Disclaimer: Ranma ½ ain't mine. If you believe that it is, I have a small planet near Pluto to sell you…

"Ranma" -Japanese speech

'Akane' -Thoughts

{Grandmother} -Chinese

Attack -Martial Arts Technique

Chapter 4: Kuno and His Big Mouth

Despite the interference of Kuno, Ranma and Akane actually made it to class on time. The teacher made Ranma give the rest of the class a self-introduction.

"Umm…I'm Ranma Saotome. This is the first time I've been to school in a while, so I'll need some time to catch up. As any of you who were watching outside just now can tell, I'm a martial artist and I practice the Saotome School of Anything Goes. Nice to meet you all." He said before sitting down.

Looking out the window, Ranma saw that the idiot Kuno was gone from his last position at the foot of the wall. Whether it was to hospital or just to class, Ranma really couldn't care less as long as the fool was away from him. Idiots like Kuno really irritated Ranma because they never knew when to shut up or give up.

THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD!

A sudden noise that sounded like rapidly closing running alerted Ranma that something was happening. Unfortunately, it seemed to be coming closer to his classroom.

"RANMA SAOTOME!" A voice roared as the door slammed open to reveal Kuno, still in his kendougi, his bokken, which had miraculously survived impact with the wall intact, tied to his back with string and carrying, oddly enough, two buckets of water.

"Yo." he replied flippantly, "Didn't I already beat your ass once today?"

"Ha!" scoffed Kuno, "I, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, lose to the likes of you? Preposterous!" Thunder boomed in the background as he spoke.

"Blue Thunder? More like Blue Grandma." retorted Ranma, "I've seen old ladies move faster than you did out there."

"Silence, fool!" Kuno barked, "Nabiki Tendo has told me of your reason for infesting the home of the fair Akane Tendo!"

"Infesting…?" Ranma said with a twitching eyebrow. Kuno paid him no mind.

"You seek to sink your claws into one of the Tendo sisters in a foul engagement, do you not fiend!?" Kuno accused, which caused uproar from the class.

"Engagement?!" The boys cried in outrage.

"Akane, we thought you hated men? Why the sudden 360?" demanded the girls.

"It's something our parents decided!" Akane protested vehemently, "Besides, it's not just me that's in the line-up! Nabiki could be the one who marries him!"

"The Ice Queen?" Scoffed a girl, "Yeah right!"

"It's you for sure Akane!" a random boy said indignantly.

"Foul being that besmirches the Tendo Household! Taste Steel!" Kuno roared as he threw the two full buckets of water at Ranma.

"Yikes!" Ranma dodged the water with little to spare, making a mental note to get back at Nabiki for this. The water soaked several of his classmates, much to their irritation.

Kuno, scowling, drew his bokken and charged at Ranma with a wordless cry of anger.

"Aoraigeki! (Blue Thunder Strikes!) Atatatatatatatatatata!" The kendoist unleashed a flurry of lightning fast blows that blurred from sight. Akane gaped in shock at this as she had never seen this move before.

Ranma dodged all of them with relative ease and noted the shattering of the windows behind him with slight concern.

'He's thrusting his sword with such speed and strength that each strike is condensing the air in front of it and launching it forward as a…pressure bullet of sorts. He was holding back on me before. He's obviously stronger than Akane, no questions. Still not close to my level though.' Ranma thought with a smirk.

He leapt over the kendoist once again and ran from the classroom. No point getting non-martial artists involved.

"Cease your cowardly flight, knave!" Kuno yelled as he gave pursuit of the pigtailed martial artist. Most of the class followed them, except from Akane who had sat in her seat, shocked.

'I…I'm in trouble. Kuno is stronger than me. There's no way I could defend against that attack if he used it against me!' Akane thought in a panic, 'He could have defeated me any time he wanted if he used that! So why has he let me knock him into next week all this time? Is he a masochist? No, that can't be it…oh no, don't tell me he wanted me to 'bond through mutual battle'!'

Akane looked sick at the thought. Regardless of the reason he was letting her win, she had to get stronger. No way was she going to be forced to date Kuno!

However…who could train her? Her father did train her…once a week…if he felt like it…most of the time. No, she needed more training than she was getting at the moment. Dr Tofu? No, every time she got close to him alone, Kasumi would 'spontaneously' come and say hello, making him go gaga as he always did around her…stupid territorial sister.

Who else was there? Mr Saotome? She dismissed him immediately. The condescending way her called her a little girl playing martial artist last night rubbed her the wrong way. That only left…

…Ranma. Akane brightened immediately. Ranma was unquestionably stronger than Kuno. Heck, he might be stronger than her father, what with that Kamehameha knock-off he used. Question was how to ask him?

Akane sat deep in thought as time ticked on.

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Meanwhile, with Ranma…

"Have at you!" Kuno shouted as he unleashed another Aoraigeki barrage at him, which he dodged yet again.

