It should be noted that Ranma disliked tests. Not that he wasn't
capable of doing well on them. Quite the opposite; he'd never met a test
he couldn't beat if he prepared properly, just like he'd never met an
opponent he couldn't beat if he trained hard enough. No, tests weren't
something he couldn't handle, but he still disliked them all the same. So
when Ranma handed in the placement test that Principal Tanaka had requested
he take, Ranma felt a palpable sense of relief. He quickly handed the test
to the secretary and looked around.
"Is it okay if I look around a little bit," Ranma asked. The secretary nodded, never looking up from the test she had started going over. Ranma moved over to the door and said, "I'll be back soon."
Ranma moved out into the hallway , peeking into the open doors of classrooms as he moved through the building. This school is going to be boring, he thought. It all looks like they don't have anything here to interest me. Wait a minute, what's that? Ranma moved back to look in a door
that was only partially open. Something in there had caught his eye.
Ranma eased the door open and peeked inside. He gasped as he saw the most beautiful painting he had ever seen in his life sitting on an easel in the room. Pushing the door open the rest of the way, Ranma walked in, mesmerized by the painting. It was a simple seascape, but the crashing of the
waves against the rocks evoked a deep response in Ranma. He'd never seen anything like this before, ever.
"Do you like it," A voice asked from behind Ranma, causing him to jump in surprise. He turned quickly to face the newcomer and saw a scruffy looking man in a collared shirt with the top button undone and a tie hanging loose around his neck standing there.
"Yes, it's beautiful," Ranma said, turning back to look at the painting. "It's so real. I could swear I almost feel the spray from the waves on my cheeks."
"A lot of people feel that way about this piece. The artist is relatively unknown and he thanks you for the compliment," the man said, bowing slightly to Ranma.
"You painted this," Ranma asked impressed.
"It's just a little thing I work on in my spare time," he replied. "My name's Egawa. I'm the art teacher here."
Ranma stared back and forth between the painting and the teacher, finally nodding. "Do you think you could teach me how to paint," Ranma asked.
"You're Saotome, right," Mr. Egawa asked. At Ranma's nod, he continued, "You're going to be in my class, so I can teach you. Whether you do well or not is up to you. Do you paint or draw?"
"I draw, some," Ranma admitted reluctantly. "Other people think it's good, but I'm not happy with all my drawings. That's what I draw for. Me, not them."
"That's true, Saotome," Mr. Egawa replied, "but no one draws entirely for themselves. Otherwise no one would ever know you draw. You show the drawings to other people and you get praised. All of us artists do it. We need to have our egos built up as we tend to be a moody lot."
"So you'll show me how to draw better and maybe how to paint," Ranma asked excitedly.
"If you pay attention, I can teach you technique, but real art has to come from within," Mr. Egawa said as his eyes seemed to gaze off into the distance. "Do you carry a sketchbook?"
Ranma nodded and pulled his battered sketchbook out of his bag, handing it to Mr. Egawa. The teacher motioned for Ranma to sit on one of the stools as he set the sketchbook down on his desk and started to leaf through it. Ranma fidgeted at the slow pace and expressionless face that Mr. Egawa kept as he thumbed through Ranma's sketches. Finally, he closed the book and stared at Ranma.
"You have a great deal of natural talent, Ranma," he said. "It's obvious from these sketches that you really didn't have anyone to teach you techniques to make drawings seem more natural. How to make perspective and distance look real. You had to work that out mostly on your own, right?"
"Yeah," Ranma replied. "Oyaji didn't like me doing nothing that wasn't martial arts, so I couldn't exactly spend time with someone to teach me those things. I hadta figure out that stuff by looking at other drawings and comparing my own to what I saw in real life."
"You've done well, Ranma," Mr. Egawa said, "but you'll definitely benefit from some formal training. Now I think you need to head back to the principal's office."
"Okay," Ranma replied and headed to the door. He paused briefly in the door way asking, "Did Mr. Tanaka tell you about my problem?"
"Yes, Ranma, he did," Mr. Egawa said as he moved towards the easel. "Believe it or not, we're used to weirder things than a sex-changing curse around here. You shouldn't have many problems with the teachers. How you relate to the other students is up to you."
* * *
While Ranma and Mr. Egawa were talking, neither of them noticed a curvacious red-haired woman hanging upside down outside the window. She smirked evilly and raised her hand. A small egg formed in her hand with a wave of darkness. With a flick of the wrist, the egg was sent flying. It passed through the window as if insubstantial, moving directly for the painting on the easel. It hit and exuded a sticky film, then sank into the painting which pulsed with darkness for a moment.
