Notes
After the three introductory chapters, this is the real start. It's the first chapter which, for the most part (excluding the prologue), takes place in Fuka Gakuen.
It took a long time for this chapter to come out, didn't it? Anyway, from now on, updates should be more frequent, though not too frequent anyway.
/-
"Jusenkyo, it's been a while…," A young man muttered while looking at the familiar cursed springs. The waters had finally calmed down after the incident from several months ago, returning to their original springs, each one marked by bamboo poles spread around the terrain. The air was heavy, and a heavy fog made looking far away a useless activity.
His emerald eyes scanned the place, actively seeking for a figure which seemed to be unexpectedly missing. The slender, but fit, man walked along the muddy terrain, cautiously avoiding any of the several pounds surrounding him. He wore green pants and a shirt made of green scales, along with wrist protectors of the same material.
Previously, he had attacked the guide of those lands, and already was expecting a bad welcome, but… the guide actually disappearing? That was strange. The young man examined his surrounding, cautiously looking for the old man. His vengeance, his life… everything was relying on that.
The teenager stumbled around the mud slowly. After several minutes of searching, the only thing he could hear were his steps through the dirty ground. He sighted and sit on the ground, resting for several seconds, tapping his fingers on the mud repeatedly. "Where's the stupid old man?" He shouted angrily to no one, but, unexpectedly, heard an answer.
As if replying to his yell, he could clearly hear many footsteps. The sound of many people wearing heavy clothes and moving through the muddy terrain was as clear as the sun. "So, you've finally decided to appear…"
As the multiple strangers approached him, their shape became clear, even through the thick fog. Several armed men, wearing full body bullet proof vests, complete with helmets which hid most of their faces with a darkened glass. Each one carried a machinegun, aiming at the figure surrounded by their forces. "Hands up, Identify yourself!" One of the unknown men shouted.
The surrounded teenager, who called himself Taro, raised his head, smiling. "And… if I say no?" Taro grinned, his eyes exulting confidence.
The guards opened fire at the boy, streaks of light crossing the air with no success, as the boy quickly jumped several meters into the air, leaving the guards speechless. Before they even had time to understand the situation, Taro descended through the fog, kicking the head of one of the guards, and easily smashing his helmet as the man fell on the ground.
Upon watching the first one fall after being hit by a seemingly inhuman force, the others started moving away from the area hurriedly, stumbling through the swamp around the springs. The hunters had become prays. Quickly, they started falling, either by entering into springs and turning into inoffensive animals, like frogs and pigs, or getting taken out by single blows of the teenager, whose kicks and punches ignored all their training and equipment, knocking them out like little kids. In less than ten seconds, only one human remained standing.
"Honored guest has saved my life!" A fat man wearing rather bland, almost militaristic even, green clothes, including a long sleeved t-shirt and a cap, ran out of the fog, quickly hugging Taro tightly. "You're a great person, I'm very grateful!" The goofy old man released his tight grip, bowing politely to the stranger.
"Huh… I've not saved you…" Taro said curiously, puzzled at the reaction of the guide. The fat man looked at the face of the stranger again, recognition finally hitting him. His legs trembled as took a few steps backwards, before the stranger placed his hands on the guide's collar, holding him in place, and glaring sternly. "Stop playing dumb! I've seen with my own eyes a curse stronger than my own…" Taro's stern glare quickly turned into an angry one as he started yelling at the trembling guide. "Spit it out, old man! Where is the spring with the strongest drowned creature? Where's the strongest curse? Where's it? Tell me!"
Run, My HiME!
Chapter 4- Dancing Flame
"Ranma… Can't you stop being such a show off?" Akane yelled furiously at the teen that was jumping through trees of the vegetation which surrounded Fuka Gakuen's entrance. Several nearby students looked startled as the boy easily ran through the tree's branches, never missing a single one.
"It's not my fault you're just a clumsy tomboy." He answered back, while landing in yet another tree, Akane following just behind him, running through the grass.
"Come down!" The youngest Tendo shouted again. Ranma finally decided to hear her, and moved away from the branches, swiftly landing on the ground.
"What is your problem?" Saotome asked.
"See, Ranma, we're in a new school. No one knows us here, and I wouldn't like to become the center of a school circus yet again. So, could you please do your contribution and stop trying to get everyone's attention all the time?" Akane gave him an annoyed glance, while Ranma just nodded silently.
