On a small lump of grass resembling a mini hill on the outskirts of the playground of Furinkan High School, Akane and Xiaoyu laid, the former sat in a traditionally seiza-style of a proper maiden and the latter in a childishly leg-crossed position. With the bountiful mass of leaves offering them cooling shade the girls comfortably opened their bags to rummage through its confines.
"Ah!~" Akane sighed as if a sudden weight was hurled off of her shoulders, "Finally, respite at last from those jerks."
"Yuu-chan I agree with. As much as I love him platonically, there are… aspects about him that really bug me," The pigtailed girl explained with a pout that was quickly shifted upside down into a sunny smile when she finished her speech, "But Ranma's cool."
"Trust me sister, you don't know the half of it," Akane said with a smirk, mostly just trying to justify her bias view of the gender bent martial artist.
"Half of what? Yesterday? When you met Ranma?" Xiaoyu asked, earning a stiff nod of self-assurance from Akane, "It didn't sound so bad to me. Unless, you guys specifically cut out the touchy details to avoid getting into an argument."
"Well it was," Akane said, crossing her arms in a stubborn manner, prompting Xiaoyu to blink in confusion at her which in return prompted her to elucidate further, "That idiot was in the bathroom!"
"What's so bad about that?"
"He didn't tell me!"
"I'm still not seeing what you're getting at," Xiaoyu stated without mincing her words, drawing a disbelieving face from Akane as though it were obvious, "Unless you walked in on him, but why would you do that?"
"Because I thought he was a girl then! Honestly!" Akane argued.
When a look of realization flashed across Xiaoyu's features, Akane was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, "Oh!~ I think I understand now."
"Really?" Akane asked hopefully.
"Yep!" Xiaoyu grinned, infectiously sharing her bubbly smile with the girl beside her, "Sounds to me like it was all just one big, misunderstanding!~" She closed her eyes, consequently missing Akane's gaping expression to enhance her own pleasure expression, "Mmm-hmm!~ A big misunderstanding. Nothing that victimizes or villainizes either of ya."
"No!" Akane insisted, "That jerk initially deceived me by purposefully keeping his true self hidden from me just so he could get me naked in the bath! Ugh, he's a pervert."
Reopening her eyes, Xiaoyu allowed Akane to see the smallest hints of an impish shine glinting within the pupil, "Did you ever stop and consider that maybe Ranma was just too shy to tell you of his secret right off the bat?"
"Well, no," Akane sputtered hastily, feeling verbally backed into a corner, so she got defensively angry, "But that shouldn't matter! That jerk saw me naked Xiaoyu!"
"But you did walk in on him first, yes?"
"Um, yes, bu-."
"And besides," Xiaoyu continued, politely interrupting the blue-haired girl's defence, "Hot water reverts Ranma back to his original form, right? So unless I'm mistaken, Ranma couldn't possibly have been waiting for you to join him in the tub unless the water was lukewarm, but since you found him as a guy I think it's safe to assume that's out of the question."
"I… guess you're right," Akane reluctantly conceded, looking from the mischievously grinning girl with a sigh.
"Hey," Xiaoyu said, using her soothing tone. Drawing her new friend's attention with a pat on the shoulder, Xiaoyu continued to lull her depression, "I didn't mean to put you down in the dumps. I do see where you're coming from. After all, what girl wouldn't freak out if a guy saw her naked? That might be every guy's wet dream…Yuu-chan's in particular," She whispered off to the side, her usual tender countenance crinkling up into irritation, prompting Akane to blink at her before her sweet-tempered disposition returned, "But it absolutely isn't ours!"
"I know, right!" Akane was quick to agree, happy to see Xiaoyu wasn't entirely against her.
"But on the flip side, we ought to consider the trouble Ranma most likely had of deciding how to breakdown his secret to you and your family in a way that would be easy to swallow," She held out her arms, "I mean, it is fairly unbelievable to hear someone's both half girl and half boy. I wouldn't have believed it myself if I didn't see it for my own eyes."
"Who's side are you on?" Akane sighed.
"I'm just trying to look at both sides of the argument from a neutral perspective to resolve it without one side feeling hard done by," Xiaoyu reasoned, getting Akane to gape at her, "As well as get you to look at Ranma's with an open mind."
Multiple question marks danced around Akane's head, "What do you mean?"
"Hmm!~" The mistakenly dubbed ponytailed girl propped an finger to her chin to hum in contemplation, "Well, at the moment you're looking at the incident with a very dyed-in-the-wool view by assuming the worst of Ranma's intentions. You're letting your anger cloud your judgement."
"Oh. And is that a bad thing?"
"Uh-huh," Xiaoyu smiled, holding up a lecturing finger, "My mommy once told me if you assume the worst out of someone then your misunderstanding of them will only grow."
"I see," Akane said, with the utterance of the word "mommy" having an instinctual effect on her, shown by her turning away from Xiaoyu with misty eyes clouded by wet tears.
"Uh, Akane-chan?" Xiaoyu blinked blankly, worry settling itself in her heart, "Did something I say upset you?"
"Huh?" Akane snapped out of her depression. Looking at Xiaoyu's concerned-ridden face forced her to equip an overly cheery face even if she was far from cheery, "Oh! It's fine! C'mon! Let's eat! At least one jerk's out of our hair, right?"
"Right!" Her mind automatically told her probing into a matter most touchy to the girl beside her wouldn't end well the same time she drove into her bag.
To be fair, just about anyone would get defensive if a stranger they just met started asking them personal questions as though they were some deity from above.
The Ranma-subject was okay to be snoop into since both Akane and Ranma had already told Xiaoyu that they had known each other for as a little as a day.
Ranma was as much as a stranger to Akane as Xiaoyu was.
"Besides!~" Xiaoyu sang with an impish, cat look about her, pulling both of her hands out of handbag to reveal two bento boxes to Akane, "I betcha Ranma at least had the decency to apologize for the hassle he accidentally caused, right?"
"He… he did, but," Akane admitted in a reluctant manner, almost unwilling to accept she was being pushed to the verge of defeat in the matter of Ranma being as much as a douchebag as Yusuke was, indicating dumbly to the bento boxes in Xiaoyu's hands, "-But what do they have to do with anything?"
