A Man's man, by Ranko Inazuma.
Chapter 1: Like a Scene.
"A movie?" Ranma asked from his seat. He was holding his chin with one and with the other he was tapping on his open notebook with the eraser on his pencil. The pages had half finished notes, one or two scribbles and doodles at the edges.
Proof that academics wasn't his forte, or his interest.
"Yeah" Akane answered, she was standing in front of his seat "The girls and I will be catching a movie after our respective club meetings"
It was 3:00 P.M., they were in the final afternoon period of the day, the teacher had to excuse himself because of an extemporaneous matter, so the class was unattended for the moment. The students were chatting and planning what to do after their regular classes or after their club meetings.
"Hey Akane" Yuka and Sayuri approached the short haired chick from the side, they were speaking among themselves near the chalkboard. Yuka spoke "We're discussing of what movie we're going to see"
"Got any film in mind?" Sayuri asked her friend. The three have been friends for years.
"None in particular girls. I'm good with any you choose" Akane answered, not caring what move they'll be watching, as long as they watched it together and have fun.
Then she turned her attention to her fiancée.
"So what do you say? Wanna come with us?" Akane asked Ranma.
Ranma blinked, this was unusual for him. He has never been in a cinema in his life. Training is what consumed most of his time. It always have been. That is why he was uninterested in that stuff.
When he heard Hiroshi and Daisuke talking about their favorite movie genres and films, he just didn't pay any attention and simply stayed on the upper branch of his favorite resting spot, the tree located behind the tall metal fence near the soccer pitch.
"Eh, I think I'll pass Akane" Ranma answered.
"You're not going?" Akane asked, the answer did come as somewhat surprising.
"Yup..I'm not" he stopped holding his chin with his right hand "Never been keen with this movie stuff"
He stood up from his seat, taking the chance to go to the bathrooms. "I'll prolly go to train some moves"
Akane saw him walk to the classroom's door, and put her attention back on Yuka who was speaking.
*ding dong ding dong*
At the shoe lockers.
"You sure you don't wanna go Ranma?" Akane was picking her shoes from her locker.
"Yep. It'll be fine. Ya'll have fun in there" Ranma closed his locker. Behind them a stream of students were heading to the building's door.
The two teens followed the rest. Akane just finished with a club meeting. She was part of not one but two clubs and both clubs had to do with two of her weaknesses: swimming and cooking.
Ranma was just sticking around. He wasn't member of any club, that stuff never caught his attention and so far there was no consequences for him. When he wasn't sleeping in class or chilling on one of the branches of his favorite tree, he was doing something to pass time like kicking the ball with the guys in the soccer pitch (at first he didn't care about it).
Students were almost flooding the school gates, the afternoon seemed pleasant and somewhat warm, the sky was almost clear, with few clouds and a bright sun.
Ranma and Akane stopped near the left wall, staying close to the school gates, waiting for Akane's friends. Akane looked at the ground, holding her satchel in front of her, resting it on her legs.
Ranma crossed his arms behind his head, leaning against the wall whilst viewing the almost clean canvas of the sky.
The students were leaving, going to their homes or making a stop before doing so.
"Akane" the Tendo reacted and saw her friends catching up with her near the entrance, where they agreed to meet before going.
"Hey girls" Akane acknowledged them, walking to where they were. "Did your club meeting end well?"
"Huff, barely" Yuka sighed "Archery club is now four members short since they no longer show up"
"Debate club is faring a little better" Sayuri said "It's just that the team is a little demoralized since our captain got sick…the guy always brings the best topics"
"I see" Akane felt emphatic with them, specially with Yuka "I made some progress with the cooking club" she added, her friends and even Ranma had a sweat drop "but I'm improving step by step" the Tendo raised a fist in the air.
"Atta girl, that's the spirit" her friends took her hands with theirs. "Now what do you say we plan our movie time?"
"Sure, I'll get changed and meet you later" Akane smiled.
"Good, we'll meet at Yuka's house and then we'll go to the cinema" Sayuri told the two they'd be meeting at Yuka's place.
