Ranma & Kaneda
By Ron Dow75
20: Concepts Unleashed
As much as he tried to not let it bother him, it still
rubbed at him. Last night Kaneda, had had to play keepaway
from an opponent. The better martial artist the heir to the
Tendou Dojo faced had been his own fiancee.
It was clear with only a slight chill this morning. The
longhaired redhead jogged in his running shoes, blue shorts
and yellow, short sleeve sweatshirt, with a short towel
around his neck. His muscles could be seen as they moved,
even in his arms. Especially those of his arms. While the
"Anything" of "Anything-Goes Martial Arts" required the
ability to use any muscle group, the Tendou School put the
emphasis on those of the upper body.
The Saotome School put the emphasis on those of the lower
body.
Slowing down, Kaneda resorted to his usual method of
letting off steam, but this time he used an imaginary
cinderblock. He threw it up with one hand and smashed it to
pieces with the other as it came down.
He stopped to look down at the where they could've landed
on the street in front of his home. Why HAVEN'T I done
anything like that before? I've blamed Dad for not training
me properly. He didn't find any satisfaction in helping
Ranma-chan knock out his dad last night. And sleeping on it
hadn't helped at all. ...If I really WAS serious about
being a true master, I would've worked to develop the
skills I DO have. He turned away in total dissatisfaction,
My techniques have just been stunts, nothing serious. He
may've been exaggerating, but like exaggerations, there was
a truth in it.
As he headed for his front gate, he glanced up at its
fortress-like wall he knew Ranma-chan could leap over.
There would only be one way he could learn to jump it.
"...Then I would be admitting whose was the better
school...and who was going to be the Master of the Dojo."
At that painful thought, he dug his strong, fingers into
the texture of the wall.
"Tendou Upper Body Whip Crack!!"
In that one thrust, Kaneda pulled himself up the wall like
a rock climber. When his knees were at the height of his
hands, he dug his shoe's toes in and grabbed for the terra
cotta tiles of the wall's roof.
He hung there as he refocused his efforts. There were
dozens of minor but important muscle readjustments he
needed to make. He could make them all at once with the
right concept. Then his Chi energy would flow through the
proper channels and charge his body. And yelling out the
concept increased the definiteness of that power.
"Tendou Tarzan Ascend!!"
As quickly as a jolt, Kaneda cleared the eave and landed
crouching on to top of the wall's roof. It surprised him at
just how right the silly concept WAS.
Until he realized humans WERE ape-men; upper-body strength
WAS their natural forte.
Not lower-body strength.
He rose and surveyed his domain, that which was his to
inherit: The Tendou compound.
He saw what was becoming a familiar scene: "I'm not going
to go easy on you, Ranma!" Mr. Saotome yelled from beside
the koi pond.
The pigtailed guy in just a tank shirt and boxers yelled,
"You NEVER go easy on me! Every time I improve, you take it
up a notch! Well, you're at the end of your belt, now, you
Fat Old Man!"
"I'll show you just how fat I am!"
Ranma was the first to leap. Splash!
"Nnnyyaaarrh!!" a very wet Nabiki cried from the garden
hall. The wave of cold pond water had shot straight for
teen in green pajamas. She dropped her camera.
The pigtailed girl in the wet underwear gloated, "Got her!"
Genma asked, "You jumped in just to do that!?!"
Ranma-chan cried, "And this!" shoving against his shins.
She leaped out of the pond as he was falling in. Using her
speed on her distracted "sensei", she untied his black
belt.
By the time the giant panda was able to stand up in the
shallow water, the redhead was tying the belt around the
white coat she'd taken off of the Old Man.
"Berao, waorru!"
She walked away from it, "Aw, it was only gonna disappear,
anyway. You don't need clothes; you got fur, now."
Suddenly her trained senses warned of something on her
right coming towards her.
Kaneda used a branch from the tree to catapult himself over
the bushes that helped divide the front of the yard from
the pond side. He landed on his hands and somersaulted,
stopping decimeters from Ranma-chan.
The girl was unimpressed, "What kind of stunt was that?"
Kaneda said, proudly, "THAT was not a stunt: That was--"
Suddenly his arms shook. The tremors traveled through his
body, until he had to drop to his knees.
The small girl said, "Uh, hunh. Not a stunt," and walked
away.