* * *
As Mr. Egawa touched the painting, there was a brief flash of light and a scream of "Painting!" As Ranma and Mr. Egawa's eyes cleared, an extremely strange-looking woman stood before them. She was wrapped in paper and seemed to sway like the ebb and flow of a tide. With a scream, she launched herself forward, trying to grab Mr. Egawa. She hit the wall with a splash and she seemed to melt into a puddle
on the ground as Ranma pulled the hapless teacher out of the way.
"Get out of here," Ranma yelled to Mr. Egawa, as the woman began to reform from the puddle of water on the floor. Mr. Egawa nodded and ran down the hall, leaving Ranma behind to face the monster. As the water creature finished reforming itself, the red-haired woman appeared in the room, floating above the floor. Her pale skin and ample cleavage was shown off by the skimpy red dress she wore.
"The target has escaped Daimon Painting," she said. "However, I can sense a pure heart in this one. Take his heart crystal."
"Yes, Mistress Kaolinite," the daimon replied leaping at Ranma with her hands outstretched.
"No way in hell am I gonna let you have anything of mine," Ranma shouted as he rolled out of the way of the daimon's leap. His roll brought him to the window, which he unlatched as the daimon turned around. "But if you want a fight, let's take it outside!" With that Ranma hopped off the window ledge. The Daimon rushed over to the window, astonished. She knew humans were afraid of powerful daimons like her, but wasting a heart crystal by committing suicide was unforgivable. She looked out the window and her jaw dropped as she saw Ranma land softly and wave cheerfully at her.
Enraged, the daimon jumped out the window after him, unmindful of the four story drop, which caught up with her as she hit the ground with a splash and had to reform herself.
Ranma shook his head as he watched the daimon jump out the window and hit the ground hard. He watched it reform itself with interest, not having paid much attention the previous time she'd done it. This is gonna be tough, he thought. She's made of water and can just remake herself if she gets hurt. I don't know how good a fighter she is, but I can't underestimate her.
The daimon launched itself at Ranma again, but he leaned to the side and let her pass by. This scene repeated itself as Ranma bobbed and wove around the Daimon's strikes. Becoming frustrated, the Daimon let out a cry of "Painting" and sent a torrent of water rushing at Ranma. He dove out of the way, only to realize at the last minute that the water had been a diversion as the paper shawl the daimon had been wearing wrapped itself around him.
Ranma struggled against the wet paper, surprised at the strength of it. Can't get any leverage, he thought. Damn, and this stuff's as strong as nylon.
Now that the daimon had Ranma trapped, she walked towards him, a dark star tattoo appearing on her flesh. It began to glow as she approached him and emitted a stream of incandescent energy towards Ranma's chest.
The pain was excruciating, but pain wasn't something that Ranma was unaccustomed to. He managed to worm and arm free despite the racking pain, but it was for naught, as he felt something rip out of him. He stared downward, glassy-eyed as a glowing red and gold crystal popped free of his chest. In some vague way, he knew tat the crystal was an important part of him. He could feel his life slowly ebbing away as Kaolinite moved over and cupped the crystal in her hands.
"Not a Talisman," she said disappointed, "but it is an extremely strong one. The Doctor will put this to good use. Finish him off, Painting."
As the Daimon reformed her hand into a wicked blade, Ranma could hear two voices shout something out. Seconds later, two spheres of energy passed in front of Ranma. A golden ball knocked the daimon over and sent her tumbling away from Ranma and shaved close enough by him, to break Ranma free of the paper wrapping he had been in. A blue ball streaked towards Kaolinite and knocked the crystal out of her hands. She bent forward to retrieve it, but a blur passed by her and grabbed the crystal. Ranma, as he slumped to he knees, was able to turn his head to see a blue-green haired girl staring intently at the crystal. She shook her head and lobbed it back at Ranma. Th crystal sailed through the air, being drawn to Ranma, somehow. When it reached him, Ranma exerted all of his energy to stretch an arm out and pull the crystal towards him. When he touched the crystal a warm spread through him, bringing back his energy and will.
Ranma looked around and saw the Red-haired woman was gone and the blue- green haired girl was jumping over the school's fence, accompanied by a blond with a short page-boy cut. A roar sounded and Ranma turned to see the Daimon writhing in pain as a black haired girl in a very short skirt launched rings of fire at the monster. Then, a blonde with her hair in really strange pigtails waved around some kind of stick and a giant heart rammed into the daimon. When the heart faded, the daimon returned to the painting Ranma had seen with a cry of "Lovely." Then a small egg rose from the painting and cracked, causing a small bird-like trail of smoke to emerge. The two girls in the short skirts jumped over the wall, leaving Ranma staring at the schoolyard in shock.