"If you say so…" Ranma replied, looking at the grass. While both continued walking towards the school, he mumbled incoherently, while avoiding Akane's face, "Stupid tomboy…"
Soon, their new school came into view. Unlike Furinkan, which, for all its weirdness, actually had an extremely conventional external architecture, the school building which was standing in front of their path had its own design, a very different one from the conventional Japanese high schools.
Instead of a single large gray building, there were three basic structures. Two simple white buildings separated by a large entrance hall. The entrance was surrounded by trees, cut in such a way to form several green cones. The front walls of the middle structure were almost made of several large glass windows, forming a large transparent cylinder, with an entrance, a large doorway, in the center. The ceiling had a half-spherical shape, and also was made of glass, just like the walls. Standing behind the transparent structure, there was a smaller building, colored with a light brown tint. Certainly, it was a much more pleasant view than standard schools.
/-
"Hey, sis, isn't that Yuuichi?" Takumi waived to the older teen who answered with a gesture of his own. Tate was wearing a standard winter uniform, but its jacket was open, revealing a green shirt, which definitely wasn't part of the uniform. Takumi wore a blue uniform, much simpler looking than the one of High-school. However, quickly Tate turned his head away, ignoring the two Tokihas.
"What's up with him?" Takumi briefly wondered, as he and his sister approached the school's entrance.
"He's just some vulgar person." Mai replied in a teasingly tone. "Vulgar, pervert, stupid…"
"I'm none of those things!" Tate yelled loudly, while rushing towards Mai, instantly bridging the distance between them.
"See, that's how you call people like him." Mai joked to her brother, Tate's eyebrow twitching.
"By the way, what happened to her? The girl you picked up in the boat…" The older male wondered briefly, looking away from Mai.
"Ah…" She sweated slightly. That question brought her bad memories of the previous night. "She's in the health center, but, according to the doctor, she's just sleeping heavily."
"Takumi, Tate, Mai!" Akane quickly caught up with them, Ranma slowly following behind. The group already was inside the building, walking along a corridor.
"Hey, Akane!" Takumi greeted his new acquaintance.
"That person…" Mai silently wondered. That girl… She was standing in that room last night, wielding those huge metallic fists… "What was really happening?" The orange haired teen silently wondered.
"Where were you during that confusion last night, huh?" Tate asked, pointing to their faces.
"Huh… That was… " Akane looked at her fingers, waving them repeatedly as she uselessly tried to come up with an excuse.
"We were figh-" Ranma tried to answer, but suddenly Akane's hand covered his mouth, holding it while she weakly smiled. "We were finally sleeping! That's it!" Mai's eyes narrowed after that weird exchange. Definitely, something had happened last night in the ferry.
"What a bad lie…" Tate sighed, easily seeing through those words, though he didn't dare to guess what they were hiding. He suddenly raised his hand, pointing his finger at the rest of the group. "From this day on, I won't interact with any of you! If you're going to risk your lives and do such weird things, do it by yourselves!"
"Coward." Ranma said, a grin drawn on his face.
"Shut up!" Tate yelled while walking away from the group.
/
A few minutes later, Tate, sitting on a chair, and resting his head with one hand, stared at the newcomers. "Why did I open my mouth?"
"I'm Mai Tokiha!" She introduced herself, bowing to the class. Ranma and Akane stood beside her. Saotome quickly skimmed through the students, trying to identify someone known, but to no avail.
"This will be boring…" Ranma muttered silently.
In a hill close to the school, a small, but dense, forest quickly filled the view. In the midst of those woods, a feminine form in biker clothes stood by the side of her vehicle, her eyes, hidden by the reflexive glass of her helmet, glaring at the physical structure of the school.
/-
The class went on as usual, without any crazy teachers or a martial artist breaking through the roof during the explanation, but Ranma was slightly unnerved as a girl with short black hair and oval glasses kept a constant look on him. He didn't examine her too intently, but it was obvious that those eyes weren't from someone in love or attracted to him, but, rather, someone examining him like a product.
"Hey, Akane, you don't want to be on the stage, right? So, let's get out now." Ranma said just as the bell rung indicating the end of that class.
"Huh? Ok…" The Tendou replied, oblivious to the glances from the other girl. Ranma held Akane's arm, and forced her to quickly walk away from class. She directed an angry glare during a brief instant, but let it go as they stood alone in a corridor.
