Author Notes: So I've finally decided to place this fic in the crossover section. Finals are finally over so I'll probably get to work on my fics a little more although I start work soon. I'll try to get another chapter of this and Rosario to Ranma up and possibly a Tenchi Muyo Anything-Goes, that one is getting done slowly.
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2, Ikkitousen, and History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi and the light references to other anime, do not belong to me and they will never be owned by me no matter how much I wish I had the rights.
If you people are still confused this tri-crossover fic is based off of the Ranma/Ikkitousen crossover Addventure thread "The Fate of the Sacred Bead." A lot of the plot will be similar and at times almost identical but I will strive to make this clearly different from the thread.
Round 2: New Fists
Ranma groaned as he pulled at the collar of his uniform jacket. 'Stupid, stinking, uniforms. Why do we have to wear these things? They are so uncomfortable.' He thought as he continued the walk to school, unlike at Furinkan High Ranma had to wear the uniform for Seito and he hated it, on the plus side he'd only have to wear it five times a week instead of six since Seito for two day weekends and today was Thursday.
His partner and companion for the first day of their mission Kenichi continued walking as normally as possible, although it didn't seem to help much for the onlookers who could clearly see that his pigtailed companion was walking on the fence.
"Ranma aren't we on a mission shouldn't you stop doing that? You're attracting a lot of attention." Kenichi asked.
Ranma waved him off. "Are you kidding me? There are people who are fighters here, seeing something like this shouldn't look so surprising."
"Well maybe you're right but still…" Kenichi trailed off as he saw more people gawk at Ranma.
"Look Kenichi most of those people ain't toushi so this looks weird to them now, give 'em a month or two and then they'll start treating this like it's a normal day." Ranma said.
"Are you serious?" Kenichi asked.
"Trust me, Nerima was like this at first and then after awhile everyone got used to me." Ranma stated. "C'mon don't tell me you haven't experienced the same thing especially with the kind of masters you train under."
Kenichi blinked as he th1ought back on his training and how the neighborhood took it at first and then later after he'd defeated Ragnarok and started his battle with Yomi. "Well now that you mention it." Kenichi said as he sweat-dropped.
"See that's what I mean." Ranma stated, pausing his walk and squatted down from his perch on the fence so he would be better able to talk to Kenichi. "We walk a different path from most of these people Kenichi anything they consider weird is gonna be looked as something funny until they get used to it or they can just ignore it and move on."
The two didn't say much after that, they arrived at Seito without incident and after a quick visit to the office for their assigned class the two entered the same classroom and were immediately greeted by the teacher.
"All right everyone we have two new students that are joining us today. Please, will the both of you introduce yourselves?" The teacher said.
"I'm Saotome Ranma, good to meet you all." Ranma said while smirking totally relaxed with his hands behind his head.
"I'm Shirahama Kenichi, it's a pleasure to meet everyone." Kenichi bowed formally.
"These two have just transferred into Seito recently and I hope that all of you will treat them appropriately." The teacher said.
One of the students raised his hand and was acknowledged by the teacher. "Hey are the two of you toushi?" He asked.
Ranma fingered his bead. "Yeah we are, but we follow our own path." He stated.
The toushi didn't say anything else but spent the rest of the homeroom passing glances around to the other toushi in the room. When the final bell rang Ranma yawned as he gathered his things.
"Oh man that was horrible." He muttered.
"What's the matter? For the entire time you looked like you were about go to sleep, except at lunch." Kenichi asked.
"I usually do, but mom said she wants me to stay up during classes, it's hard. I don't really see the point in all this stuff I probably ain't even gonna use half of it when I finally graduate." Ranma said.
Well it's good as a start to whatever you're going to do in the future." Kenichi said.
"I already know what I'm gonna do." Ranma stated. "I'm gonna inherit the Tendo Dojo and become an instructor for the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu."
"Is that really what you want?" Kenichi asked, Ranma's statement had sounded rehearsed almost copied by someone else saying it.
The question made Ranma give pause. "Well it's pretty much why I've been trained for ten years straight to take over the dojo and unite the Saotome and Tendo sects of the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu."
"If that's what you want but there're lots of other things you can do as well." Kenichi said.
"What else would I do? Martial arts are my life I don't see where else I can use it besides teaching it." Ranma said.
"Well Koetsuji-shisho may be training me but he is a doctor and runs his own clinic. He also does calligraphy and is a world-class sculptor, and scholar. Even Ma-shifu runs an acupuncture clinic, and Sakaki-shisho although his job is pretty sporadic he's a bodyguard that the government hires when they want to protect high level political figures and such."
Ranma blinked it made sense he did do martial arts calligraphy once and that didn't turn so well even though he won in the end. A bodyguard he had thought about that but he didn't like to be ordered around possibly by seedy people who were doing some illegal things but it seemed Kenichi's master did it legitimately with the government backing him. The doctor occupation wasn't really surprising Doctor Tofu was a martial artist too and he was able to run his shiatsu clinic without any problems. Funny how he never really thought about all of that until now, all he thought he could possibly do was end up married to Akane inheriting the dojo and start teaching martial arts. Now he wasn't quite sure anymore.
"You know Kenichi you're right I never thought about that." Ranma shrugged. "I'll go ask mom for more about that when we get home." Gathering his book bag Ranma leaped out of the closest window making Kenichi groan as he dashed out of the room to catch up to his companion. When Kenichi finally exited the school building he had expected to find Ranma at the school gate smirking at him and making a witty remark about him taking so long. Instead his partner was standing in front of a rather large gathering of students upon taking a closer look he saw each and every one of them wore a bead in some manner and they looked ready for a fight.
"Uh Ranma, what did you do to them?" Kenichi nervously asked his pigtailed companion despite all his training under the masters he was still scared of scary delinquent type guys.
Ranma shrugged. "I didn't do nothing, they were out here already and they blocked my way when I tried to walk pass them." Ranma replied.
"You both are fighters right?" One of the boys in the group asked. Both Ranma and Kenichi recognized him as the same guy in their class.
"Didn't we go over this before when we introduced ourselves? Yeah we're fighters and so are you guys, what's it to ya?" Ranma said.
The boy crossed his arms he was taller then both Ranma and Kenichi and was using the difference in height to try intimidate the two. "We got a tradition here in Seito, new fighters have to go through an initiation. You both have to defeat as many of us as you can."
