"Must be my class," Yusuke said, stating the obvious in a very confidence and jestingly way, standing outside of a door labelled maths. Inhaling the rest of his cigarette in a smooth motion, the delinquent flicked the bud away the same time he exhaled the inhaled tobacco out of his nostrils and mouth.
Inside of the class, a pink-clad middle-aged man was in the gist of checking the present students on a register, "Nabiki Tendo," though before the aforementioned infamous mercenary could answer the attention of those present were drawn to the opening of the door, blinking in curiosity at the unknown student from before.
"S'up?" Yusuke said, swaggering into the classroom.
"And who might you be sir?" The teacher asked.
"Ehh-."
"Ah," He drawled, slowly snapping his fingers, "You must be the new student."
"There you have it," He shrugged, ignoring all the curious observations and the not-so subtle whispers regarding his earlier massacre of the Kuno's mass of followers, 'Must have seen,' Which was kind of expected considering the class was located at the front of the school, 'Oh well, had to leave an impression sometime to let them know whose boss around here.'
"Uh," The nervous call of his teacher prompted Yusuke to glance over his shoulder, sending the under confident man a look of expectant look of reluctance that gave off vibes of contempt, "Sorry, b-but perhaps you would like to come up to the front and introduce yourself, young man?"
'He's a shit wreck,' Yusuke internally noted, masquerading his usual condescending sneer behind a casual look of stoicism, shoving his hands into his pockets to resume his trek to his desk, 'This is semester's going to pass by like a breeze the way things are shaping up already.'
"Uh. Young man?"
"Yusuke. Yusuke Urameshi."
"Oh. Just to be sure-."
"Precisely. 'Less it's show-and-tell day, don't expect me to take to the stage."
"Oh my."
'Ohh! A defiant one,' Nabiki mused, though there was a distinct tone of sarcasm laced in her thoughts. Ultimately, their teacher wasn't the assertive kind by any means and was frequently pushed around by delinquent students attending Furinkan High School, including herself.
That was unfortunately the tragic tale of most teachers whom worked at one of the roughest schools in the country, the notorious Furinkan High School.
While the other students glanced nervously at the rebellious youth, already making a note in their heads to avoid him at all costs, Nabiki didn't. Instead, she kept her elbow propped on the surface of her desk to idly support her chin.
'Seems I'll have to play my cards rather heedfully to attach the strings on this one,' She thought with a devious sneer. Though his display of sheer, unmerciful carnage aroused her somewhat, she wasn't one to simply throw on an objective unless given substantial proof that it was unobtainable.
'Whoopee doo, I've got the back seat near the window,' Yusuke internally quipped, seating himself on his desk, 'Must mean I'm the main character,' As anime characters often sit at the back or at least in a desk situated in the window row.
Shaking that thought off, Yusuke hafted his legs onto his desk, crossing one over the other and tucking his arms behind his head.
Feeling the eyes of curious individuals on his disrespectful person, Yusuke turned an unamused glance to his audience, emanating the slightest bits of killing intent, "Can I help any of you?" He deadpanned, causing those previously watching to look away hastily, keeping their heads suspiciously buried into their desks.
'Definitely going to be a challenge.' Nabiki concluded, still flexing a faux innocent smile to masquerade her predatory outlook.
"Right!" The teacher said cheerfully, trying to ignore the shaking in his legs, "Can anyone tell me the square root of two?"
'So it begins.'
XxX
King of the Jungle
C
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TWO
Power vs Speed
The poor second grade maths teacher would've done anything to be in his follow comrade's place right now, mostly because his own delinquent student in Ranma Saotome was far more accommodating than his own and actually complied to his recommendation of introducing himself formally in front of the class along with Xiaoyu.
"State your names," Not to mention the first grade Science teacher was far less thrilled than his counterpart to be teaching a bunch of rowdy kids, as he lackadaisical tone made that clear.
He wasn't exactly dressed accordingly for a teacher's role either, looking like he should've been hitting it up at the club in a stylish white blazer suit over a silky baby blue coloured dress shirt with the first three buttons left open to display not only his man hair, but also his bling.
Complementing the rest of his classy attire were smoothly ironed out white trousers, which his shirt was tucked into, held up by a luxurious black belt with a richly emblem and a pair of posh black shoes fitted on his feet.
He consistently displayed his lower garments by flinging his feet onto his feet onto his desk in a very uncaring, flippant demeanour.
"Ranma Saotome," The braided-haired youth said in a casual demeanour, one hand tucked into his pocket with the other one flicked up to toss the students a west-side sign by his own way of greeting, though it seemed the male-populace of the class had their eyes averted on the girl beside him.
"And I'm Ling Xiaoyu!" The object of their attention sang cheerfully.
"She's hot." One leering male student took the risk of admitting outwardly, causing Xiaoyu to fold her arms behind her back, fidgeting shyly.
"I wonder if I can get in there," Another one said, apparently encouraged by the first one's admittance. He was unsurprisingly sitting next to him so it was kind of expected that one may be urged on by the other.
"Grr!" From the vicious sounds of murderous anger emanating from Akane's throat, the boys froze, looking over to the blue-haired girl's direction to find the bangs of her hair conveniently shadowing her eyes, increasing her killing intent.
"Eep."
'Gee. Not even lunch yet 'n already Tomboy's breakin' out her inner gorilla,' Ranma internally quipped with a bored, disinterested expression masking his features, finishing off with a sarcastic remark, 'Woe is 'em.'
"Stop it now, you perverts!" She voiced with authority, unintentionally infuriating her control freak of a teacher.
"Yes, madam!"
"Thanks, Akane-chan!" Xiaoyu said, waving appreciatively at the blue-haired girl.
"No problem Ling!" Akane smiled in a polite fashion in return.
"Hey, hey, hey! I'm the teacher, so I'll handle any out-of-line brats, got it!?" The short man at the desk demanded, bringing his legs off of the surface to slam his hands down upon it for additional emphasis.
"Oh! Okay, sorry Ryuunosuke-sensei," Akane said, bowing her head, still in her courteous demeanour.
"Humph," The now identified Kenji said, crossing his arms to give off a stern exterior, "So now that you tardy brats have been officially introduced to the class, ya can go exercise your arms outside with a couple of buckets of water."
"Aw, c'mon, 'teach," Ranma said with a smooth tone, trying to negotiate his way out of trouble, "We're were only a few minutes late. Hardly calls 'fer a disciplinary punishment, don't-cha think?"
"Rules are rules, bub!" Ryuunosuke stated, knocking his finger upon his desk multiple of times before jabbing his finger in the direction of the door, evoking a slump of the shoulders from Xiaoyu, "Now haul your asses outta here!"
