the peace and quiet would last. It didn't help that the cute and uncute fiancées who were still in the same homeroom and had most of their classes together were shooting each other venomous glares. If not for Hinako Minomiya's presence in most of their classes most of the students were sure that something would have happened. As it was Nerima and Furinkan High were filled with an ominous tension that was slowly eating away at the nerves of the many non-fighters.
Word of Ranma's transfer had also reached other schools. Without Furinkan High's star martial artist the others schools were quickly plotting to avenge their previous losses in Martial Arts Gymnastics, Martial Arts Cheerleading, and anything else Ranma had competed in on behalf of the school. Things were definitely not looking good for the students at Furinkan High.
And then there was Happosai. With his main rival absent the perverted Grandmaster of Anything Goes Martial Arts was unopposed. The shrunken old lecher's daily panty raids quickly grew in size and magnitude without Ranma's interference. Unable and unwilling to stand up to their master, Genma Saotome and Soun Tendo simply went through the motions of trying to keep Happosai at bay as the many shops in Nerima quickly ran out of women's underwear.
But those concerns were no longer Ranma's. Blessed with having no lines (aside from some screaming and bellowing) the cursed martial artist was studying the busty Motoko as she moved to better assess her ability to put on an entertaining fight.
The girl was definitely hard to read. In their volley ball match she'd barely contributed, though she made some quick decisions and even reacted quickly to the ball despite the tall new girl's powerful hits. But watching Motoko now he couldn't help but think that she lacked coordination to keep up with him. Still, there was that footage of her fighting, though he was starting to doubt it if was actually her, maybe it was just someone who looked a lot like her.
"Okay, that's enough for today," the director shouted. "Ranma, Motoko, could you work together to get choreograph a good fight for tomorrow?"
"I'll work with them on that," Kosukegawa insisted.
Motoko nodded, prompting the director and other crew members to agree.
Ranma nodded. He did need to talk with Kosukegawa about possibly training the runt in some basic martial arts. Besides, spending sometime with his new classmates couldn't hurt, could it?
With Kosukegawa's help the pigtailed martial artist was able to get out of the latex costume, even managing to get out without damaging it.
"So, what's up with you and Motoko?" Ranma asked boldly.
The smaller boy blushed, clearly not sure what to make of his new classmate's interest in his relationship with Motoko.
"I know you're dating and all," Ranma added as he tried to make sure that the other boy knew that he wasn't trying to hit on Motoko. "But you both get weird sometimes, her more then you."
Kosukegawa flinched.
"I mean, it's not a bad thing," the pigtailed boy said, backpedalling from what he'd said before. "It's just odd, she looks like she could be a good fighter, but sometimes she looks like she can't tell the difference between her right foot and her left foot."
"Hehe, I guess she's just self conscious sometimes," Kosukegawa replied. "Not everyone can stay on their feet as easily as you."
"I guess," Ranma shrugged. "But you both look like you could do well with some formal training."
The smaller boy paused, not sure he heard things correctly. Had Ranma complemented him?
"I mean, even though you don't look like a fighter, you do look like you have some skill," Ranma replied. "You're pretty good at taking a hit, but sometimes it's better to not get hit."
"I…I don't think I'm ever going to be as good as you."
"Hahaha," Ranma laughed, not sure how to take the remark. Sure, he'd taken a few hits before, but he always prided himself on being elusive in a fight. "Few are, but with some training you could be fairly decent. Like I said, you've got some skill, all you need is some training - if you want I could show you a few things that might help."
"Ranma!" someone shouted, interrupting their conversation. It was his large classmate, the one that had thrown Kosukegawa into the air during the volleyball match. "Would you join the judo club?"
*****
A/N
Unfortunately this is going to be a short chapter. Just take it on faith that the next chapter will be longer and get to you sooner.
As always, Read and Review.
Dreamingfox