Ranma tilted his head, his senses examined the group in front of him about thirty strong and each of them varied in skill and power. None of them however were even close to his level which was a bit of a disappointment to him, but however this could also mean an opportunity to see how Kenichi fared with a large group. Taishiji was far better than the lot before him but he was just one opponent how would Kenichi fare against multiple opponents?
"Well then I leave this to you man." Ranma stated as he patted Kenichi on the back pushing him toward the group before taking up a position on side with ample space between them.
"What? Why is it only me?" Kenichi protested loudly.
Ranma ignored his protests and addressed the group of fighters. "Hey just to let you know he can take you all out at once so don't hold back."
Kenichi gave a horrified look at Ranma before looking back to the see the group of toushi did not look pleased at all and charged in all at one time.
"Ah! Damn you Ranma!" Kenichi shouted, tossing aside his book bag and set up seikuken just as the lead toushi entered it.
Kanu Unchou exited the school building, the two newly arrived toushi should be having their initiation at that moment and she was looking forward to seeing how they fared. Already the rumors of Taishiji Shigi's defeat to one of these fighters with a single blow had spread to Seito and that the two fighters would be joining the ranks at her school. However despite herself the scene she took in before her in the schoolyard gave her pause. One of the fighters stood off to the side looking somewhat amused and a bit of praise in his eyes at the feat of his companion. She herself couldn't help but silently praise the lone fighter in the schoolyard surrounded by the moaning and unconscious bodies of 30 of Seito's fighters.
"How interesting." She said as she strode forward approaching the lone standing fighter, a glance to her side revealed that his companion had his full attention on her and the calculating look in his eyes told her that despite not taking part in the initiation he was a fighter of high caliber. She returned her eyes to the toushi who had single handedly defeated 30 of her school's toushi. "I'm Unchou Kanu, Seito Private School's top fighter, mind having a bout with me?" She asked.
Kenichi blinked, after defeating all the toushi he was now being confronted with a girl. He cursed his luck, his code of ethics was not to hit girls and fight girls, a policy that made him earn more then a few lumps and bruises. It was pure luck that none of the fighters he fought in the group were girls, but that luck seemed to have finally run out as this tall and dare he admit very exotically beautiful girl in a modified version of Seito's seifuku was now asking him for a fight. The naginata although covered already gave him the willies, and for some odd reason he felt that this girl could probably fight on equal terms with Miu. Despite that his code still prevented him from fighting girls and he knew he would probably regret it painfully but he had to follow the path that he had chosen himself.
"Um, sorry but I…" Before Kenichi finished was interrupted.
"Yo Kenichi!" Ranma said from right behind his partner.
Kenichi spun around startled, and a blur of motion reflexively brought his arm up to deflect what he perceived as a strike instead he felt a light slap on his palm.
*Slap* "Tag in, my turn man." Ranma said as he walked past Kenichi to stand in front of Kanu.
For a few seconds Kenichi could only blink in confusion before he spun to face Ranma. "Huh, why is it only now do you want to fight?" Kenichi shouted at Ranma although silently he was grateful that he wouldn't be the one confronting Kanu. When Ranma turned to look at Kenichi, Kenichi almost reeled at the sight of Ranma giving him a serious look rather then his usual cocky one.
"You can't handle her; she's more at my level then yours." He stated simply before facing Kanu again the cocky look returning. "Sorry about that, my friend's been through two fights now and my fists are starting to itch." Ranma cracked his knuckles. "I'm Saotome Ranma, if it ain't any trouble I'll take you up on the spar in his place?"
Kanu gave Ranma a more careful look over he was taller then the other boy still a few centimeters shorter then she was and he carried himself a lot more confidently then the other, his uniform was doing little to hide the well-toned and refined muscles of his body. Although he stood with his hands in his pockets she could find very few openings to exploit all which were well guarded, the cocky grin he gave infuriated her slightly and yet despite herself she couldn't help but find the boy in front of her… alluring.
Ranma himself was also analyzing his opponent. The girl was slightly taller then he was much to his dismay, and he could tell from her movements that she was well-versed in the art. Her muscles on her legs, arms, and torso were honed to near perfection and her aura of ki was tightly condensed which meant her ki control was near or equal to his own, also the naginata she carried was putting him slightly on edge after a full year of encountering magic he started developing a sense for magical and enchanted items. Other then that her features were her very long midnight blue hair that nearly brushed the ground and was gathered together in a low ponytail by a silver hair ornament about a third of the way up from the end of her hair. Her bangs covered part of the left side of her face and obscured her left eye from view and her skin was slightly darker from most girls. Despite the girls he'd met and the fiancée's he had to admit that the girl before him was very beautiful and her looks were a lot more exotic then Shampoo's and she was probably even more skilled then the Amazon herself. The thought of Shampoo gave him a pause in his analysis and a little fear began to creep into him.
'Hold on a second here. She's a well-trained fighter, very beautiful in an exotic way, and carries an enchanted weapon.' Ranma couldn't help but gulp nervously. Across from him Kanu wondered why the boy had suddenly lost his confident aura and cocky grin and was looking at her with slight fear. "Uh, before we do this can I ask you something?" Ranma asked.
Kanu blinked in confusion. "Yes, what is it?"
Ranma scratched the back of his head nervously. "Uh, you wouldn't happen to be an Amazon would ya?" He asked.
Kanu raised an eyebrow wondering if that was an insult or praise. "No, is there a problem if I was?" She asked.
Ranma let out a relieved sigh. "Oh, if you were, I'd be worried because you might have some weird law about having to marry the first guy who beats ya." He said.
Kanu's look became amused as she took in Ranma's words. "It sounds like this has happened to you before."
"Uh, yeah it's something I'm working on." Ranma said.
"Well I don't any rules or laws stating that I have to marry any man that defeats me." Kanu stated still looking over Ranma with that same amused look she'd been giving him since he mentioned the whole Amazon marriage rule. Seeing him looking relieved she decided to drop a bomb on him, there might be consequences of course although she was confident in her skills and even if it backfired on her she had a feeling she wouldn't regret it at all.
"However I could make an exception this one time." She stated and smiled at the horrified look on Ranma's face, he looked absolutely delicious now if she only had some whipped cream, chocolate syrup and maraschino cherries. She immediately threw the image of a less appropriately dressed Ranma covered in ice cream toppings to the back of her mind until later when she was in a more private area away from outside eyes and ears. "Yes I think I will make an exception this one time."
