School. I despised it so much, and here I stood outside Furinkan with
the intent of not only entering, but actually teaching. I shuddered.

"Something wrong?" Makoto asked from beside me. I gave her a quick hug
before answering.

"Fine... just a stray thought. Lets go meet the principal." Makoto
nodded at this, and we entered the gates side by side, dodging the teens
who ran around us.

"Hold it!" Someone called. I turned around, wondering who would yell at
me for no reason, and spotted a little girl in a yellow dress.

"...Oh! You're Miss Ninomiya, right?" I asked in English. The little
girl blinked, then nodded, before frowning.

"You students aren't wearing the school's uniform! Are you delinquents?"
she asked in Japanese. Sighing, I slipped back into Japanese as well.

"No, we're the new English teachers."

"A likely story," she replied, incredulously. I frowned at this. I knew
she was a teacher, so I'd figured she'd have been told. Then again, Principal Kuno
was a few flowers short of a lei, so I shouldn't be too surprised.

"Well, we'll go to the principal's office and see about getting you some
proof by lunchtime," I offered, finally. She thought about it for a
moment, then nodded. I turned to go, and she called out to Makoto and I
"...and if you're not, I'll punish you for lying to me!"

"Great." I sighed. Makoto glanced over her shoulder, and I grinned as
she moved a bit closer to me as Miss Ninomiya cried "Happo-Five-yen-
satsu!"

"That... she.." Makoto said, shocked. I nodded.

"Yeah. Great place, Furinkan High."

"Is she some sort of Youma hybrid?" Makoto asked, frowning. I squeezed
her hand, grinning.

"Neh. She's human... it's... a ki thing, really. Lets get those papers
before she turns it on us, eh?" Makoto nodded, and we entered the
building.

Finding the Principal's office was easy, as there was a long line of
palm trees on one wall that lead to a rather thick door. As we
approached, I heard someone strumming on a ukulele inside, and sighed. I
knocked, and when someone called out for us to enter, I told Makoto to
stay on guard, and we entered.

Something whooshed over my head, and I frowned at the man standing by
the door with clippers in his hand.

"Ah! De keiki's already got da buz-cut! Me be bowl-cuttin' da wahini
here and you'll be all set for da Big Kahuna's school, yes?"

"No." I said, crossing my arms.

"No? Da big Kahuna not be likin' da attitude-" I punched the buzzing
clippers in his hand then, and they shattered against the far wall.

"Look, Kuno. We're the new English teachers, not students. Surely you
know something about that?"

"Da new... Oh! Da Big Kahuna knows, yes. And don' be callin da Big
Kahuna 'Shirley.'"

"Great! can you give us some papers to prove to your other English
teacher that we are who we say we are?" Makoto asked, dropping out of a
fighting stance. Relaxing, I noticed that I too had been prepared to
fight.

"Da Big Kahuna can... You sure you no be wantin' the bowl-cut? It be
free." Makoto shook her head, and the principal frowned before rummaging
through his desk.

"Da Big Kahuna," he started, rummaging through a stack of papers, "be
appreciatin' the gifts you sent wit de applications." I quirked a brow,
and he glanced at me, "Particularly, the 'Parrot Bay.'" Nodding, I
realized the re-write decided to bribe myself into the position with
coconut rum and other somewhat-tropical items. I'd have to check the
apartment when I got back to see what was missing.

"Da schedule be pretty simple," he started, looking through a drawer
and pulling a couple slips of paper out, "here." Turning back to the
desk, he began digging around again, and I waited, Makoto tapping her
foot impatiently. "Notice, notice, who got da notice..." Principal Kuno
muttered quietly.

"Ah! here'tis," Kuno said, pulling out a couple forms. Filling them out
quickly, he handed them to us, and pointed to a map on the wall obscured
by an inflatable palm tree.

"You two be teachin' da 'advanced English,' startin' in room 303 'n 304."

I nodded, and turned to go, Makoto already out the door. Before leaving,
I turned around and smiled at the principal, "keep to yourself, and I'll
see if I can get more of that rum for you." He nodded, and I shut the
door, rolling my eyes.

"That was..." Makoto said, haltingly. I just nodded, then turned towards
the staircase.

The first class filed into the room warily, and I just sat at my desk
looking at the suggested curriculum I'd found waiting for me. Laughing
to myself at some of the more asinine lessons, I sat back, and looked at
the ceiling. No matter where you go, schools are always run
inefficiently.