Both girls nodded in agreement before departing. Ranma approached his fiancée and they two walked together back home.
Akane was ahead, Ranma was a couple steps behind.
He could notice some gusto in her, her steps seemed a bit lighter. And she was even humming s subtle tune that he barely could hear.
He couldn't take his eyes away, mostly for curiosity. Was it because she was going to unwind? Or maybe it was because of her friends that put her in a good mood for what it seemed?.
After dinner time (Akane left without dining because she'd get something to eat with her friends), Ranma went to his room, the room he also shared with his father.
"Ranma my boy, you shouldn't have let Akane go alone" his father said as he entered the room.
"Eh, why not?" Ranma looked over his shoulder in his side of the room, after dropping his bag near his futon "*hop* Not interested in movies and that stuff"
"It's not for the movies boy!" Genma retorted "Akane's your fiancée, what if some other boy put his eyes on her in that place?"
"Remember Ranma, we're here to fulfill the agreement between our schools!"
"Ah shut it pops" Ranma replied rolling his eyes, passing him by as he turned around to see his son going to the door while stretching his arms above his head "Anyway, I'm feeling like sparring, wanna come?"
"Uh…I forgot I have an unfinished shogi match with Soun, ehem" Genma gave the back to his son, clearly uneager.
"Meh, you're no fun…old man, heh" with that Ranma went downstairs.
Inside the dojo.
Ramma changed his clothes, opting for an standard white gi set to train.
He was standing in the middle of the dojo, on his own. The dojo was fairly spacious. As spacious to have like 20 or 30 students.
Although no students came to learn to the Tendo dojo, the place was well maintained and cared. The wood was polished, giving it a shiny gleam that reflected part of his image on it.
He stood in silence for some seconds, seconds that felt like long minutes before opening them wide.
The pigtailed boy threw a straight punch forward with his left, his fist causing a whooshing sound.
He followed that with another punch with his right, and just as quick as he threw his second punch he twirled and outstretched his leg to perform a rotating kick.
Ranma looked at his outstretched foot in front of him. He put it back on the wooden floor and began to bounce on the floor starting with his left leg, landing on his right foot, alternating with each hop and adding a little more of impulse with each jump.
When the Saotome reached half height between the floor and the dojo's ceiling he did a backflip on midair retracting one leg and outstretching the other, keeping his arms close to his chest in an X sign.
He landed making a soft thud on the wooden floor. Without losing a second he made a quick hop backwards to then perform a straight jumping kick.
He used his arms, moving them in an inner clockwise and counter clock wise motion, as if he was disarming an imaginary person before hailing punches in fast succession. He was nimble and his fists were fast as well.
Ranma finished his sequence with a straight punch aimed at the mid section as if aiming to the stomach.
He had a small smile on his face, the teen cracked his neck and swayed his arms around, loosening up.
He took a battling stance to resume his practice.
Ranma went on to practice for 20 minutes, not a lengthy season of training like usual but some light exercise. The teen picked a towel to dry himself off the sweat because of the training, in any case he was going to hit the shower after training.
With towel hanging on his shoulders he went back to the house, entering from the open side corridor facing the yard.
"Hey Ranma" Kasumi came from the right side of the corridor with a basket with some towels. "Finished with the training?" she asked with that amiable smile of hers.
"Yup" he nodded "Just felt like stretching and doin' some light moves, nothing fancy"
Kasumi's smile widened a little at that. She knew just like others how proficient Ranma was when it came to the art. "Oh, I'm gonna prepare the shower for you, it's not good to stay with dry sweat over you"
The eldest Tendo continued carrying the basket with herself. Ranma saw her go to the other end of the corridor and take a corner. Well, he had some time before the shower was ready for him and besides, he left his clothes in the dojo and went to pick them. The training gi was going to the dirty clothes bin for laundry tomorrow.
Ranma was carrying his gi on his arms, he was again sporting his well know attire, he was walking closer to the right outer wall of the house. The yard was spacious and it had a pond near the middle with some bushes around the north wall.
It was 6:45 in the afternoon, the sky was getting dark, coloring everything with a shade of blue. Light was coming from the open corridor of the house and nearby from the street lights across the road outside.