Ranma shook his head and waved his hands in front of him. "No, no, no that's fine, you don't need to trouble yourself with that kind of stuff right?" He said.
"Oh?" Kanu decided to tease Ranma a bit more and pouted. "Am I not attractive enough for you?" She asked.
Ranma panicked again. "No, no that's not it either, you're really pretty, stunning, beautiful and… wait… I… Uh… Um." Ranma trailed off as he realized he was digging himself in deeper.
On the sides Kenichi groaned, Ranma was totally being worked by Kanu and the fight hadn't even started yet it seemed Ranma was good in the art but when it came to other stuff especially girls he was absolutely hopeless, even more so then he was.
Kanu chuckled at Ranma's flustering, it was cute and she decided she liked him but business before pleasure she had come for a fight. "So about our fight…" She prompted.
Ranma blinked, he had completely forgotten about that. "Oh yeah, the fight, are you gonna use that?" Ranma gestured at the naginata.
Kanu shook her head and placed the naginata on the side before returning to her position in front of Ranma, she tightened her fingerless gloves before sinking into her stance.
Ranma put his hands into his pockets taking on the deceptive stance which looked a lot like Tashiji's, Kanu wasn't fooled however unlike Taishiji who had taken the stance because he was fighting against people that were below his level, the calculating look in Ranma's eyes and the fact she could see very few openings in his stance she knew he was trying to sucker her in. For awhile the two just stood there staring at each other, students and even the toushi that had fought Kenichi and recovered were now watching the two on the side at what they perceived as a safe distance. A slight breeze swept up between the two combatants ruffling loose clothes and hair, a single leaf from a gingko tree blew off from its branch and gently floated down to the ground between the two as soon as it touched the ground it was obliterated as a blur of midnight blue smashed into Ranma.
Kanu lunged forward the distance between herself and Ranma closed in a fraction of a second her fist snapped out at his forehead with force that could smash through boulders and knock even Ranma silly if his head had been there when she had punched. Ranma had vanished from view and appeared at her side he had used the same technique that Kenichi had first learned from Miu.
"Kouhou!" He yelled out, then stepped out hooking Kanu's other leg. "Haihou!" The sidestep should have thrown Kanu down however Kanu had already compensated before he stepped out by throwing her weight backward via her upper body so despite having her legs knocked out her balance shifted to her upper body. Placing her hands on the ground Kanu's left leg swung up to nail the toe of her shoe to the side of Ranma's head, Ranma managed to avoid it by bending his head back but Kanu's attack managed to graze his cheek. Kanu executed two back flips and a mid-air backward roll before planting her feet on the ground again her eyes assessing her opponent again.
Ranma took a hand from his pocket to rub the spot on his cheek where Kanu's attack had nearly landed. "Not bad." He stated also assessing Kanu. "Now that we had our little warm up why don't you and I kick it up a notch?"
Kanu quirked and eyebrow and smiled. "I don't see why not." She said. "I'm looking forward to seeing everything you have."
Her sly undertone brought a slight chill down Ranma's spine but he didn't know why. Shaking off the feeling Ranma took his other hand out of his pocket and sank into a loose stance. For Kenichi this was a surprise, Ranma had forced Kenichi to train with him for almost the entire day yesterday and the whole time he was pretty much running circles around him with his hands in his pockets. Ranma taking his fists out meant that this girl was a very good fighter. Kanu lunged forward again a jumping reverse roundhouse kick spearing toward Ranma's torso, Ranma dropped under the kick sweeping out his leg which would have taken Kanu's legs out from under her if she hadn't executed the jumping aspect of her attack. Both fighters quickly engaged in short range combat, punches and elbows were blocked or countered, throws were reversed and averted neither fighter looked like they had an advantage over the other. After a full minute of intense close quarters combat the two separated again both breathing hard.
'Man this chick's something else she ain't as strong as P-chan but she's faster then me and her strength is almost equal to mine as well.' Ranma thought as he sucked air and began to think on his next move.
'He's strong.' Kanu thought. 'My speed is better then his but his skill level enables him to counter my attacks effectively. Now, this is a Man.' Kanu shifted her stance to begin another offensive.
Kenichi was blown away as both Kanu and Ranma clashed. Their fight was nowhere near the level of a fight between masters as he'd seen with both Ma Kensei and Sougestu, but the level of intensity was just as high as back then, and this was only a friendly fight. Although he already knew that there were many highly skilled martial artists of the opposite gender it was still intimidating to see a girl being able to fight equally against martial artists of a high caliber like Ranma. He narrowed his eyes as Ranma flowed around a kick leaving Kanu open and his hand shot out to merely brush along Kanu's lower back. Ranma had been taking the fight seriously and yet he merely brushed a hand across her back, it didn't make any sense unless Ranma had been holding back from the beginning and he thought Kanu was no match for him but he was sure that Ranma was very serious when he stated that Kanu was more at his level.
The supposed taunt did not go unnoticed by Kanu it infuriated her that not only had Ranma gotten through her defenses but also had the gall to taunt her. She decided to start pulling out the stops as she gathered her ki into her legs in preparation for a major offensive. The slight widening of Ranma's eyes and the rise in ki to his body brought a small smile to her face as she began to lay into him with a series of kicks. The attacks surprised Ranma not because of the increase in power of the kick but how much faster Kanu's kicks came at him along with that strength. The kicks came too fast for him to dodge cleanly so he was forced to block the female toushi's kicks battering his defenses. A particularly strong kick broke his defense for a second, it was more than enough time for Kanu to send a pile-driving kick to Ranma's mid-section.
Despite this Ranma just like Kenichi did with his fight with Taishiji utilized karate's Goutai Hou, tightening the abdominal muscles making him better able to withstand Kanu's devastating kick. However even though he managed withstand most of Kanu's attack it still blasted him across the schoolyard and smashed him into the border wall where a large section of the wall above smashed down on his head sending him to the ground and burying him from sight. Seconds after her attack Kanu let out a startled yelp as her legs collapsed out from under her, attempting to rise proved futile as her legs refused to move. For a few seconds Kanu was confused at what could have happened until she recalled Ranma's hand brushing her back. It hadn't been a taunt his hands had hit pressure points on her back in a way that would take effect after a short delay in time if the fight had gone a few seconds longer she'd have lost her leg movement and the resulting confusion would have been her downfall. However it seemed that she may have pulled a victory despite her situation as there wasn't any sign of movement in the pile of rubble that Ranma was under. No sooner did she think that the pile moved first small bits then larger bits shifted as Ranma rose his uniform was torn in a few places and was visibly dirty. Kanu watched with wide eyes as Ranma rose but stumbled as he took a step, wobbling and wind-milling his arms to steady himself.