"Oh!~ Well I told Yuu-chan I would prepare an extra bento box for him to have for lunch so he wouldn't have to spend his money," The Hakke sho practitioner said, giggling in a naughty fashion, "And hereeee~ it is!"
Akane's eyes widened at the implications, "I get it! Because he forgot to take out his lunch from your handbag he's gonna have to crawl back on all fours and apologize for using your bag as his makeshift alcohol stash."
"Ow!~ You're sizzling girl."
"But he's too prideful to own up to his wrongs!"
"Bingo, we have a winner, contest only one!" Xiaoyu joked, throwing her arms up in the air, all in good spirits, "Yuu-chan's not the kind of guy who'll admit to being in the wrong unless he's really, really, really, and I mean, really in the wrong," She emphasized by widening her arms more and more until she could stretch no more, doing her best impersonation of a stretch arm doll complete with straining noises. After a couple of seconds of doing this, she released her hold own with a relaxed sigh, "Ah!~ And even then, reluctantly so."
"Humph! He sounds like the jerk of the century!" Akane huffed, crossing her arms.
'You have no idea how closer to the truth you really are,' Xiaoyu reflected with a sheepish look on her face. Considering who his grandfather and father were it was no surprise he and his relative would turn out more on the morally black side of the spectrum than the morally white one.
"At least Ranma aplog…" Akane began to say, though the fact she trailed off so abruptly showed she had done so impulsively.
"At least Ranma, 'what' now?" Xiaoyu urged her on with a playful nudge into her shoulder, smiling victoriously, "Apologizes, maybe?"
"Don't make me say it," Akane pleaded.
"Okay, I won't."
"Thank you."
"But I will say you should be more appreciative with the devil you know than the one you don't."
"Trust me, Xiaoyu. After all you've told me in regards to your jerk I'll be content with my own. I mean, he would probably drive me up the wall!"
"Yep. Yuu-chan has the kind of effect on people he meets."
"By the way, how do you think he and Ranma are doing?"
"Oh!~ I'm sure they're having a wondrous time discussing guy stuff!"
CcC
Abrupt Scenery Change
CcC
"Ahhhh!"
If by "guy stuff," Xiaoyu meant roaring war cries during a simultaneous charge at each other on the outside made entirely too evident by the lack of ceiling above them then she would be one hundred per cent correct.
"Have some of this, prick!"
"Not 'less ya taste my foot, jerk!"
And if by "discussing" she meant a lively debate involving a direct simultaneous collusion of a fist and foot in each other's faces in mid-air, she would also be spot on.
cCc
(End of Perspective)
cCc
"Yep! A peaceful, wholesome discussion about guy stuff!"
Somehow, she wasn't entirely sure she convinced herself.
King of the Jungle
C
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THREE
Better with the Devil You Know
Having agreed to move their fight to a more secluded area to avoid attracting a crowd, Yusuke and Ranma stood on the rooftop of Furinkan High school, staring at each other with the utmost serious faces after landing on the ground from an airborne collision.
"Now this is a swell spot to dust off the kid gloves," Yusuke said, his usual sneer claiming half of his lips the same time he took off his blazer jacket and threw it toward the door to begin unbuttoning his dress shirt.
"Look who's preaching to the choir now," Ranma quipped, taking off his backpack to hurl it against the door leading to the rooftop, following up on his previous witty one-liner with another while Yusuke took off his shirt, "I'm all ready to seriously cut loose on ya 'n cream yer butt."
"I wouldn't be so sure of myself if I were you," Yusuke said, rolling his shirt off of his wrist to leave his sleeveless white vest on show, displaying his beefy packs, "You've yet to even come close to inflicting any real damage on me."
"That's 'cuz you're built like a darn elephant!" Ranma yelled defensively.
"Why, thank you." Yusuke responded with conceit.
"You're also as slow as 'em too," The braided-haired teen smirked, thumbing his chest confidently, "You've hardly laid a finger on me so far, pal."
"Yet the ones that have, have definitely left their marks, haven't they?" Yusuke retorted in a smooth tone, getting Ranma to scowl, "Or is that lovely beauty scar on your left cheek just for show now."
Ranma instinctively shifted his eyes downward in the direction of his left cheek even if he couldn't see it. He didn't need to in this instance. He could feel the blood seeping down his cheek, "Shaddup!" He demanded, wiping his cheek with the back of his hand stubbornly.
"Wiping away the evidence won't do any good till it heals, you know?"
"I said shaddup!" He reiterated, recklessly charging head first directly toward his adversary, his anger winning over his better judgement, "'N allow me ta return the favour, jerk!"
"Heh, I'll be shocked if you can even put a dent in my armour," Yusuke said, goading Ranma on as he dropped into his Mashima-styled stance, dominant knee forward, bent at the knee and weaker knee inches behind the predominant one. His dominant right arm was positioned in a downward motion just above his right knee and his left arm hung by his ribcage, 'Gotta time this just right.'
"Then you're in 'fer a whammy," Ranma retorted, dematerializing the moment he got within clear striking range of Yusuke.
"Clever," Yusuke complimented. With noticeable difficulty, he tracked Ranma blurring movement to his side to find the speedy martial artist crouched down for a split second before he sprung up, firing a fast ball of a blow toward Yusuke's face.
"How do ya like these apples, pal?!" Ranma yelled, zeroing in on Yusuke's mug.
Patiently waiting for the fist of his opponent to invade his personal space, which wasn't very long in retrospect, but to a fighter, a heart beating second could feel like minutes, Yusuke catapulted a missile of his own toward Ranma's face, moving his other arm up to trap Ranma's.
Feeling the force of Ranma's blow push his face to the side Yusuke knew he had his signal to fully complete his counter attack. With a jerk of his arm, he dragged a stunned-faced Ranma right in harm's way of his blow, causing a collusion of face and a fist with a surge of cringing pain flowing through Ranma.
The forced of the punch repelled him back so forcefully the moment he even touched the solid concrete ground he gouged it up like a digging machine, mistakenly creating a damaged pathway from Yusuke to the dented fence surrounding the edges of the rooftop.