"What was that all about?" Akane asked Ranma, puzzled by his hurriedness.
"There was this one girl examining us through class. She didn't seem to pay attention to that other new girl either. Didn't you say you want to avoid a circus?"
Akane silently pondered his words for a while, before answering. "You're right, thanks Ranma."
"Hey, by the way, what happened to that toy of yours?" Ranma inquired, looking curiously at her hands.
"That wasn't a toy." Akane answered, her eyes closed. Why did he always need to tease her?
"…I can just summon it at anytime, it won't appear out of nowhere unexpectedly, unlike your curse."
"So… Hm… what do you think about a little spar session after class?" Ranma said, avoiding eye contact with her.
"Sparring? With those things, I'll crush you!" Akane had a big smile on her face, looking confidently at Ranma. Was he finally recognizing her? She didn't know why she had gotten those things, but it didn't really matter.
"Alright, see you later!" Ranma turned his back to her, heading towards a door.
"Where are you going?" Inquired Akane.
"I'll take a look at the surroundings of this place. Don't worry, I'll be back before next class!"
"Alright… I need to get to know the students from class anyway." The younger Tendo sighed, going back towards class hoping some people still were hanging there.
/
It was lunch time, so the empty tables of the cafeteria were unusually filled with students, both new and old, catching up with the news of the day.
"There have been several news in the last few days, but the most interesting surely is Ranma Saotome transferring to this place!" Chie, the girl who was analyzing Ranma earlier exclaimed, while Mai looked at her curiously.
"What is so interesting about him?" Tokiha inquired curiously.
"I've been checking his background ever since I head about his coming to this place. It seems he has traveled through all kinds of places, and has always gotten involved into school fights, cross-dressing and even theft. I really don't know how he got accepted, but he'll make this place more interesting! Didn't you see the damage in the ferry's lower rooms?"
"I was in that ship." Mai answered slightly amused by the interest of the other girl. "But I don't think he had anything to do with him…" She muttered while silently reminiscing her visage at the end of that night. "A monster, a sword, a golden glove… HiMEs…"
"Heh… would you know something?" Chie's face got dangerously close to Mai, who quickly bended backwards.
"Huh… no, of course, not!" she said embarrassedly.
The inquirer adjusted her glasses, laying back on her chair. It was obvious she wouldn't be getting much info from Mai… Quickly, she switched her focus to another girl who had just appeared from the hall. "Hey, you're Akane Tendo, right? Could you answer some questions?"
"Huh- Of course." Akane slowly approached the table, carefully observing Chie.
/
A loud yell echoed through the halls of Fuka Gakuen's Kendo dojo as several swordsman fly into the walls.
"Pathetic." Kuno murmured while looking at his defeated opponents. "In order to reach new heights, this place definitely needs a capable leader, me, the great Kuno!" He said while raising his sword towards the roof.
"You aren't our captain…" One of the fighters weakly said as he tried to get up, but couldn't mutter enough strength to do so.
"If Takeda were here…" Another one said, grasping onto the wall to lift his body.
"You attack mere students while fighting with your full strength, and you consider yourself a capable leader? I, Captain Takeda, will defeat you, Tatewaki Kuno!" A young man with spiked hair wearing dark blue traditional kendo garb appeared as if out of nowhere, challenging Kuno for a battle
"You…?" Kuno was taken by surprise for a few moments, but quickly opened an ominous smile. "If Yuuichi was the best you've produced, I won't even have to put any effort into this, commoner!"
"Damn you…!" Takeda angrily rushed towards Kuno, clashing their swords while struggling to keep his footing.
/-
"And everything was going so well… Stupid curse…" A small redhead wearing a baggy male uniform glared at a broken pipe, next to one of the entrances to the main building of the complex.
"I wonder if it'll be possible to get to the bathroom without causing any commotion…?" Ranma puzzled as he quickened his pace while walking through the school's corridors. A few students walking or only hanging there gave her some odd glances, but it didn't seem to have become any kind of commotion. Soon, the bathroom's door came into view.
"Alright! I've done it!" He proudly proclaimed, hoping this large school would have some hot water in there.
"What do you think you're doing?" A loud voice stopped Ranma completely in her tracks.
"What?"
A fuming girl with long blond hair, wearing a slightly different female uniform, with a green jacket, menacingly looked at the smaller Ranma, her anger almost visible through her skin.