Makoto was on the far side of the room, which was actually two
classrooms divided by an extendable wall. Looking at her, I smiled
before standing up and going over to close the partition. She waved
right before disappearing, and I turned back to my class, who was
watching me with interest.

"Alright..." Moving over to an occupied desk, I asked the student for
his book, and he handed it to me wordlessly. A few pages in, I started
chuckling, and finally handed it back, a big smile on my face.

When the bell rang, the muttering stopped, and I turned, standing before
my desk.

"Good morning, class. I'm your... 'advanced' English Teacher... but you
can just call my Kyle. Or Kyle-sensei, if you feel the need to be
respectful." I shrugged, turning and moving around my desk.

"Our first lesson is going to be simple..." The class groaned a little,
and I smiled, shoving the book on my hand hard. It slid off the desk,
and into the trash can by the door with a clatter. The students stared
wide eyed, the soft muttering dissapearing.

"Stack up all your books for this class there," I said, pointing. The
class stared at me, and I rolled my eyes. Pointing at the person closest
to the indicated corner, "You, go." Pointing at the person who sat
behind her, I said "when she's halfway there, you go." then I pointed at
the rest of that row. "All the way to the end, then you," I said,
pointing at the person at the front of the next row, "got it?"

"Hai, sensei," the class chorused as the line started up. When it was
finished, I sat back in my chair, and looked at the class with a sigh.

"Well..." I started, looking over the list of names, "Lets see..."
spotting a few familiar names, I grinned, then dropped the list.

"Questions. That's our second lesson. Ask me whatever questions you'd
like." Everyone's hand shot up, and I smiled, "but you have to ask me in
English." The hands dropped slowly, though a few stayed up. I started by
pointed at one, and the students began asking questions.

"Are you an American?"

"Yes, yes I am."

"Why'd you take our books?"

"Because they suck."

"What are your credentials?"

"I can speak and read both Japanese and English more fluently than most
government translators."

"No college, then?"

"Some. When it comes to languages, being self-taught has a steep
learning curve, but can yield better results."

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"I..." I paused, and stared at the student. She looked at me
expectantly, and I frowned. This was unexpected, "I'm married,
actually. My wife is the other new English teacher."

"Are you a martial artist?"

I blinked at this question as well, then smiled, "are you thinking I
might be planning some Martial Arts English Learning or something?"

"Hai sensei," the class chorused, and I grimaced. That would be a rather
limiting teaching technique.

"No, I'm not really a Martial Artists, but I can fight, and learn from
them, so..." I paused, then shrugged. "I'm just me."

The questions continued for a bit, most asked in passable English (for
Japan) before I called a halt to the Q&A session.

"Alright. Since I'm sure you all are wondering what and how I intend to
teach you without books, here's what I want you to do. Go to a
bookstore, and buy an English novel."

The class stared at me skeptically, and I sighed, pulling out "The Sum
of All Fears" and opening it up.
"You know... a book? Not Manga." The class nodded, looking a little
worried, and I sighed.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to force you to read it all at once. We'll
work on them. If you'd like, form up in groups with the same novels so
you can work together."

The bell rang, and the class waited for me to dismiss them.

"If you don't have a novel by the end of the week, I've got plenty at
home I can assign to you... Dismissed."

The class filed out, small conversations taking place in which I heard
snippets of opinions about myself and the class in general. Moving over
to the partition, I pulled it open, surprised to see Makoto waiting for
me on the other side.

"How'd it go?" I asked, quietly.

"Not too bad. They're good kids... a bit obsessed with martial arts, I
think. And a couple of the boys leered until they learned I was married
to a fighter." I chuckled.

"Same here. Good kids... Though it's different than it was in America.
Obedience and conformity are a lot bigger here, I suppose." Makoto
nodded.

"Yeah. Remember, I was a Japanese student too. I'm more used to it," she
paused then frowned, "Still, after getting out and living, I can see
that it's not as good as I was taught."

"Well, back to work." I said, seeing the students filing into her class
and hearing the students behind me in mine. She nodded, and closed the
partition, and we began a repeat of the first class.

Lunch rolled around finally, and I made my way outside, a piece of paper
folded up in my shirt pocket. Opening the door, I spotted Makoto and
Miss Hinako talking nearby, and groups of students around the yard,
eating. Making my way over to Miss Hinako, I noticed she was an adult,
now, and nodded, handing her the paper principal Kuno had given me.

"Alright. Sorry about before. It's hard to discern the delinquents from
the others, and there's one delinquent that also chooses not to wear the
school uniform."