'Aw, crap!' Ranma though hazily, barely feeling himself land on the ground from his collusion with the fence, 'Dat was like an elephant wrecking me one, the freak!' With a light, oddly tickling sensation of blood tricking down in between his eyes, Ranma looked forward, swearing he could picture two of the exact same opponent dancing in front of him, 'Now it's like there's two of 'em! Darn! Can't get hit with another one of those elephant stomps or else I'm toast!'
"Like I said," Yusuke started in a bragging tone, ravishing in the look of disorientation he could see in Ranma's eyes, holding up the utilized fist, "Your durability isn't enough to stand up to my punches, dude. If I were you right now, I would throw in the towel while I can still walk normally," He shrugged in his attempt to psyche Ranma out, "But maybe that's just me."
"Yeah, well," Ranma said, stumbling to his feet, trying to forcefully will away his disorientation, "I ain't you. My resolve to win ain't so weak that I would walk away with my tail between my legs!"
"Then come at me, bro," Yusuke urged, beckoning Ranma forward with a motion of his hand Ranma recognized instantly, a smirk on his features, "That is to say, if you've got the stones. Well, do you?"
"Oh! I'll come at ya, bro!" Ranma roared, dashing toward the three Yusukes from his own perspective, "And I'll just bring it too!"
"Sweet. Better mind that disorientation though. A doozy of a hit like the one you took can often leave a chump seeing double or even triple," Yusuke smirked, "So, you feeling a little dizzy?"
"Humph!" Ranma pouted, already knowing a way to use his disorientation to his advantage, 'If he thinks a little dizziness is gonna slow me down then he has another thing coming!' With a confident grin curving across his features, Ranma slid along the ground, twisting his whole body around to resemble a dance move known as the twister, 'Heh, I'll just spin myself 'round. What's a little dizziness gonna do when I'm already disoriented?'
"Shit," Yusuke cussed, feeling the slippery martial artist slide underneath him in an attempt to take out his balance, but all it did was leave him momentarily wobbling as though Ranma went through him, "Well played," Stabilizing himself, Yusuke looked over his shoulder, seeing the spinning top Ranma rapidly approaching him, "Oh no you don't!"
Lifting up his knees to curl his legs inwards, Yusuke brought them back to the ground hard enough to produce a tremor to make spider cracks appear on it and completely disrupt Ranma's spinning. The braided-haired martial artist leaped back instinctively from the collusion to land on his rear, a comically shocked look gracing his face.
"Darn! Ya really are an elephant!" Ranma said, almost wincing from the dangerously serious look of lethal intent Yusuke sent his way.
"Then get stampeded on," Yusuke said, lifting up his leg bent at the knee to drive in on the downed Ranma's direction, forcing the boy to roll up in evasion action and out of the way of the elephant stomp that cratered the ground.
'Do not wanna be on the receiving of 'dat!' Ranma mused, running up to Yusuke and leaping on his still planted knee to use it as leverage for a mini jump ontp Yusuke's face, planting his foot on it to take to the sky.
"Right where I want you now," Yusuke sneered, specifically clenching his fist even tighter than before and to such a degree that the veins in his arms became visible, channelling the innate energy residing in his body.
"Oh yeah? More like you're in place for another dish of my infinite barrage of Gatling kicks!" Ranma said defensively, only to get his attention drawn to the sparkle of lightning emanating from Yusuke's fist, "What the heck's 'dat? Whatever it is, something tells me I'm in 'fer a world of hurt if it hits me."
With a war cry, Yusuke leapfrogged off of the ground like a bolt of lightning. The lengthy thread of lightning that coated his body made his emulation of it that much more convincing as he approached the airborne Ranma at frightening speeds, forcing his eyes to widen in shock.
"What the-?" Covering his chest with his arms, Ranma prepared to endure the blow. He was soundly unprepared.
The pain that greeted him the moment Yusuke's uppercut connected with his X-shaped arms was the most agonizing pain he had ever experienced. It was like an electric train had slammed full force into him, taking the wind completely out of his sails to force him into dream land with a batch of blood and saliva flying from his mouth.
As if to finish the job, Yusuke manoeuvred himself in mid-air, delivering a spinning heel-kick directly into Ranma's cheekbone to send the braided-haired teen flying on a one-way course to a conveniently placed water ventilator just above the rooftop door, denting a hole within its surface before falling in a heap to the ground.
"Gah. Can't believe I had to tap into my Ki to deal with that guy," Yusuke mumbled with one hand propped on his hip and another pinching the bridge of his nose, clearly disgruntled with himself, "Still, I'll give him his kudos. The fact that he was able to match me without any Ki-enhanced attributes speaks volumes for his skill. He'll be a royal pain in the ass to put down if he ever masters Ki, and, if he's anything like me, aka a sore loser, I say that's about as likely as day and night switching shifts for eternity."
Shaking his head, Yusuke placed both of his hands on his hips, sauntering over to Ranma, "Mannnn! The old bastard'll flip if he finds out I had to tap into the recess of my Ki-reserves to beat a non-Ki user," If Ranma was a Ki-user, then he was doing a mighty good job suppressing it because Yusuke couldn't feel it in active mode.
"He'll probably hurl me down that damned ravine again, fucking sadist," Yusuke grouched, though his annoyed contemplation in regards to his punishment if Heihachi found out he used Ki on a non-Ki-user was instantly pushed off to the side by the utterly astonishing sight laid before his eyes, "The hell!"
He was shocked, that much was very obvious, but then again just about anyone would be if their opponent whom they just defeated miraculously changed into a girl.
"Well I'm slumped," He said, crouching down in a squat as if he was resembling a dog, observing the now gorgeous unconscious red-haired girl laid before him, "Hairstyle's still the same as before, only now it's an erotic red. He or she has a pair of A-class knockers, a curvaceous body, anddddd… purple-coloured eyeliner," He noted awkwardly, scratching his head dumbly, "Strangely enough. Just who the fuck is this dude? Or broad?"
Yusuke scowled, not knowing what gender to label the supposedly gender-bent martial artist.
"He… she's short too, probably a little taller than Xiaoyu-chan if I had to guess," Yusuke estimated, increasingly more irritated in regards to the martial artist's definitive gender, "Fuck it. I'll just check under the hood if this is a dude or a broad," Shaping his index finger and thumb in the form of a C, Yusuke positioned it above the redhead's silhouetted private parts, touching it without shame.