"Yeah, yeah," Ranma sighed in a flippant manner, "Don't have ta shout, 'teach. I mean, I know yer voice must be low, what with ya being so small and all, but don't worry, both my eye coordination and my hearing are top notch. I can hear 'n see a pipsqueak like yourself no problem."
"Hey!" Ryuunosuke yelled, his face distorted in red-coloured fury, stream flowing from his ears as he hopped off of his seat to stomp his little feet on the floor, "I ain't short damn it!"
Ranma chortled, turning his head over his shoulder, "Textbook step of getting underneath someone's skin, 'teach: always remember a shrimp will often be insecure in regards to his height 'n will tenaciously deny he's a small fry, when in reality, he's as short as they come," He winked playfully, "Elementary stuff 'fer ya."
"Oh! A wise-guy, huh?" Ryuunosuke said in annoyance, rolling up his sleeves as though he were preparing to rise to the challenge in fists. In theory, he was, just not in fists, "Detention for you!" Because why fight with your students when you can just keep them behind after school.
It had its benefits of paying off handsomely in the miffed teacher's favour, but it also had its negatives of being slammed back in the teacher's face if the freedom-deprived student shrugged with indifference and tossed a casual hand over his shoulder before finishing off his saunter to the exit, just like the rude-boy before him did.
"Look forward ta it."
"Little shit," Ryuunosuke grumbled once the door closed, signalling Xiaoyu's and Ranma's departure from the class, propping himself on his grown-up seat in a miserable manner, "Brats, these days! What are ya gonna do with 'em? Why, we used to fea- respect our superiors, I'll tell ya."
"Man! For a moment I thought he was gonna say fear."
"Na, I don't think he was gonna say that."
"Uh. Ryuunosuke-sensei?"
Ryuunosuke blinked, glancing at Akane whom had her hand raised, "Yeah?"
"Not to be rude or anything, but shouldn't we start class now?"
"Oh yeah!" He said, smashing his fist into his palm with realization, much to Akane's subsided frustration. At least now class to finally start, "You too, girly!"
…After yet another interruption apparently.
"What? What do you mean sensei?"
He pointed sternly to the door, giving Akane all the hints she needed to know exactly what he meant. He still clarified for the others, though, "Buckets, lady!"
"What! Why me?" Akane gaped.
"'Cuz you were also late like those slackers," Having come in at the exact time as them and all. Xiaoyu and Ranma only stood at the centre to introduce themselves to the class, "Now, beat it!"
"Honestly."
Why did she get the feeling she would be saying that a lot with Ranma in her life.
XxX
(Moments before)
"That was cruel, Ranma," Xiaoyu giggled, lifting up two of six convenient buckets of water lined up against the wall of their homeroom, the two furthest from their classroom-door.
"Which is why you're laughin', right?" The smart mouthed-teen quipped, picking up his set of buckets, the ones in the middle.
Oh the joy of being an infuriating wise-guy pretending to know everything.
"'Cause it's funny!" Xiaoyu said brightly, taking her place beside the wall where her own buckets previously laid.
"As cruelty so often is," Ranma said, standing next to the young woman of Chinese descent.
"You know, you make a valid point, especially if I consider all the slapstick shows I've watched that frequently utilized cruelty in their comedy and realize how beloved they are," The pigtailed teen said with an adorable look of contemplation on her features, "Hmm. Yep, I think that's about right."
"Dunno 'bout dat," The braided-haired martial arts practitioner said with a casual shrug, "Was only speakin' from personal experience. My old man and I often got a good chuckle outta each other's slip-ups on the road."
"Oh. So you trained abroad then?" Ling inquired with an innocent blink of her eyes, 'That would actually explain his accent.'
"Pretty much, yeah,' The now identified traveller said in a blunt manner of honesty, "Only recently just got back here 'cuz Pops arranged me ta marry Akane."
"What?" Xiaoyu gasped, almost dropping her buckets. It showed since some of the water from the buckets splashed out and onto her legs, "So phooey."
"Gotta keep a better grip, butter fingers," Ranma sneered with a scarce flinch, suspiciously contemplating if it would be safe to move away from the klutz beside him, 'Dat was a close shave. Don't want ta get splashed here.' At least he got decent entertainment from Xiaoyu's immaturity.
"Hey! Cut me some slack. You can't expect me not to be rattled when you drop a bombshell like that one on me you know," Xiaoyu said defensively, only barely resisting the urge to point her finger at Ranma and consequently spilling more water from the buckets.
"Guess so," Ranma supposed with a smile.
"Though it does make me feel sad to hear such nice people like you and Akane-chan have to be forced together in marriage," Ling said with a look of pity, prompting Ranma to groan internally, "No one deserves that. Especially when they're as nice as you two. One day, I hope Yusuke-chan will able to see the positives in two," Because then they could all be great friends.
"Aw, don't sweat it. Like I 'wood ever marry a macho tomboy like Akan-." A relatively loud slam clearly meant to draw attention caused Ranma and Xiaoyu to flinch, both turning to find the dubbed tomboy glaring daggers into Ranma's skull.
"That's fine 'cause I wouldn't want to marry a jerk like you in the first place," She managed to say while just barely restraining her fiery anger to adequate indoor-levels, being that she was on disciplinary punishment.
It wouldn't be wise to stir up a storm on punishment-period with a teacher who was already on a short-fuse.
"Stop slamming my door!"
"Woops," Akane said, her own fuse being put out instantly. Quickly reopening the door to her classroom Akane smiled sheepishly at the irritated countenance of her teacher, "Sorry, Ryuunosuke-sensei." The aforementioned teacher impatiently shooed her away with a flail of his arms, causing her to exhale in relief as she closed the door.
"Will dat didn't go too well, now did it?" Ranma mumbled casually, rubbing it in.
"Shut up, you jerk," Akane said, keeping her voice significantly lowered than before. Picking up the last pair of buckets, she stiffed her head away from her Ranma, "'I'm suffering 'cause of your stupidity, just so you know."
"Woops. Sorry, Akane-chan," Xiaoyu said, simply not willing to use Ranma as a scapegoat, drawing a shocked face from the accuser who was ready to pile it all on the braided-haired teen, "I guess the blame's partially falls on me too. If I hadn't of kept you two held up earlier you wouldn't have received a tardy."
"Oh no, it's okay!" Akane assured hastily, her demeanour quickly and unnaturally shifting again. Walking over to Xiaoyu, she briefly exchanged a look with Ranma before turning her nose up in the air in contempt, lining herself up next to Xiaoyu which essentially put her in the middle, "I was curious to find out who you were anyway, so I guess the blame falls on both of us."
"I suppose so," Xiaoyu offered the bipolar girl a small smile, 'Ranma and Akane-chan really don't seem right for each other. In this short period that I've known them even I can see clearly their personalities are clashing dangerously. Any immediate relationship between these two is bound to be destructive.'