"Oops" Ranma knelt down to pick the top part of his training gi that slid off his arms and fell on the ground. It didn't end much soiled, just some small speckles of dirt, it was going to the laundry in any case he thought. He was like two feet away from the bushes after passing near the pond
"Hmmm….now where was I supposed to go?"
Ranma stood up, he heard a voice coming from the other side of the wall. Wait, that voice he thought. He recognized that voice.
The Saotome looked up at the wall in front of him and did a small jump. He grabbed onto the wall and pushed himself up making as less noise as possible and gazed outside to the street down below.
He scouted the street from side to side and he found something or someone on his left, like at ten feet away and in middle of the deserted street.
He eyes rolled, yep, I was right on the money he thought. He knew who was standing in there.
It was Ryoga, Ryoga Hibiki standing out in the street looking as disorientated as usual, trying to make his way.
Ranma was wondering when he was going to show up. It was almost 2 months since he left again, probably to train in the mountains or in the desert or whatever place the lost boy used to wander on.
But what was he doing and at that time? Being Ryoga, Ranma guessed he was just trying to get back to the empty lot he always used as camping ground when he was around. That was 10 blocks away from where he was. Considering his house was at the other side of the city, that lot was closer.
He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his footsteps, he was walking away, passing near the outer gate of the residence. Odd, Ranma thought, whenever he came back to town the Tendo residence was the first place in mind, if not to challenge Ranma then it had to be about Akane. But he was seeing him walk away without a second glance.
Maybe he was being more oblivious than usual, Ranma thought. Suddenly he got curious as to where he was really going. The pigtailed boy glanced behind, over his shoulder towards the house. Kasumi was preparing the shower for him but now he wanted to know where Ryoga was heading to.
So he pushed himself up the wall and left the house to follow Ryoga, leaving his gi and the towel heaped on the dirt.
Ryoga was wandering ahead, seven or eight meters of distance and Ranma was tailing him from a safe distance. There was almost no one in the streets around the neighborhood most people were already in their houses after a long day of work (excluding those that were on their way to their night shift). The two were roaming across the streets, one of them tailing the other.
Ryoga looked over his shoulder, feeling that someone was watching him, but he saw no one behind him, he only saw the circle of light casted on the concrete by the streetlamp, and a pair of trash cans piled near the pole of the streetlight.
The bandana clad boy shrugged, thinking it was his imagination and kept going forward.
When he knew he was no longer watching, Ranma came out from behind the trash cans, pinching his nose, squeezing his eyes shut because of the bad odor emanating from the trash cans. He hid behind them, thankfully he hid before Ryoga could spot him.
20 minutes later, the two kept going without stopping, taking turns and crossing intersections. Now Ranma was even more curious. He knew they were way past the empty lot Ryoga used as camping grounds, now the question was, where was he really going to?
They were now in downtown, far from the neighborhood. There was more people in there, even at that time, which was 7:20 P.M.
Ranma weaved through the crowd of pedestrians trying not to bump into someone while also tracking Ryoga.
At one moment he saw go towards one of the buildings on the block he was passing by. Ranma stopped for a second, asking himself where Ryoga was walking into. Gazing up he saw the building's marquee.
Ryoga was heading into a cinema, the same cinema Akane and her friends came into to watch a movie. Getting out of the half crowded sidewalk he saw the timid looking Ryoga speaking with the chick at the entrance (where tickets were sold). Even from there he saw the guy stuttering a little.
What a dork, he thought. He handed the girl a small piece of paper. The attendant took it and scanned it before giving it back to him and signaling the Hibiki boy to go further inside.
Ranma raised an eyebrow, seeing the lost boy go into a cinema, what was going on? He had to get to the bottom of this.
So he went towards the booth.
"Good evening, are you here to purchase a ticket or redeem one you already bought?" the chick was cute, with light brown short way hair, pickle green eyes, a dark blue top hat hairband and a light cyan long sleeved shirt.
"Uhm, no, actually not" he was debating whether he should tell her he was following they guy who came in before him or make up something to gain entrance.