'This guy…has no self control.' Ranma thought as yet another slew of windows were destroyed. He just hoped that the school had good insurance, 'cause Ranma Saotome ain't paying for no windows.

"Kuno, do you have a grudge against glass or something?" he shouted at the attacking kendoist.

"Indeed I do not!" refuted Kuno, "Rather, why do you not cease dodging so that I may hit you?"

Ranma looked at him with a deadpan face. "What kind of idiot are you?" he asked, "No-one is stupid enough to do that when getting attacked by a sword, wooden or not."

"Accept your fate, cowardly fool!" Kuno roared as he charged yet again. Ranma was by now tired of his opponent's only skilled attack and decided to end it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a filled swimming pool just within his jumping range and grinned.

From Kuno's (Twisted) perspective, the grin was a mocking sneer, so the Kendoist bellowed in rage and unleashed his best (and only) special attack once again.

Ranma did indeed dodge these blows, but moved back slowly as he did so, step by step, until Kuno was level with the target window. Then he made his move.

A watching student later swore Ranma was an esper who could use teleportation, as one second he was dodging Kuno's attacks, the next he was executing a jujutsu throwing technique to throw Kuno through the conveniently open window. The student rushed to the window, expecting the kendo captain to be a pancake on the ground.

What they saw was Kuno belly flop into the pool, cursing and spluttering with pain and humiliation. Ranma walked off back to the classroom jauntily, smirking at the defeat of his foe (again).

The yell, "I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE, SAOTOME!" could be heard across the school.

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Timeskip - After School

School Gate

"Nabiki." Ranma greeted the elder Tendo in a cool voice. He and Akane had waited for her at the school gates at Ranma's insistence.

"Saotome." Nabiki returned breezily as she walked past him. Ranma quickly followed her, Akane at his heels.

"Care to explain why the kendo idiot said that you spilled the beans about the possible engagements?" Ranma asked in a faux-light manner.

"Because he paid me." Nabiki replied, "I'm known as the 'Ice Queen of Furinkan High', a ruthless information broker who sells information on everyone and everything to the highest bidder. Kuno-baby happens to be one of my best customers and for a good reason: he's both loaded and a complete and utter moron, rather than just one of the two."

Ranma sweatdropped at the frank explanation. "And…you see absolutely nothing wrong with selling people out like that?" he asked for clarification.

"I can't afford to." Nabiki replied, "Daddy stopped teaching years ago when our mother died, so I'm the main source of income for the family, from my various investments that I've made. If I am not ruthless and heartless in my dealings, we will go under, even more so now that your father and you are staying with us."

"Stupid old man, always causing trouble for other people…" Ranma muttered.

"Ranma, you really don't like your father, do you?" Akane half asked, half stated.

Ranma snorted. "He's a sexist, bigoted, selfish, venal pig, who wouldn't hesitate to make my life hell to make his own was comfortable and has done so countless times before." Ranma said, disgust in his voice.

"Like what?" Nabiki asked.

"Like…ummmm…three years ago, just for a random example, he stole a lot of money from the Yakuza and threw me at the group that was chasing him, about ten guys armed with bokken and tantō's. I had to beat them unconscious before I could get away." Ranma said, his face perfectly serious.

Akane was, for the umpteenth time that day, stunned. What kind of father would throw his son at armed Yakuza at age 13?

"What did he say when you caught up with him?" she asked softly.

"What he always says. 'Boy, stop acting like a weak girl! A Martial Artist's life is fraught with peril!'" Ranma replied with another snort.

The Tendo Heiress growled at this. "Where does he get off thinking woman are weaker than men?" she hissed.

Ranma shrugged. "Pops may be a lousy person, but he is a good martial artist. Sneaky and underhanded too. I doubt he has ever met someone he couldn't beat by means fair or foul, male or female, strong or weak. "

The Saotome Heir frowned in thought. "It also suits his own world view. Because he's a man, to his own mind, he is therefore superior to any female, so even if one does miraculously beat him, he can still say that he's better than they are, because he's a man. It also lets him feed his arrogance and inflated ego."

The two Tendo sisters looked at Ranma with surprise at the frank dissection of his father's motives and opinions.

"Hasn't he tried to make your opinion of girls like his?" Akane asked suspiciously.

Ranma gave a small bitter laugh. "Of course he did. It even took hold, up until about two years ago."

"When you first entered China." Nabiki realised, "But why did your outlook change?"

"That's a story for another day." Ranma said quelling before he turned to Akane. "Do you mind if I ask you something?"

Akane's heart started to beat faster. "Okay…" she replied slowly.

"Nabiki here said that your old man stopped teaching when your mother died. Did that include you?" Ranma asked intently.

"…Yes." Akane admitted, "All of his students left in disgust as he became so…emotional…after Okaa-san passing. He gradually taught me less and less until all he does now is teach me for one day a week, and that is only if he feels like it."

