Chapter Three
Seiichi Saito was a man fresh out of university. His ambition, as long as he could remember, was to be a teacher. He wanted to inspire young people to excel, to make their mark on the world. He was young, and he felt that he could connect with the youth of the day in a way that older, more tenured educators could never hope to. When he learned that there was an opening for a teacher at Furinkan High, he was cautiously hopeful that he would be selected to fill the position. He spent the days before his interview preparing notes, creating sample lessons, practicing every answer to every possible question. When he arrived in the office of Principal Kuno he was, to say the least, taken aback by the man's strange manner of dress and behavior. However, he took it in stride, eager to land the position. When the principal informed him that he had been the only person to apply for the job, Seiichi was dumbfounded. But he happily took the position.
He had no idea what he was getting himself into.
Mr. Saito faced his reassembled class with a wide, sincere grin. "Welcome back, guys! I hope you all enjoyed your lunch break!" His enthusiasm was met with a few disinterested stares, but he remained undaunted. "Now, I believe that education is an interactive and cooperative experience. As such, I'm going to divide you into pairs for the next lesson."
Many in the class groaned, but Mike perked up a bit. He turned his attention toward a rather bored looking Ukyo, sitting a few desks away. He was still embarrassed by his rather clumsy conversation with her the day before at Ucchan's, and had been looking forward to getting a chance at redemption ever since. Unfortunately, he hadn't managed to find an excuse to approach her, merely settling for quick glances out of the corner of his eye. Mr. Saito had finally given him an opportunity, if only he would call their names together.
"Daisuke and Hiroshi..."
Mike looked around the room, counting the students in the room. Sixteen, counting himself. Not bad odds, he thought, but not very good ones, either. If only there were some way to influence Mr. Saito's decision making process.
"Ayako and Kazuo..."
Mike looked back toward the teacher, deciding that his only hope was a metaphysical approach. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, attempting to calm his mind. If he could focus all his energy, he thought, perhaps he could send as many Ukyo vibes as possible toward his teacher. It was a longshot, but at the moment, it was his only shot.
"Sayuri and Yuka..."
The room fell away, leaving Mike in total darkness. The air was warm; he could swear he smelled the beach. He heard footsteps approaching from up ahead. An otherworldly light illuminated the figure as it came closer. The figure of a girl. Ukyo. She smiled at him, and he could feel himself suddenly getting lighter. She waved for him to follow her, before turning back off into the dark.
"... and Michael." There was a familiar voice, but he couldn't place it. It sounded like it was coming from the other side of the world. "...Michael?"
He blinked awake, realizing that he was still in the classroom. The other students had joined Mr. Saito in giving him odd looks, wondering if he was okay. He blushed at the attention. "Ah... yes?"
A few of the other students laughed. Mr. Saito crossed his arms. "Are you okay? It looked like you fell asleep."
Mike shook his head rapidly. "Oh, no. I-I'm fine..."
"Well, try to stay with us, okay? Now go ahead and join Miss Kuonji." The teacher nodded, before returning to his list. Mike's eyes went wide. Had it really worked? He looked over at Ukyo, who was looking back at him with a quirked eyebrow. He picked up his things and took the seat beside her with a smile.
"Ah, hello again." He offered, trying to press down his nervousness as much as he could. "How was your lunch break?"
"It was fine, I guess." She answered, looking up toward the ceiling. "I had to go check on my shop today, because I've heard that there've been break-ins around Nerima. I don't want my place getting ripped off while I'm away, you know?"
Mike nodded. "Oh, definitely. That would really suck."
"It really would..." She smirked at him.
Mike noted the smirk with a bit of a grimace. "Ah, I'm totally blowing this, aren't I?"
Ukyo laughed a little. "Yeah, you kind of are."
"Oh man..." He shook his head. "I swear I'm not a total spaz or anything. I just have a hard time meeting new people. And in the last couple of days, I've met a lot of new people."
Ukyo gave him a sympathetic nod. "Yeah, it's pretty tough. I just moved here last year myself, so I know what it's like being a total stranger. People make the weirdest assumptions about you..." She thought back to when she first arrived, and how everyone mistook her for a boy. She nodded again. "Okay, how about this? I'll start this time."
Mike raised his eyebrows. "Okay..."
"Hi, I'm Ukyo." She extended her hand to him. He hesitated for a moment, before taking it.
"Nice to meet you, Ukyo. I'm Mike."
She grinned. "See, not so hard to meet new people, is it?"