"So Ling," The pigtailed glanced to her left in the direction of Ranma, "Tell me, what martial arts do ya study?"
"Primarily Hakke Sho and Hika ken as my two most predominant forms of martial arts, though I have managed to pick up techniques from my Grandpa's repertoire of skills," Ling answered with a polite smile.
"Hakke Sho and Hika ken?" Akane said, testing out the familiar name on her tongue.
"They're the Japanese translations for Baguazhang and Piguazhang in Chinese. Hakke Sho utilizes clever distinctive footwork so the practitioner can evade their opponent's move and return fire with a myriad of various attack ranging from any textbook strike you can think of, palm, elbow, you name it! There isn't a single strike in the book a practitioner of my art doesn't use!" The spirited girl said passionately, throwing one of her arms outward and consequently spilling a chunk of water out, "Oopsy."
"'N what 'bout the other one, the Hika Ken style?" Ranma asked, mirroring Akane's bizarre expression stemmed from seeing Xiaoyu's air-headedness.
"That? Well that's stemmed from one noticeable flaw in Hakke Sho."
"It is?"
"Yep! Despite the versatility of Hakke Sho, it does possess one evident deficiency an opposing practitioner can take clear advantage of, and that would be the lack of defined striking power to really put any combatant down for the count," She sighed, almost saddened at the deficiency in her style till she relayed her fail safe, "That's where the Hika Ken style was derived. Through the utilization of the accelerated force of the arms, a Hika Ken practitioner can add the awesome finishing power to their strikes to keep their opposition down and out!"
"Wow," Akane said with an opened mouth stemmed from her amazement. Thinking of her own martial arts techniques, or lack of them, she immediately cast a sad look into the clear water inside of her buckets, 'Ling seems so amazingly flexible in her martial arts,' She indistinctly clenched her hands tighter on the handles of her buckets, 'What have I got compared to her? I'm almost nothing.'
"Not bad, not bad," Ranma complimented with a casual grin, drawing a glare from Akane.
'Not bad? Yeah right! As if that jerk could do any better than that.' She mentally scoffed.
"Thanks," Xiaoyu still appreciated the lax compliment from the braided-haired young man, "What about you, Ranma? What style of martial arts do you study under?"
"Any."
Blinking, Xiaoyu turned to Akane as if looking for substance to add to Ranma's blunt, vague answer.
The blue-haired young lady shook her head, resisting the urge to caress her forehead to lull the migraine she could feel coming on, "Pretty much. Our dads trained under the same master and established their schools, the Anything Goes, entirely based on his style, which is just essentially a load heap of other styles mixed into one all-round style."
"Wow," This time it was Xiaoyu's turn to be left in awe, "I guess that means you two are incredibly adaptable. Correct?" She insisted with almost childish eager, "C'mon, don't hold out on a girl. Let me know how close I was."
"Uh."
"Well I am. Somehow, Pop managed ta get us into all sorts of fighting events back on the road. Back when we stopped at Grammy's, the only show I was ever allowed ta watch was pro wrestling just 'fer the sole purpose of having me decipher the guys' moves and add 'em ta my own repertoire. So, yeah. I can say my own library of skills is nicely piled up. Dunno 'bout Akane's, 'tho," Ranma bragged.
"Your vote of confidence is really reassuring, knucklehead," Akane said with a look of annoyance on her face.
"Huh? Wasn't you able to manufacture your own unique style based on the slew of techniques derived from others?" Xiaoyu enquired, taking the implications of Akane's sarcasm as a sign that she studied little of her own.
Akane sighed, knowing she hadn't. She'll be damned if she admitted it was her own fault though, "I couldn't because my lazy dad stopped taking my training seriously, leaving me to break bricks and run laps day in, day out."
"That's terrible," Xiaoyu said, and although she couldn't offer her a pat on her shoulder, she did give her a sympathetic look, "Shunting your growth like that," She fumed in a show of immaturity, "Well I won't stand for it. How about you and I decide on a day where we're both free to spar together? I can show you lots of neat techniques to add to your own shunted collection of abilities."
"Really?" Akane said, trying to exude incredulity, yet her hopeful eyes betrayed her intentions, "You would really do that for me?"
"Yep!" Ling assured in a cheerful demeanour, "Why not? It'll not only give us a sparring partner to test our abilities against and steady improve, but also a wonderful opportunity to bond."
"Thank you, Ling. I don't know what to say," Akane said, truly speechless as her heart clenched at the mere possibility of having companionship with a girl whom shared the same interest in martial arts as her, near enough anyway.
Sure, she had two acquaintances here in Furinkan High School, but seeing as those were just two were plain girls of normality with no interest in self-defence, that was all they would ever be to each other, mere acquaintances.
Right now Akane finally had a chance to form a real friendship with another super strong girl and she would not mess it up. Being the only martial arts adapt girl in school who could all but sleep walk through a brick wall had all-but alienated Akane from the normal girls, especially since they treated her like she was some goddess sent from above.
Just once, Akane thought it would be nice to have a conversation with a girl out of school who didn't suck up to her.
"Then you don't have to," Ling smiled, "If anything, I should be probably thanking you. We'll have a great time together!"
"Thanks," Akane replied with a smile.
"No problem," Ling said before twirling her head to her other side to look at Ranma, "Course the invitation's extended to you too, Ranma. That is, if you're interested."
"S'okay. Don't fight girls anyway," He said.
Oh. Ranma's casual admittance rubbed Akane the wrong way.
"Don't underestimate us, Ranma," She said defensively, scowling Ranma's way.
"Never said I did," Ranma said in defence of himself.
"But that's what you implied," Ling stated, actually managing to catch Akane by surprise with her level-headed method to Ranma's unintentional discrimination of their gender.
"But I didn't mean anything by it!" The male martial arts practitioner said, sounding desperately defensive, "C'mon, Ling! Ya gotta believe me."
Xiaoyu managed to suppress a chuckle despite the fact she found Ranma's frantic tone humorous, "Maybe so, but your inconsiderate declaration insinuates that you consider us girls way beneath you just 'cause you're a guy, to such an extent that if you fought one of us you could potentially maim us with a single blow."
"But-." Ranma said, feeling verbally bitch slapped. Looking away from the girls he had unwittingly insulted, he glanced into the water within his own buckets, his look of frustration easing up into a look of accepted defeat, "Pops always told me girls are stupid, weak, and distraction from the art."
"What!" Akane raged, "Uncle Saotome said what? Ugh that creep! I hate him!"
"Gee. Sure feel sorry 'fer Pops now," Ranma said a little caustically, 'My butt I do. Just sure hope I haven't blown my chance with Ling.'
Good thing he didn't say that out loud, because he certainly didn't mean it like it was insinuated. But having all-but grown up on the road alienated from social circles, it was understandable the friends-deprived martial artist would be socially inept.
