Chapter Six : Furinkan

Tendo Residence

"Soun, I have grave news to tell you," Genma said as soon as the two of them got out of earshot of the rest.

"What is it, Saotome?" Soun asked.

"It is about Ranma's curse," Genma said.

"What about it?"

"I'm afraid that... at this moment, Ranma is stuck as a girl. No amount or temperature of hot water can change him back."

"You mean...?"

"Yes, it makes the plan to unite the schools much more difficult. But there's more..."

"More...?"

"Ranma has been acting strangely ever since he fell into the spring of Jusenkyo. When I asked the guide what the name of the spring was, the guide was unable to tell me. The spring was unknown. Supposedly no one had ever fallen into it, but it was obviously more than just the Spring of Drowned Young Girl. A mere glance at him will tell you that."

"What do you mean?" Soun asked, having not seen anything unusual except for maybe Ranma's hair color.

"Ranma has been acting rather strange. He's much more disobedient than before and a lot harder to manipulate like before. He's also, on occasion, acted like a girl!" Genma said, not picking up that Soun didn't pick up what he said.

He won't pickin' up what he putt'n down about him not pick'n up that what he be putt'n down.

...I think.

"Then there must be a cure."

"Yes. When I asked the guide about unlocking a curse, he told me of two artifacts. One with the power to lock curses, the other to unlock. If we can get the artifact that can unlock curses, it should be able to allow Ranma to become a man again. But the only clue I have about it is that it is far north of here."

"Then we must waste no time in searching for it!"

"No, Tendo. Not quite yet."

"Wh-what do you mean, not quite yet!?"

"Ranma has also been exhibiting strange abilities. I cannot explain them. Things just seem to... happen around him. Most of it is things strangely being... sliced apart, although there are times where plants and such have done strange things while he was there. I do not know what spring he fell into, but it has obviously made him much more powerful."

"So we must search for this artifact without him knowing we are doing so."

"Exactly, but sadly, the curse has also made him much more intelligent. It will not be easy to fool him. We need time to plan and prepare; only then can we start searching."

"Then we shall do so, my friend. It will be Soun's..."

"And Genma's..."

"PLAN GET RANMA CURED!"

There was a silence as they both noticed that they had yelled that part out.

No one said anything.

Maybe nobody heard them.

"What the hell are those two yelling about?" Ranma asked, sitting in the furo as she upbraided her hair.

"I think it's kinda obvious," Shampoo said.

"They're gonna do something really stupid," Ranma nodded.

The Tendo's, as soon as dinner was underway, were given the chance to see the new and improves Saotome Dinnertime Show. At first, Kasumi thought it was weird that Ranma asked if the chopsticks were disposable or not. She said that they were.

It wasn't until dinner started that she figured out why. Ryoga and Shampoo were eating normally, and to an extent, so was Ranma. It was Genma that was the spectacle. He would repeatedly try to steal food from Ranma, only to have his chopsticks sliced into several pieces for no apparent reason. Ranma wasn't moving to cut them or even to block them, the chopsticks were simply sliced apart in mid air.

Of course, Genma would whip out a new pair and eat a small bit of his own food before trying again, with the same results.

The funniest thing was that Ranma was eating at a slow and modest pace; her eyes closed most the time.

Eventually, Nabiki's curiosity perked itself.

"Okay, can someone tell me how in the world his chopsticks keep falling to pieces?" She asked.

"Hmm?" Ranma said looking up. It was at this point that Genma tried to steal from her again. This time, Ranma actually just brought up her own chop sticks to block, actually managing to snatch Genma's chopsticks away with her own, she then said, "I dunno. Maybe the gods are on my side."

This caused Shampoo to giggle. Ranma just smiled a goofy but warm smile and went back to eating.

Nabiki looked between Shampoo and Ranma, curious and confused. They were obviously hiding something. And no secret could hide itself from Nabiki Tendo for long.

"Well, anyway," Nabiki said, "I have to ask something. Where are the guests going to sleep?"

"What do you mean, Nabiki?" Kasumi asked.

"Well," Nabiki said, "Ryoga and Genma can share the spare bedroom, but where are Ranma and Shampoo going to sleep?"

"Why don't Ranma and Shampoo sleep in the spare bedroom, and Ryoga and Genma can sleep in the dojo?" Kasumi said.