Ranma's vision swam as he fought to clear his vision he spotted Kanu, all three of them and unsteadily made his way toward her trying hard to ignore the two on either side and favor the one in the middle. He winced as he placed a hand on the spot where Kanu's kick landed despite the Goutai Hou's defense he would definitely be feeling the hit until tomorrow. Finally getting close enough he dropped into a lotus position and focused hard at the Kanu in the middle, since she hadn't gotten up he knew his little surprise had finally taken effect but at the moment he was just as incapacitated as she was at the moment.
"Hey what do you say we call this one even?" Ranma asked.
"Agreed, a draw it is." Kanu nodded.
"Hey are the two of you okay?" Kenichi asked seeing that the fight was over he wanted to make sure none of them were injured badly, especially Ranma since he was the one who was sent into a wall.
"I'm fine." Ranma stated waving off the three images of Kenichi in his vision. "I take hits like that all the time."
"Aside from my pride taking a blow I am also unhurt." Kanu said as she continued to hold herself up by her arms.
"The effect should wear off in about an hour or so give or take." Ranma said.
"You guys need any help?" Kenichi asked.
Ranma waved him off. "I'm good you don't have to wait around for me. You can head back right now."
"Okay, but what about her?" Kenichi gestured to Kanu.
"If it isn't inconveniencing you in any way I would like to have a bit more time to talk with Ranma."
"That's fine with me. Kenichi can you tell mom that I'm going to be a bit late?" Ranma asked.
"I can do that, well then I guess I'll be heading home now. I'll see you later Ranma." Kenichi departed leaving Ranma and Kanu in the schoolyard with a quickly dispersing crowd a few offers for assistance from the opposite genders of both fighters were politely or nervously refused. After a couple more minutes Ranma's vision finally cleared enough that he wouldn't be stumbling around like a drunk he picked Kanu up and placed her on a nearby bench where the two talked for a long while, the most interesting topic was the current situation of the seven schools warring against each other at least three of them were allied or under control of the current top dog Rakuyo High school under some guy named Totaku. A lot of assassination orders were being sent out by him and Ranma knew he'd have to look into it more. He was also disturbed how casually these fighters wouldn't hesitate to kill even Kanu seemed relaxed about it. Other then that it was one of the longest and most pleasant conversations he'd had with a girl without any of his fiancées popping out of the woodwork to smash him over the head, he enjoyed it, and it was easy to talk to Kanu.
"Hey we've been talking for quite a bit." Ranma looked around the schoolyard was practically deserted. "Maybe we should start heading home ourselves."
Kanu nodded and attempted to lift a leg but neither one would budge. "It seems your pressure point attack is still in effect."
Ranma scratched his head in embarrassment. "Sorry, I started incorporating pressure points into my style recently but I haven't mastered all the counter points yet." He looked at the watch his mother had bought him yesterday. "It's gonna take about another half an hour before it wears off although you should start being able to move in another fifteen minutes or so."
"I see…" Kanu said a sly smile crossing her face. "In that case since I'm unable to get home on my own how about a lift?" The look on Ranma's face was priceless.
Ranma couldn't help but instinctively eye every corner, bush and shadow expecting one of more of his prospective fiancée to come charging out after his blood. He also half expected the very powerful and dare he say very exotically attractive Kanu Unchou to lay a haymaker on his head or skewer him with that naginata that she now had strapped to her back for the guilty thoughts he was having of how good she felt against his back. None of these happened of course but he was still on edge.
Ranma's nervousness was mostly ignored by Kanu as she relished the feeling of her body molding to Ranma's back a sly smirk had taken up residence on her face seconds after Ranma picked her up and hadn't faltered since then, well up until one of the two kids running around playing with water pistols accidentally nailed Ranma right in the face. Kanu then had the opportunity that few had as she felt the well toned back she was pressed up against become narrow, the height she was being carried at shrunk and her legs that were wrapped around a taught chiseled abdomen shrink inward.
"W-What?" She said in confusion as she watched Ranma's black hair shift into crimson red.
"I can explain this." Ranma-chan said and barely held back a squeak when Kanu's hands that had been wrapped around her chest give an experimental squeeze to the two prominent additions that came with her curse. "Could you please stop doing that first?"
"Ah! Gomen." Kanu said taking her hands off Ranma-chan's breasts. Ranma-chan soon found a bench nearby and helped Kanu on it before facing the toushi.
"I guess I've got some explaining to do, don't I?" Ranma-chan asked.
"If you would kindly enlighten me on why you suddenly changed into a girl, Ranma." Kanu said a bit sarcastic.
"Well first it's my old man's fault, you see he and I were on a ten year training trip and at the last leg he decided to go to China to try a training ground called Jusenkyo. However that idiot doesn't know a word of Chinese otherwise he would have read that the place was full of cursed springs which anyone who fell in one of them will take on the form of whatever drowned in there last." Ranma-chan said.
"Then it is safe to guess that you fell into the spring of a girl." Kanu said and got a confirming nod from Ranma. "Well that's quite an interesting condition you have Ranma."
"Yeah you probably think I'm a freak now don't you?" Ranma-chan said looking downcast.
Kanu blinked in surprise. "Now why would you say that?"
Now it was Ranma-chan's turn to be surprised. "Well it's because I change into a girl, magic curses and stuff like that ain't normal."
"I don't see why you'd think I'd think any different of you. I'm no stranger to magic." Kanu gestured to Seiryutou on her back. "Besides Ranma we as those under the fate are capable of things that many would not consider normal."
Ranma-chan blinked not many people took her curse calmly the calmest reaction she had experienced up until she met Kanu was Ukyo who had found the changing aspect of the curse to be interesting at first and had repeatedly splashed her with hot and cold water for the better part of an hour. Kanu's calm acceptance of the curse was surprising and well… nice. "Y-You really don't think this is weird and well, gross?"
"No Ranma, in fact you've just become even more interesting." Kanu stated a small smile on her face.