"Ranma, I know it must be difficult for you having been spoon-fed such a sexist ideology practically your whole life, but please try to keep an open mind and not be so quick to write off a martial artist just 'cause she happens to be female. Okay?" Ling said in a patient tone, drawing a grin from Ranma.
"Alright."
"After all, you don't think little old me's dumb, do you?"
"Uh. No!"
That was out of the question. Just throughout this conversation they've had Xiaoyu had more than shown she was highly intelligent.
"Or a distraction from the art?"
"Well…" The fact that she was a practitioner of a style that utilized a vast array of versatile combinations told Ranma she would be an asset rather than a distraction, "No."
"There you have it!" Xiaoyu grinned in an adorably innocent, victorious manner, "Maybe one day we can spar so I can disprove the remaining stereotyped notion your papa led you to believe."
"I would, uh, kinda like 'dat," Ranma hesitated. His embarrassment evoked a smug smile from Akane who was positively delighted Ranma was beginning to see girls wasn't weak at all as Mr Saotome had once told him.
"I say, where is that scandal?"
While the girls sighed, Ranma turned to the direction of the demand blankly, watching Kuno, sword in hand, sprint past them.
"Hey, ain't he 'dat guy ya beat up 'bee-four class, Ling?" Ranma asked.
Xiaoyu shrugged, "Unfortunately. He just recuperated faster than I would have liked." It was also unfortunate that her voice had reached Kuno's ears, prompted him to skilfully slam on the brakes and back track to them.
"Ah. If it isn't thee, Fair maiden," Kuno greeted in his usual gallant demeanour, smoothly extending a hand to the pigtailed girl whom offered him a deadpanned expression.
Ranma's own expression was a bizarre 'What the fuck' kind of expression that translated to, "Are ya for real now?"
"I see the foul enchanter has allowed thee a moment emancipation from his treacherous self," He nodded, trying to exude an aura of sagacity, "Truly, a most fortunate turn of events. Very well, thee must tell me where he has taken refuge so I may vanquish him and truly liberate thee existence from him!"
"You really can't take a hint, can you?" Ling said, knowing full well how hugely rhetoric her question was in nature, earning herself a few nods from Kuno as though he understood the situation perfectly, in his own deluded world.
"I see. So it's worse than I expected originally," He said earnestly, "His influence has a strong grasp on you, my fair lady. In that case, I shall be off to emancipate you from the foul enchanter at once!"
"I can't take it anymore!" Akane said, fed up, drawing Kuno's attention to her.
"Ah. Beauteous Akane Tendo, fear not for thou has nothing to harbour the cruellest of all feelings, jealousy!" Kuno said.
"Heh! Dream on, bub! Like I would ever want to go out with a creep like you!" The temperamental-young woman exclaimed in a brash-disposition.
"Man, 'dis guy's full of crap," Ranma noted.
"Yusuke-chan's words exactly," Ling said.
"Now then! I must off," Kuno said, holding up a fist of trembling vigour, "Fear not fair maidens, for I, Tatewaki Kuno, is geared for the heroic, courageous challenge tasked before myself," He said, trying to stylishly run off the wall, though miscalculated one tiny factor, and that was the red-clad boy next to Ling's left, thus he ran directly into the braided-haired youth, causing them to plummet to the ground in a comical fashion.
"What the-!" Ranma yelled, feeling the momentum of his arms fly upward from the fall, which meant his buckets were going up and the cold liquid substance within them were coming out to land all over them, 'Crap, crap, crap!'
The next sensation that greeted him were the too familiar ones of wet and a sudden loss of body mass.
"Ranma!" Ling and Akane called out in concern.
"Whatcha do ya for?" Ling blinked, wondering why a girl's voice resonated furiously from Ranma's throat. Next thing she knew an angry redhead shot up from underneath Kuno, blasting the samurai down the hallway with a well-placed kick to his chin before taking off down the opposite end of the hallway in a burst of speed.
"What was that?" Ling asked blankly, causing Akane to shake her head.
"Ranma, he-."
"Hey, what just happened out here?"
Looking upward, the girls spotted a few students sticking their nosey heads out of the window.
"Where'd Saotome go?"
"We better get going and find Ranma," Ling recommended.
"Yeah, before-." Before Akane could finish, she was interrupted yet again.
"Hey, hey! What's with all the ruckus out there?!"
The girls yelped, giving each other a nod as though they could communicate with each other just by that small passage of interplay alone. Dropping their buckets with loud clatters to the ground, causing their audience to cringe while water soaked the floor, they shot off in Ranma's direction in blurs of speed.
"Wow. That was fast!" Some non-descript student commented just as the door opened to reveal Kenji's irritated face.
"I said, keep your yaps shu-." He started, only to feel the hot air taken right out of his sails by the lack of misbehaving delinquents, "Now where did those brats go?" He wondered, stepping out whilst scratching his head in annoyance, ignorantly unaware to the wet floor beneath.
"Ah. Teach-." A student tried to warn him, though he was a tad too slow as Kenji found the hard, and very much painful way, first feeling his little leg fly upward from the slippery surface, followed by the rest of his body collapsing to the ground from the momentum and his head landing painfully against the floor in a loud thud, causing his remaining students to cringe.
"Damn it!"
"Well I tried to warn him."
XxX
(Elsewhere – Yusuke's homeroom)
As expected, maths class was hell of boring to Yusuke.
Well, any class would've been boring to just about any student who didn't have a life outside of school, aka being a complete socially inept nerd. There really wasn't much distinguishing each boring class from the other barring which being less boring and which being more boring.
He pay attention and completed the assignments his teacher handed out to his pupils, and without ever removing his feet from his desk. It was well worth it. It certainly made his teacher nervous, which livened the lesson to Yusuke.
Finally, the bell rang to signal the end of class, and most of the students couldn't be happier.
"Please try to keep in mind young sirs and madams, that a healthy nutrition is the key to one's stimulation being in top form for the day," He said, trying to avoid instinctively exchanging wary glances with his new rebellious pupil.
While the other kids were already hurrying up off of their seats, collecting their stuff so they wouldn't miss a second of respite, Yusuke took his time, lazily taking his now stiff legs off of his desk with a groan.
'Man, leaving my legs on my desk for so long wasn't as great as an idea as I initially thought it was,' He deadpanned, trying to loosen up his legs by patting them, 'The relaxation period just ended up putting the damned things to sleep.'
"How do you do, stranger?" Hearing a playful greeting meet his ear, followed by a light thud landing on the surface of his desk, Yusuke glanced up, spotting a brown-haired young woman sitting on his desk with her legs crossed and a palm needlessly supporting her weight, "I don't believe we've been properly introduced."