"Wha-What…?" Momentarily surprised, the redhead could only mutter a few incoherent words.
/
As the sounds of a battle still echoed through the dojo, a shadowy figure walked outside. It stealthily circled through the bushes next to the buildings without making any sounds until its large eyes focuses on a small package which had been left outside by one of the students.
"Food!" The small formed jumped with joy grabbing and ripping it open, slamming the entire red bread on its mouth.
"WWAAAAHH" The loud fierce yell shacked the land and sky, abruptly putting an end to sounds of battle.
"What was that?" A bruised and battered Takeda rushed to outside along with Kuno, who didn't seem to carry a single wound. They stood beside two other students, starting at a nearby bush. A shadowy form seemed to move in random patterns behind them. Kuno lifted his wooden sword, as if in defiance to the creature.
"Come forth, vile monster" He yelled, and soon got his wish, as the shadowy form with red eyes and breath of smoke leaped from the bushes jumping right onto Takeda, who was immediately knocked out. The form then proceeded to rush through trees, heading towards the school's main building. Kuno just grinned. "Obviously, this happened due to my presence, for this is a call of my heroic destiny which shall start today in this noble place!"
"Wait, demon!" The kendo champion yelled as he rushed through the forest running in a surprisingly quick pace after it.
/-
"Walking in the grounds of this Academy wearing a vile parody of our uniform with no shame! Destroying your own improper garment by drenching it! Soaking the clean, beautiful and important corridor's floor! Trying to avoid school's authority, infecting the students' innocent eyes, senses and morals! Inscribing fake information into our database! Acting against everything that this institution stands for! Ranma Saotome, what do you have to say for yourself?" The angry girl from earlier was still going on and on while Ranma gazed at the outside, mostly ignoring her tirade while sitting on a chair.
"So, can I get out now?" The redhead asked showing a complete disinterest in her words.
"THERE'S NO WAY YOU WILL WALK OUT OF THIS ROOM WEARING THAT!"
"Now, now, Haruka, let's take a tea drink and calm down." A man that was standing behind Haruka said, calmly looking at the raging girl while placing a cup of tea on a table next to Ranma. He had short black hair and was wearing a similarly colored uniform, and, like Ranma, seemed to completely ignore the girl's tirade. "Ranma, drink one too."
"Huh… thanks." Ranma said while holding the cup, quickly facing away from the stranger and starting to examine the cup, pounding if she should just drop it on herself and put an end to that. It didn't seem too hot, but should be enough to trigger the transformation. Of course, there was also the promise made to Akane earlier to consider. No circus. "Right, like there was a way I could avoid that…" She silently added.
"Ok, I'm done with this!" Ranma suddenly snapped, getting up. The male student took a step back from her in surprise, while Haruka continued looking at her menacingly. The pigtailed girl made a sudden movement with her arm, throwing the tea onto her own face.
"Alright, do you understand now"? Ranma said, grinning while waiting for the perplexed reactions of the couple. "Huh…?" The still redhead martial artist looked at her own body, noticing that she still was a girl. "It wasn't hot enough…" she murmured under her own breath.
"Let's calm down, Miss Saotome." The older teen said that while looking at the drenched girl with a surprising composed attitude, he noticed the visibly slightly twist of eyebrows of the redhead upon hearing the words "Miss Saotome". "Hm… would just Ranma be better?"
"You could say so…" An annoyed Ranma grumbled. How long did they plan on keeping him there?
"I'm the vice-president of the student council…"
"Reito! You may be the vice-president, but don't interfere right now!" Haruka protested while pushing away the taller student. "It's our job as executives to keep the peace and order of the campus!" She stopped briefly, only to focus on Ranma and continue her tirade. "And you, problematic girl, you won't get out of this place until you agree to wear a proper uniform!"
"Suzushiro, it's our job as executives to keep peace and order on this campus, isn't it?" A calm voice in a tone similar to Reito's entered in the conversation. The source was another girl, this one wearing a light brown uniform and a darker blond hair, but sporting a much calmer face. While hearing those words, Haruka's fierce eyes seemed to lose their strength as she looked halfway towards the floor.
"Yes, that is correct, president Fujino." The executive sighted.
"Then isn't it better to give her a chance and let her enjoy this place, rather than to instill fear on her?" The president continued between drinks of tea.
"Now, Ranma…" Chizuru Fujino continued, "would you please collaborate with us and wear the girl's uniform this time?"