Truth be told Kanu had originally thought her preferences leaned more to the fairer gender, while she could respect a nice looking male she found that she had been growing more and more fond of Ryuubi Gentoku the leader of Seito High School who she served under. That changed today when she met Ranma there was something about him that tugged her toward him. When they sparred her heart felt like it would explode from her chest, his graceful movements that were strong yet precise and the look on his face filled with emotion that she could see his excitement as they clashed. When the fight closed as a draw she was thoroughly convinced that she would continue to pursue her attraction to Ranma until its zenith. Ranma's gender curse for her was more of a pleasant bonus rather then an obstacle, by all means it seemed Ranma was absolutely perfect for her. He was a powerful fighter, handsome as a male, beautiful as a female, and possessed a rough personality that made him who was currently a she absolutely appetizing.
"Well uh, thanks Unchou-san. Lot of people when they find out they usually back off or try to use my curse against me." Ranma-chan said scratching the back of her head.
"You won't have to worry about that Ranma." Kanu said with a smile. "Also please call me Kanu."
Ranma-chan blinked, she was already asking to be called by her first name. "Uh, sure Kan-chan." Ranma-chan said.
Kanu's smile widened at the informality, it was a good sign that Ranma seemed willing to go at the pace she just set. "Well then Uma-chan shall we get going before it gets too dark?"
Ranma-chan looked around to see that the light of the sun was quickly fading she'd have to hurry to get Kanu back home. "Right we better go." She quickly crouched in front of Kanu with her back facing the taller girl and soon the two were on their way. Only a few seconds later the pigtailed martial artist let out a muffled squeak and turned her head to look at Kanu who was looking away but a small mischievous smile on her face. Ranma turned her head forward again a deep red rising to her cheeks. 'Did she just pinch my ass?' She thought to herself, luckily there were no further distractions and after dropping Kanu off at the temple she stayed at she quickly exchanged phone numbers and grabbed a cup of hot water before leaving for home unmindful of his appearance as he ran along the tops of fences and leaped along the rooftops. It only took him fifteen minutes to get home but it was pitch black when he entered the gate upon opening the door he was immediately greeted by Kenichi.
"Hey you were out pretty late. Did something happen?" He asked.
Ranma waved him off. "It's no big deal, I had to give Kan-chan a lift home because the pressure points didn't wear off yet along the way I got hit with water and had to explain my curse."
"How did she take it?" Kenichi asked remembering his on almost catatonic response when he first witnessed Ranma's curse in action.
"Really well actually we talked all the way back to her place. It's a nice little shrine. I've even got a bit of info, those guys that attacked those two from Nanyo, their school is under Rakuyo's control, I told her about us butting in and she said we better be on guard because there might be retaliation."
"Oh great, that's just great." Kenichi said rolling his eyes, just his luck helping out people would have his ass targeted by the local top dogs how the hell were they going to complete their mission if the people they were sent to infiltrate were trying to kill them?
"Now, Now Kenichi-san there's no need to get depressed." Nodoka came in holding three cups of tea. "Let's all sit down now and you two can tell me everything that happened today on your first day of school."
Nodoka listened to the two boys as they described their first day. She smiled when her son went into detail of how he fought the top toushi in the school to a draw and ended up carrying her home. "Did you get her phone number?" She asked.
Ranma blinked. "Uh, yeah I did." He replied and grew nervous as Nodoka's smile grew bigger. "Uh, mom what's wrong?"
"As I expected of my son, only the first day and he's picked up a girl." Nodoka stated looking absolutely ecstatic.
"You work pretty fast Ranma." Kenichi agreed.
"Huh? Wait you got it all wrong. It ain't like that all we did was talk and exchange numbers that's all." Ranma said.
"Sure Ranma we believe you." Kenichi said sarcastically.
"Really I'm serious, that's all we did. Besides after today she probably won't give me the time of day." No sooner did those words exit Ranma's mouth the cell phone which his mother had purchased for him began to ring. Ranma quickly snatched it up and looked at the caller ID, his face grew slightly red before looking back at his partner and mother and began to slowly retreat from the room. "Uh excuse me I've got to take this call now." Ranma quickly stepped out of the room and slid the door shut. The remaining occupants quickly scooted over to the shut door and pressed their ears gently to the thin wooden door.
Uh, hey Kan-chan what's up? Oh it did? See I told you it would wear off. Huh? Tomorrow, lunch… sure that's no problem."
Nodoka smiled as she pulled away from the door. 'My son is so manly.' She thought her heart swelling with pride.
'Ranma sure is lucky he's naturally popular. Alright I have to work hard so I can impress Miu when she finally arrives.' Kenichi thought.
The next day at school Ranma and Kenichi found out that they had reached a high profile status. Many students including the toushi that took part in the initiation the previous day bowed to them got out of their way. Neither boys were strangers to this treatment Ranma achieved his status as a badass after defeating Kuno, and Kenichi had started getting his status after he started defeating first the strong guys in school then moving up as opponents kept getting stronger. While Ranma was quite happy to have attained a top dog position again Kenichi was a lot more reserved, he didn't like the attention or the fear that others had against him it had taken time for people to open up to him again after his fights against Ragnarok. It seemed like it took forever until finally the bell rang for lunch break and both Ranma and Kenichi dug their bento boxes from their bags and headed out of the classroom. Kanu Unchou was outside leaning against the wall opposite of the door. She was obviously waiting on them.
"Hey Kan-chan." Ranma greeted.
"Uma-chan." Kanu replied a small smile on her face. "Shall we go now there are some people you must meet, the same goes to Shirahama-san."
Kenichi blinked and nodded. "Uh okay I'll come."
Kanu gave a kurt nod and led the two to a room and slid open the door. The room was occupied by three people. One sat at the desk in the room with a large stack of books next to her. She had her long chestnut brown hair done in two ponytails and wore a pair of big round glasses, she looked up at them and gave them a gentle smile, it looked out of place since the everyone else in the room were toushi. Both boys could also see she was currently the most gifted in the room, Ranma even noted she was probably bigger then his girl form.
Next to her was a brunette with a dusky brown hair which was cropped short but a little longer then a certain uncute tomboy. The attitude she was exuding spoke tomboy all the way, however the youngest Tendo could never compare since the figure on this girl was three times better then Akane could ever be. This girl was switching her gaze back and forth between them and the girl with glasses, a deep frown for the spectacled girl and a look of mild contempt at them.