'She's got balls approaching me so boldly,' Yusuke mused, sitting back on his chair, stuffing his hands into his pockets, 'Wonder what her game is anyway,' His eyes shifted to the students warily eyeing them.
So it would seem the young woman before him had her own infamous rep, huh?
She took amuse him if nothing else.
"Don't mention it. You already know my name," Yusuke said, finally deciding to make small talk with the daring teen girl on his desk.
"Ah~. That I do," She said in content. When she smiled at him he couldn't help but get predatory shark vibes from it, "However, I thought it would be rather… unbecoming of myself to fail to extend the same courtesy to you, sir."
'Heh, kitty cat's putting on her mitts to snag her prey,' Yusuke internally said, once again masking his mocking smile by a pretence of casual indifference, 'Too bad no one told her she's stepping into the wild tiger's territory."
And speaking of their audience, Ryuu among them, they were frozen solid watching the confrontation between an already notorious individual and another individual who had promise of being just as notorious as his female counterpart. The suspense was so nerve racking some had started comically biting their nails, writhing down their nails.
"Okay, then. Make your grand introduction if you feel the need to. No need to be shy," Yusuke said, getting straight to the point.
'I see there's no beating around the bush with this one,' She observed, discreetly pocketing her observation away for a later time, 'His even a lot more uncivil and assertive than Saotome was last night'
That wasn't saying much. Ultimately, during the Saotome-family's integration into the Tendo-household, Ranma was initially in a very meek demeanour of a shell. To be fair, he was delivered to the Tendo doorstep even before he had even a semblance of a chance to revert back to his original form and keep his other one hidden from them.
The resulting confrontation Nabiki's father had with the red head was rather amusing to say the least, but she digressed. Once all was revealed Ranma came out of his shell and made some crass, rude remarks in regards to her sister's looks following their forced engagement, and got clobbered for it.
This guy wasn't even giving her vibes that he would be as merciful and tolerant as Ranma was, mostly because he had outright been assertive coolly composed and assertive from the get-go, leaving her with zero vibes that he was even searching for a sign of friendship.
"Nabiki Tendo," She said in her professional disposition of stoicism.
"Dang. That is? Here I thought your introduction would contain more pizzazz to tell ya the truth," Yusuke said, mocking her playfully.
"Amusing," Nabiki offered him with a half-smile, sliding off of his desk to land on her feet. Starting up on her trek toward door, she purposely made sure to wag her rear from side to side in order to capture Yusuke's gaze, retorting satirically, "I would certainly hope you'll stick around long enough to converse with me more now. I could use the entertainment to brighten up my often gloomy days."
'Yowza,' He reflected, almost in a dreamy exterior, his eyes stuck onn Nabiki's jelly shaking backside, 'This one's got some bite in her,' He grinned, his visage emulating a vicious, beastly tiger, 'I like.'
Stopping by the door, Nabiki turned her head over her shoulder, mistaking Yusuke's animalistic smirk for a perverted grin, "I would hope you know everything has a price… sir," When he glanced at her in curiosity, she masqueraded her own smug expression with a faux look of innocence, waving cheerily at Yusuke, "Toodle-oo now."
"That broad," Yusuke mumbled to himself, facing away from the door when Nabiki disappeared from view, "Thinks she's got me wrapped around her finger, eh? Heh, can't wait to show her just how severely she's miscalculated." After all, a wild tiger was untameable unless faced against Heihachi, but come on that wasn't fair.
The old man could take down a building with his bare hands.
Yusuke wasn't disobeying his orders unless he obtained either A: death wish or B: equal or greater power to contrast Heihachi's own power. As it stood currently, he was little more than an ant to his nigh worldly grandfather.
"Dude."
"Eh?" Yusuke wondered, rather unintelligently, looking at a group of students, "Something on your mind?"
The brave student that had chosen to speak up done so again but with a gulp, "She's got you targeted!"
"Who? That Nabiki-dame?" Yusuke asked bluntly, prompting the students to wince at his crass description of Nabiki, "What of her? I can handle her with my hands closed. She's no threat to me."
"You don't understand 'tho!"
"What the fuck are you bleeding your gums over?" Yusuke demanded crudely, making the frantic student wince.
Hearing a docile sigh come from the front of the class, Yusuke looked up to see Ryuu shaking his head, "While I would mention the prohibited use of profanity in school grounds if not for your… difficulty, in adjusting to your new environment, let's say," He chuckled in a sheepish manner, giving Yusuke a pleading look. Getting a nod from the disorderly teen, he breathed a sigh of relief, "I fear we have more pressing issues to attend with it."
"Get to the point, Poindexter," Yusuke said in an assertive manner, impatiently the tips of his fingers off of the surface of his desk.
Ryuu cringed, tugging on his collar, "Um, yes. Patience is often a virtue, so the old myth says, young man," He laughed, drawing an annoyed look from Yusuke that promised more than a thump on his head, "I'll move on, fellow, hehe. Nabiki Tendo has accumulated a rather ill-famed reputation as a cunning young woman with a brilliant mind. If you are unfortunate enough to get ensnared in her web of manipulation then I fear there won't be many opportunities for you to escape."
"The fuck does this Nabiki think she is, a female Lax Luther or straight-up Lax Luther's daughter?" Yusuke quipped, a look of annoyance blemishing his features, causing his audience to gaze upon him in a bizarre fashion.
Forming a fist with his hand, Ryuu brought it to his mouth to cough into it as though he were banishing his awkwardness, "Well, yes, I suppose in a strange sense you're partially correct. As your teacher, it would only be right of me to applaud your creativity, young man."
"Hey, thanks. Your speck of endorsement really lifts the confidence of a disobedient delinquent and not a well-behaved teacher's pet. Truly ingenious," Yusuke said, giving Ryuu a blatantly mock applaud of his hands, evoking a cringe from him.
"Uh, certainly, though in my defence I wasn't aiming to fill you with pride by complimenting you on your show of creativity, I was just naturally congratulating a student on his innovation. A reflexive of sorts, if you will."
"Then you should've realized that one student you're about to gives kudos too doesn't give a shit about the teacher's approval and kept it to yourself."
"Perhaps. I'll just have to remember this experience to avoid making a similar mistake in the immediate future."
"Do that."
"Gladly," Ryuu said, happy that mini altercation didn't escalate any higher than back and forth returns. It seemed his troublemaker had some semblance of maturity, if nothing else, "But I digress, young man. It would be wise of you to avoid warranting or triggering Tendo-san's interest and anger respectively."
Yusuke scoffed, standing up from his desk in an abrupt fashion, causing Ryuu to flinch, "Whatever, jelly legs. I'm not scared of some wannabe mastermind," Pocketing his hands, Yusuke slouched to begin his lazy saunter toward the exit.