"What the hell just happened," Ranma asked of no one in particular.
"Is it okay if I look around a little bit," Ranma asked. The secretary nodded, never looking up from the test she had started going over. Ranma moved over to the door and said, "I'll be back soon."
Ranma moved out into the hallway , peeking into the open doors of classrooms as he moved through the building. This school is going to be boring, he thought. It all looks like they don't have anything here to interest me. Wait a minute, what's that? Ranma moved back to look in a door
that was only partially open. Something in there had caught his eye.
Ranma eased the door open and peeked inside. He gasped as he saw the most beautiful painting he had ever seen in his life sitting on an easel in the room. Pushing the door open the rest of the way, Ranma walked in, mesmerized by the painting. It was a simple seascape, but the crashing of the
waves against the rocks evoked a deep response in Ranma. He'd never seen anything like this before, ever.
"Do you like it," A voice asked from behind Ranma, causing him to jump in surprise. He turned quickly to face the newcomer and saw a scruffy looking man in a collared shirt with the top button undone and a tie hanging loose around his neck standing there.
"Yes, it's beautiful," Ranma said, turning back to look at the painting. "It's so real. I could swear I almost feel the spray from the waves on my cheeks."
"A lot of people feel that way about this piece. The artist is relatively unknown and he thanks you for the compliment," the man said, bowing slightly to Ranma.
"You painted this," Ranma asked impressed.
"It's just a little thing I work on in my spare time," he replied. "My name's Egawa. I'm the art teacher here."
Ranma stared back and forth between the painting and the teacher, finally nodding. "Do you think you could teach me how to paint," Ranma asked.
"You're Saotome, right," Mr. Egawa asked. At Ranma's nod, he continued, "You're going to be in my class, so I can teach you. Whether you do well or not is up to you. Do you paint or draw?"
"I draw, some," Ranma admitted reluctantly. "Other people think it's good, but I'm not happy with all my drawings. That's what I draw for. Me, not them."
"That's true, Saotome," Mr. Egawa replied, "but no one draws entirely for themselves. Otherwise no one would ever know you draw. You show the drawings to other people and you get praised. All of us artists do it. We need to have our egos built up as we tend to be a moody lot."
"So you'll show me how to draw better and maybe how to paint," Ranma asked excitedly.
"If you pay attention, I can teach you technique, but real art has to come from within," Mr. Egawa said as his eyes seemed to gaze off into the distance. "Do you carry a sketchbook?"
Ranma nodded and pulled his battered sketchbook out of his bag, handing it to Mr. Egawa. The teacher motioned for Ranma to sit on one of the stools as he set the sketchbook down on his desk and started to leaf through it. Ranma fidgeted at the slow pace and expressionless face that Mr. Egawa kept as he thumbed through Ranma's sketches. Finally, he closed the book and stared at Ranma.
"You have a great deal of natural talent, Ranma," he said. "It's obvious from these sketches that you really didn't have anyone to teach you techniques to make drawings seem more natural. How to make perspective and distance look real. You had to work that out mostly on your own, right?"
"Yeah," Ranma replied. "Oyaji didn't like me doing nothing that wasn't martial arts, so I couldn't exactly spend time with someone to teach me those things. I hadta figure out that stuff by looking at other drawings and comparing my own to what I saw in real life."
"You've done well, Ranma," Mr. Egawa said, "but you'll definitely benefit from some formal training. Now I think you need to head back to the principal's office."
"Okay," Ranma replied and headed to the door. He paused briefly in the door way asking, "Did Mr. Tanaka tell you about my problem?"
"Yes, Ranma, he did," Mr. Egawa said as he moved towards the easel. "Believe it or not, we're used to weirder things than a sex-changing curse around here. You shouldn't have many problems with the teachers. How you relate to the other students is up to you."
* * *
While Ranma and Mr. Egawa were talking, neither of them noticed a curvacious red-haired woman hanging upside down outside the window. She smirked evilly and raised her hand. A small egg formed in her hand with a wave of darkness. With a flick of the wrist, the egg was sent flying. It passed through the window as if insubstantial, moving directly for the painting on the easel. It hit and exuded a sticky film, then sank into the painting which pulsed with darkness for a moment.