"I'm fine with that," Ryoga said, "The floor of a dojo is much softer than the hard ground, anyway."

Genma scowled but nodded in agreement.

"Good, that was easy to resolve," Nabiki said, "Hopefully the budget will be as easy to resolve."

"Budget, huh?" Ranma said, looking up again, this time not bothering to catch Genma's chopsticks as they were again sliced apart, "I'm sure my old man wouldn't mind getting a job for once in his life."

"Hmm?" Genma asked, "A j-job? Are you sure one of you kids couldn't get one?"

"'All us 'kids' have to attend school," Nabiki said, "And Furinkan doesn't allow students to have jobs while attending classes."

"School?" Ranma looked up, "I have to attend school?"

"Well, yeah," Nabiki said, "Unless you want your father thrown in jail for a few days."

Ranma glanced at Genma. She narrowed her eyes for a moment as if seriously considering it.

"Ah, whatever," She sighed. This caused Genma to sigh in relief, "I guess I don't want Pop to be thrown in jail."

"Then tomorrow I'll leave early to set you three up as new students," Nabiki said.

"Even me?" Shampoo asked.

"Yep, even you," Nabiki said.

"B-but I've never gone to a school," Shampoo said, "We don't even have a school in the village!"

"Then that makes going even more important," Nabiki said, "You can't get anywhere in life if you lack intelligence."

"Well," Ranma said, "I guess that's that. Dinner was very good, Kasumi."

"Thank you, Ranma," Kasumi said.

Ranma stood from the table and walked over to where her pack was. She picked it up just as Akane excused herself. She stopped Ranma halfway towards the hallway.

"You study Kempo, right?" Akane asked.

"Um... yeah, a little," Ranma told her.

"Wanna spar?" Akane asked.

"Huh?" Ranma asked.

"Come on," Akane said, "Promise to go easy on you."

"Um... okay, I guess," Ranma said.

Ryoga and Shampoo exchanged glances.

But for two totally different reasons.

"Okay, are you ready?" Akane asked, sinking into a offensive stance.

"Yep," Ranma nodded, not sinking into any stance whatsoever.

Akane paused for a moment, before rushing in. She had said she was ready, so it was her fault if she got hurt.

Akane's initial blow missed by a mile.

Akane paused and looked around, not seeing Ranma. She then turned around to see Ranma standing about three or so feet directly behind her.

Akane hadn't even seen her move.

Akane attacked again. Ranma dodged. Attacked again. Dodged. Attack. Dodge. Attack. You get the point.

"Come on!" Akane yelled, "Fight for real!"

Ranma just smiled a warm smile, like she was enjoying herself.

Akane's final blow was a wicked hay maker punch to Ranma's head. She put her everything into it, and actually hit something this time.

Too bad it was the wall.

She felt a tap on the back of her head. She turned to see Ranma standing behind her with the same warm smile.

"You..." Akane said, but stopped, astonished.

"I'm sorry about the wall," Ranma said, looking at it, "And I'm sorry about not fighting back. I just wanted to see what level you were at."

"Don't treat me like I'm some beginner!" Akane shouted.

"I'm not," Ranma said, "You actually impressed me. Your moves seem self taught, but they're practiced and precise, meaning you work on them a lot. You seem to value strength over speed, but if you concentrated on speed a little more, you'd become much, much more formidable."

Akane paused.

"R-really?" Akane asked, "I guess I did kinda overdo it."

Ranma shook her head.

"I wouldn't worry about the hole in the wall," Ranma said.

"What do you mean?" Akane said, turning to look towards the hole, "I'm gonna have to pay Nabiki so that she..."

She couldn't find the hole.

"Where did it go?" Akane asked.

"Maybe the gods fixed it?" Ranma offered.

"Oh, come on," Akane shook her head, "You actually believe in those old fairy tales?"

Akane was surprised at the reaction. Ranma's expression changed from warm to pretty sad.

"Of course I do," She said, "I have to believe in them."

"What? Why?" Akane asked.

"Because if nobody believes in them..." Ranma said, looking down, "They'll die and disappear."

"What are you talking about?" Akane laughed a little, although it was an uneasy laugh, "Come on, get serious."

"I am serious," Ranma looked up at her for a moment, before looking down.

Akane just looked at her.