The final occupant was also female her uniform was obviously different than the normal Seito seifuku although it looked a lot more conservative it still didn't hide that she had a figure that could easily match up against all the other female occupants in the room. Her eyes remained closed even though she now faced them making both of them wonder if she was blind but her other senses were honed perfectly because of her loss of sight. She possessed an exotic look that easily matched Kanu with her long silver hair and beautifully decorated katana that she held in one hand.
Kanu stepped to the side and turned to face the Ranma and Kenichi. "Ranma, Shirahama-san, I'd like you to meet our leader Gentoku Ryuubi."
The spectacled girl gave a small wave. "It's nice to meet you two, Ranma-san, Shirahama-san."
Both boys were surprised that the spectacled girl was the heart of this school. She was clearly not a fighter, they both could tell. However when Ranma reached out with his senses he felt a strange presence within the girl it was similar to the feeling he got from that other girl Hakufu who they saved a few days back. Kenichi didn't have the finely honed senses like Ranma did however he did notice the stack of books next to the girl and the open book that lay in front of her was a title he himself read.
Kanu continued to introduce the remaining occupants in the room. "Next is Ekitoku Chouhi." She gestured to the short haired tomboy. The girl looked to be sizing them up especially Ranma.
"Is this the guy who almost beat you Kanu?" She asked looking at Ranma up and down before snorting. "He doesn't look like much."
A twitch developed in Ranma's eye as he glared at Chouhi. "I'm more then enough against a tomboy like you." He shot back.
"Wanna try testing those words?" Chouhi challenged.
"Heh your skills are lacking, Kenichi here could beat you with minimal effort." Ranma stated both arrogantly and seriously.
"Hey! Leave me out of this." Kenichi shouted he had enough of getting pulled into fights.
"Both of you can compare your ego's later." Kanu said shaking her head. "Last but not least we have Shiryuu Chou'un."
"Ranma-san, Shirahama-san." The silver haired girl nodded to the two boys.
"Minna I'd like you to meet Saotome Ranma and Shirahama Kenichi our new transfer students. As you've heard, Shirahama-san defeated thirty fighters at once yesterday and Ranma fought me to a draw."
Both Chou'un and Ryuubi gave polite bows to the two boys which were returned in kind. Chouhi however snorted in irritation and turned up her nose.
"Don't mind Chou-san." Ryuubi said. "She's always lecturing me on how I should act."
"That's because you don't act like a leader. You never train, and all you usually do is read all day. I don't want to be known to be a fighter serving a weakling leader."
"Ekitoku!" Kanu chastised.
Although cowed by Kanu, Chouhi still had some defiance. "Well what kind of fighter has their nose stuck in a book all day?" She stated aloud
"Hey I've read this one before, how far along are you into the series?" Kenichi asked bringing all eyes over to boy with a band-aid stuck to his cheek.
Ryuubi looked up at Kenichi's eager face with surprise, most fighters were disgusted that she preferred to read books over training herself, she had never met one who was a powerful fighter and a avid reader.
"Uh, I've only read the first two." She replied.
"Oh so you already know about the part of the King and sorcerer being manipulated by that ancient witch." Kenichi stated getting into his book loving mode. A smile bloomed on Ryuubi's face as she nodded and both began to discuss about the earlier two books she had read and some others that Kenichi read that she had liked as well.
The rest of the occupants looked on as the pair became engrossed in their conversation. Chouhi looked mortified she slapped a hand over her face "Oh please spare me." She groaned out. The irony and look on Chouhi's face was too much for Ranma as he burst with unrestrained laughter. Both Kanu and Chou'un had small smiles on their faces and chuckled softly. Chouhi glared at the occupants laughing at her expense she was especially irritated at Ranma who wasn't restraining his laughter a bit. 'At least this can't possibly get any worse.' She thought.
Kenichi paused in his enthusiastic conversation with Ryuubi as he voiced a question he was meaning to ask when arrived yesterday. "Uh by the way I've been looking to join a club. Does this school have a gardening club?" He asked.
Chouhi facefaulted, which made Kenichi blush and turn away since doing so fully inverted her skirt. Ranma's laughter intensified and Kanu and Chou'un's chuckles grew a lot louder then before. It took awhile for the laughter to calm down but eventually it did, Chouhi continued to glare at Kenichi and Ranma. Kanu took a seat and gestured to Ranma to have a seat next to her. The pigtailed martial artist took the seat and opened his bento box to start a lunch that should have ended a long time ago. Kenichi took a seat next to Ryuubi so he could continue talking to her about books after Kanu was finished.
"Yesterday both Ranma and Shirahama-san have proven themselves to be A-ranked toushi, I wanted everyone to meet them since they will both be a great help in protecting Ryuubi from the other schools if they choose to attack us." Kanu stated.
"The extra help would be most welcome." Chou'un said ignoring Chouhi who was grumbling about not needing any help.
"I got no problem with that, protecting others is part of my code." Ranma said. "As long as people don't go after me, my friends, family, or innocents I'm fine with it."
"About that." Kanu said. "You both must be more careful now, you both represent Seito now and getting in-between fights with other schools like the one between Yoshuu and Nanyo a few days back could send a bad message that could lead to an attack on Seito. I'm not saying you can't defend yourselves, but you shouldn't get in-between anymore fights between other schools and don't go after anyone without informing us first."
"What was that?" Ranma said in a decidedly cooler tone. "Are you saying I'm expected to stand by while my family, friends, and innocent people are attacked? No way am I letting that happen, and don't say you would be any different from me if it was someone you cared about. No innocents and no fatalities, not while I'm close enough to stop it."
"That goes for me as well." Kenichi stated seriously.
Kanu sighed. "We could stop you." She said softly.
"You can try, but I'll be forced to consider you to be just as bad as all those other scum who would dare to attack my family or innocent people who merely want to live out their lives." Ranma held his gaze evenly with Kanu a test of wills was taking place and he needed to stand strong. "Don't make me have to choose between compromising my family and code which I've spent my entire life devoting myself too, and you. You've treated me a lot better then most people did when they first met me Kan-chan and I hate to have to throw away what looks like a great friendship because of this. I follow my own path, and that path seeks to save and spare lives."
"The fist that strikes out in mercy, not harm." Kenichi started to recite.
"The fist that is raised to better the lives of those around it." Ranma stated.
"The fist that leads those fallen back to the path of life." Kenichi stated.
"The fist that refuses to allow the death of anyone as long there is breath in the wielder." Ranma stated.
"That is the Katsujin-ken!" They both finished.