When he felt his fingers sink in instead of latching onto a tip, he had his answer.
"Ah. What do you know? She's a broad," Yusuke said, pressing his fingers deeper into the redhead's vagina, drawing a groggily moan from her, "Heh, you like that, don't you, bitch?" Yusuke sneered, zoning in on her busty breasts, "Heh, don't mind if I do," Grabbing onto cushy delight in the form of two C-cup breasts, Yusuke played with them with a leering grin on his feelings, steering them both anti clockwise and clockwise, "Oh yeah! That's the stuff!"
In the midst of his indulgence of the redhead's breasts, his stomach growled, letting him know he unfortunately needed to end his groping of Ranma's boobs to satisfy it.
"Aw. I'm starved," Yusuke said, one hand leaving Ranma's squishy left asset to massage his stomach, "That's right. Haven't really had anything to chow down on besides a candy bar today," Giving Ranma's breasts one last squeeze for good measure, Yusuke stood, sneering down at the unconscious beauty in an leering manner, "Dang lady. You're a hell of a lot sexier like this," He chuckled as he turned to pick up his soaking wet jacket and shirt, "Surprised you don't just stay like that. We could have a ball if you do."
All jokes aside Yusuke wrung out his wet garments, trying to remember where he stashed his lunch.
CcC
(Earlier That Day)
CcC
"Hey, Yuu-chan!" Xiaoyu beamed, stashing one of two bento boxes inside her bag which was propped on the kitchen counter, "I made you an extra pack lunch. I'll leave it with me and give it to you at lunch time. 'Kay?"
"K. Sure. Thanks," Came Yusuke's lackadaisical voice from just around the corner.
Xiaoyu giggled right before a look of recognition flashed across her features, "Oh right. I almost about dessert." As she skipped off merrily, she never noticed Yusuke appearing in her original spot huddling an item in his left armpit, glancing from left to right in a suspicious manner.
"Then I'll just leave this in here," Yusuke grinned, holding up a bottle of vodka, "Thanks, 'cuz. I can always count on ya. Hahahaha."
CcC
(End of Flashback)
CcC
"Forgot about that completely," Yusuke mumbled despite the increasing frustration he could swelling up inside of him from his slip-up. Slinging his upper uniform garments over his shoulder, he reached into his pocket to take out his box of cigarettes.
Once he propped one into his mouth, he placed his cigarette box back inside of his pocket to take out his lighter, lighting the end to draw in an ounce of soothing tobacco, exhaling his built up stress away.
"Looks like I'm gonna have to crawl back to Xiaoyu-chan and apologize for my inconsideration earlier, which blows," He sighed, drawing in another drag of tobacco from his cigarette to keep his emotions in check, "Could just use the cash I pick-pocketed from unsuspecting suckers on the way to school, but…" He trailed off, looking over to the unconscious redhead, "I want to know what the fuck is this broad."
With that said, Yusuke rested his cigarette in between his lips, squatting himself down to pick up the smaller redhead and position her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, all with one arm.
After picking up Ranma's bag he made way out of the rooftop and toward the girls.
XxX
(Elsewhere – Location Unknown)
"I'm!"
A rough, brash holler resonated throughout a small, smelly old training facility, followed by a hard crash of sorts connecting resoundingly against an object to echo.
"Gonna!"
An informal, thick American accent was heard as another thunderous blow bellowed throughout the cell-like room.
"Be!"
Sweat rained off of a bulky arm which collided heavily with a chained up sack bag filled with concrete bricks acting as a makeshift punching bag.
"The!"
A foot wrapped in black bandages rattled the sack bag back and forth, causing a part of the ceiling to crack under the intense pressure of the man's kicks.
"Toughest!"
A right roundhouse hook to the kidney area knocked it to the side as the ceiling continued to deteriorate.
"In!"
One more blow was delivered to the defenceless punching bag.
"The!"
And another, releasing dust from the open crack in the ceiling.
"Universe!"
With a final bellow, he smashed the punching bag right off of its hinges, turning around to throw his arm up high in a victorious manner, revealing his five o clock shadow, spiked up blond hair, and widowed face to no one in particular. He wore a sleeveless red Gi top showing off his broad pecks with no visible undershirt underneath, red Gi bottoms, black fingerless gloves on his hands, and a black belt tied around his wrist.
"Osu!"
As though it was acting as makeshift fireworks for his introduction the ceiling chose that time to plummet to the ground in a heap.
"Damn it! The stinkin' roof came down again," He gruffly noted in annoyance, punching a gloved fist into his gloved palm, "If only I could get on my hands on some friggin' cash I could buy my way outta this shithole!"
And that was a dilemma most martial artists could relate too. Paul Phoenix was no exception. Often spending his time honing his skills, the judo practitioner's pockets were typically found to be empty, restricting him to rundown junkyard shreds like the one he was in.
If only he had won the third Iron Fist Tournament. He would have more than enough money to live off, thus leaving his full concentration to maintaining his status as Earth's Strongest man. Of course such a minor title wouldn't be enough for Paul. Hell naw. His one-true aspiration was to be the toughest in the universe! Literally.
He was determined to accomplish his out-there goal by any means possible, even if he would have to build a rocket ship with the winning prize money from a tournament down the line just for a chance to fly off into unknown territories to prove his superiority to the milky way and beyond, Paul would let nothing stand in his way!
…Even those damned Mishimas would fall before his brilliance.
Them especially.
"Excuse me."
Paul's ears wiggled curiously, a suspicious look coming to his face hearing a voice spoken in an accent that definitely didn't belong in his country.
Turning to the open door, Paul found a mildly tall teen standing there in an awkward manner, with a crop of wavy black hair and a light brown complexion, both the trademark features of a regular Japanese individual. Wrapped tightly around his forehead to keep the bangs out of his eyes was a yellow bandana, complemented by a sleeveless yellow tank top over his torso, and accentuated by his dark blue pants and black shoes fitted on his feet.
Strapped on his back was a decently sized bag and sheathed on the top was a red umbrella.
"Yeah?" Paul said, staying guarded, "Whaddya want?"
The fanged teen fidgeted, looking down toward the ground, "I'm looking for Nerima. Could you possibly point me in the right direction, sir?"