"That didn't help anything…" The readhead sighed. She should just have jumped through one of the windows while the crazy girl was still yelling.
/-
"Your path of destruction has come to an end!" Kuno raised his sword, pointing it to the strange form, which had seemingly stopped its insane rush, trying futility to hide itself behind a three.
The form didn't move nor answered his call, provoking the swordsman into approaching it. Kuno took a few calculated steps, but suddenly stopped as a swift wind blew through him. He inclined his chest to the side, narrowly avoiding a large metallic sword from flying right through him.
"That was…-" Holding his weapon with both hands, Kuno tried to predict his foe's next move. It doesn't matter from where he appeared, from the side, or even jumping the thick tree that separated them, he was ready to dodge and finish it off, whatever "it" was.
"AAAHHH!" The creature yelled loudly as its new weapon cut the tree like paper and its owned rushed towards the former "Blue Thunder". Kuno tried to parry the attack with his own sword, but the opponent's easily broke through it, Tatewaki's head barely moving out of the way of the blade as the creature dashed past him.
They turned towards each other, the creature finally stopping in a place which made it perfectly visible. Kuno squinted his eyes as the image became clear.
A young black haired girl wearing a blue school uniform was standing there, where the creature should have been. Had it escaped?
Her fierce yellow eyes stared angrily at him. She quickly proceeded to jump to a tree, seemingly ignoring the significant weight of the sword she was carrying, leaving him alone in his confusion.
/-
"Chie didn't seem to be a bad person, after all." Akane pondered while slamming the classroom door open. "That stupid Ranma, he made me get worried for nothing! I bet he's laughing right now!"
"Huh?" She blinked a few times, noticing a new girl in the classroom. She was standing on a corner, angrily glaring at something through a window next to her, her read hair tied on a ponytail similar to Ranma's.
A sinking feeling running through her stomach, Akane approached the girl. "Don't tell me…" Akane grabbed the enigma and turned her around, confirming her suspicions.
"RANMA?"
"Not my fault." She spoke slowly, clenching her fists at the humiliation she had just received.
"What are you trying to do now, pervert?" Akane pressed a finger against Ranma's forehead.
"I've already told you, not my fault!" Saotome held her hand, snapping it away from her. "The stupid student council forced me to wear this!"
"The… student… council…?" Akane raised an eyebrow at that answer. She had heard some stories about the council, so it could make sense, if he was found out while in his cursed form… but Ranma could easily just be preparing another one of his tricks…
"I don't care if you believe or not," the redhead opened the window, "but I won't stay here looking like this!"
"Where are you going?"
"I'll search for the principal, of course." Ranma answered, right before jumping through the window, annoyed at her fiancé. "You should be happy I didn't just break that stupid room."
Akane cooled enough to think for a second, quickly jumping outside too. "You're going to tell about your curse, isn't it? Ok, I'll be going with you."
Akane quickly caught up with Ranma, who was standing still, apparently waiting for her. "Let's go?" She grabbed Ranma's arm, but he remained immobile. "Hey, what's the problem?"
"Look at that girl…" He pointed at a girl in a school uniform walking right past them. She had long dark hair combed to the sides and walked right past them, giving a quick glance to Akane as she did it.
"What about her?"
"Her weird aura is similar to the wolf from that day…" Ranma commented, without looking directly at Natsuki.
"You don't mean… She was the one from that day?" Akane gasped. That didn't sound good.
"Maybe." Ranma smirked. "In any case, this place seems to be more exciting than I thought."
"Why are there freaks everywhere…" The youngest Tendo complained, following Ranma to the principal's building.
/
Yuuchi Tate arrived at the kendo club, just to see the whole place in ruins. The entire team just sit on the floor, looking completely unmotivated. The wooden floor was broken in several sections. Pieces of wood from the floor itself and from various broken swords were spread around the room.
"What happened here? Takeda?"
Takeda sit on a corner, head down. "Tatewaki Kuno defeated everyone… by himself…"
"Kuno…" Tate looked at his own hand, closing it into a fist and opening it. "This… has nothing to do with me anymore. I'm sorry." He headed to the exit, but just stopped there.
"Can… I really say that?"