The redhaired guy wanted to make a fist, but could barely
get his thumb up; "I just over-exerted myself, doing this
after I'd just cross-trained for 10-k!"
Picking up the towel she'd had left lying in the garden
porch. "Will breakfast be ready, soon, Kasumi?"
Struggling back to his feet, Kaneda his fingers were still
bent from swinging in trees, "You know what it can be like
when mastering a new technique: A lot of the leftover Chi
doesn't find its way back--"
The black-and-white beast bellowed as it charged. The
Tendou boy was in its way. It didn't care. It bumped him.
K-Prap!
```
Kaneda woke up at the feel of hot water. With an hourglass
figure, now, she opened her eyes to see Ranma-chan's bare
legs walking back to the house with the copper teakettle.
Kane-chan sat up and saw the panda lying on the ground like
a rug. The last thing she remembered was the Chi-equivalent
of a large static shock leave her guy-body. He had no idea
how. But he wasn't going to let it circle around in his
thoughts.
Getting up, Kane-chan asked, "Why did you make me a girl?"
Ranma-chan answered, "Why not? If I'm gonna be a girl, you
might as well be one too."
She looked at the cold water of the pond. But decided to
follow her cute fiancee back into the family room, "You're
staying a girl?"
Setting the kettle down, Ranma said, "I'm going to go to
school like this, too." She looked down at the wet tank
shirt and oversized gi-coat, "I am gonna wear something
else."
Kane-chan hoped, "A school uniform?"
Ranma-chan plopped down at the table, "Get real. I guess
I'm gonna wear those Chinese clothes your doctor gave me."
Kane-chan sat where she could get a good view of Ranma-
chan's boobs under her plastered down shirt that the
overlarge gi-coat couldn't hide very well; "Maybe I
shouldn't question a wish coming true, but why are you
staying a girl?"
Nabiki could be heard before she could be seen, "Ranma!"
She entered the family room in her school uniform. She was
very wet. "How did you get smart enough to rig a bucket of
water to spill on me when I opened the lav door!?!"
Showing no glee or regret, Ranma-chan said casually, "Pop
did things like that to me lots of times. His little booby
traps helped sharpen my awareness and senses."
Getting her voice more back under control, Nabiki said, "I
can make booby traps that he could not possibly even
conceive of."
Kane-chan said, "Ouch."
Nabiki turned her cold glare at blackhaired girl, "Do you
WANT me to make the term "booby trap" literal?"
Kane-chan had to hesitate, "Er... It might be less painful
if you did." She knew her sister prided herself on her
creating situations.
Some of Nabiki's aplomb returned, "You've got that right."
From the garden hall, her father said, "Ha, ha! Don't let
my daughter Nabiki's words mislead you, Miss Akane. She
really has a warm and gentle heart."
Kane-chan looked at the father figure with the toothbrush.
She had to ask, "Just how well do you know people?"
Soun Tendou said in his most charming fashion, "Before I
took on the responsibilities of a single parent, I traveled
all over, meeting every sort of person." He got a bit
nostalgic, "Why I've even been off the islands of Japan.
I've been to Hawaii. That's in America, you know."
Ranma asked, "You didn't swim there, did you?" For someone
who'd swam to China, even she found that difficult to
believe.
Soun chuckled, "I didn't have to. I had a tsunami wave."
Nabiki said, "Now, you want to reminisce! Daddy, I know you
want to impress a certain some one, but right now--"
Kane-chan was curious. It wasn't too often he would tell
them anything about himself. "How did you get back, a
reverse-tsunami?"
Soun Tendou smiled down at the charming Miss Akane, "My
word, no. I used a geyser."
Kane-chan suddenly thought of something, "You got home
using a geyser?! Is, isn't a geyser like a spring?"
Soun was still smiling, his battle to be a gentleman
temporarily lost as he stared at Kane-chan's bare legs,
"VERY hot springs."
Kane-chan tried to add something up, "I know about the
Curse of Pelee. Doesn't that mean there could be other
curses in Hawaii?"
Ranma-chan asked, "Are you sayin' your dad might've been
cursed, too?" She studied the mustached man. "That would
explain things."
Kane-chan said, "Well, magic does attract magic."
Nabiki said, "A good reason not to believe in it. The best
remedy against magic is not to accept it in the first
place. Let it happen to those with weak minds."
Ranma-chan cried, "Who're sayin' has a weak mind!?!"