"Oh, then I'm afraid I cannot allow you to enter, thank you" she said.
*soft thump*
Placing his hand on the glass, he slowly raised his gaze towards the attendant, with a softer look on his face "Are you sure I can't make you reconsider? I'm sure you've been told this before but you're quite pretty"
"Huh.." a faint tint of pink arose on her cheeks. With a soft laugh she brushed some strands of hair off her face. "I-I guess I've been told that before"
"I'm sure you can allow this, I bet you're popular and you attract customers like a magnet"
The chick swallowed a tad nervously now. Ranma was working his smooth talking on her.
I'm getting good at this, he thought to himself smirking internally.
"Uhm, I guess I can make an exception this time *subtle laugh* All right, go in"
"Thanks" with a subtle wink, he went inside the building, leaving a heart eyed attendant, and someone was approaching the booth.
Inside the cinema, Ranma started looking for Ryoga, sure he was lucky to pinpoint the place but lightning often doesn't strike twice so he might be wandering around, lost as usual.
Now I'm playing where's Waldo with this moron, Ranma thought, passing near the snacks' stand. Moviegoers were entering and leaving so it was a bit hard to pinpoint a single person, even if it was someone wearing a bright yellow shirt.
The pigtailed boy took a corner when he bumped onto something that made him fall back on his butt.
"Ow…ugh, I-I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention…" when he was getting up he caught a glimpse of what or who he crashed with and then he saw him, standing there, giving him the back.
"You!" Ryoga turned around sharply, pointing with his index finger at Ranma, Ranma returned the gesture and with the same shocked expression he pointed at the lost boy.
"Oh…" their little outburst brought the attention of people around them, under the gaze of many people there, Ryoga felt a little self conscious.
"Hehehe, you know, let's take this somewhere" without letting him day a thing, Ranma carried Ryoga away from the prying eyes of the people.
Once the two teens were away from the crowd, the two were in s less crowded section of the building. They were near a bench that was in front of a tall partition separated from the actual wall with a corridor, adorned with a potted plant.
"What the heck are you doing here Ranma!?" Ryoga now again his usual self vociferated on Ranma.
"That should be my question!" Ranma retorted "Whatcha doin' in a cinema anyway? Never thought you'd be a movies guy anyway"
"Humph, that's none of your business Saotome"
The other rolled his eyes. He expected that much, Ryoga wasn't the easiest guy to speak with, at least with him. He was so rough at the edges.
Somewhat farther from them, two uniform clad men were scouting the floor, they were security guards. One of them took his communicator, pressed the button near the thin antenna and put pit close to his mouth to speak.
"Surveillance team here to Entrance We heard some people confirming the details of the suspect, we're searching for him"
At the entrance and with a somewhat long line of customers waiting, the attendant chick was profusely apologizing to her supervisor with comical tear streaks on her face. The supervisor heard the message and told them to find that person who snuck in without paying, most probably Ranma.
Back inside the building, Ranma turned around when he saw two guys in uniform come their way.
The guy speaking with the woman at the entrance saw Ranma. "Surveillance to Entrance. We found the guy, going to apprehend him"
"Roger, do it ASAP" the guy put his communicator back in his pocket. "Hey you, stop right there. You entered without paying!"
'Oh shoot, they found me' Ranma knew that was bound to happen. And he also realized that he left his wallet at home.
The two security guards were closing in, Ryoga was unaware of them. Ranma knew he had to act fast so he took Ryoga by the arm and bolted away from the guards trying to get away.
"Stop!"
"H-Hey, what's the big idea Saotome!?" Ryoga protested, taken by surprise by the others' action.
"No time to explain, let's go" Ranma pulled Ryoga, weaving across the crowd of people.
The guards were hot on their trail. Ranma and Ryoga were at least twenty feet away from guards that only carried guard sticks.
Ranma was faster so he was putting a bit more of distance with their pursuers. The two teens reached the end of a corridor, there was no people around, just a blue wall and a ventilation duct above. The two passed along many doors leading to the auditoriums but those were closed and probably already showcasing their respective films so entering wasn't possible, besides, the guards were not too far so backtracking was not an option either.
