Hello again, and here's chapter 2! I hope you enjoy all my hard work, even if it isn't very good. And yes, Ranko does look like Ranma's female form, except she's a bit shorter and skinnier. (PS: Ranma is sixteen while Ranko is fifteen, just thought I'd say that outright.) Also, Ranko is not as good a martial artist as the Nerima Wrecking Crew, in fact, she's just a little above Akane, maybe at Ukyo's level. However, once she snaps, well...bad things happen. I've gotten a lot of pairings votes for Ranko, but none for Ranma or any of the others...well, please send your votes in. First character to get 15 votes wins!

Pairings Votes:

Harlock: 1

Mousse: 1

OC: 3

Ryoga: 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½, it's the ingenious brainchild of Takahashi Rumiko-sama. All I own is Ranko and Garu (read this chapter!) Ja ne!

Chapter 2: School, Love bombs, and Siblings, oh my!

"School?"

Ranko sighed as she continued to eat her breakfast, while Ranma was trying to absorb the idea of school, "Yes, school. It's high time we started going, after all, who's going to take lessons from an uneducated sensei." She explained.

"But Ranko," Ranma complained, "school is boring" Ranko put out their campfire, set down her dishes, and gave him a no-nonsense look.

"Ranma onii-san," she said, "we are going to sign up for high school this morning, and that's final. Is that clear?" Ranma sweatdropped and nodded. Which explained why, that morning, the Saotome siblings were walking down the street towards Furinkan High School. After a few minutes, they had finally reached the gate, and both had to sweatdrop at the sight of an entire mob of boys lying unconscious between the gate and the school's entrance.

"Whoah. What happened here?" Ranma asked, "It looks like a massacre."

"groan I...fight on..." One of the boys struggled onto his knees, using his bokken as support and wearing a blue kendo uniform. Ranko immediately ran to him and helped him stand up.

"Excuse me, but why are there so many people lying unconscious here?" Ranko asked as she pulled him up.

"We fight...for the privilege...of dating the fierce tigress, Tendo Akane." The boy tried to say heroically, but ended up sounding stupid. It was then that the boy managed to catch sight of his helper.

"Oh flame haired angel! Thou dost have healed me with your stunning beauty. Let us date!" The boy suddenly yelled, startling Ranko and sending her back a step as he leapt to his feet.

"What the...?" Ranko managed to stutter. The boy turned to her.

"Of course, I haven't introduced myself. I am the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, Kuno Tatewaki!" Kuno reached for the redhead's hand, only to be intercepted by one Saotome Ranma, who was glaring daggers at the insane kendoist.

"Touch my sister without her permission, and I will kill you. Got that?" Ranma growled, then kicked Kuno in the head before jumping off of his head to a window on the second floor. Ranko sighed and gave Ranma a smile of gratitude before following his lead and using Kuno as a springboard to the second floor window.

"Class, this is Saotome Ranko. She's been traveling around the world for the past ten years, and she's staying in Nerima for an undetermined amount of time with her older brother, Ranma. For the time that she does spend here, let's all make her feel welcome. Ranko, please take the seat next to Garu."

Ranko nodded and, clad in the Furinkan high school uniform, took a seat next to a small blonde boy with bright blue eyes. Garu gave her a reassuring smile as she sat down, and she smiled back, sensing in him a potential new friend.

After class, Ranko took the initiative and tapped Garu on the shoulder, "Gaa-chan, I was wondering if you could join me and my brother, Ranma for lunch." Ranko said with a smile. Garu smiled back.

"Of course Ranko-san, I'd love to." He replied in a quiet, yet adorable voice that made Ranko want to hug him.

"Okay then, let's go!" Ranko exclaimed cheerfully, grabbing Garu's wrist and jumping out the window, much to her classmate's shock and horror. Garu's eyes were big as dinner plates, and his skin was pale. His only thoughts were 'I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to...huh?'

His train of thought was cut off as Ranko easily caught Garu in midair and then landed on the ground with a light tapping sound, with not even a hair out of place. Ranko set Garu down and gave him a sheepish grin.

"Sorry about that Gaa-chan, I just wanted to get out as quickly as I could so we could get a good spot for lunch. Are you okay?" Ranko asked, her face taking on a worried expression. Garu smiled slightly.

"I'm fine Ranko-san, just a bit startled." Garu replied. The worried expression in Ranko's eyes quickly turned to relief.

"That's good, I was a little concerned. I have a bad tendency to act before thinking of the consequences."

Just then, Ranma jumped out of a third floor window and landed right in front of Ranko and Garu.

"Hey Ranko, how were your morning classes? Mine were boring, so I just slept," Ranma addressed his sister. It was then that he noticed Garu, "and who might you be?" He asked, eyebrow raised. Garu bowed.