* * *
As Mr. Egawa touched the painting, there was a brief flash of light and a scream of "Painting!" As Ranma and Mr. Egawa's eyes cleared, an extremely strange-looking woman stood before them. She was wrapped in paper and seemed to sway like the ebb and flow of a tide. With a scream, she launched herself forward, trying to grab Mr. Egawa. She hit the wall with a splash and she seemed to melt into a puddle
on the ground as Ranma pulled the hapless teacher out of the way.
"Get out of here," Ranma yelled to Mr. Egawa, as the woman began to reform from the puddle of water on the floor. Mr. Egawa nodded and ran down the hall, leaving Ranma behind to face the monster. As the water creature finished reforming itself, the red-haired woman appeared in the room, floating above the floor. Her pale skin and ample cleavage was shown off by the skimpy red dress she wore.
"The target has escaped Daimon Painting," she said. "However, I can sense a pure heart in this one. Take his heart crystal."
"Yes, Mistress Kaolinite," the daimon replied leaping at Ranma with her hands outstretched.
"No way in hell am I gonna let you have anything of mine," Ranma shouted as he rolled out of the way of the daimon's leap. His roll brought him to the window, which he unlatched as the daimon turned around. "But if you want a fight, let's take it outside!" With that Ranma hopped off the window ledge. The Daimon rushed over to the window, astonished. She knew humans were afraid of powerful daimons like her, but wasting a heart crystal by committing suicide was unforgivable. She looked out the window and her jaw dropped as she saw Ranma land softly and wave cheerfully at her.
Enraged, the daimon jumped out the window after him, unmindful of the four story drop, which caught up with her as she hit the ground with a splash and had to reform herself.
Ranma shook his head as he watched the daimon jump out the window and hit the ground hard. He watched it reform itself with interest, not having paid much attention the previous time she'd done it. This is gonna be tough, he thought. She's made of water and can just remake herself if she gets hurt. I don't know how good a fighter she is, but I can't underestimate her.
The daimon launched itself at Ranma again, but he leaned to the side and let her pass by. This scene repeated itself as Ranma bobbed and wove around the Daimon's strikes. Becoming frustrated, the Daimon let out a cry of "Painting" and sent a torrent of water rushing at Ranma. He dove out of the way, only to realize at the last minute that the water had been a diversion as the paper shawl the daimon had been wearing wrapped itself around him.
Ranma struggled against the wet paper, surprised at the strength of it. Can't get any leverage, he thought. Damn, and this stuff's as strong as nylon.
Now that the daimon had Ranma trapped, she walked towards him, a dark star tattoo appearing on her flesh. It began to glow as she approached him and emitted a stream of incandescent energy towards Ranma's chest.
The pain was excruciating, but pain wasn't something that Ranma was unaccustomed to. He managed to worm and arm free despite the racking pain, but it was for naught, as he felt something rip out of him. He stared downward, glassy-eyed as a glowing red and gold crystal popped free of his chest. In some vague way, he knew tat the crystal was an important part of him. He could feel his life slowly ebbing away as Kaolinite moved over and cupped the crystal in her hands.
"Not a Talisman," she said disappointed, "but it is an extremely strong one. The Doctor will put this to good use. Finish him off, Painting."
As the Daimon reformed her hand into a wicked blade, Ranma could hear two voices shout something out. Seconds later, two spheres of energy passed in front of Ranma. A golden ball knocked the daimon over and sent her tumbling away from Ranma and shaved close enough by him, to break Ranma free of the paper wrapping he had been in. A blue ball streaked towards Kaolinite and knocked the crystal out of her hands. She bent forward to retrieve it, but a blur passed by her and grabbed the crystal. Ranma, as he slumped to he knees, was able to turn his head to see a blue-green haired girl staring intently at the crystal. She shook her head and lobbed it back at Ranma. Th crystal sailed through the air, being drawn to Ranma, somehow. When it reached him, Ranma exerted all of his energy to stretch an arm out and pull the crystal towards him. When he touched the crystal a warm spread through him, bringing back his energy and will.
Ranma looked around and saw the Red-haired woman was gone and the blue- green haired girl was jumping over the school's fence, accompanied by a blond with a short page-boy cut. A roar sounded and Ranma turned to see the Daimon writhing in pain as a black haired girl in a very short skirt launched rings of fire at the monster. Then, a blonde with her hair in really strange pigtails waved around some kind of stick and a giant heart rammed into the daimon. When the heart faded, the daimon returned to the painting Ranma had seen with a cry of "Lovely." Then a small egg rose from the painting and cracked, causing a small bird-like trail of smoke to emerge. The two girls in the short skirts jumped over the wall, leaving Ranma staring at the schoolyard in shock.
"What the hell just happened," Ranma asked of no one in particular.