Permanent 2
++++++++++
Ranma walked into her apartment and looked at her father who was
lazily sipping tea out of a small cup in its paws. "Hello son," said the
sign the panda offered.
"Father," said Ranma coolly in the tone she reserved only for her
father. "What's this about an arranged marriage?" she cracked her knuckles
and dropped a confused Mr.P on the floor.
+++++++++
The next day Ranma was surprised to see Akane waiting outside her
door. "Hi" she said as she walked up and met the red head at the door.
On the way to school Akane walked next to her looking cheerful. "You're
really moving in with us?"
"Looks like it; my life will be a lot easier if I do. It's closer
to both the school and my job, and the rent is much cheaper." Ranma looked
nervously at her companion and tried to pay attention to where she was
heading.
"So uh, where do you work?" asked Akane casually trying to start
conversation.
"Its called Gaijin café," Ranma answered automatically, she wasn't
used to friendly conversation.
"That's near the Dojo isn't it?" asked Akane thoughtfully.
"Yes," replied Ranma mechanically.
"Why do you act like that? It's creepy," Akane said quietly to
herself.
"What's so creepy about it?" asked Ranma.
Akane blushed and looked at her feet in embarrassment. "I'm sorry
it's just you seem so..." Akane floundered guiltily trying to find the
words.
"Cold? Try spending months in a foreign country being hunted like
an animal. It helps your hearing a lot too." Ranma stared forward angrily
and then blushed. "Sorry, I shouldn't have..." the girl broke herself off
before she embarrassed herself further.
"Ranma?" said Akane to the girl with a horrified look crossing her
features for a moment. "What happened to you?"
Ranma simply continued to walk silently.
+++++++++++
Ranma looked at the crowd amassed at the gates of Furinkan with a
disgusted sigh. "Your public awaits," she gave Akane a small humorless
smile.
Akane returned the smile. "At least she's trying." The two walked
towards the school with Akane leading by several yards.
"There she is!" cried one of the boys in the front. They charged
at the two girls, Akane began as soon as the first wave of boys hit, to
her surprise many of the boys, about half in fact, passed her completely
and charged Ranma who backed away with a look of horror on her face; the
red head turned to run, but the boys swarmed her.
Ranma watched in horror as the boys passed Akane and charged at
her. "No!" she thought and turned away. The boys had a head start and the
element of surprise and swamped her.
She spun around as one of the boys swung at her and cried, "I love you!"
She moved through the crowd dodging
punches and kicks fluidly and easily. "Too many!" she thought desperately
looking for a break in the crowd. Several boys tried to crush her in a dog
pile and Ranma rolled away. "Can't escape!" thought the frightened girl
frantically.
Akane finished up the last part of her little squad and turned to
see Ranma facing not only her usual fan cub, but also about fifteen new
faces as well. "No! Get away from her you jerks." she started to run for
the crowd.
Then an almost inhuman yell erupted from the center of the Mob.
Ranma shot straight up twenty feet into the air with a jumping uppercut
that knocked one boy fifteen feet back and took out several other students
in his wake. Ranma landed and looked at her opponents carefully. The boys
circled her and began to close in.
Everyone not involved stopped and stared in shock; Akane saw Ranma
standing in the center of the crowd in a ready stance, she had seen Ranma
fight twice now and neither time had she actually taken up a stance.
Akane started to move towards the girl to help, but a warning hand on her
shoulder stopped her. She turned to see Nabiki holding her back gently
shaking her head.
"Akane look at her eyes," her sister said simply.
She turned to watch as the boys edged their way ever closer to the
girl carefully and slowly. "She looked and saw a very serene and calm
Ranma standing motionless in the center. Her eyes held no emotion or fire;
she almost seemed to be nothing but lifeless statue; Ranma was a killing
machine.
"No! They'll be killed!" cried Akane as she watched at the boys
edge closer, she made no move to break her sister's grip though.
One of the Karate club members snapped and ran at Ranma. He
screamed as he rushed her; She moved slightly to dodge his strike and
backhanded him in the back of the head. He fell to the ground with a
sickening thud and she jumped into the crowd of boys surrounding her
silently. She kicked one boy in the neck breaking his collar bone and
dropping him like a rock. One of the sumo club took a swing at her and she
grabbed his arm and slammed him down on the ground while twisting her
weight ripping his arm out of the socket dislocating his shoulder without
stopping her momentum as she planted her feet in another boy's face.
Another boy dressed on boxing gear swung at Ranma; she grabbed his wrist
and ducked under his arm, then she punched up through his elbow breaking
it instantly. Another boy kicked at her and she grabbed his ankle, brought
it down on her thigh as she kneeled, and elbowed his knee breaking it
instantly as well. She turned and charged into another group of boys
without making a sound.
After what seemed like hours had passed, Akane and Nabiki watched
in horror as Ranma stood in the center of the pile of broken and entirely
unconscious boys. She stood breathing evenly and looked around at the
destruction she had caused. She fell to her knees and took deep controlled
breaths as she stared at her hands with absolutely no emotion on her face.
Akane gasped as she thought a shimmer of golden light could be seen in her
palms for a moment; but she dismissed it as Tatewaki Kuno walked out from
behind a tree and smiled at the girl who was regaining control of herself
slowly. Ranma looked at her hands and sobbed as the scope of what she had
done hit her. "Shampoo," she said aloud.
