A/N: I love it when people review. *sigh* THANK YOU SO MUCH PEOPLE WHO REVIEW!!! YOU MAKE MY DAY!! ^__^
Chapter Two
"Hotaka! Hotaka! _HOTAKA_!!"
Natsuko ran to keep up with her friend. Rounding the corner, she paused for a minute. The road split off two ways, but she had no idea which way he went.
Damn you Hotaka! Where did you go?! Kamisama, why can't you help me?
A blast sounded to the right of her.
Thank you, Kamisama.
"HOTAKA!"
She raced over and saw her friend standing next to a collapsed wall; his arm still stretched out from when he punched it. Natsuko noticed his aura had gone down considerably.
Doing major property damage always does calm him down…
"You feel better now?"
"No," he grumbled coldly, relaxing his arm and rolling back his shoulder.
"What? Your shoulder still hurts?"
"Damn it Natsuko! Are you that oblivious?!"
Touched a nerve… Well, gotta get out all this frustration some how.
"What? About Ukyo and Ryoga? Aw, who cares, it's none of our business anyway." Hotaka's battle aura increased considerably. Natsuko had to turn around to keep him from seeing her smile. "I mean, they're just two teenagers. They have nothing to do with _us_. Let them fight. Who cares? Am I right?" She turned back to see Hotaka glowing red.
"NAAAAAT-SUUUUUU-KOOOOOO!!!"
Bingo!
Natsuko dropped into a fighting stance. "Bring it on tooth boy."
***
*KABOOM*
Ranma and Akane stopped dead in their tracks.
"What was that?"
"I donno. Stay on your guard, Akane. It's coming from… THERE!" Ranma jumped off the fence with incredible speed, grabbed Akane, and leapt to the safe of a near by roof just as two blurred landed where Ranma and Akane were standing just a minute before.
"Yow! Hotaka!"
"NATSUKO GET BACK HERE!"
Hotaka assaulted her with swift punches aimed at her face that she managed to dodge and block. She jumped back and, using the fence as a spring board, did a flying kick intended to land Hotaka in the gut; he dodged it at the very last second, and grabbed her foot, throwing her into the wall of the house Ranma and Akane were standing on. She hit hard, but not hard enough to put her down for the count. Regaining her footing, she turned back to Hotaka.
"Feeling any better now?"
Hotaka didn't reply, only beckoned her with his hand to attack. She smirked.
"You got it, Hotachan."
Natsuko launched at him and the fight continued. Whipping out his umbrella, he stopped Natsuko's high kick, but didn't react fast enough for her punch to the face. Eventually he threw the umbrella towards her, accompanied by some throwing spatulas he pulled out of his pocket. Natsuko skillfully caught the umbrella and it was used to protect herself from the spatula attack rather then hit her, which was the original intention. She spun the umbrella around, and then had it closed and resting against her shoulder in one swift motion.
"We done yet, Hotaka?"
"Why, Nats, I'm surprised at you," he said, tossing his uniform jacket off and untucking his shirt, then dropping into a ready position. "I'm just getting started."
Natsuko tossed his umbrella to one side and ready herself.
"Have it your way."
And the two started at it again. On the rooftop, Ranma and Akane just watched in awe. Ranma had been so distracted by the fight that he hadn't even put Akane down yet. Apparently, Akane hadn't noticed either.
"R-Ranma," she stuttered. "He's going to kill her, you've got to do something!"
Ranma gritted his teeth. The girl was getting batted around pretty badly, but no matter how many hits she took she kept coming back for more, and didn't look that badly injured either. In fact, she was able to dodge most of the attacks, but the ones that _did_ land… ouch. He watched the girl go down, and then have to roll out of the way in order to keep the boy's attack from breaking her face into tiny little pieces. Battle aura rising, he half dropped Akane on the roof.
"A _real_ martial artist doesn't fight girls," was the only thing he grumbled before springing off the roof and onto the ground. The boy honestly wasn't expected Ranma to pop out of no where, because he froze for a moment and had a weird look on his face when Ranma delivered a well-deserved punch to the nose and sent him flying over the fence and into the stream.