Stunned silence greeted the two. Ryuubi was wide-eyed at the display. Chou'un looked as serene as before but a small smile crept up on her face. Kanu seemed both troubled yet at the same time looked as if she was praising them. Even Chouhi looked pretty stunned her face devoid of any aggression toward them. The serious moment was broken by Kenichi when he turned to Ranma and said.
"Ranma I think that last statement was a bit overboard."
"Really I thought it was pretty good, it's what I would do." Ranma replied.
Kanu shook her head her feelings were mixed, part of her knew already that Ranma would be a handful yet for some reason she was more then willing to put up with that. His goals were noble but foolish and a lot of trouble lay ahead if Ranma continued to go along his chosen path. Still she found his passion to continue on his path admirable and she could not fault him wanting to place his family before her as much as she wished he would.
"Very well." She said acknowledging Ranma and Kenichi's chosen path. "However we'd like for you both to inform us about the fights you get into so we can prepare for the aftermath." Kanu's eyes swept the room. "Now we must concern ourselves with the upcoming Big Fighter's tournament that will take be taking place very soon."
After lunch Ranma and Kenichi returned to class, when the final bell signaling the end of the day Ranma was out of his seat bag in hand and making haste for the door.
"Hey Ranma wait for me!" Kenichi called out scrambling to catch up to his partner and ended up barely stopping in time from barreling into Ranma when the pigtailed martial artist abruptly stopped right in the doorway. Wondering what was the hold up Kenichi stretched up on his tip toes to look over Ranma's shoulder and saw who was standing in front of Ranma. "Ekitoku-san do you need something?" Kenichi asked.
Chouhi ignored Kenichi and continued to glare at Ranma before finally pointing a finger straight at his face. "You, at the training hall now!" She commanded.
Ranma quirked an eyebrow. "Why should I listen to a loudmouth tomboy like you?" Friday was here and he was about to enjoy his first two day weekend and now he had a tomboy to deal with, something he was hoping to not have to deal with for awhile.
"Why not, are you scared?" Chouhi taunted smirking when she saw Ranma's eyes narrow.
"I ain't scared of no tomboy with a big mouth." Ranma turned to Kenichi. "Yo Kenichi could you wait around a little bit, this won't take long." Ranma followed Chouhi out of the room while Kenichi shook his head and turned in the opposite direction, might as well go to the library and see what kind of books they had.
It didn't take long for Kenichi to find the library however as he approached the door he saw that further down the hall was a person carrying a large stack of books. The stack was unbalanced and the person was obviously having difficulties carrying the stack especially since the books were so high that it was obscuring their vision. A brief glimpse of the face of the person when she peeked out to the side to see where she was going revealed her to be Ryuubi Gentoku. It was an accident waiting to happen and Kenichi quickly moved to assist her, just as he did the bespectacled girl accidentally caught her foot on the edge of one of the wooden planks on the floor and lost her balance the weight of the books pushing her backwards.
Ryuubi had been trying to carry the large stack of books that she had taken from the library, when the school bell rang Chouhi and the other girls had disappeared leaving her alone which didn't happen very often. Usually if she was alone for brief periods of time the other girls stressed that she remained where she was and do nothing until one of them came to her. Ryuubi wanted to get the books returned as soon possible and she was sure it wouldn't be all that difficult to carry a few books and then return before the others scolded her for going off on her own. The amount of books however were a lot more then she expected they were mostly thick heavy hardbacks and there was so many of them that it was blocking her vision. When she caught here foot she tried to compensate by leaning back but the books completely offset her balance, instinctively her arms threw the books out so she could catch herself but at least a dozen heavy books were going to drop on her. She closed her eyes and covered her head waiting for the pain of the books dropping on her, instead she felt herself being enveloped by something warm and the sudden weightlessness of her being briefly carried through the air. She opened her eyes and found the face of one Kenichi Shirahama looking down on her.
"Gentoku-san, are you alright?" Kenichi asked.
"Uh, yes I'm fine thank you Shirahama-san." Ryuubi replied.
Kenichi looked back at all the scattered books. "That was dangerous trying to carry so many books like that you should be a little more careful."
"I didn't think that I borrowed so many." Ryuubi said and blushed lightly when she realized that the warm feeling around her was Kenichi's arms holding her to his chest when he dove in and swept her away from the falling books. The Seito boys uniform was long sleeved and high collared it hid Kenichi's frame easily but since he was holding her Ryuubi could feel through his uniform that Kenichi had quite a physique. His arms possessed strength that was beyond what it looked capable of and yet they were so gentle now wrapped around her protectively, she'd always felt secure when Kanu and the others were around but here in Kenichi's arms she felt truly safe.
"Gentoku-san, are you sure you're alright?" Kenichi asked again he sounded a bit nervous.
Ryuubi snapped out of her daze and realized that one of her hands was gently squeezing and rubbing one of Kenichi's arms. "Yes! Yes I'm fine!" She squeaked blushing red at what she had doing.
"That's a relief you looked a little out of it for a bit. We'd better start picking up these books." Kenichi stated and let go of Ryuubi, the girl barely managed to hold back a whimper when the warm protected feeling she had disappeared, stiffly she managed to get back up and began to help pick up the books that were scattered all over the hallway floor. When the last book was picked up Kenichi stacked them and held them in one hand. "I'll help you put these away."
"Thank you Shirahama-san, by the way where is Saotome-san at?" Ryuubi asked trying to distract herself from the arm that had once been wrapped around her that was now holding the large stack of books easily.
"One of your subordinates, Ekitoku-san came up and challenged Ranma they went off to the training hall." Kenichi replied as they continued into the library.
"I see, I'm sorry Chou-san is giving you two such a hard time. She's just really protective of me and proud that only the three of them are needed to protect me." Ryuubi said.
It's fine, so do you need any help with these books?" Kenichi asked.
"I don't want to cause you any trouble." Ryuubi said.
"Don't worry I was going to come here anyway. Say, would you show me around I'd like to see where everything is." Kenichi asked.
"S-Sure let's go." Ryuubi shyly grabbed one of Kenichi's sleeves and began to lead him down the different aisles.
Ranma stood in the middle of the training hall a bored expression on his face. Chouhi exited the locker room dressed in a training gi and frowned at Ranma when she saw he hadn't gone to change his clothes.
"Hey aren't you going to change into something?" She asked.
Ranma snorted. "Why bother I'm not going to break sweat you won't be able to lay a hand on me."