"My name is Bomu Garu. Ranko-san invited me to eat lunch with you two. I hope you don't mind." Garu said politely, causing Ranma to soften and smile.

"I see. Well, my name is Saotome Ranma, and you already know my sister, Ranko. Well, now that we're all acquainted, let's eat!"

Ranko, Ranma, and Garu were all sitting underneath a tree and chatting while they ate lunch. On the whole, it was very quiet and peaceful, and all three kids were enjoying themselves. So, quite naturally, such a state of peace couldn't last.

"Flame haired angel! I have finally found thee. I love you with all my heart, and so, let us date!" Kuno cried out as he burst out of nowhere, startling all three teens. Ranko and Ranma both jumped so high that they landed in the branches of the tree they were sitting under, but Garu's reaction was...disturbing, to say the least. Garu's eyes glazed over, and he suddenly pulled an entire arsenal of bombs, firecrackers, and various explosives. His hands blurred, and Kuno suddenly found himself with fifteen firecrackers, ten bombs, and sixteen sticks of dynamite in his mouth, and a bomb shoved into a very uncomfortable place.

KABOOM!!!

With a large bang, Kuno found himself flying through the air, burnt to a crisp.

"FLAME HAIRED ANGEEEEEELLLLLL...!!" Kuno wailed as he disappeared over the horizon, leaving a cutesy, smiling Garu and a wide eyed Ranko and Ranma, who had managed to get back to the ground.

"Whassa...?" Ranko muttered, mouth wide open.

"What was that?" Ranma asked, eyes as big as basketballs. Garu turned and blushed.

"I'm so sorry for startling you, but I was trained when I was little in the art of Bomb-fu (AN blowing stuff up very well) so whenever I get startled, I instinctively start throwing bombs around." He said in a sheepish voice. Ranma sighed and replied with, "Well, at least it's better than some martial arts I could mention," he shuddered as he remembered the Martial Arts of Cross-Dressing and Tiddlywinks, "hey...maybe we should introduce you to Oyaji..." An evil smirk began to form on his face as an evil chuckle escaped his lips, "and if you see a panda roaming the streets, don't hesitate to blow it up, okay?"

Garu, unaware of what he was about to agree to, nodded and said, "All right Ranma-san."

Ranko, who had been quiet during this whole conversation, was now staring at Garu with the puppy dog eyes of doom, an essential function placed in every female around the globe.

"Gaa-chan," she said in a cutesy voice, "can you teach bomb-fu to me? Pwweeeaaassseee?"

Garu smiled at the redhead, quickly melting, "Okay Ranko-san, we'll meet after school for practice," he turned to look at Ranma, "you can come train with us if you want Ranma-san." Ranma grinned in response, an excited sparkle lighting his eyes, giving him the appearance of a kid on Christmas morning.

"You bet!" He exclaimed. Ranko smiled and shook her head. Ranma had always been like this when it came to martial arts. Whenever he had a chance to learn more, everything else paled in comparison. Even now, when they had a chance to have a non martial arts focused life, he was still the same.

"I'm going to take a break now, okay Ranma onii-san?" Ranko called to her brother as she sat down by the side of the clearing they were training in.

"Suit yourself Ranko, but I'm gonna keep on training. I've almost got it perfected!" Ranma replied before closing his eyes and beginning to concentrate. Ranko sighed, the two of them had been training for over an hour, and she was getting pretty tired, but Ranma kept going. Garu had given them basic instructions before leaving for home, and it seemed the trick to Bomb-fu was summoning bombs and other explosives using ki, and Ranko just couldn't seem to focus, not like Ranma could. Of course, Ranma was the martial artist of the two. Father had given her some speed and stamina training, but he didn't train her as heavily as he did Ranma. The one time he did, when she was five, well...let's just say he got a rather nasty surprise and leave it at that.

"I did it!"

Ranko was brought out of her musings by a grinning Ranma, who was triumphantly holding a large firecracker in his hand. She smiled.

"Good job onii-san! Now, throw that thing into the bushes before it goes off." She warned. Ranma then noticed the fuse was almost burned out, and quickly tossed it into the bushes, where it went off with a loud bang, sending a teenage boy who had been hiding in those very same bushes flying. The boy landed on the ground in front of Ranko with a loud crash, leaving a two foot deep crater. Ranma ran over to the crater and, after quickly checking to make sure that Ranko was okay, held out his hand and pulled the boy out of the crater.

"Hey, man, are you okay? Sorry about hitting you with that firecracker, I didn't know you were there." Ranma said sheepishly.

"wheeze N-no problem." The boy managed to gasp out, then turned his head and looked straight at Ranma. Suddenly, the boy's eyes filled with rage, and he leapt back.