What a jerk! Picking a fight with a girl like that… he mentally growled as he turned to face the girl. She was still in a ready position and just stared at him.
"Hey, miss! You okay?"
"What the bloody-- How did you-- Where--" Then it dawned on her what Ranma just did. "HOTAKA!!"
Natsuko dashed past her extremely confused "rescuer", vaulted over the fence, slid down the hill, and stopped at the river, looking intently at the water. Finally she saw what she was looking for: a wolf with a green bandana on its neck bobbing up and down in the stream, dressed in a Furinkan High boy's uniform, minus the jacket. She grabbed the wolf by the bandana and pulled it out of the stream.
"What the hell?" Ranma asked to no one in particular as he watched the scene below him. Akane, who had just managed to climb down from the roof, stood by her fiancée.
"Now there's a good question." Pause. "Wait a second, that a--"
"Wolf," Natsuko supplied. She sped up the hill, dragging to wolf with her, and stood across from Ranma and Akane on the other side of the fence. "Hotaka is a wolf, and, if you don't mind, we would greatly appreciate it if you wouldn't throw him into the river. That's _my_ job, okay?" Hotaka growled in protest. Natsuko shot a glare at him and whapped him on the head. "Hush up, you, this is all your fault anyway."
"But-- but he was trying to beat you…"
"He was _trying_ to let out frustration and anger. I was the one who started it. Knocking him into the stream was completely uncalled for. Besides, I'm a martial artist! I can take care of myself!" she huffed. "I won't even start on how you should mind your own business…"
"Hey, waitaminute, you--"
"I'm so sorry," Akane cut him off. "We didn't realize that you we martial artist. Please, why don't you come to our house so, um…"
"Hotaka," she supplied.
"Right. Hotaka can take a hot bath. Then you guys could stay for dinner; it's the least we could do for causing you so much trouble. Oh, by the way, I'm Akane Tendo and the jerk who threw your boyfriend into the stream is Ranma Saotome."
Hotaka barked and growled.
"Hotaka's not my boyfriend! He's my rival!"
*Bark, bark!*
"We _hate_ each other!"
*Grrrr!*
"You! Don't even get me started!"
*Bark, bark, woof!*
"Whaddaya mean it's all my fault?! It's your fault we're here in the first place!"
*Bark, bark! Grrrr…*
"And we're back to that again! Stupid werewolf, can't you get over it?!"
"Um, excuse me…" Akane interrupted. "We should get going if we want to be home on time…"
"Sorry Akane," Natsuko apologized. "By the way, my name's Natsuko. Thank you so much for your hospitality."
"It's no problem, really."
Neither of Akane and Ranma's guests heard them because they had already started down the street, arguing. (Well, Natsuko was arguing, Hotaka was barking and growling.)
"Jeez, what weirdoes," Ranma commented. Akane glared at him.
"No weirder than you, Ranma." Akane started down the street after the two, Ranma at her heels.
"Are you trying to say something, ya tomboy?!"
"Not at all, jerk."
"Uncute!"
"PERVERT!"
*BAM*
Natsuko and Hotaka stopped momentarily to watch Ranma go flying through the air.
"Jeez, they're worse then we are."
*Ruff.*
"Shut up, you."
A/N: This actually wasn't the way I was going to have our two "friends" meet Ranma and Akane. (Actually, I was going to have Ranma and Natsuko crash on the fence, go rolling down the hill into the stream, and Ranma freak out for reasons that will be explained in later chapters because I didn't do it my original way. Wow, anyone else confused by that last sentence?) This worked out pretty well though, gives a good portrayal of how Natsuko and Hotaka act together on a normal basis. (And, no, I don't know how Natsuko speaks wolf either.) Anyway, I just have one more thing to say before ending this.
THANK YOU PANDA-TINEY, RUBY, HUNTER 1, AND DOGBERTCARROL FOR REVIEWING!!
I'm quite done. ^__^ Please review! Chapter three soon!!