The kendoist smiled smugly at the girl before him on the ground
and waited patiently for her to gaze up at his glory. "Such sweet
remorse," he said to Ranma who merely looked at him.
"You did this," said Ranma calmly.
"No! He'll be killed!" cried Akane as she stepped forward again,
but was once again restrained by her sister.
"No, he won't. Broken but not killed. Perhaps he needs it for being
so careless," Nabiki pointed to the bodies of the male populous of
Furinkan. All of them were broken and crushed, but not a single one was
in any danger of dying. Arms and legs where bent at odd angles and faces
where hardly recognizable; but no deathblows could be seen in the
unconscious forms that lay in the grass.
Kuno's clothes were obviously designed to show off the scar he had
received in the earlier battle with Ranma. "They, as with the beauteous
Akane Tendo, must defeat you for the honor of your company."
"Who are you interfere with my life?" asked Ranma with the same
maddening calm.
"'Twas no trouble my dear; it is what the superior class does to
those obviously too weak to live on their own," he tossed a rose at Ranma
dramatically.
Ranma punched it in the air causing it to explode sending petals
in every direction. "You are an arrogant jerk," she spoke the words as a
statement and not a curse.
"Now fair maiden might thou spar with me?" Kuno readied himself
for battle.
Ranma waved her hand around her and looked at Kuno with her face
growing hard. "Does it look like I'm sparing to you?"
"My heart guides me into this battle," said the boy as he charged
Ranma.
The girl jumped into the air and came down hard on Kuno's chest;
She then sprung off him and onto the ground several feet away; after a
second of silence between the two Kuno leaned forward and coughed up a
fair amount of blood.
Ranma eyed him coldly as he stood clutching his chest. "I just
punctured your right lung slightly. If you don't receive medical attention
within the next two hours you will die. There is a pay phone inside the
school." Ranma flipped him a hundred yen coin and began to walk away; She
stopped and turned slightly. "Now -sempai- do you see how much I love a
weakling like you?" her voice dripped with venom as she walked away
without looking at him again.
+++++++++++++
It began to rain and some of the students woke up and started
moaning and others screamed in terror and pain from their injuries. The
few who escaped unharmed and those who had fought Akane looked on in
horror as the girl walked away from the screaming pile of bodies.
She looked like a demon to her, a cold hard emotionless face that
could not possibly be human; yet Akane could not bring herself to be
afraid or angry.
Ranma stopped in front of her. "I am sorry for this, but maybe now
you understand the kind of life I've had over the past year," she said
sadly.
Akane looked at Ranma with piteous eyes. "Ranma how could you?"
she slapped the girl across her face and got no reaction from her; Ranma
merely turned her head and wiped her mouth with the back of her wrist.
"I have fought for my life every day for almost a year. I thought,
finally it would all go away once I got back home. I guess I was wrong,"
she said quietly once again returning to her emotionless daze; finally she
silently walked towards the building.
"Akane she didn't do anything wrong; she defended herself, plain
and simple." Nabiki watched Ranma walk slowly towards the school and
didn't appear to be paying any attention to her sister.
"That poor girl what could have happened to her to cause this?"
said Akane after a moment. In the distance emergency vehicles sirens
wailed and the pair turned towards the school.
++++++++++
Later the same day, during the lunch period...
Akane could not find Ranma anywhere on the campus; when she asked
most of the girls gave her hateful stares and the boys simply turned away
quietly. After finally giving up her search Akane walked into the lunch
room hoping for a few leftovers before she found her friends outside; the
speakers across the campus crackled to life suddenly and a voice spoke
clearly four simple words that everyone understood. "The attacks will
stop."
"Ranma?" gasped Akane startled by the announcement. She ran
towards the school office and caught the girl right as she walked out.
"There you are, I was worried; you forgot to eat lunch with us." Ranma
offered a halfhearted smile and allowed herself to be taken to a group of
girls in the courtyard.
Several of them gasped and stared at her in fear and wonder. Many
of the other girls were giving Ranma dirty looks, she realized that it
must be because their boyfriends were involved in the attack this morning.
The paramedics arrived and the police questioned the boys. No one would
give any information out of either 'love', fear or both. More than half
the schools male population was absent now because they had to be taken to
the hospital. Ranma looked at Akane and asked a simple question.
"Why?"
Akane turned to face her and hugged her causing Ranma to freeze up
and blush. "Because I don't understand, I pray I never do, and I hope you
get the chance to forget," she looked over at Nabiki on the other side of
the field who smiled back at her. "We're going to be living together and I
think we should be friends." Ranma blushed and looked down at her knees.
"She's so cute; Friends...huh?" Ranma mind wandered for a moment,
as she was unsure of what to say or do. "But I can't forget, I won't let
that happen," the words where whispered and Akane released her looking
confused again. "It's too important."
+++++++++++
Kuno sat looking at the doctor suspiciously. "What do you mean its
not punctured?" he said bluntly.
"You've been faked out my friend," said the doctor looking at the
chart. "She broke your ribs all right and I'm not surprised you coughed
up a little blood with all the bruises she gave you. She must really hat-"
"I knew it she does love me!" he cried.
The doctor sighed and placed the chart back on the table. "You and
I need to talk," he said to the Kendoist as Kuno hugged his pillow
joyously.