"Eh?" Paul said unintelligently, a bizarre expression masking his face, "In Japan?"
"Uh. Y-Yes."
"What the hell are ya doing all the way over in my neck of the woods if that's where you're headin' to, dingus?" Paul asked, making the shy teen feel slightly pressurized due to how aggressively he voiced his enquiry.
"Oh? This isn't Japan?"
"Hell no. This is America!"
"I see," The bandana teen said, forcefully bottling up his embarrassment which shown in the form of a faint red tinge on his cheeks, "Thank you for your time!" He hurried out of Paul's training facility, leaving the man shrugging dismissively.
"That was weird," He mumbled, dropping into his judo stance to perfect his blows. It was a good thing he even picked up Japanese otherwise that conversation could've dragged out tediously, making it even more awkward than it already was.
As for the lost traveller, once he was sure he was out of range from Paul's training facility, he stopped, throwing his head up toward the sky to vent his anguish to the heavens above.
"I'm never going to find my back to Japan!"
A younger version of Ranma actually dressed in his uniform flashed through his head, smirking at him in a condescending manner with a piece of specific bread in his mouth.
"Saotomeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
XxX
(Tree hill)
Xiaoyu politely stifled a yawn with the back of her hand and set aside her empty bento box. Why was it after seemingly every lunch she got the urge to sit back and doze off? Even the smallest ounces of food gave her the urge to have a five minutes cat nap to sleep it off. That was probably why she ate small portions, so she wouldn't end up collapsing in the middle of the day.
Fortunately for her, her innate sensory detector alerted her to the approaching Ki-signature after it had appeared within range, waking her up fully..
"Eh?"
"What's up, Xiaoyu?" Akane asked, setting aside her own bento box.
"It's Yuu-chan!" Xiaoyu brightened, waving to her aforementioned cousin.
Akane blinked, following Xiaoyu's hand to find the youngster sauntering over to them with a figure slung over his shoulder and his other arm slung over his other, "Guess even jerks like him get hungry," She smirked.
"It looks like he's carrying Ranma over his shoulder," Xiaoyu specified, using her cupped hands as makeshift binoculars.
"Eh?" Akane said in a dumbfounded manner, squinting her eyes and spotting a pair of legs hanging over Yusuke's shoulder, "You're right. But why would he be carrying Ranma for?"
"They must have gotten into a fight," Xiaoyu shrugged, shaking her head and sighing in disappointment, "Knowing Yuu-chan, I can't say I'm surprised."
"Or Ranma!" Akane insisted with a scowl, "He seems like the kind of jerk to initiate a fight for no good reason!"
"Let's just wait till we've heard both sides of the story from them. Okay?" Xiaoyu insisted with a sheepish look on her face.
When Yusuke made it to them, he wasted no time firing into an enquiry of his own, "One of you mind explaining what the hell happened to him?" He deadpanned, unceremoniously flinging the unconscious redhead down in front of the girls, causing them to inhale in realization, "Or she is what I should say, I guess."
"He's a girl!" Akane said, her eyes zoning on Ranma's bandaged left cheek.
"Thanks for that informative piece of info, gal. I couldn't have possibly figured that out for myself just by looking at her," Yusuke said sarcastically, eliciting a glare from Akane.
"I meant how he changed into a girl, you jerk!" Akane screeched, prompting Yusuke to shrug in indifference.
"Don't know. We argued on the topic of chivalry till shit hit the fan. By that point we decided to settle our dispute with fists, which I ended up winning by ploughing her ass into a water ventilator on the rooftop, then," He pointed down at Ranma, "That happened."
"I blame myself personally," Xiaoyu sighed, "I should've known better than to think Yuu-chan could make friends instead of rivals for once."
"Don't beat yourself up, princess," Yusuke grinned, flinging his arms out to his sides in an eagle wide spread, "I'm just a living-breathing trouble magnet."
"That's not something to be proud of, you know?" Akane deadpanned.
"Meh. Beats loathing it I'll tell ya that much," Yusuke retorted, eliciting a roll of the eyes from Akane, "So I can guess by your lack of reaction 'cuz that Ranma already changed into a girl earlier, right?"
"That's right," Xiaoyu specified, "That Kuno-guy ran into Ranma after he finished his vow to "save me" from you while Ranma was holding a couple of buckets filled with water, and well," She smiled sheepishly, "I think you can imagine how the rest went."
"Ran off before anyone other than you ladies spotted him?"
"Yep!~"
"I see." Yusuke said, dropping Ranma's bag on her, "So how does this work? I'm assuming it's a trigger transformation thing now, but how she obtained this… trippy capability to shift genders at the touch of water is beyond me."
Xiaoyu looked over to Akane, "Do you want to tell Yuu-chan or should I?"
Akane shook her head with a sigh, "Go ahead."
"Right!~" Xiaoyu cheered, looking back at her cousin.
"Well?" Yusuke asked, propping his hands on his hips.
"Well from Ranma told me today and Akane yesterday, he and his daddy took a trip to my super-duper homeland for a little training trip, though his daddy neglected to mention that he couldn't even read a bit of Chinese," Xiaoyu said.
"Who in the right frame of mind would head out of their home country into unknown territory without at least being able to speak the country's native language?" Yusuke said with a bizarre look on his face, "How dim-witted can anyone be?"
"My sentiments exactly," Akane said with irritation.
"According to Ranma, they swim all the way to China too," Xiaoyu added.
"Well that justifies his dumbass mistake," Yusuke said satirically.
"Anyway," Xiaoyu continued seamlessly, as though the delay never happened, "After making it to China, they travelled to Jusenkyo, ignored a guide's helpful warning and knocked each other into two separate springs, one being the spring of drowned girl and the other being the spring of drowned panda."
"Ranma's old man's a panda now?"
"Half panda, Yuu-chan. Hot water reverts them back to their true selves."
"Ah. So that's why she was a dude earlier, she turned back to a he with hot water to counteract the cold water, right?" Yusuke nodded, prompting Xiaoyu and Akane to nod also, "Makes sense I suppose," He grinned mischievously, "Though we better not tell Kuma that there's competition for his lady friend, otherwise things could get nasty around here."
"Hey!" Xiaoyu whined, evoking a bellow of cruel laughter from Yusuke, "That's not funny, Yuu-chan!"
