Chapter 3:
Sudden Storm of Stupidity
The softness of the water was both a mixed blessing, and an unending curse for Ranma as Chise-chan floated carelessly to the surface. The rest of the class only saw Kuno float up to the surface shortly after Ranma's doll, then saw the doll vanish. For the sake of the plot however,once the water had taken it's toll on Ranma, Kuno reached for him, coming away with a quick grope of something rather feminine. That touch sat in Ranma's mind for a moment, and gestated as his release on Chise-chan was seen by his classmates, and she floated to the surface. Ranma in the mean time wrapped her arms around Kuno's neck, drove towards the pool bottom, and even in the water slammed Kuno's head into it hard enough to force the kendoist unconscious, then in a moment of compassion, spun him so that he'd surface face up. No use letting him drown, Ranma wasn't a killer. Finally, faster then his classmates could see, and without even a splash, Ranma had shot from the water grabbing Chise-chan, and ran for the courtyard, and up a tree.
Akane had reached the courtyard in time to see Ranma shoot up the tree, then followed him to it.
Kuno sighed a bit, floating face up in the pool, he recalled the fall into the pool, and grabbing what he thought had been Ranma. Something wasn't right. "I could have sworn that was a female." His brain continued to process the events, again leading him to that same conclusion. Eventually he swam to the side of the pool and crawled out of it, then fished out his Bokkan. "That has to be it, Saotome, do you think you can leave someone else in your place and escape that easily?"
Ranma was up in a tree wringing her pants dry, Chise-chan leaning against the trunk dripping dry herself. "Can you believe that jerk Chise-chan? He didn't have to squeeze me so hard..." Ranma sighed a bit. "So much for a semi-normal life, I guess he knows my secret now."
"Do you stop thinking when challenged? I mean honestly Ranma, throwing yourself into the pool like that."
"What do you know?"
"Guess you don't want this then" Akane held up a kettle of obviously steaming water, then tossed it to Ranma, her aim a little off, and nearly forcing the now girl Ranma off balance. "Anyways, I think that about makes us eve..." Akane was cut off by the sound of footsteps, and the appearence of Kuno yet again. "Hurry up and change back, Kuno's coming."
She moved away from the tree and into Kuno's path, then took up a fighting stance, Ranma, still trying to recover her balance hadn't yet seen this. "Alright Kuno, I challenge you" Akane looked serious, more so then she had earlier when her usual morning hoarde had swarmed, and Kuno seemed slightly stunned at first.
Kuno turned to face the girl. "Akane Tendo, Lest to light winning make the prize light, I accept." He brought his bokkan up into a basic swordsman's stance. "If you defeat me, then I shall allow you to date me. However, I am prepared to lose." He flashed a shining smile as he circled the martial artist.
"You say it like I want to date you, as if." She lowered her body slightly and launched into her first attack, which Kuno easily avoided.
Kuno took one step back and lowered his wooden sword, then began a quick upward slash at Akane, who used his shoulders to vault over and behind him. Kuno turned upon her, and brought forth a mighty backslash, which again Akane avoided by flipping over his body. She retook her fighting stance as Kuno came with a downward slash which she caught in her hand and fell backwards to the ground, placing a foot into Kuno's stomach and sending him into the air, or rather, the tree in which Ranma had finally regained her balance.
"There we go, now to change back into a..."
Kuno's head embedded itself into the kettle, where he caught a glimpse of the treeborne redhead. Ranma gave a nervous laugh as she stared back into Kuno's eyes. To say she was nervous would be an understatement.
"We meet again" Kuno spoke nearly emotionlessly. as Ranma continued her nervous laugh. "Tell me, have you seen a strange man with a pigtail?" Ranma shook her head to Kuno's question. "Cowards die so many times before their deaths, no doubt he feared my prowess. That man is no man, he is not a man!"
Not knowing why, Kuno plummeted to the ground as Ranma released the kettle. If only Kuno weren't so dense, if only he'd had enough brain to realize that he had been speaking to Ranma, perhaps that nerve wouldn't have been struck. Then again, what kind of story would that be, that possibility would lead to a far too predictable conclusion. Instead, Kuno remained quite ignorant of the nerve he struck as the kettle hit the ground, then collapsed under Kuno's head as he did the same.
"I'm not gonna hang around and listen to this." Ranma lifted Chise from the tree branch next to her and landed on the ground as Kuno stood. "I'll take you on anytime Kuno."
"As you wish my fiery one, beauty itself doth persuade." He reached for Akane, grabbing back his Bokken which she had picked up. He swung downward at Ranma. "If you defeat me, then I shall allow you to date me."
Ranma appeared on the back edge of Kuno's bokkan and kicked him one across his left cheek. "Who asked for a date anyways?" Kuno stood there unphased for a single second before the kick took affect and Ranma flew up into the air. While Ranma showed off some, throwing two perfect kicks in mid-air, Kuno flew a few hundred yards, landing through a wall, and face first in the lap of one Nabiki Tendo, before sliding to the floor and landing in a small forming pool of blood from what was likely a broken nose, or came from perverse thoughts at his point of landing, either way, there was a small pool of blood forming beneath him.