/
The building stood apart from the school itself separated from it by large garden, decorated with roman style columns and shrines. The building itself resembled a small mansion, the only entrance was through two wooden doors right in the middle of that building. The couple approached it silently, stopping right by the front doors and hesitating for a moment. However, as soon as they stood there, the doors opened from inside, revealing a tall woman in a red French maid uniform, bowing respectfully to the teens.
"We've been expecting you, Akane Tendo." The pink haired maid said.
"Me?" Akane pointed at herself surprised.
"Hey! She's just coming along with me!" Ranma protested, standing in front of her. "Anyway, call the principal, I have a 'problem' that needs to be corrected."
"Don't worry, Saotome. I know about your condition very well." From behind the maid, a wheelchair moved, taking front stage. Sitting there was a girl with long light violet hair wearing a green dress. Even though she seemed like an early teenager, she also seemed refined, carrying calmness and tranquility around her.
"She's on the board of directors of Fuuka Gakuen, Mashiro Kazahama." The maid explained.
"THAT little girl is the principal?" Ranma exclaimed looking at her with indignation.
"Welcome to Fuuka Gakuen." Mashiro spoke serenely.
"Please, follow us. We'll discuss matters inside" The maid said while she entered alongside the other girl, leaving the front door open. Ranma and Akane looked at each other, and quickly followed them.
They stopped in a spacious room, sitting around a small table on two couches, while Mashiro stayed on her wheelchair and the maid was still standing, behind her.
"Alright, miss director…" Ranma looked at her worriedly for a second, "you won't steal our energy to go to some adult body, right?"
"Hey, Ranma!" Akane protested, but it was too late. "Forgive him, please, director!"
"What?" The girl smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not your enemy. I invited you here for a reason, Akane Tendo."
"You, who is a HiME."
"HiME?" Ranma and Akane silently wondered, but decided to let her continue the explanation before asking anything.
"That monster you saw yesterday… It was an Orphan. A creature that comes wandering out of somewhere else to our reality."
"So, it was really a monster." Ranma concluded, standing up, he knew he wouldn't like what that girl would say afterwards. He could see that the girl hadn't even noticed his agitation, her attention was entirely focused on Akane.
"The only ones with the power to defeat them are the maidens blessed with the power of the red star. Only HiMEs like you, Akane Tendo."
"HiME? So those gloves…" Akane looked at her own hands, a smile drawing on her face. It seemed like a chance to be important, to do something that not even Ranma could.
"Wait. Are you serious?" The redhead protested, standing in front of Akane. "You've called a bunch of girls here to fight against those things?" Ranma yelled, grabbing the table. "Look, I don't understand anything about HiMEs or Orphans, but I know that there are better ways to handle this situation."
"You carry Jusenkyo's curse…" The violet haired girl asked, though her expression showed that she already knew the answer.
"What?" Both Akane and Ranma stared perplexedly at her.
"Even if you think you could handle the Orphan you saw last night, they'll only become stronger and stronger. Without a HiME's power, it'd be impossible to fight."
Ranma sighed. That wasn't going anywhere. "Anyway, I didn't come here to talk about Akane, I came here because I had some problems with the student council, do something about it! I don't like wearing girl's clothes just because I might get splashed by water!"
"There's another problem too." Akane said, in a more respectful tone. "There was a girl with strange powers accompanied by a monster who attacked us before we arrived here. Was she a HiME? What about the monster?"
"Mr. Saotome. I'll handle your problems regarding the school dress code, just keep wearing that for today. Akane Tendo, that girl was Natsuki Kuga. She has her own reasons for her actions. The monster was a Child, a creature spiritually bonded to a HiME. Hasn't one appeared for you yet?"
"Huh… No, nothing like that. Just two golden gloves."
"Elements but no Child? That's peculiar. However, a Child will most likely appear soon." Mashiro seemed to show small signs of doubt, but soon returned to her neutral expression.
"It's already late, let's go back to class Akane." Ranma called his fiancée, annoyed. "Anyway, miss principal, don't think I'll just stay aside and let you continue your stupid game the way you want." Ranma raised her fist. "I'll show that I can be stronger than any stupid HiME."
"Can't you just shut up, Ranma?" Akane complained, leaving after him.
Mashiro looked at the two teens worriedly, and continued looking at the corridor even after they vanished.
"Why did you tell the boy about the HiMEs?" The maid, Fumi Himeno, asked.
"It might be just a foolish hope… but… Saotome reminds me of someone I used to know..." The younger girl said, closing her eyes under a sudden weight.