'I would hope for your sake that you're not,' Ryuu reflected, wisely choosing to keep that to himself, 'Ah!~ Mother's intuition tells me this semester will be both eventual and lengthy, which only means more stress for both my fellow colleagues and I,' He sighed, trying to look at the bright side, if there was one, 'At least today's seemingly passed by without any incidents.'
"I say, where is that scandal?!"
…Spoke too soon.
"Curse my impatience." Ryuu slumped.
When the mock-samurai from earlier appeared in the doorway, a look of contempt appeared in Yusuke's eyes, "You again?" He deadpanned, "Wow. Your recovery superseded my expectations. I'd predicted you to be out for a week from Xiaoyu-chan's blow," He snickered, grinning even wider following Kuno's marching approach to him, "What's your secret? Had a senzu bean on ya?"
"Enough of thy nonsense?!" Kuno demanded, extended his sword to Yusuke's dispassionate visage in a challenging pose, "I have come to smite thee and liberate the ponytailed goddess."
"Aw! Was hoping that strike you got from Xiaoyu-chan would've knocked the loose screws in your thick skull back in place," He signed, feigning disappointment, "Suppose I can take 'Cuz's "failure" as concrete proof that a cure for a mental retardation is all but impossible from here on out. Thanks. Your contribution to the cause means a lot."
"Hey! Now that is not allowed!" Ryuu exclaimed in a frantic panic, flailing his arms around in desperation.
"Silence, thee fool!" Kuno commanded, drawing a flinch from Ryuu before he turned his scathing glare back onto Yusuke, "Is thee blind from the most courageous act about to be made before thy eyes? I'm trying to liberate the fairest of them all, the magnificent ponytailed goddess!"
"Question."
"Oh I suppose I can answer whatever petty question thee wants answered as thy final request before I offer thee thy penance for thy treatment of the ponytailed goddess. Ask away, but make it quick."
"Why are you referring to my 'cuz as the 'ponytailed goddess'? You can't be so brain dead that you would nonsensically believe a girl's hair is in a ponytail when it clearly isn't."
Ah!~" Kuno sighed with an air of self-assured comprehension, extending his hand forward, "A most simple question for a man of my intelligence. For her hair is but fashioned in the most elegant of ponytails I have had the pleasure of laying eyes on. I assure thou, for a man such as myself whom has had the privilege to be a symbol of divine strength and wisdom for many a fair maidens, such a compliment bestowed upon one by myself is no easy feat."
"I stand corrected."
"Enough!" Kuno commanded, shoving his sword into Yusuke's face to initiate a battle, "Let us duel so I may liberate the ponytailed goddess!"
Ignoring Kuno, Yusuke calmly jerked his head over to Ryuu, finding the man quivering on the spot with rapid bullets of sweat dripping off of his form like wild fireflies. That was not what made him decide to postpone his inevitable death fight with Kuno. No, that would be his cousin and her classmates, Akane and Ranma, he spotted just outside the doorway, the former waving him over.
"Not here," He said, instantly seeing the relief that washed over Ryuu's face.
"And what makes thee assume I'll allow thee to enforce the rules?"
Ignoring Kuno's enquiry, Yusuke grabbed the tip of his wooden sword to jerk his arm to the side with so much potency Kuno's sword shattered into a myriad of splinters, causing Ryuu to scream girlishly while Kuno just stood in a frozen state of shock.
"After school," Yusuke said, going back to his slouched, pocketed posture as he ambled past Kuno, "We'll settle our dispute once and for all. Be at the courtyard by the end of the day so we can a find a suitable location to have our end-all be-all scrimmage."
The emphasis on the word settle went over Kuno's head, "Very well," He agreed to his terms, slowly but surely coming out of his stupor, "Our duel shall be postponed until a more suitable time comes," Looking at his shattered hilt, the piece that remained of his now broken sword with an observant gaze, he tried to rationalize how Yusuke was able to do that, "I see his control over sorcery is most proficient. In that case, I'll have to approach our duel in an entirely different method than I originally planned. I can't afford to fail or the ponytailed goddess will never be freed. Her fate rests in my hands."
Yusuke glanced over his shoulder with a look of contempt in his eyes directed at Kuno, having caught the tail end of his deluded rationalization of his feat, "Fucking numbskull," He mumbled, approaching Ranma and the girls.
"Hey, Yuu-chan!" Xiaoyu said cheerfully, "How did your first period go?"
"Fine before he came along," Yusuke grouched, jerking his head in the direction of the classroom where Kuno still resided.
"Oh yeah. Probably shoulda warned ya 'bout 'dat," Ranma shrugged, drawing an inquisitive expression from Yusuke, "He marched on by our neck of the woods lookin' 'fer you pal."
"Eh?" Yusuke said unintelligently, but still managed to hold his look of anger, "Did he just mosey on into your class or what?"
"Not quite," This time it was Akane who was clarified for Yusuke's ignorance in the matter, "We all got put on punishment period for being late while a certain someone got off scot free," She finished with pointed emphasis on the word "someone" while giving that someone a deadpanned glance.
"Really, now?" Yusuke asked, sending a teasing grin Xiaoyu's way, causing his cousin's usual light-hearted demeanour to dwindle into a meek one, as she folded her arms behind her back, "When were ya gonna tell me this, 'cuz? The oh-so impressive straight A-student Ling Xiaoyu already on punishment before the first day even ends," He crossed his arms, chortling away in smug content.
"Hey, don't laugh! It wasn't my fault those jerks from earlier held us up, you know!" The pigtailed girl said in a defensive manner, drawing a nod from Akane.
"Yeah! You tell that jerk Xiaoyu!" Akane said vigorously.
'Wonder why she doesn't whack the guy,' Ranma mused with a blank look on his face.
"I'm aware. Even still, I just find the concept of you of all people on punishment hilariously ironic. To think after all this time of hearing you boast your high academic standings throughout your time in Junior High that you would be on the punishment on the first day," He snickered in a playful manner, sticking his tongue at Xiaoyu's pout, "Comedy gold."
"You jerk!" Akane said, getting a shrug from Yusuke.
"Didn't anyone tell ya?" Yusuke said as though it were something to brag about, drawing a glare from Akane.
"Fair maiden."
Yusuke groaned, already knowing from the voice that Kuno was behind him. His groan also expressed the feelings of his companions.
"Get lost," He ordered, barely looking behind him in contempt, "Our fight doesn't start till later. If I were you I would use my remaining time to get my affairs in order."
"I am trying to engage the ponytailed goddess in a conversation to reassure her of her safety," Kuno said, putting a blank look on Xiaoyu's face who pointed to herself.
"Was he referring to me just now?" She asked Akane.
"I wouldn't be surprised," She said dryly.
"But my hair's not even in a ponytail, though."
"That's Kuno for you."