He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess not, as long as new people want to meet you back."
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After school let out, the Americans and their hosts had gathered at the gates of the school. Akane and Ranma had been fighting about a disagreement they'd had during their pairs lesson, so Alex had decided to split off from the group, rather than be subjected to another one of their spats. He would never understand why people felt the need to fight.
As he wandered the streets of Nerima, he began to appreciate the simple beauty of the place. Ever since he was a little boy, he'd been fascinated with Japanese culture. His father had been to Japan on more than one occasion, and would always bring Alex gifts back from his trips. Statuettes and postcards, paintings and clothing. But even the exotic locations he'd always imagined couldn't stand up to the real thing. He admired the way the sun looked on the peaceful river which flowed through the city. He smiled at the hustle and bustle of an open air market, filled with shrewd merchants and aggressive bargain hunters. He marveled at the large panda sweeping the sidewalk.
Alex stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the panda with more confusion than usual. "What the...?"
The panda looked back down at him, its expression rather calm for a wild animal. It offered Alex a grunted greeting, before resuming its sweeping duties.
Alex turned to the sign for the building. It appeared to be some sort of medical facility, offering, among other things, chiropractor, accupuncture and something called moxibustion. The name of the doctor, Tofu Ono, was featured in rather humbly-sized text. Alex turned his attention back to the building and its ursine curator.
"So, I see you've met Mr. Saotome!"
Alex blinked with surprise. It seemed the words had come from the bear. But even in Japan, Alex knew that would be impossible. He tilted around the side of the bear to see a rather young looking man with round glasses heading toward him. "He's really friendly, and a hard worker too! I couldn't have asked for a better assistant." The man smiled cheerfully as he spoke, patting the bear on the back.
Alex grinned at the strange pair. He had to admit, this was all kind of funny. He gave a happy nod to the doctor. "And I bet he keeps people from messing with your place, too!"
"That he does! But don't let him fool you. He's really quite sweet." Dr. Tofu rubbed the bear's belly for emphasis. "Aren't you, Mr. Saotome?"
The bear grumbled a bit, looking away from both the doctor and Alex. He then produced, seemingly from nowhere, a small wooden sign which read "I'm also available for kids' parties." Alex applauded at this.
"Wow, you've really got him trained well, haven't you?"
Dr. Tofu crossed his arms and looked up at the sign. "Actually, he's always been able to do that. Come to think of it, I've never had to teach him how to do anything." The doctor gave a goofy grin to Alex. "I guess he's just smarter than the average bear, eh?"
The two of them shared a laugh, before Dr. Tofu looked Alex over again. "I'm not sure I've ever seen you around here. Might I ask what brings you here to Nerima?"
Alex ran his fingers through his shaggy hair. "Oh, yeah, I guess I didn't introduce myself, did I? My name's Alex Edwardson, and I'm an exchange student from America."
Dr. Tofu smiled brightly. "A student, huh? I bet you know Akane Tendo then, huh?"
"Yeah, actually, I do." Alex's eyebrows went up. What was so special about Akane to this guy? "Believe it or not, I'm staying with her family."
"You are?" This seemed to pique the doctor's interest. "Wait here a second, okay?" Dr. Tofu headed back into his office, leaving Alex and Mr. Saotome standing together awkwardly.
"So, know any good jokes...?"
Mr. Saotome's sign came up. "I'm Ranma's dad!"
Alex blinked, silent for a moment. "I... don't get it."
Dr. Tofu came back out, carrying a small satchel. "Will you please bring this to Kasumi for me, Alex? I've been meaning to give it to her myself, but..." He trailed off at the end.
"Don't worry, Doctor..." Alex took the satchel dutifully. "I'll make sure this gets to her safely!"
"Thank you very much! If you ever need anything, just come by my office. I'm always happy to help a friend of the Tendo family."
Alex grinned. "I'm happy to help, too. They've been really good to all of us so far." He started off with a wave. "I'll see you around!"
Dr. Tofu waved back with a shout. "Yes! And tell Akane to go easy on Ranma, will you?"
Alex frowned. "I don't get that one, either!"
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Don arrived home before the others, sighing gently as he sat down in the makeshift bedroom Kasumi had set up in the dojo. It had been an extremely crazy day for him: first day at school and already he had a crazy wannabe samurai gunning for him. He'd put a lot of thought on what to do about the situation with Kuno, and he'd decided that maybe it was best to apologize. After all, fighting could get him into a lot of trouble, especially since Kuno was the principal's son. They might even send him back to America. As much as he was starting to feel homesick, he had no intention of going back so soon.