"Eh? What does he mean by telling his bear Uncle Saotome's a panda too, Xiaoyu?" Akane asked.
"I didn't want to tell you this, 'cause I'm against it myself, but Yusuke's guardian bear has a crush on my panda," Xiaoyu sighed, causing Akane to blink her eyes, trying and failing to rationalize how a bear could even harbour feelings of affection for a panda.
"Eh? Bears can love pandas?" Akane asked dumbly.
"Apparently so, and it's hilarious," Yusuke grinned.
"No, it's not!" Xiaoyu insisted, balling her hands up, getting a chuckle out of her cousin, "I'm serious, Yuu-chan! Kuma's annoying her with his persist harassment! If it keeps up I don't know what will happen between them but it won't be pretty. So you have to persuade Kuma to give up on her."
"Why? I think Kuma and Panda'll make a great couple," Yusuke laughed, "And by great, I mean hilarious," He threw his back and laughed harder, "Can you just picture them on a date? I can. Grr, grr," He growled, comically flexing his muscles to give off a manly persona, 'Which translates to, 'I wanna fuck ya baby'."
Akane recoiled in horror at Yusuke's vulgar of love making, "Ack!"
He wasn't done. He curled his leg and twiddled his foot on the ground, holding his arms in front of his chest shyly in an impersonation of a timid woman about to be deflowered, "Grr, grr, which translates to, 'Oh baby, you so big and strong. Please be gentle on me'."
"That's not funny!" Xiaoyu yelled, flailing her arms around in a fit of petulant anger.
"Yeah jerk!" Akane agreed, "You're being insensitive."
"Really? I don't see it like that. I'm just playing cupid for my bear," Yusuke countered.
"But Yuu-channnnnn!~" Xiaoyu said, drawing out the endearing suffix tagged onto Yusuke's name with a pleading tone, puckering out her bottom lip and sparkling her eyes, "Panda doesn't like Kuma that way, so," She fiddled with the hem of her shirt, "Can you please persuade him to give up on my panda. Pretty please with a cherry on top."
"No can do."
"But why?"
"Tell ya what though," Yusuke said, putting hope in Xiaoyu's eyes that he was seemingly willing to compensate with her; that was until he actually offered his compensation, "You give up on Jin and I'll get Kuma to give up on Panda. Deal?"
Xiaoyu's face at moment could have been an embodiment of gobsmacked disbelief, "But, but, but," She repeated, her hands balled up, "That's not fair!"
"Tough. Life isn't fair."
"I'm confused," Akane said, her confusion winning over her anger at Yusuke's douchebaggery, "Who's Jin?"
"My half brother, and Xiaoyu-chan's little crush," Yusuke explained with a teasing face, pointing an index finger at Xiaoyu's left inflated cheek, "You know, you're only setting yourself for further teasing with such an adorable face 'cuz."
"Humph!" Xiaoyu pouted, crossing her arms and turning away from Yusuke.
"You deserved that you insensitive jerk!" Akane said.
"Please. She can't stay mad at me," Yusuke assured, squatting down in front of Xiaoyu, extending his hand toward her chin to cup it with his index finger and thumb, getting it shaken off so carefully the motion gave him vibes of reluctance.
'Why that-! Ugh! That arrogant creep!' Akane fumed, gnashing her teeth and squeezing the folds of her dress, 'Doesn't he know anything other than a jerk tenden-.' Before she could finish her internal rant her mind was blanked out by the odd, completely contrasted motion the dubbed jerk made before her, softly grasping his cousin's exposed knee, "What the-?" Akane said so quietly it could've been mistaken for a silence mouthed sentence.
Mesmerized by Yusuke's tender caresses to Xiaoyu's knee and cheek Akane's previous anger was completely forgotten. Instead, she sat in a tense silence and watched Xiaoyu's previous defiant expression slowly evaporate.
'He's so… gentle with her,' Which was odd in of itself because she didn't think such a scumbag of a man could be capable of such caring touches. She didn't think any man who wasn't named Tofu could ever touch a girl so tenderly if it wasn't outright sexual, as men were all monsters who just wanted to turn her into their own personal docile housewife.
Again, only Dr Tofu was an exemption to the rule.
He was special.
Yet this man here, despite being a jerk in his own right, also seemed to be an exception. His touches, while intimate, weren't sexual. Physical? Yes, but it was more of a way an elder brother would touch his little sister to cheer her up.
"Yuu-chan I agree with. As much as I love him platonically, there are… aspects about him that really bug me."
Xiaoyu's words were replayed through Akane's mind and suddenly, they made a lore more sense.
'I… don't get it!' Akane rattled her mind for answers, but came up empty, 'How could someone be so cruel yet so kind at the same time! It doesn't make much sense!'
"C'mon 'cuz. Don't be mad at me. I was only playing with you," Yusuke offered her a gentle smile, playfully wagging her chin from side to side to get her to smile. She was reluctant to do so, but Yusuke could see it was coming through, "I know you want to smile so you can stop holding it back."
"You," Xiaoyu said, unfolding her legs and leaning forward on her knees, swinging her arms around Yusuke's neck while her cousin secured her waist, "You big dummy."
"That's why you love me."
"Uh-huh!" Xiaoyu said, looking into Yusuke's eyes, subsequently missing Akane's gaping expression, "Because you can be the sweetest little thing to me when you want."
"Hey, hey! Let's not get too mushy now," Yusuke said, holding his cousin by her shoulders, a look of annoyance plastered on his face.
"Oopsy!~" Xiaoyu giggled with her hands held up to her hands, "Sorry, couldn't help myself."
Yusuke's irritated expression evaporated immediately, making way for a smile, "Heh. 'Course you are," He said, flicking her nose softly, causing her to pout at his show of arrogance, "But anyway, I'm starved. Mind feeding me?"
"Eh?" Akane blinked.
"Sure!~" Xiaoyu said, sitting back on her knees, patting her lap invitingly, "Pull up a seat."
"Don't mind if I do," Yusuke said, standing up to move to Xiaoyu's side, facing away from her and venturing three steps from her, "This should do it," Lowering himself into a sitting position on his rear, Yusuke lowered his upper chest down still his head was against the creamy smooth legs of his cousin that acted as a convenient pillow, "comfy."