"She doesn't wanna converse with your fake-ass," Yusuke said, feeling his temper rise to dangerous levels.
"And who might thee be to speak for the lady, her speaker?"
Yusuke rolled his eyes, "Hey, 'Cuz."
"Yes, Yuu-chan!" Xiaoyu shot up to attention like a member of cadets.
"Want to chat with this dude?" He asked, tossing a thumb over his shoulder.
"Not really, no," She answered.
"There you have it," Yusuke dropped his arm, "The lady says no."
"I see the sorcerer's spell has a most formidable hold on the ponytailed goddess," Kuno glared, prompting Xiaoyu and her fellow classmates in Ranma and Akane to sigh.
"What~ever," Yusuke said, strolling up to his cousin, asserting himself her and Akane to spin her around by the shoulder, wrapping an arm around Xiaoyu's shoulder, "Just fuck off till dawn." Leading Xiaoyu away from the deluded mock-samurai, Yusuke prompted Akane and Ranma to instinctively follow him, all but making him the de-facto leader of the group.
"And my hair's not in a ponytail, dummy!" Xiaoyu shouted back at Kuno.
"Poor ponytailed goddess, ensnared in the vile miscreant's spell of treachery! Curse it!" He knocked his fist against the wall, "If only I could rescue her now, then her and the beauteous Akane wouldst forever be in my debt… but I digress. I shall prepare for the upcoming duel."
"Oh man 'dat wack job's still deluding himself 'dat ya need saving, Xiaoyu," Ranma gaped.
"I'm surprised he's not in a mental institution," Xiaoyu joked.
"No kidding," Akane growled.
"Man, I need a drink," Yusuke said in a tired fashion, snaking his hand down Xiaoyu's arm to her handbag to unzip it and search through its confines.
"What are you looking for, Yuu-chan?" Xiaoyu asked blankly, mirroring the expressions of Akane and Ranma.
"Looking 'fer her matchup ta dress-up as Xiaoyu, pal?" Ranma quipped.
"Fuck~ no," Yusuke tittered, removing his hand from Xiaoyu's bag to reveal a bottle of vodka, drawing a pout from his cousin, "This was what I was searching for, what I stashed in there for safe-keeping."
"Hey!" Xiaoyu complained, but Yusuke ignored her to unscrew his bottle of vodka, knocking back his head to take a massive swig, "Don't put stuff in my bag mister, especially something that could get me in trouble!"
Swallowing his mouthful, Yusuke wiped his mouth with the same hand which held his vodka in, ignoring Akane's miffed look, "Had to. There was nowhere else to stash it."
"Humph. Then you should've brought your own bag along with you. Maybe then you wouldn't have needed to use mine as your own personal makeshift repository," Xiaoyu retorted.
"Naa. Your repository suffices, honey," He grinned, drawing an extended growl of anger from Akane.
"Humph," With a pout, Xiaoyu removed Yusuke's arm from her shoulder, causing him to stop which consequently caused the others to stop. Stepping out of formation, Xiaoyu smiled invitingly at Akane, "Coming Akane?"
Akane beamed, catching on to the implications Xiaoyu showed her, "Sure!" She said, girlishly running up to her side.
"Really? You're giving us guys the cold shoulders?" Yusuke deadpanned.
"Not 'us,' just you!" Xiaoyu clarified, "Ranma's still welcomed to come with us if he wants, though."
"Dat's cool. Think I'll hang with him," Ranma said, tossing a thumb in Yusuke's direction before sending a smirk his way also, "That is, if that's okay with ya, Mr Drinker?"
"If it floats your boat then I'm game." Yusuke agreed, causing Xiaoyu to smile internally, 'Bet this was her intention from the moment I took my vodka from her repository. Quite of her to cook this up on the fly.'
"Gee. What do you know? Two jerks together. What a surprise," Akane said sarcastically, earning herself a snort from Ranma.
"Oh please tomboy," He said, jerking a thumb at Yusuke, "Compared ta 'dis guy, I'm like the nicest guy on the planet."
"He kind of has a point," Xiaoyu said, seemingly in agreement.
"Not you too, Xiaoyu!"
"Well I have been hard at work perfected my jerk mannerisms," Yusuke said in a flippant fashion, a sly smirk curving across his face and his arms stretched out to the sides in a mock shrug.
"Ugh!" Akane fumed, balling up her hands with childish irritation.
"Okay, okay," Xiaoyu chanted in a soothing tone to gently placate Akane's temper, girlishly intertwining their arms together, "We're sorry. We were only having some fun at your expertise. We didn't mean for you to blow your fuse. Honest we didn't," She offered the girl her best pleading puppy eyed look, "How about we go eat now?"
A bright smile appeared on Akane's face, "Okay!"
Xiaoyu internally breathed a sigh of relief, 'That was a close one.' Finally, she led the temperamental girl away with a greeting tossed over her shoulder, "Bye guys."
"Gee. She sure is one effective peacemaker, ain't it?" Ranma noted bizarrely.
"You're quipping to the choir," Yusuke said, sauntering off while simultaneously knocking back his head to take his alcohol, prompting Ranma to follow him.
"Thought so," He said, sighing shortly afterwards, "Oh man if I could do 'dat I might bee able ta wiggle my way outta the engagement with Akane." He neglected to realize he had only told Xiaoyu of his engagement to Akane, thus his abrupt observation came to such a sudden surprise to the guy beside him he instinctively puked out his vodka, from his nostrils in a very comical fashion, "Well 'dat was unexpected."
"Whoa! You gotta marry that bitch?!" Yusuke exclaimed, prompting Ranma to blink bizarrely at him.
"Well, yeah," Ranma shrugged, "And lemme tell ya, it came as much as a surprise as it did ta ya. My raggedy ass Pops just sprung it on me outta nowhere the instance he led us back ta Japan from our training trip in China."
"Dang," Yusuke cleaned off his nostrils, "Here I thought my old man was a prick," Shaking his head, Yusuke took a small swig from his bottle, "I'll take a hammering over an engagement to a psycho broad with one mean temper she can't control. That's just asking for a headache that ain't worth it."
"You're telling me," Ranma said with a sigh, "Man I dunno how am gonna put up with tomboy's gorilla punishment."
"You could always beat her up," Yusuke offered bluntly, causing Ranma to recoil goofily, putting himself in a silly reflexive pose.
"Beat up Akane?!" Yusuke stopped, turning his head over his shoulder to give the statue-esque Ranma a deadpanned look, "But she's a girl! Ya can't fight girls!"
Yusuke backhanded the chivalrous young man directly in his face, sending him against the wall with enough force to crack.
"Hey! What did ya do that 'fer!?"