"Ranma Saotome?" I asked, already knowing the answer. Miss Hinako
nodded, and I grinned.

"We've met," I said, deciding not to argue for now. The other teacher
nodded, and went back to monitoring the students, while Makoto and I
made our way back inside. Finding an out of the way closet, Makoto and I
ducked inside, emerging a few moments later smiling.

A quick call to SHODAN had yielded lunches for each of us, and both
contained items not often found in bentos... or on Earth. Eating in the
faculty lounge was interesting, but all too soon, we were headed back
towards our classrooms to begin teaching again.

"One more period..." I muttered as we rounded the corner and came in
view of the classrooms. Nodding, Makoto replied: "I've had Ranma and
most of the others in his grade..."

Grimacing slightly, I replied "this period, I've got Nabiki and...
Kuno," the last word said with no small amount of distaste. Makoto
chuckled, and headed towards her door. Hearing the low chattering
inside, I took a breath and opened the door.

"Good afternoon, class," I said, heading towards my desk.

"What!? What grave injustice, nay, false reality would have me believe
that the fiend I so easily vanquished would conspire to presume to teach
me, the great Tatewaki Kuno?"

I blinked, then frowned, "If by vanquished, you mean when you passed out
upon hearing my car alarm, then I suppose so... seems to me you're the
one living in a false reality."

"Ha! Your foul sorcerous ways were no match for the Blue Thunder, and
upon realizing this, you ran into the night." I sighed, and began
walking nonchalantly around the room.

"Nooo... your eyes rolled back in your head, blocking out the light."
Kuno's face reddened at this, and I grinned, waiting for the next
opportunity to push. Just a little more...

"How dare you! You heinous mockery of humanity!"

"Funny, coming from a toad-faced buffoon," I said, smiling. Kuno drew
his bokken and pointed it at me.

"Have at you, Demon-calling scum!" I blinked, and Kuno charged. Sighing,
I waited until his boken was a few inches from my face before dodging to
the side. Kuno, incapable of slowing down in time, smacked the
windowsill, flipping out the open window, and down three stories.

"Now," I said, grinning to the class, "Where were we?" I shut the
window, and sat at my desk, pulling out the student list. A few minutes
later, the door swung open, a battered Kuno walking in wearily.

"I fight on!" Kuno cried. I rolled my eyes.

"Considering your falling grades, I'd sit down, before you end up a
drop-out." The class chuckled softly at my punny comment, but Kuno began
reddening again. Shrugging, I tossed the paper I'd gotten for Miss
Hinako at the Bokken Buffoon. He caught it, and read quickly, the color
draining from his face, before glaring at me.

"And if I do not believe such an easily fabricated notice?"

"Go see your father to complain about it. I'd be happy to write you a
pass." Glancing at his hair with a more sinister smile, I added, "you
could use a trim, anyway."

Kuno, along with half the class, shuddered, and took a seat, his arms
crossed.

Class went by steadily after that, though Nabiki kept giving me funny
stares. Eventually, the bell rang, and I dismissed them, wondering what
book Kuno would bring with him.

Glancing up, I noticed Nabiki hanging back, until the room had empited
of students. Approaching my desk, she sighed nervously, before looking
at me.

"Kyle... we've got a problem."

I frowned, wondering what could be wrong.

"You look okay... and you're in uniform, so it's apparent you're back at
home. What's wrong?"

Nabiki fidgeted from foot to foot, obviously upset, and I frowned, "come
on... dodging the issue isn't going to help. And you've got to get to
your next class."

"My next class is Gym. I can spare a few minutes," she replied.

"Okay, then. What's up?"

"Kyle... the rewrite... well... remember how I left suddenly?" she asked
nervously. I nodded, beginning to worry.

Finally, Nabiki sighed. Holding up her hand, she twirled a small gold
band on her ring finger, a small clear stone glinting in the sunlight
streaming in through the window. An engagement ring that hadn't been
there before. I blinked, then grinned at the implication.

"Congrats, Nabiki! Who's the lucky guy?" I asked, smiling.

"You are."

The partition door suddenly fell open, and Makoto, a dazed look on her
face, spilled into the room. Looking from my 'wife' to my fiancee, and
then out the window, I spoke the first thing on my mind.

"Oh... oh shit."

*****************

Authors Notes:

Wow. Quite a few errors in the first version of this chapter... Thanks
to Aleh, though, I've managed to fix them up... So, thanks Aleh.

1st person will probably end when I leave the Ranma Universe. I don't
want to change mid-story, so I'm going to wait until Part 3.