At least not without getting physical but that would cause more problems than what the option would be worth for. Ranma had no option. He hopped and grabbed onto the ventilation duct's blinds and with a little of force he pulled it off.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Ryoga couldn't hide his surprise.
"Come on, we gotta go!" and Ranma squeezed his way through the vent, it was as wide as him, maybe some extra inches to allow movement.
Ryoga groaned when he saw the other go deeper inside the ventilation duct. Why did he have to get roped into that situation, he thought but worried at the thought of being seen with Ramma the guards would suspect of him he also thought so leaving all thoughts behind he hopped and made his way through the makeshift escape route.
They barely could hear much, besides the clanking sounds of them crawling across the metal duct. And it was kind of chill to boot.
But they managed to move through the grid of ventilation ducts, taking one or two turns in hopes of getting away from the guards, the question was now how to get out.
Ranma reached an end, blinds were covering the exit, was it outside the building? One way to find out. With a punch he dislodged the blinds so he and Ryoga could get out of that duct.
Stepping out the two escapees found out they were still inside the cinema but it appeared like they reached one of the public bathrooms. And it was apparent no one was using the facilities so they were alone. The two patted their clothes, they were slightly dirtied.
Getting out of one of the toilet booths, the escapees washed their hands. Ranma sighed.
"Now what?" Ryoga walked to the wall and leaned against it, turning so he could slid a bit down on it.
"They know what you look like, heck, they probably saw me too!"
"I-I guess…" Ranma had a faint look of worry "Look, I just need to find a way to g-" he turned to face the fang toothed boy who was again close to him but before he could finish speaking he found himself getting splashed with water. Ryoga stood in front of him with his hands wet and an annoyed look on his face.
The changed occurred and now Ranma was a red-haired chick, a somewhat wet one.
"*growl* Geez Ryoga, what was that for!? *mmf*" Ryoga put his hand on her mouth, holding a finger in front of her, silencing her in the process.
"Look, they saw how your normally look but they don't know about your cursed self, think"
Ranma's eyes widened a bit. He hadn't considered that idea, he had to admit. Maybe that way he didn't have to hide or run away. But that it was Ryoga's idea and that he got splashed by him annoyed the Saotome boy.
She cleared her throat, looking down to Ryoga's hand on her mouth. The other caught the hint and took his hand off her mouth.
"*huff* Guess there's no need to run away, let's go" Ryoga nodded and the two left the bathroom.
A man was coming to use the bathroom when he saw Ranma and Ryoga leaving, speaking among themselves, the lost boy being less annoyed now. The man who was going to enter stood there puzzled as to why a girl was getting out of them men's bathroom like the sign above and near the door made it clear.
Ranma and Ryoga were wandering around the cinema without knowing what to do, when the two were approached by the same guards that earlier were chasing them.
Uh oh, Ranma thought to herself, 'Am I still in trouble?'
"Pardon me miss" one of the security guards spoke with her "Have you seen a man? He has clothes similar to yours but he's a guy. We're searching for him"
"He has clothes like mine?" she feigning thinking, looking up at the ceiling before answering "Nope, can't say I saw someone like him?"
"I see" the guard replied and he looked at Ryoga "Are you here with him?" Ryoga swallowed when they guard was looking at him, taking a step behind. Ranma acted quick.
"Why yes, he's my beloved and we're on a date" with a swift movement she snuck from behind of him, taking the lost and confounded boy by the shoulders and placing her face near his, side to side.
"Wha-" she giggled and pinched him on the cheek. The guards looked between themselves and got convinced they were just a regular couple going to watch a movie. "Please enjoy your time and go to where your movie is screened"
"Thank you, we will" when they saw the guards leave them alone, Ryoga dislodged himself off her faster than a man running away from a fire. He looked at the other as if she was crazy.
"Yeah, I love you too" she snickered internally turning around, relishing when she heard him growl.
"Ranma!"
"Hehehehe"
Minutes later and after things calmed down, the two were again walking around.