"Pussy," Yusuke said in contempt, prompting Ranma to glare at him, but he just turned his back on him and kept on walking, "Only a candy-ass bitch let's some broad walk all over him out of some innate fear of crippling her if he fought back. What are you? Are you a man or are you a mouse?"
"Gee. Thanks for the advice," Ranma said sarcastically, managing to suppress his malevolent intent enough to avoid leading Yusuke on. Standing up, Ranma picked up a random fire extinguisher, stalking his prey as though he were suddenly an expert ninja.
"No probs, jun-. Omf!" He tried, but feeling a solid object collide with his head, causing him to plummet to the ground and consequently shatter his bottle of vodka.
"Yeah right! As if I'll take the advice of a jerk like you!" Ranma scoffed, standing tall above his downed superior in age.
Caressing his head, Yusuke flopped over on his back to sit up, observing the lovely stain on his shirt which signalled the demise of his precious vodka, "Aw," He sighed, "Dick move bro."
"Yeah, well," Ranma said in a flippant tone, pretending to care somewhat as he dashed the fire extinguisher away, "The feeling's natural."
Smashing his foot into Ranma's ankle hard enough to take his standing momentum away from him, Yusuke skilfully rolled up, leaving plenty of room for Ranma to get acquainted with the floor, "Hey!" He whined, getting forcefully pulled around by the hand on the back of his neck.
"That. Cost. Me. An. Ass-whooping. Literally! I'm literally gonna have to get my ass kicked into the next week for snatching that shit from my old man's shelf, and for was what?" Yusuke ranted, lifting up his arm to strike Ranma in the face, "For some little shit to go and waste it. Hell no."
Unfortunately, he took a tad too long detailing his monologue of distress and Ranma capitalized on it, freeing his neck from Yusuke's grip with a twist of his head, moving his body to the side and capturing Yusuke's arm in an arm lock.
From there it was a clever combination of a leg sweep and quick flip that enabled Ranma to regain the upper hand.
"Then mebbies ya shoulda thought 'bout 'dat 'bee-four ya shot fire at me," Ranma retorted, turning Yusuke over to deliver three fast ridiculously blows to his cheek, getting his fourth potential blow parried heavily to the side by Yusuke's hand, "Oh ya got sum fight in ya, have ya?"
"Little shit," Yusuke growled, slamming his head upward into Ranma's nose, knocking the teen back into disorientation.
"Aw, crap," Ranma said, holding his bleeding nose. Feeling his senses going off like crazy, he rolled beautifully along the floor, hearing shattered ground from where he originally stood.
"You just don't know who you're fucking with, do you?" Yusuke said rhetorically, lifting up his foot from the cratered ground, "Heh, then allow me to show you first hand why you don't mess with me." Performing a quick rotation to build up momentum, Yusuke came around with a literal roundhouse swing of his arm, causing Ranma to evade it by flying high over his head, leaving his mark with a double foot plant to the back of Yusuke's head that forced him up against the wall.
"Show me what? Your dance moves?" Ranma mocked.
Slowing turning around, his dark scowl becoming increasingly darker by the second, Yusuke reluctantly complimented his adversary, "Well played," Trying to use his clear height advantage in his favour, Yusuke threw his leg outward in a forward stomp, but Ranma only front flipped high air in swift evasion, landing in a skilful hand stance on the very limb that tried to attack him.
"Hey, nice reach kangaroo legs," Ranma mocked with a cheery grin, bouncing upward and rearranging himself correctly, "But how's 'dis 'fer kicks!" Bulleting a barrage of airborne kicks at Yusuke, the older teen was forced on the defence, struggling to block the nigh-ceaseless barrage of kicks using his forearms while backing up instinctively.
'Dang it! He's fast!' Yusuke scowled, only managing to move his arms in sync with Ranma's missile kicks slamming against then like the wind.
'Aw, nuts! He's tough!' Ranma observed to himself, smashing away so hard visible air clouds mixed with sweat bounced off of the multiple collusions between legs and arms, 'Feel like I'm hitting steel or 'sumthin.'
'Looks like I'll have to get a little unconventional to catch this guy clean in the jaw,' Yusuke contemplated, going about by intentionally lowering his right guard, allowing Ranma to catch him in his face with a boot.
"What the-?" Ranma exclaimed, unable to withdrawn his leg due to it being held in a tight grip by Yusuke's arm. Seeing Yusuke grinning smugly at him he returned it with a glower, 'So 'dat was his plan all along huh? Deliberately lowering his guard to sucker me in.'
"Dodge this, bitch," Yusuke challenged, clenching his fist to smack. Thinking quickly, Ranma landed a fierce roundhouse kick directly into Yusuke's temple using his free leg, actually failing to knock him into disorientation.
'How the heck did he endure 'dat!?' Ranma gaped, freeing himself from Yusuke's hold by catapulting into the air using Yusuke's shoulder as leverage his ludicrously high jump, 'He sure is one tough cookie I've give him 'dat much.'
"Gotta come down some time you know," Yusuke said with an animalistic smirk tugging at his lips, lifting up his hand to crack his knuckles, "And you do, you can have your knuckle sandwich I whipped up for ya."
"No thanks," Ranma said in a composed manner, sticking to the ceiling as though he was Spiderman, "Up here's comfy enough."
"What? You think you're Spiderman now, do you? Yeesh," Yusuke quipped, running to the window wall. Leaping on it as though he was planning to smash through it, Yusuke rebounded back in the direction of Ranma with a roundhouse-kick at the ready.
"Nope!" Ranma casually dropped down to the ground, effectively Yusuke's innovated airborne kick, which he chose to compliment in a patronize manner, "Nice thinking 'tho." Seeing a glimmer of opportunity to land a hit on Yusuke before he landed, Ranma threw of a fast ball of a punch in Yusuke's direction.
Somehow, despite facing the wrong way and being inches from the ground, his reflexes were still sharp enough to carry him to the ground and put his hand up in the way of Ranma's fist to catch it in a grip, returning fire with his own missile of punch that rippled the air, causing Ranma to widen his eyes.
Tilting his head to the side to allow the fist of his opponent to sail past his head, Ranma still felt the air pressure alone of Yusuke's fist sliced open a bit of his cheek like a knife blade and cause the sound of shattering glass to echo through the air.
Intelligently grabbing onto Yusuke's arm to assure he wouldn't be on the receiving end of another one of those missiles, Ranma nervously looked over his shoulder to find a section of the glass window completely missing.
''Dat was a close call. Had 'dat hit me by chance my face woulda been doing its best impersonation of a pancake.
"Say," Ranma's attention was drawn back to Yusuke's calm call to find the older teen looking deadly serious, no truces of lingering amusement on his visage, "What do you say we drop the kid gloves and crank it up, a la Dragon ball Z."
Ranma smirked, despite the fact the reference went over his head.
He only watched wrestling after all.
"Sure."