Kasumi had come in with a breakfast tray, and heard enough
to ask, "A cursed spring? But there are no dragons in
Hawaii, are there?"
Her father's eye twinkled, "The only one I know of was the
dragon kite I rode over the Pacific on." Miss Akane had
very nice legs.
Kane-chan asked Kasumi, "What's this about dragons?"
Kasumi greeted, "Hello, Mr. Saotome. Breakfast is ready."
Ranma-chan frowned at it, "You play bear rug until it's
time to eat. I thought you wanted to fight? Ha-nh! You
couldn't even beat a guy who was ready to drop from
fatigue."
Kane-chan asked, "Is that what happened?" Her mind divided
between dragons, what had happened outside, breakfast and
the back-and-forth of everybody but Kasumi, she didn't find
the answer to any of the questions.
```
After changing to a dry school uniform, Nabiki hurried to
leave.
But the closed front gate was stuck. Even when she used
both hands, it still wouldn't open. There was something
small on the other side that was preventing it from
opening. "Ranma!" she concluded.
She refused to give Ranma the satisfaction of showing any
frustration. Assuming that was what Saotome wanted to see,
and so wouldn't take the side gate, she waited as calmly as
she could. She sought to keep her Chi-void from collapsing.
If the martial artist got emotional enough, SHE would be
ready to turn it back on the baka. And the more emotional
she could make the pigtailed one, the harder would be the
fall.
Finally the heavy gate opened behind her. Ranma-chan was on
the other side. The pigtailed girl in the black, silk
Chinese shirt and pants was flipping and catching a shim.
There was a proverb in there about how a small wedge of
wood could stop a huge door from opening.
Nabiki was in no mood for trite analogies. The only thing
she wanted to hear was how Ranma had turned the tables on
her. SAOTOME was more the sap type. ...And Ranma would be
again, she vowed.
Ranma-chan asked, "Ready to go to school?"
He chin tilted up, Nabiki began her trip to school.
"Tendou Tarzan Ascend!"
A moment later, Kaneda dropped from over the compound wall
to the street ahead of them. In his school uniform, he
landed on his hands and swung up to his feet in NEARLY one
motion. He did need practice.
Ranma-chan passed him, "That's so uncute. Why can't you at
least TRY to act less like a guy."
Exasperated, Kaneda pointed to the wall, "I just did what
YOU can do: But without using my legs!"
Ranma-chan said, "Big whoop. What if the wall had been
ancient, unstable, booby trapped, or electrified."
Kaneda caught up to her and Nabiki, "But it wasn't!"
Nabiki told them, "Why do you both of you simpletons have
the need to exert yourselves, anyway? If the wall had been
any of those things, it would've been for strategic
reasons. Understand those and the resources available, and
you can figure out a less strenuous way in or out of
things."
Ranma-chan scoffed, "Like how you got the gate open?"
Nabiki said coolly, "You opened it for me, didn't you?"
Ranma-chan scoffed, "Like you had it planned."
Nabiki said coolly, "I figured it out. ...As I will figure
you out...again." It had probably started when Ranma-chan
was caught naked in the guys' lav and then got stuck among
the girls in the girls' locker room...
Kaneda broke in with, "I got over the wall! The Tendou
School can match the Saotome School!"
Ranma-chan jumped on top of the nearest privacy wall; "A
stunt doesn't prove anything."
Scowling at her stunt, Kaneda started to wonder how he
could walk walls using just his Tendou skills.
```
Anything Kaneda said he may have said to the walls along
their way. Neither Ranma-chan nor Nabiki were paying him
much attention. They were both focused on the school day
ahead.
For once it looked like the he and Ranma-chan were going to
make it to class early. The big school clock said "8:20".
That was part of the reason there were a number of students
around the front gate. But among them were several diehards
from Kaneda's previous mornings' battle.
Kaneda prepared himself for another.
Behind him: Ranma-chan pounced, "Nabiki-chan!"
Nabiki had seen this coming since last night. She used her
aikido skills to anticipate and avoid the little redhead
WITHOUT touching her. It was done with the minimum of
motion and seeming effort. Inside, though, she was
struggling to draw in Ranma's Chi. But Ranma was using her
emotions in a way Nabiki wasn't used to. The Chi was put
more into propelling than attacking.
Ranma-chan landed and in one fluid motion tried again.