/
Hours later, the skies had an orange tint, and most students were leaving classes already, standing in the middle of the crowd, Mai looked around frustrated "Takumi!"
"I can't believe he'd just disappear in the first day…" She complained to no one in particular.
"Are you looking for someone?" A boy, wearing the uniform for middle school students, a white shirt and gray pants, approached Mai, looking at her with his bright yellow eyes. He was grinning confidently. "A small lost boy… perhaps?"
"Who are you?" Even though the boy wasn't physically imposing, somehow Mai felt threatened by his mere presence.
"I get the feeling that something awful might happen if you don't hurry up, my princess…" The boy smiled while throwing a small white box to Tokiha. "A small lost boy might be needing your help…"
"Takumi!"
/
The black haired Ranma stood at the top of a particularly high tree in the middle of a forest situated next to Fukka Gakuen, wearing his blue pants and red Chinese shirt. The sun was already setting, lighting the horizon with an orange tone.
He breathed heavily, focusing his ki on his hands. Small particles of light started converging to them, appearing out of nowhere.
"I can do it. I will do it." Ranma repeated to himself while trying to gather energy on his hands. During the last battle, he noticed that the monster, "Orphan" seemed to be strangely affected by that blast of positive energy. It carried a negative aura, so that made sense. Of course, he also had learned that the Moko Takabisha just wasn't strong enough to finish them off, he needed something even stronger.
Ranma put his hands together, uniting the two small spheres of light into a single, bigger one. However, right after that, the sphere dispersed. "I'll just have to try again." Saotome told himself. However, before he could continue, the cry of a child echoed through the forest.
"What?" Ranma heard it and immediately dropped from the tree, running in the direction of the source of the sounds. A second scream was heard, followed by the howl of some unknown creature. "Another Orphan…?" He sweated. "It's time for a rematch."
In a few seconds, Ranma found a cave in the middle of the forest and entered. The main tunnel leaded to a spacious room, lying in the middle of that place was a boy Ranma had seen in that ship, right behind him there was a tall monster. "Orphan." The martial artist repeated, looking at the thing before him.
Rather than the previous one, which was barely taller than a human, this one was basically a giant and its form was all but humanoid. It had 4 legs with a torso extending from the front of its body, and, from that torso, 10 arms, each one ending in a large gray claw. Its two round eyes shinned with malice, lusting after its prey. Its body and skin seemed similar to a lizard, but the face seemed out of some insect with round red eyes and pincers around the mouth.
The boy was unconscious, a hand over his own heart. Ranma jumped towards the monster, spinning in midway and kicking its head vertically. The head was raised by the attack, however, the monster's body didn't move at all.
"Moko Takabisha!" Ranma yelled while projecting energy from his palms, the two blasts of light hit the monster, which looked away from the child, focusing on Ranma.
"Not strong enough for this one." Ranma complained, jumping away from the Orphan.
"Takumi!" A female student ran into the cave, towards the boy fallen in the middle.
"Huh?" Ranma recognized the girl… it was the one from the ferry, Mai Tokiha.
The monster suddenly thrust its claws towards the girl, but Saotome jumped between them, blocking the strike but getting thrown into a wall.
"Ranma?" Mai looked at him surprised. She didn't understand what was happening there, she didn't understand what was that monster. However, she knew that she needed to protect her brother. Ever since her mother died, that was her mission, that was her role. She wouldn't let anything bad happen to him. Mai faced the monster, looking at him daringly, even though apparently there wasn't anything she could do. "Takumi!"
The eyes of the monster shone again as it swung its claw towards Mai, however, before it could hit her, a red light, coming from her breast, enveloped her body. Soon afterwards, a column of fire erupted around her body, bursting through the cave's ceiling and crossing the skies.
"She's a HiME…?" Ranma wondered, slowly getting up. When the fire dispersed, there were 4 golden rings, each one floating around one of her hands and ankles.
Reacting in surprised to her own state, Mai brought back her hands defensively. Instantly, a wall of fire formed in front of her and smashed itself against the monster pushing it back.
"It's hot…" Mai looked at the rings spinning around her limbs. "What are these…?"
"Calm down, Mai. Those are elements, proof of a HiME's power." Suddenly, the voice of that white haired boy echoed in the cave as he appeared, sitting on a rock encrusted into the wall.