Xiaoyu giggled, picking the wrapped bento box behind her back to unravel the cloth around it, allowing it to fall with a gentle flutter on Yusuke's face.
Removing the cloth from his nostrils, Yusuke winked at Xiaoyu's naughty move, shortly opening his mouth to make a contrived tunnel for a dose of rice on the tips of chopsticks to enter, chewing contently.
"Tasty," Yusuke said, tucking an arm behind his head.
"Is it scrum-diddly-umptious?"
"I have absolutely no idea what you're insinuating at milady."
"Yeah I bet you don't."
"Less yapping more feeding. I'm dying of starvation here."
"Right away, master!~" Xiaoyu said with cheerful sarcasm, propping another miniature rice ball inside Yusuke's mouth.
"Mmm. Good," Yusuke mumbled through mouthfuls.
"So how did Ranma do against you in your fight?" Xiaoyu asked idly, putting mock rice ball near Yusuke's lips for her cousin to swallow it whole.
"Not bad," Yusuke mumbled, swallowing his morsel, "Dude's pretty nippy, I'll give him that. I had a hell of a time keeping up with him much less landing the decisive one-two combination to put his resilient ass down for the count."
"Hmm," Xiaoyu hummed, simultaneously analysing Ranma's main flaw in Yusuke's brief description of their fight and feeding her cousin a piece of seaweed food.
"Shrimp this round, eh. Sweet."
"Ranma's not very tough, is he?" Xiaoyu concluded, stuffing another morsel inside Yusuke's mouth, realizing her statement could be taken the wrong way if not fully elucidated on, "I mean durability-wise that is."
"No. He's more of the nifty speed-type. Much like you, 'cuz." Yusuke elucidated further, gulping down a slimy, but smooth morsel, "Fish," He noted, "Just not as quick nor as slick though."
"Right!~" Xiaoyu beamed, "I've got myself a sparring partner then!"
"But Xiaoyu~!" Akane said with an adorable teary-eyed look on her visage, prompting the aforementioned pigtailed girl to freeze, "What about our arrangement!"
"Oopsy," Xiaoyu smiled cattishly, bashfully waving off the misinterpretation, "I meant another sparring partner, Akane-chan. Don't worry, we'll still train together, promise!"
Akane smiled in relief, "Good."
Hearing a groggily mumble come from his side, Yusuke turned his head to Ranma, watching the redhead's face crunch up in discomfort.
"Someone's waking up," He declared, drawing Akane and Xiaoyu's attention to Ranma, blinking in curiosity to the sight of Ranma drowsily peeling open her eyes.
"Eh," She said slothfully, finding difficulty in the act of sitting up, "W-What happened?" A burning sensation passing through her wake her up prematurely, causing her to wrap her arms around her stomach instinctively, "Feel I got stomped on by a darn elephant or sumthin'."
"Rise and shine, sweetheart."
Blinking blankly, Ranma adjusted herself to the voice resonated, spotting Xiaoyu's sheepishly grinning and finger that indicates where the speaker was, right on her lap, "You," The redhead said almost breathlessly, cringing from a stinging sensation resonating from her cheek, "Ow," Trying to observe her cheek through touch alone, Ranma reeled her hand back, "Ouch! 'Dat strings!"
"Careful," Yusuke advised, "It may take a while for your injuries to heal."
"Damn you!"
"You put up one hell of a fight against me. You can consider your lumps a testament to how much power I had to draw out from storage to draw the curtains on you. Congrats."
"Don't patronize me!" Ranma commanded, trying to incinerate Yusuke's relaxed visage with a heated glare, crossing her arms, "You… You only got lucky, is all. Just gimme a day or two ta heal up 'n I'll make a comeback!" She smirked, "Since I know yer fighting style I'll be able to cream yer butt!"
"Oh give it a rest, Ranma," Akane commanded with her face scrunching up in irritation.
"S'cuse me," Ranma insisted in a challengingly tone, turning her glare on Akane, "What would you know 'Miss-NOT-spectator'?"
"I know enough to know a certain jerk got what was coming to her!" Akane retorted, intensifying Ranma's glare.
"Oh you so un-! What?" Just as the redhead was about to label Akane with the nickname she founded last night ago, a certain word in Akane's dialogue caused her mind to momentary freeze, "Did'ja just refer ta me as a girl, Akane?" The blue-eyed gender bender asked, having her fears already confirmed by the deadpanned look on Akane's face.
"Well, duh."
Ranma yelped, keeping her voice suspiciously low, though that she had suddenly reminded of her painful acquaintance with a certain water machine she became miraculously to her female as she threw her hands over her mouth.
With even a semblance of shame, Ranma lifted up her shirt to see the confirmation of her current gender in the form of her C-cup pair of watermelons, prompting Yusuke to gape and Xiaoyu to just stare expressionlessly, mostly because she was shocked how anyone lady could so carelessly flaunt her prized assets with a guy around.
"Aw, darn it. Musta got soaked after being whacked into 'dat water ventilator," Ranma rationalized.
"For goodness sakes, Ranma, have some modesty!" Akane said, "Especially in front of a icky boy!"
"Oh right," Ranma agreed in an inexpressive fashion, switching her attention to Yusuke's content face, sticking out her bottom lip in a show of petulant anger when the teen hollered wolfishly, "You perv."
"You think that's bad?" Yusuke waved dismissively, getting the redhead to stare upon him blankly at the next implications he gave her, "Pfft. Then you won't even want to know what I indulged myself on following my victory as a sort of reward."
"Eh. Are ya implying y-."
"Yep. And it was great," Ranma blanched, hugging her breasts as though she was shielding them from Yusuke's pointed index finger, "Those feel really nice by the way. Feel chuffed."
"You perv!"
"You ecky pervert!"
Ranma's anger was instantly gobbled up by Akanes's.
"I'm that guy," Yusuke lackadaisically thumbed his chest.
"You stupid, ecky pervert!" Akane thrashed furiously.
"You might want to cool down, Akane," Xiaoyu recommended.
"I will not cool down!" Akane insisted, pointing down at Yusuke, elevating her knees upward, "Not with ecky perverts like him plaguing the school and harassing me consistently!" Akane's fiery rant triggered a remembrance of the hentei horde's reasoning to occur in Xiaoyu's mind.