"Huh." Ranma said thoughtfully, "That actually makes sense, given what I've seen of your dad. And the way you fought this morning."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Akane asked, confused.

"You put too much power behind your punches, your form is sloppy and doesn't take into account your growth, plus you have far too much useless movement and unnecessary flourishes as you fight." Ranma said absently, "Given that you have had hardly any instruction for, what? Seven years, give or take? It means you have talent if you are as strong as you are with only a single day a week."

Akane had been about to belt him when he listed all her deficiencies, but blushed as he gave her a backhanded complement about her natural talent.

'Well at least that proves he is different from his father.' Akane thought.

"Yeah…Ranma, about that…How strong is Kuno compared to me?" she asked.

"He's far stronger than you. Dunno if he's a masochist or what, but he's been letting you win however many times you fought him." Ranma said immediately.

Akane slumped over at his words. "As I thought…," she bemoaned.

Nabiki looked on in confusion. "Wait, what am I missing here?"

As they walked, Ranma brought Nabiki up to date on what her little transaction had wrought, with Akane adding her own deductions as well. To say the elder Tendo was surprised was an understatement.

Nabiki had never learnt much beyond the basic kata of Anything Goes before she decided that while martial arts was alright, it wasn't something she wanted to do for a living and had moved on. She had thought her sister and Kuno were about equal in terms of skill, so there was no harm in stringing Kuno along.

However, this revelation changed the game significantly. If Kuno was stronger than Akane, and by the degree Ranma said he was, she would lose to him at the kendo captain's whim once he eventually tired of being sent flying via Air Akane.

Something had to be done.

"One thing here is still puzzling me." Ranma commented, "Why is Akane attacked by half the guys at school every morning?"

Akane sighed wearily. "It was Kuno's doing." she said miserably, "He asked be out on the first day of High School. He said he had been 'watching my progress with intense scrutiny' for some time and had decided I was worthy to date him. I told him no, of course."

"Kuno-baby lives in a world of his own." Commented Nabiki in an offhanded manner, "Things like a girl saying 'no' to him do not happen there."

"Later, at the assembly, he told the entire school that if anyone wanted to date me, they had to beat me in a fight first." Akane continued heavily, "Ever since, I've had to beat up the entire male population every single day, until the only ones who try anymore are the ones from the sports and martial arts clubs. It just pisses me off that no one has the sense to ask me whether I even agreed with Kuno's stupid plan!"

"I guess that explains the anger and fear you feel around any guy but your dad and Dr Tofu." Ranma said quietly, "So, what do you plan to do?"

"I…"Akane said hesitantly, "I need to get stronger. I do not want to be strong-armed into dating Kuno, by peer pressure or physically. But…I don't know whom to turn to. Daddy wont teach me more than he already is, and from what you've said about your father makes me glad I never considered him as a teacher."

"Yeah…that would be bad." Ranma said dryly, "What about Dr Tofu? He's a Master of Martial Arts."

"Uh-uh, not possible." Nabiki said, "Kasumi is very territorial about Tofu. Whenever Akane goes near him alone, she always finds an excuse to bring over leftovers or return a book."

"Why?" asked Ranma, perplexed.

"I…have a small crush on Doctor Tofu." Akane admitted, "But he likes Kasumi, so I know I'm going to have to grow out of it sooner or later."

"How can you tell?" Ranma asked.

"Trust me, it's obvious. You'll know it when you see it." Nabiki said dryly.

"Uh-huh, sure." Ranma said absently. Then he sighed.

"Akane, would you like me to tech you a couple of things?" He offered.

Nabiki and Akane looked taken aback. "Y-You'd do that?" Akane asked, surprise filling her voice.

"Sure. If I correct your forms, you'll improve quite a bit. Ditto for getting rid of unnecessary movements and flourishes, as well as teaching you to only use just enough power in one punch to get the job done." Ranma said as the Tendo home came into sight, "If we correct your basic mistakes, you'll be surprised how much easier things will be."

"Ummm….I…accept then." Akane said, "Thanks for this."

"Meh. No problem." Ranma said with a shrug, "What we have to do before that is critical though."

"What do we have to do?" Akane asked worriedly.

"Drain you of all that anger-induced chi." Ranma stated implacably, "Otherwise you'll never become a good martial artist."

The two sisters stared at Ranma for a moment. "Say what?!" Akane said incredulously.

"Let's get your dad and Kasumi together before we start this. I don't wanna have to say this more than once." Ranma replied as he walked through the front door. Akane and Nabiki exchanged looks before entering after him.

What is the boy talking about?

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Next Chapter: Rage! Akane's Anger!

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Techniques Lexicon

Aoraigeki - Blue Thunder Strikes

Kuno's basic 'special' attack. He unleashes a rapid series of stabs with his bokken at such a speed that the displaced air is shot forward like an air bullet. The combination of strikes and pressure bullets is strong enough to rend concrete asunder.