"I... I'm tired," Ranma said, "I-I'm gonna to go to bed now."

Akane watched as Ranma walked over to her bag, lifting it up. As she left the room, Ranma glanced back at Akane one last time before walking towards her room.

Akane stood there, not knowing what to do.

"Ranma?" Shampoo said as she entered the room.

"Yeah?" A tired voice answer from the center of the spare bedroom.

"Are you okay?" Shampoo asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Ranma looking up at her for a moment, her expression sad.

"What's the matter?" Shampoo asked.

"What Akane said," Ranma said, "About the gods being fairy tales..."

"Pffft," Shampoo said, "You know that not true."

"I know," Ranma said, "But so many people thinks of us that way. It's really sad. No one remembers Amaterasu, or Tachigami, or even the Hanagami."

"But the amazons did," Shampoo offered.

"One civilization out of countless," Ranma shook her head, "It's sad that no one else believes."

"Yeah, it is," Shampoo said, "But it you and my job to make them remember and set things right. We make them remember Amaterasu, Tachigami, and Hanagami... and every other god too."

"Yeah..." Ranma smiled, "We'll have to show them that gods still exist. One way or another."

Shampoo nodded.

"Come on," Shampoo said, "Sleep. We have school tomorrow."

She made a funny face as she said that.

Ranma laughed a warm laugh before she smiled and nodded.

"Night, Xian," Ranma said.

"Night, Ammy," Shampoo giggled.

Ranma giggled too.

"Hmm..." Nabiki said, sitting in her room, "The gods, eh?"

She looked at the tape recorder. She pushed stop.

"Well, like they said, we do have school tomorrow."

The next morning, Ryoga, Shampoo, Ranma, and Akane found themselves walking together towards Furinkan. Ranma and Shampoo walked along the chain link fence while Ryoga and Akane walked the sidewalk.

The three newcomers were wearing their normal attire, since none of them had anything remotely similar to a school uniform. Ranma was again wearing her wolf embroidered outfit, Shampoo a Chinese dress suit, and Ryoga his normal yellow and brown combination. There really wasn't any conversation going on as they neared the school. Ranma was just enjoying the warm spring sun.

"When we get to school," Akane suddenly said, "I don't want you to get involved with the fight."

"Huh?" Ryoga asked, "What fight?"

"It's just a stupid thing that the boys at school do every single morning," Akane said, "Just stay out of it, okay?"

"Uh... okay, I guess," Ranma said, looking down at her, "Just don't get hurt or anything."

"I'll be fine," Akane said, "I've won every single time."

As they neared the gates, they could start to see a large group of teenage boys that were standing just inside the school gates. Upon getting up near them, Akane suddenly broke into a mad dash towards them, plowing right into the middle of them.

Seeing that the gates were pretty much blocked by boys wearing everything to a kempo robe to a sumo outfit to that one weird of wearing a huge raccoon outfit, the three decided just to jump the fence instead.

Upon getting to the other side, Ranma suddenly stopped. She started to look around, as if trying to see something.

"What is it?" Shampoo asked.

"There's something... wrong about this place," Ranma said, taking a few cautious steps towards the school.

"A curse?" Shampoo asked.

"Maybe..." Ranma said, "But it's not very strong. I can feel it, but I can't see anything."

"Maybe it has something to do with that disaster-fest over there," Ryoga said, watching as the strangely outfitted boys started to fly through the air, "Damn, Akane is strong for someone of her size."

"I don't think Akane is cursed," Ranma said.

"Then what about the other students?" Shampoo asked, "I doubt any normal student would join in on that mob."

"It'd be hard to tell," Ranma said, "I would have to test every single person."

There was a pause.

Ranma suddenly shivered.

"It's cold," She muttered.

"Ranma!" A voice came from above them. The three there turned to look towards where it came from. Nabiki was standing in one of the third story windows, "If you don't hurry, you're gonna be late!"

"Oh man!" Ryoga said, "The teacher will be pissed if we're late the first day!"

"Come on, Ranma!" Shampoo said as she and Ryoga started to hurry towards the door.

"Hey, wait!" Ranma said, running after them.

However, before Ranma got to the door, she stopped dead in her tracks. Not seeing this, Ryoga and Shampoo kept moving inside.

A chill went down her spine. And the last time that had happened was...