"Sooo, how did you know about this place huh?"
Ryoga sighed. "You won't stop pestering me till I tell you right?" Ranma with fake gleaming eyes and feigning innocence blinked twice as response.
Ryoga sighed again. Might as well say it. "Look, I just found that ticket while I was walking"
"You just…found it?" Ranma asked, not really buying it, but she listened anyways.
"Yeah, someone probably lost it and the wind carried it…and I found it not far from the empty lot"
"Is that so?" with pensive pose, Ranma wondered who could have lost a movie ticket. Then an idea popped up in her head.
"Hey, what was that ticket for?"
"Oh…I recall the girl at the entrance telling me to reach auditorium number 10 in the second floor"
"Second floor? What are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Some minutes and with some effort the two teens went into auditorium number 10. With some flirting, the redhead managed to convince the man at the door to let her enter. Ryoga barely contained his disgust, just to not cause an scene, besides it was not his problem but it still disgusted him.
Once inside, it seemed like the movie hasn't started yet and that Ranma and Ryoga were the last ones to enter. According to Ryoga his seat was in the third square set of seats at the fourth row on their left. Ranma hoped no one else picked the seat near Ryoga's, otherwise she'd be found out and taken out.
He looked as the redhead took the seat right next to his. He just lamented that it wasn't Akane seating next to him.
"Well excuuuse me for not being Akane" she faked being offended, deep inside she knew it. "Akane and her friends are watching a movie in another auditorium, dunno if their movie's still going"
"Akane's in this cinema?" he asked with some hope to find her after the movie finished.
"Yeah…she asked me to come but meh, I ain't interested in movies" He then asked her what she was doing now in a cinema. "Well, I saw you out near the house aaand I followed you"
Ryoga gave her a suspicious look but snorted derisively. The screen lit up, and the movie was about to start so they decided to shut up and watch it. The movie in itself was of the romantic type and it was kinda mushy. Good for couples but no way that Ranma and Ryoga were one, in fact it was making them both cringe and feel uncomfortable.
The scene showing at that moment was of two teens, one male with black hair and the other a female with red hair, both standing near a outdoors balcony in a second floor facing a forest. Both were tangled in am embrace, feeling their hearts become like one. They crossed their gazes and slowly their lips united.
"Really?" Ranma asked with a deadpan expression, her elbows were resting on her knees.
"Yeah, *snort* I mean, wasn't she at least suspicious like half an hour ago? Haha" Ryoga snickered.
The movie was so mushy for them that to deal with it, they decided to pass the time mocking all the absurdly romantic scenes and stuff that according to them made little to no sense.
That caught the attention of others around them, they were watching the two teens with different expressions, mostly of them confused. They knew what they were going to watch so why come and act like that? That was probably what half of them had in mind.
And so the time passed until the movie finished, once the credits finished rolling and the screen was turned off, the two teens got up with a smile, being a little tired after laughing and mock acting between themselves. It was something none of them had done before, but even they had to admit that it was fun.
At the entrance, outside the cinema, Ranma and Ryoga stayed near the sidewalk.
"Guess it was kinda fun" despite what he said, a subtle smile was betraying Ryoga's words. "Too bad I couldn't catch up with Akane"
"Hehe…oh" suddenly Ranma realized something, he remembered.
He remembered that Kasumi prepared the shower for him.
End of Chapter 1.
Author's notes: Greetings everyone, Ranko here with the author's notes.
I'd like to start apologizing for my lack of activity here, it is just that I've been struggling with my writing pace. I have ideas, I do, but I found it difficult to extend my writing, like ending short in chapter's length. But I think I'm getting through.
Another thing is, 'Wandering Hearts' has been archived, it was paused but now it was archived. I will get back to it in time and do the necessary changes to make it better, but for now, please enjoy this story I'm presenting you all.
I'm trying to get myself ahead of schedule and not fall behind, so I can fine comb the details and see if there is something that needs to be edited, changed or erased.
And that's all. Hope you enjoy this story. I promise you it will have wackiness, seriousness, emotions and more.
Without further ado, I hope you all have a great time. Ranko out!