The sound of the door sliding open caused Don to look up. He heard heavy footsteps coming into the dojo. Could Kuno have followed him here? He quickly rose to his feet, putting himself immediately on the defensive. However, the face that greeted him was not that of the Crashing Typhoon.
A young man with black hair and a determined demeanor entered the dojo. He was wearing a large backpack and carrying what appeared to be a bamboo umbrella. Ryoga Hibiki spotted Don and narrowed his eyes. "Oh, you're one of those American guys, aren't you?"
Don's guard dropped just a bit. "Uh, yeah... how did you...?"
"Never mind that." Ryoga shook his head. "I need you to tell me where I can find Ranma."
Don's eyebrows furrowed. "Well, I'm not entirely sure where he went. He and Akane were arguing, and she started chasing him. They're pretty quick, we lost them before too long."
Ryoga's fists clenched. "Oh, that Ranma! Why would Akane ever waste her time with that insensitive jerk?" He snapped back to attention, turning focus back to Don. "Do you.. know which direction they were heading?"
Don looked up, trying to recall. "I'd say uptown, I think. Along the river."
"Uptown..." Ryoga turned and looked out the door. "Wait, I know this one..."
Don watched in confusion as Ryoga attempted to work out which direction to go using a clue he'd heard on the radio.
"'When you're alone and life is making you lonely you can always go...'" He growled. "Wait, that's downtown!"
Don approached the boy and looked out the door, as well. "Look, just head along that way." He pointed in the general direction he thought Ranma and Akane had gone. "Follow the trail of destruction. I'm sure you'll find them."
Ryoga grinned that fang-filled grin at Don. "Hey, thanks for the help! I'll be sure to let Ranma know you gave me a hand!" And with that, Ryoga set forth. In the completely opposite direction to where Don had pointed.
"H-hey!" Don scrambled to his feet in an attempt to catch up to the stranger, but when he got to the door, he was already completely out of sight. Don furrowed his eyebrows. "Weird."
"What's weird?" Ranma appeared from the house proper. He was a bit bruised from his disagreement with Akane, but didn't seem worse for the wear.
Don looked Ranma over curiously. "Ah, there was this weird guy with a big-ass umbrella in here looking for you. I think he mentioned something about Akane, too." Don crossed his arms. "Are... you okay?"
"I'm fine, thanks." Ranma merely shrugged the question off. It was obvious to Don that he was used to that level of abuse. "Kinda bummed that I missed out on Ryoga, though. I could really use a light workout right now."
Don turned and pointed in the direction that the strange young man had gone. "He headed off that way, if you want to catch up with him."
Ranma laughed. "No sense in going after him. That umbrella-waving idiot is probably halfway to Hong Kong by now."
"Hong Kong?" Don gave Ranma a confused look. "Why would he-?"
Alex rushed in just in time to interrupt the question, still carrying the satchel. "Don! Ranma! You'll never believe what I just saw!"
Ranma glanced over at Alex doubtfully. "Try me."
"There was a real live panda! Right in the middle of Nerima!"
Don scoffed. "A panda? You dummy, pandas live in China, not Japan. There's no way you saw one in Tokyo. Unless..." Don's hands went to his hips. "Were you at the zoo?"
Alex made a sour face. "No. I wasn't at the zoo. And I know what I saw!" He turned to Ranma, who was looking a little stricken at the realization that Alex had seen his father. "Ranma, you believe me, don't you?"
The pigtailed boy shook his head. "I'm pretty sure if there was a panda on the loose, we'd all know about it. Panic in the streets, mass hysteria, that sort of thing." He tried his best to sound convincing.
Alex huffed. "Fine. But you guys'll be sorry when you see it for yourself. It was down at that doctor's place. Even had a name for it and everything! Of course, I can't remember what that was..."
Genma walked by into the dojo, fresh from the bath. "Hello there, boys!"
Alex grinned and waved. "Hey, Mr. Saotome! Anyway, it definitely had a human name..."
Don shook his head. He'd had enough of his friend's strange behavior. He motioned toward the satchel, hoping to change the subject. "So what do you have there?"
"Oh, this?" Alex held it up. "That doctor guy gave it to me. Said it was for Kasumi. I guess he knows her or something. I decided to bring it here and save him a trip."
"Good thing..." Ranma smirked a little. "We wouldn't want him coming over here and trashing the place."