"Akane-chan," The airheaded girl whispered in a sympathetic tone, blinking when she felt movement on her lap. Beside her, Yusuke was adjusting himself around to face the fuming girl beside her, dusting himself in the same lackadaisical manner, "Yuu-chan?"
"Why don't you just do what you want to do and get it over with," Yusuke urged, causing Ranma to gulp. The reason the two initiated their fight in the first place was relevant to the occurrence in front of her after all.
'Is he gonna-?'
Akane's eyes blazed with a heated desire to deliver what she thought needed to be delivered, "Why you-!" Balling her hand up into a rock of a fist with so much pressure on the ground it cracked, bringing it to a ready motion as though that were the signal, "Jerk!"
Once her arm was set off of its restraints, it was captured immediately, then pulled up in a harsh manner, which subsequently forced her to her feet. Now a burning sensation shot through her, indicating to the forceful turning of her wrist.
"Ow," She shut her eye, trying to fight the immense strain to her wrist by allowing her body to turn with twist, but all that did was put in an awkward angle, thus increasing the agony, "It hurts!"
"A-Akane!" Ranma stuttered. She didn't necessarily like the girl since they had only known each other for as little as a day, and were forcefully engaged to each other even though that they didn't exactly hit it off, she also didn't want to see her tortured by an sadistic student.
She wouldn't want see anyone being given the cruel treatment Akane was given.
"Yuu-chan, I think that's enough," Xiaoyu said, lightly tugging on Yusuke's trousers, "C'mon, you're hurting her."
"Precisely the purpose of the punishment," Yusuke said impassively, tuning out Akane's wails of agony, "The amount of pain she feels now will act as a foreboding warning the next time she even considers trying to fuck with me again."
"I think she's got the memo by now, don't you?" Xiaoyu smiled sheepishly, successfully nullifying Yusuke's tormentor mode.
"Suppose so," He agreed, abruptly releasing his grip on Akane's wrist to allow her to drop like an anchor to the ground on her knees.
Clutching her previously trapped wrist with a teary-eyed expression on her features, Akane was grateful for the arms of Xiaoyu comfortingly grasping her shoulders.
"Consider yourself lucky," She of course wasn't grateful for the strict recommendation she got from her tormentor, widening her eyes as though she expected him to simply disappear after the deed. Slowly turning her head over her shoulder with a look of frightened panic now decorating her face, Akane's heart clenched in suspense as the young man grouchily bent down to pick up his jacket and shirt.
"If you haven't had already befriended Xiaoyu-chan, you sure as hell would be worse off for attacking me. That's it." Flinging his upper garments over his shoulder, Yusuke made his way from the girls, pausing to torment Akane with one last menacing gaze, "Comfort yourself with that, but don't let it get to your head," He resumed walking, "Your friendship with Xiaoyu-chan was your one get out of jail free-card today. Next time, you won't be so lucky, I assure you."
Akane felt her very soul resonate with an unspeakable horror.
This was, after all, the first actual time a guy in her life had struck her back. Not just return her own lethal intent back on her, but absolutely demolish her in a humiliating fashion. Even been fought as though she was a delicate princess who break upon contact, Akane had it in her head that boys all operated on a particular unwritten code which restricted them from outright attacking girls.
Kuno, despite how good he could be when he was serious, was practically a prime example of guys operating on an unwritten manuscript of honour.
How wrong she was.
Seeing her own misconception of guys threw horribly back in her face filled Akane with face-damaging humiliation.
"See ya Yuu-chan!"
"Later, 'cuz. Thanks for the meal. Don't wait up for me after school. I'm heading off to find Kuno a nice suitable resting spot."
"Oh? But what about Kuma? How do you plan to convince him to let you go?"
"Na. Got it all covered. I'll just give the big fur-ball some tips on catching fish to use on Panda."
"Yuu-chan!"
"Hahahahahahaha!"
"Dummy," Xiaoyu pouted, huffing off her inflated petulant rage to twirl to Akane with a sympathetic look in her eyes, "Are you okay, Akane?"
Akane gasped, startled, slowly looking to her unintentional saviour, "Uh, y-yeah. I'm fine."
"Phew," Xiaoyu breathed in relief, "Good, though you should probably steer-clear from Yuu-chan for a while to avoid igniting his anger."
"Yeah," Akane agreed without thinking, too focused on her previous humbling to really reply, "He's one scary guy."
"Oh he's not so bad once you learn to avoid igniting his fuse." Xiaoyu smiled.
"Aw, he ain't so tough," Ranma insisted, paying no heed to her shaking legs that it was doing its best emulation of jelly, "Coulda taken him then no problemo!"
"Oh really? I guess that trembling of your legs is your bravado speaking, right?" Akane said in a tone that was a strange combination of irritation and monotone.
"Course!" Ranma said, trying to forcefully will away both her embarrassment and her trepidation with forced laughter, eliciting a sigh Akane.
"Listen Akane," Akane blinked, drawn to the serious tone of Xiaoyu to see her at least attempting to be serious. It was a difficult endeavour to accomplish being that she looked so adorably cute. She even held up an lecturing index finger, "Now that you've officially been warned by Yuu-chan you'll be under his remembrance radar. If you will. So please! Do not attack him unless you're prepared for a long fight 'cause it won't end well for you if you're not."
Akane nodded, trying to masquerade her fear with a pretence that was well and that she understood perfectly. Well, she could understood the avoid pissing off Yusuke recommendation but that didn't mean she wasn't scared as hell, "I see."
"Gee. The guy ain't one for sportsmanship," Ranma stated with sarcasm oozing from her tone.
"Not necessarily," Xiaoyu said, waving off the misconception with a sheepish wave, "He just doesn't like anyone trying to walk all over him or any pain in the butt creeps bothering him."
Which was why Kuno forfeited his life the moment he shown he was going to be a recurring nuisance in Yusuke's.
Paul
Strength: 5
Speed: 4:5
Fighting competence: 4
Stamina: 4
Intelligence: 2
Total: 19
Ryoga
Strength: 3
Speed: 2
Fighting competence: 2
Stamina: 4:5
Intelligence: 1
Total 12