"You're… from just now?" The orange haired girl stared at the boy that had somehow gotten himself a seat in a place that seemed just impossible to reach.
"HiMEs… HiMEs…? Is that everything you talk about around here?" Ranma retorted.
The monster suddenly jumped towards Mai, showing agility previously unseen that seemed just unnatural considering its height and weight. However, the bracelets around Mai suddenly spun and she burst through the air, grabbing her brother just as she floated beside him, removing him from the center of the cave right before the monster crushed it.
Ranma jumped to the cave's wall, rebounding from it and flying directly to the monster's face "Moko Takabisha!" He yelled, right as his hands touched the monster's eyes, creating an explosion of light that actually seemed to hurt the monster, which cried in pain.
"Huh… Is that a HiME too?" Mai asked to the boy sitting on the rocks, but he stood still answering.
"He… is just an uninvited guest." The white haired boy said.
The monster's damaged head suddenly fell, a new head, similar to the one of a lizard, sprouting on its place.
"What the…?" Ranma shouted in surprised, but barely had time to react. The monster suddenly thrust towards him, its legs suddenly raised and its entire lower body started spinning like an inverted helicopter. With the new form, the monster crossed the cave in instants, appearing before Ranma and hitting him with one of its claws, pushing him into the ground.
"AAAAAHHH"
It quickly lost interest on the martial artist, facing Mai and her brother again and thrusting towards them, only stopping when a wall of fire appeared on its way. However, drops of acid fell from its mouth, falling closer and closer to Mai's brother, who still remained unconscious on the ground.
Suddenly, the monster was thrown to the site as a jumping Ranma kicked its chest while rocketing past it. "I've already got your attacks." Saotome smiled. "There's no way you can hit me again!"
The monster thruster towards Ranma, trying to hit it again with its claws, but he just dodged each and every attack from its hands.
"I can dodge this thing's attacks… but I can't really hurt him as I am right now…" Ranma complained to himself, moving next to a wall and dodging, letting the monster get stuck on a wall.
"Mai, look behind you." The boy with golden eyes said.
"Huh?" Mai looked behind her. There was a huge red sword encrusted into the wall, several green eyes glowing through holes in it. "What is this?"
"To cut to the point, this is your guardian, Kagutsuchi. Of all the childs, for that one to be yours…" The white haired boy somehow had descended from the top of the cave, standing next to Mai herself.
"Now, choose whether or not to accept him, to fight alongside him. Mai… no, 'My princess'!"
Mai looked at the sword, carefully. Was that boy even speaking the truth? Would that thing be an ally?
"It goes without saying, but… If you're going to fight… you'll have to put what's most important to you on the line." The boy smiled, and immediately ran outside.
Meanwhile, Ranma tried to produce more blasts of energy to hurt the monster, but the light dissipated harmlessly on his hands. "Is my confidence already drained? Damn it… The longer a fight goes on… the weaker this attack gets…"
"If you're saying to put my life on the line…" Mai said, grasping the sword. "I'll do it without any hesitation! Kagutsuchi!"
The girl pulled the swords from the rock and threw it on the ground, immediately flying over her brother and picking him up. The monster moved away from the sword, while a giant flaming spiral pillar emerged from the ground.
From the giant flames, much larger than the column Mai had created by herself, emerged a giant metallic head. A white mechanical dragon with a red sword encrusted on its head and giant wings of fire appeared. Its lower body lacked legs, looking like a huge serpent. The new creature dwarfed even the Orphan, making the previously unbeatable monster look like a small lizard.
"What is that?" Mai yelled when the creature appeared.
"That's a… Child…?" Ranma gasped at the sheer power emanated by that thing.
Kagutsuchi looked curiously with its six emerald eyes at Mai, before facing the Orphan. Suddenly, it opened a previous unseen mouth, revealing organic teeth and tongue as it howled savagely.
It started inhaling air, pushing even rocks towards him, both Ranma and Mai looked at it with pure surprised. Its abdomen seemed to be filled by something, and suddenly it lowered its head, throwing out a giant ball of fire that consumed everything on its path, including the Orphan.
/
Akane stood at a balcony, admiring the sight of the mountain next to the school. However, suddenly, a wall of fire burst forth, painting of red the dark sky, crossing almost the entire forest.
"What…?" She looked at the visage with surprise and admiration, however, everything was suddenly replaced by terror when she realized the situation. "Ranma!"
/