"YOU!!!" He yelled, pointing a finger at Ranma, much to both Saotome siblings's confusion. Ranma scratched his head and gave the boy a puzzled look.

"Um...do I know you?" He asked, causing the boy to facefault.

"HIBIKI! RYOGA HIBIKI! RING ANY BELLS?!" Ryoga yelled. Ranma tilted his head in puzzlement for a few minutes before the proverbial lightbulb went on over his head.

"Oh yeah! You're the guy with the lousy sense of direction. I used to walk you to and from school every day. Long time, no see Ryoga, how've you been?" Ranma cried out, smiling and waving. Ryoga growled and grabbed his umbrella.

"What an ironic question Saotome...because of you I've seen hell. Not only did you always take the last bread of the day from right under my nose, but because of you, my heart is shattered forever. DIE RANMA!!!" Ryoga yelled as he charged the pigtailed boy. Ranko, who had been watching the whole exchange, felt anger welling up in her. It demanded release, and she submitted, unknowingly creating her first Bomb-fu special ability.

"LOVE HURTS!!" Ranko screamed as a gigantic, pink and red, heart shaped bomb appeared in her hands, which she promptly hurled at the charging lost boy. It missed by a few feet, but the explosion did let out a large cloud of pink smoke, stunning the lost boy and causing him to lower his guard. It was then that Ranma charged. The fight was short and brutal, Ryoga gave him a good fight, but Ranma ended up victorious in the end. By the time the smoke cleared, Ryoga was lying on the ground out cold, with Ranma standing over him. Ranma shot a look at his sister.

"What did you do that for Ranko? I could've taken him out easily without your help." He remarked. Ranko flinched.

"I'm sorry nii-san. I just saw him charging you and panicked. I wasn't thinking, and I'm sorry for trying to fight your battles." She said softly. Ranma put his hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay Ranko, but you don't have to worry about me. I'm a martial artist, and even though I know you want to protect me, sometimes I have to win without your help." He said, giving her a slight smile, causing her to smile back.

"Okay nii-san. But if you do need help, just call me, okay?" She replied, giving him a wink. Ranma grinned.

"You got it." He told her. Ranko flashed him a mischievous smirk.

"Well, well, the great Saotome Ranma accepting the help of a girl. Who'da thunk it?" She teased. Ranma's face turned bright red.

"Ranko! Cut that out." He retorted. Ranko opened her mouth to argue when a low groan reached their ears.

"Ooooo...curse you...Ranma..." Ryoga grumbled as he stumbled to his feet, using his umbrella as support. Suddenly, Ranko stepped in front of him.

"I don't quite know who you are, but you aren't to attack my brother like that again, is that clear?" Ranko snapped. Ryoga's eyes went from being filled with rage, to confusion and a great deal of shock.

"W-what did you call Ranma...?" Ryoga stuttered, shocked beyond belief for some strange reason.

"Ranma's my brother. I'm his younger sister, Saotome Ranko. Are you deaf or something?" Ranko snapped in irritation. Ryoga just stood there, dazed for a few moments, until his face lit up in a look of pure bliss. Before anyone could get another word in, the bandana clad boy had rushed off to who-knows-where. Ranma and Ranko both stared at the spot where he had vanished.

"Well..." Ranma said.

"That was odd." Ranko commented.

"Very. Wanna turn in for the night now?" Ranma asked.

"We can't Ranma, we have homework to do."

"But Ranko..."

"No buts Ranma!"

Meanwhile, while the Saotome siblings were sitting in their campsite arguing, a certain recently released, incredibly perverted old gnome was hopping from rooftop to rooftop, clutching his bag of silky darlings. But he wasn't stealing underwear. Happosai couldn't steal underwear, because he had to keep running at breakneck speed, for if he slowed down even the slightest, the flying, pink, chibified elephant with a crown on it's head throwing bombs at him would catch up to him, and then he'd become pervert a la flambe.

BOOM!!

Happosai stopped dead, his mouth open in shock as one of the little pink pest's firecrackers hit dead on, reducing his bag of stolen underwear to nothing more than a pile of ashes. The little old pervert fell to his knees, sobbing.

"NO! Not the silky darlings, anything but them!!" Happosai moaned. He was so upset, he didn't see the creature responsible until it was too late.

KABOOOM!!!

TBC

Okay, I'm only gonna say this once, but please don't vote for Garu for pairings. Garu and Ranko are friends, and only friends, and I plan to keep it that way. Got it? Good.

Also, even though many people have been asking for a Ranko/OC pairing, I'm not quite sure I'm gonna do it. The cast of Ranma ½ is large enough as it is, and I really don't know about adding yet another character...