Ranma slowly looked around. The only other person in the courtyard besides her; and wasn't unconscious; was Akane. She was begrudgingly walking past a few unconscious boys towards the door.

"Honestly," Akane said, "Every single day..."

"Every day?" Ranma asked, "Why do you get mobbed by, like, twenty or thirty some boys every day?"

"Well, it..." Akane said, before Ranma kinda distracted her.

Ranma's eyes seemed to flash a small bit as she noticed that Ranma was now looking over her shoulder. The next thing she knew was that rose petals came swarming around her a second later.

"Huh?" Akane said, looking down at the ground, "They've never exploded before."

"Wha...?" Ranma said, "A rose? Is that all? I thought it was something dangerous."

"D-dangerous?" Akane asked, "What are you talking about?"

"I thought someone was attacking you or something," Ranma told her, "Why else would someone throw something at you?"

"You there!" A voice came, "Who are you to be so familiar with Akane Tendo!?"

Ranma glanced around at that before she saw who had said it.

"Uh...?" She said looking at the tall boy in a white kempo outfit, "I'm..."

"HOLD!!!" The boy struck a rather absurd pose, "Is it not customary to present oneself first!?"

He then whirled around and struck another crazy pose.

"My name is upperclassman Kuno, Junior, group E," He said, "Captain of the Kendo Club, undefeated rising star of the high school fencing world, but my peers call me..."

Pause.

"The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!!!"

At this point, you could hear the crickets chirping in Australia.

"Uh..." Ranma said, "I'm... Ranma Saotome..."

She then leaned into Akane.

"Who the hell is this guy?" She whispered.

"He just told you..." Akane deadpanned.

"I meant whats wrong with him?" Ranma hissed back.

"He's an idiot," Akane deadpanned again.

"I see that someone's decided to be helpful today..." Ranma muttered to herself as she leaned away.

"What was that!?" Akane yelled.

"Nothing!" Ranma said quickly, before she started walking, not really watching where she was going, "I'd better be getting to class, don't want to be late on the first omph!"

The 'omph' part was her walking into something. Or someone.

"Hey, watch it!" Ranma said, looking at them.

"Ranma Saotome..." The person, Kuno, said with a stoic face, looking off into the distance with an extremely serious look on his face, "I..."

Ranma just looked up at him, unsure of what the hell this guy was doing.

"I..." Kuno said again, "NEVER BEFORE HAVE I SEE SUCH UNRIVALED BEAUTY!!!"

Ranma stepped back at few times at that sudden outburst, dropping into a defensive position.

"And so I will enact the same as I have done with the beloved Akane!" Kuno yelled, "Only those who defeat thee in battle shall have the honor to date thee!"

"Wh-what!?" Ranma yelled out, "D-date!? Are you mental!?"

"Have at thee!"

Ranma moved out of the way of the blow rather easily.

"I-I-I'm not g-gonna date you!!!" Ranma yelled in panic, "N-no way, n-no how!"

She avoided the next few blows just as easily. Then Kuno stopped, giving Ranma time to move away from him. She still looked really freaked out.

"Ah, but of course one of such divine beauty as you would be as skill, nay, even more skilled than that of the fierce tigress Akane Tendo!" Kuno said, "Then, if you manage to defeat me, I shall allow you to date me!"

"Wh-what!?" Ranma and Akane yelled out at the same time for completely different reasons.

"Where the hell do you get that sort of screwed up logic!?" Ranma yelled out afterwards, while in her head she thought, 'Divine beauty? Oh man, I hope he just said that and can't really see my true form...'

"I strike!"

Ranma, at this point, decided enough was enough. As Kuno charged in with a stab, show brought her hand up, almost as if to deflect his sword. It might of actually worked if she hadn't done it when Kuno was still about six or so feet away. To everyone else, at the moment, it looked like a really foolish move. But as that swipe ended, she balled up her fist and reeled back.

At that point, the sound of splintering wood could be heard. A moment after that, Kuno's wooden sword sliced neatly in two just above the hilt. Kuno had just enough time to look down confused before Ranma's fist hit his face.

Kuno was sent sprawling several feet away from where he had received the blow.

As Kuno laid there, Ranma walked past him, looking rather pleased with herself.

Everyone else who had watched was left wondering how in the world that had happened.