Ranma kicked the bokkan up into her hands and over her shoulder. "Come on Akane, let's go home."
"But school isn't over yet"
"Chise-chan is scared, and I need some time to cool off" The two girls started off towards home on that note.
"Hey Ranma, I want to make a stop before we go home." Akane smiled as she walked in front of the doll carrying girl with a slight smile. "Besides, it'll give us a chance to find you some warm water so we can change you back."
Ranma said nothing for a moment, then looked at Akane, she then whispered something to the doll, waited a moment, then nodded. "Ok Akane, Chise-chan likes the idea too."
Akane was only mildly creeped out by the young boy-turned-girl talking to a doll as if it were a living being. She didn't say much as she quietly lead Ranma to a nearby clinic. She quietly opened the door and stepped inside, Ranma soon followed behind her. "Hello? Dr. Tofu?" There was no answer, but that wasn't uncommon for the fine Doctor in question, perhaps he was busy with a patient. "Hey Ranma, wait here, I'll go get some warm water for you."
"O-ok Akane, thanks." As the raven haired girl went into another room, Ranma sighed and looked at Chise. "What have we gotten into?"
It was almost at that moment that Ranma felt a very boney hand on her shoulder, all her martial arts training, all her conditioning, by all rights, she should have turned and knocked the head off the offending skeleton, however, the hormones going through the rather nubile and feminine body which he presently occupied, coupled with the surprise, the fact she saw the bones as her head turned, and not needinganother fight, Ranma jumped and clung to the open door bbehind her in terror.
"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I'm Dr. Tofu." A young man, no older then 25, smiled at the terrified female Ranma, then brought the skeletal hand which he was controlling to scratch the boney head of the same skeleton. "And this is Betty, my skeleton."
Akane returned to the entry hall with a teakettle just in time to see Ranma, and more importantly Dr. Tofu. "D-Dr. Tofu!" The smile that appeared on Akane's face was very telling as Ranma calmed down enough and looked between doctor and patient, then smirked knowingly. It was obvious that Akane had a schoolgirl crush on the good doctor, if not for the smile, then by the simple fact her normally pasty pink skins had deepened red about 15 shades.
Ranma giggled a bit as he walked behind Akane, who was still blushing from her encounter at the clinic. "Looks like you're kinda sweet on the good doctor there, eh Akane?"
Had anyone else called her on it, she'd have denied it, but Ranma, who'd already made her rethink many things today, he was obviously perceptive, and knew better. "D-Dr. Tofu? Me like him?" She sighed a bit and stopped, lagging a bit behind Ranma. "I, yeah, I guess you're right, but nothing will come of it, Dr. Tofu's in love with your fiance."
"He's in love with Kasumi? How can you tell?"
"You just can, ok? When he's around her, he's a completely different person." Akane sighed, obviously trying to hold back tears, but with little luck.
"Akane..." Ranma placed Chise-chan in his pocket and stepped towards her, wrapping his arms gently about her in a tender embrace, then resting her head against his shoulder.
Akane blushed deeply, at that moment all the tears that had been forming vanished, she was completely taken by Ranma's warm embrace, and all seemed right with the world. "R-Ranma..." her voice quaked as she relaxed in his arms. In yet another moment of purest sensitivity, Ranma had made her completely forget her troubles, as well as quelling a deep hatred of boys. She could feel it, Ranma was unlike any man she'd ever met, and she couldn't help but find him stealing her heart.
"Let's go home Akane. By the way, that Dr. Tofu, he pratices Martial Arts, doesn't he?" Ranma had let go of Akane, and turned back towards the Tendo Dojo.
"Y-yeah, how did you know?" Suddenly Dr. Tofu was back on her mind, she wasn't as depressed as before, but her heavenly assent had ended. She followed Ranma quietly for a moment, giving him time to answer.
"When he snuck up on me in the clinic, I couldn't sense him at all. He's pretty good, probably even better then me." Ranma smiled and looked back at Akane. "Someday I think I'd like to spar with him, see how I match up. In the meantime, want me to help you get him to notice you?"
Akane blushed as they passed under the archway into the dojo. "N-no, I couldn't do that to Kasumi, deep down, I really think she feels the same about him."
"About who Akane?"
The sudden sweetness that was Kasumi's voice had Akane frozen like a deer in headlights, She had to think quick, and she had to respond, or else she'd have to confess to her sister, something she really wasn't in the mood to do.
"We were talking about how your father was always looking out for your best interests Kasumi." Ranma smiled softly at his fiance, then headed into the Tendo household quietly.
"Oh, so that's what you two were talking about. Well, go clean up you too, dinner will be ready in a little while." Kasumi followed after Ranma into the house.
Akane remained outside in a daze for a moment, once again Ranma to the rescue. What was this, some fairytail where she was the Princess in distress? That boy, he was her knight, she could no longer deny it as she hurrried into the house, and straight to her room with red across her face in shades rarely ever seen on humans.