Chouhi growled as Ranma dismissed her. "I'm going to make you eat those words, are you ready?" Chouhi sunk into a stance.
"Yeah, yeah." Ranma said still standing with hands in his pockets looking bored.
Angry that Ranma wasn't taking her serious Chouhi lunged in throwing a punch that would have knocked even a B-ranked fighter to his senses. Unfortunately for her Ranma's seemed to flow around the punch and suddenly Chouhi landed hard on her back. She blinked wondering what just happened when Ranma's face appeared in her vision bending over her with an irritating smirk on his face.
"Wanna try that again?" He asked.
Growling Chouhi scrambled to her feet and attacked Ranma again. For the next few minutes the process repeated Chouhi attacked and Ranma avoided or easily tossed her to the mat clearly not taking Chouhi seriously.
"Dammit take me serious already!" She shouted.
Ranma was about to taunt her, but paused when he remembered that this was exactly what he did to Akane and now they were at each others throats almost all the time. Being enemies with someone in his own school when your life in on the line wasn't exactly the best idea, he needed to befriend Chouhi or at least get her respect. "Are you sure?" He asked
"Yes!" Chouhi shouted lunging forward again and was stopped cold when Ranma appeared under the punch she had just thrown the wind knocked out of her before she could blink then the her outstretched hand was grabbed and a hand caught her throat and she was thrown on her back again. She landed twice as hard then the last time and Ranma was there crouched above her fist raised then a blur as it came down with a loud crash. Chouhi's eyes traversed slowly to her right where Ranma's fist missed her and smashed into the mat right next to her head, it was embedded at least three inches into the ground.
"Are you satisfied?" Ranma asked standing up and offering a hand to her.
Chouhi hesitated for a second then took the offered hand. For the first time she smiled. "You really are as good as Kanu says you are." She stated.
"Of course I am." Ranma said with a smirk.
"I don't know what she sees in you but you better treat her good or you're going to get it from me." Chouhi said as she began walking off.
'What she mean by that?' Ranma thought as he watched Chouhi leave before picking up his book bag and headed for the exit. Ranma paused just as he past the doorway his head turned to his left where Chou'un Shiryuu was leaning against the wall right next to the doorway. "Shiryuu-san." He nodded.
"Saotome-san." Chou-un returned the nod.
"You were listening in on the fight huh? What'd you think?" Ranma asked.
"I'm grateful to see that Kanu's description of you was not unfounded." She replied. "Although you were a bit rough with her weren't you?"
"Well I made a mistake in the past so I felt if she took a few lumps she'd give me less attitude and a little more respect and it seems that it worked. Did I go too far?" Ranma asked.
"No, in fact I'm quite impressed you held such restraint after her earlier treatment to you and Shirahama-san." Chou'un said with a smile. "I'm glad to see you will be of great help to us from now on."
"You…saw that?" Ranma blinked before blushing remembering his earlier assumptions that she was blind.
Chou'un smiled. "I'm not blind Ranma, I merely prefer to use my other senses." Truth be told however Chou'un didn't open her mostly because people were usually taken aback when they see her eyes.
"Uh… sorry." Ranma said sheepishly.
"I am not offended at all Saotome-san, I can see how someone could come to that conclusion." Chou'un said.
"Still I shouldn't have assumed." Ranma said. "Though I'm glad to see you approve of me and Kenichi."
"Very much so." Chou'un said her smile taking on a sly undertone. "Enjoy your weekend Ranma-san."
Ranma blinked, two girls in two days and already he was on a first name basis with them. He shook his head turning away in the opposite direction of Chou'un which is why he missed the sight of the silver haired girl stopping right at the corner of the training hall.
"Shiryuu-san." Kanu said from her position leaning against the wall just around the corner.
"Unchou-san." Chou'un replied nodding to the other girl.
The air seemed to shiver as the two continued to glance at each other. Kanu finally broke the silence.
"Ranma is quite interesting isn't he?" Kanu said.
"Indeed, whoever gets him will be most fortunate." Chou'un said informing Kanu that she wasn't the only one in the running anymore.
"Game on." Kanu said.
"May the best woman win Kanu-san." Chou'un said continuing to walk away.
Kanu watched her ally and now rival depart and shook her head. What was it about Ranma that she was competing with Chou'un of all people to claim him. She couldn't understand what was so appealing about the pigtailed fighter yet she felt so jealous when she spied Chou'un flirting with him.
Ranma blinked when he entered the library, in front of him was Kenichi and Ryuubi at a desk both engrossed in a book they were pretty close to each other. "Hey am I interrupting something?" Ranma asked.
Both Kenichi and Ryuubi shot out of their seats. "What?! What are you talking about Ranma?" Kenichi shouted he was blushing furiously.
Ranma chuckled at his partner's antics. "I ain't even asking. I'm finished here are you ready to go?" He asked.
"Yeah I'm done." Kenichi turned to Ryuubi. "Thanks for showing me the library Ryuubi-san."
"It was no problem Kenichi-kun. I'll see you on Monday." Ryuubi said and left quickly a blush on her face.
Ranma raised an eyebrow as Ryuubi left he smirked mischievously at Kenichi. "Kenichi-kun eh?"
"It isn't like that!" Kenichi protested.
"Yeah I believe you." Ranma said sarcastically as he turned to leave.
"Ranma! It really isn't like that!" Kenichi scrambled after his partner.
The pair left school heading for home Ranma continuing to tease Kenichi about the scene in the library while Kenichi protested all the way that it wasn't what Ranma was thinking. As they entered an alley both stopped.
"Ranma we've got company." Kenichi said.
"I know." Ranma said as he dropped his book bag as the alley began to fill up on both sides. "Looks like the retaliation has finally come."
To be continued
Author Notes: Finally chapter two is done. Sorry for the delay most of my weeks were filled with backcountry trips for work and no time to write, only work, then at night its all grilled meat and beer, gotta love my job. However all things come to an end, my job's over for the summer and just my luck both my desktop and University laptop have to go to the computer shop at the same time. Luckily I got this handy little backup Acer which saved my ass and provide you all with this fine chapter I've been piecing together on my short weekends. I'll try to update my Rosario to Ranma along with the next chapter for Fists of Life but I won't really start until I get my other computers back, typing on this Acer is a pain in the ass, the tiny little keyboard throws me off and I get a cramp in my hands when I type too long on it.