Alex frowned. "Why would he do that? He seems like such a nice guy."
"Oh, don't get me wrong," Ranma began, holding his hands up. "Doc Tofu's about as nice as they come. But when it comes to Kasumi, he gets all loopy. Total walking disaster area. Tends to break more bones than he mends." He rubbed his hand on his neck, remembering old wounds at the hands of the good doctor. "Guy's totally stupid in love with her."
"Huh... well, I'd better get this to her, then!" Alex nodded and headed toward the kitchen. "I'll see you guys later!"
Don shook his head again. "Sorry about him..." He gave Ranma a serious look. "So, I'm thinking that I ought to apologize to that Kuno guy. He's just not worth the hassle."
Ranma nodded. "Yeah, good idea. Kuno's a chump, but he's a relentless chump. You really don't want to get tangled up with him, or his crazy family. I really appreciated your support, but maybe you should just leave Kuno to me from now on."
"Yeah, maybe..." Don looked down. "I just hate the idea of backing down to anyone."
Ranma patted him on the shoulder. "Trust me, man, you're making the right decision here."
Don sighed, not as sure as his counterpart. "I hope so..."
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Nabiki picked her way through the afternoon crowds of the Nerima marketplace, admiring the occasional stand or shop with particularly high-end wares. She sometimes felt tempted to splurge here or there, eyeing a rather expensive pair of designer sunglasses or lingering for a moment over a display of pretty bracelets. But she steeled her resolve, remembering her first rule of Anything Goes Economics: never spend your own money unless you have to.
Today she was especially careful, as she made her way toward the bank with the dojo's income for the week. It seemed to be getting less and less every time she made the trip, although she did appreciate the check from the Foreign Exchange Committee. Even so, the stipend wasn't enough to cover the loss of revenue that the dojo incurred when it lost all of its students. The fact was, they needed a new way to make money in a hurry.
She rounded the corner, spotting the bank up ahead. But something seemed a bit off to her. It was far too quiet. She slowed down a bit, watching the bank warily. No one seemed to be coming in or out, which was strange for the time of day when people would normally be leaving work. Usually she would at least have to wait in line to make her money drop.
From about a block away, she began to hear it: the alarm of the bank was ringing. She ducked into an alley, watching the doors of the bank in the side mirror of a nearby car. Her breathing was sharp, almost panicked. If she'd been a few minutes earlier, she'd have been inside for the robbery.
Suddenly, the doors of the bank burst open. Three men exited in a hurry, carrying large bags of what Nabiki could only assume was stolen money. She took note of the man in front: his arms were adorned with intricate, golden tattoos that glinted in the sunset. She also noted, with a bit of consternation, that they were headed in her direction. She shrunk back into the alley a little more, hoping to get out of sight.
The three men rushed past the alley, and into the very car whose mirror she had been watching them from. The tattooed man got into the front passenger seat. His companions: a tall, black-haired man with dark sunglasses, who was also the driver, and a man the size of a small car himself, with very tan skin, followed suit. Nabiki got a rather good look at all three of them from her hiding place. The very thought of that fact made her spine tingle.
The car started, and Nabiki breathed a sigh of relief as it began to pull away. She looked back into the mirror once more, to see the wicked grin of the man with the golden tattoos, before the car sped away. She sank down the wall a bit, trying to regain her composure. She wondered, for a moment, if she hadn't been seen.
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Tatewaki Kuno sat in his rather large bedroom suite, staring out at the rising moon. He had been greatly dishonored by Ranma Saotome's irksome companion, Fournier. It had been hard enough to take the previous day's defeat by his treacherous archnemesis without having to deal with the glaring misdeeds of his American lackey. Kuno gripped the handle of his bokken tightly, pointing it out the window toward the moon.
"I, Tatewaki Kuno, do hereby swear, solemnly and with all determination, to exact my revenge on the wretched Fournier. I shall bring the swift but sure vengeance of heaven down upon him with the force and fury of Mother Nature herself. The punishing tide of my assault shall dash him against the rocks of defeat, and wash him upon the shores of humility. And then he shall know that I, Tatewaki Kuno, the Crashing Typhoon of Furinkan High School, am not someone to be trifled with."
He closed the window, turning toward his bed and setting down his bokken. He made his way over to the large mattress, and took a seat upon it. With a wry smile, he reached for a small teddy bear, taking it into his hands and holding it out in front of himself.
"Mark my words, Musashi... I shall have my revenge on that pipsqueak!"