Nabiki took a couple of steps, and bowed her head just
enough for Ranma-chan to whiz past. But Ranma-chan
ricocheted off the wall and back at her. With relief,
Nabiki became a matador, pivoting out of the way on one
foot.
Ranma-chan landed against the distracted Kaneda. Kaneda
automatically moved to cushion the impact and keep his
fiancee from falling. That meant he fell with her on top of
him.
Ranma-chan cried, "Thanks for the help!"
Kaneda told her, "You jumped me!"
Nabiki looked down at the petit girl still in the arms of
her brother; "I left my pants at home. I thought you didn't
go after those who wear skirts." Literally, it was true.
Ranma swore not to fight girls.
Ranma's emotions shifted, "What!!?" Nabiki got her!
Nabiki straightened herself up, "Is THAT why you want to
marry into the Tendous? Ranma! I'm supposed to be your
'SISTER-in-law' We Tendou girls don't swing that way." She
started to walk away, "I guess you're going to have to be
satisfied with just my LITTLE brother."
Her back to Ranma-chan now, she gave the guys who were
witnessing all of this a knowing look. She said in a voice
for them, "...As if Kaneda alone could satisfy a person
with a girl's BODY and a guy's mind."
"Whoa! I didn't think of that."/ "Does that mean she,
like, has to have, one of each?"/ "Maybe that's why she's
engaged to Kaneda."/ "HA! That's why he needs to beat
guys up!"/ "--Why he's so angry!"/ "Right! He's trying
to prove he's NOT half-a-man!"
As she passed through the group of mainly guys, Nabiki
helped the sale along, "It has become a contest to see who
will be wear the apron."
Ranma struggled to get up from Kaneda, "Let me at her!"
Kaneda held her back. He wasn't going to let her get away
with it now that her Karma was unprotected, "Why not tell
them who you're engaged to!" Of course, if she told them
ALL of the truth, he'd be seen as a far greater pervert
than Ranma.
Nabiki didn't even slow down as she approached Furinkan's
main doors; "I don't take that seriously. Do you?"
```
First Vice President and Secretary Tsugako was waiting on
the front stoop for her as Nabiki had told her to in a call
last night. She asked, "What was that about?"
Nabiki told her, "Merchandising. Did you get those photos I
gave you copied?"
Tsugako showed her the filing folder under her arm.
"They're pictures of Ranma only half-dressed." She lowered
voice, questioning the wisdom of her President, "They're
almost pornographic!"
Nabiki said, "And they'll stay soft until demand falls
off."
Tsugako asked, "What demand?"
Nabiki looked out to the guys waiting around the gate and
the engaged pair who was just approaching it; "The demand
for a real-life fantasy that's short in supply."
```
Ranma-chan and Kaneda would find that the emphasis was on
"real-life". What may be unthinkable in isolation can
burrow into a psyche when there is an actual example that
can be seen, heard, smelled, and, perhaps...touched?
The first to speak up were those who still had something to
prove: "Ha, ha! Kaneda! How'd you get so 'luc-key'?"/ "I
can't believe we hadn't thought WHY she would stick with
you!"/ "I bet she can beat your sorry ass!"
Kaneda's reactions were never as cool and calm as Nabiki's,
"If she could, what does that say about YOU! There hasn't
been a day this semester I haven't beat yours and twenty
others!"
"Ranma, how much of a girl are you?"/ "You look like you
have everything...."/ "...perfect...."/ "You definitely
have female hormones."/ "But you think like, a guy?"/
"She dresses like a guy."/ "Is it possible that, that,
uh, er, both ways, I mean, threesomes, I mean--"/ "Oh,
ho, ho! There's something I've dreamed about...."/ "But
have you thought about doing it with somebody who's both?"
Ranma-chan's reactions were somewhere in-between the two
Tendous, "Leave me alone! I ain't interested in anybody,
girl and ESPECIALLY guy!"
People ahead of them started moving aside for an all too
familiar voice, "She is trying to tell you, you spawn of
the bourgeois media, that as with any true warrior, she is
celebrate. One must be pure of heart to wield power
properly." Kuno was in his usual kendo-gi, holding his
usual wooden sword. The only thing different were the
bandages that he was still wrapped in.
"But Nabiki said--"
The still recovering Kuno held up his bokken in challenge
to the pigtailed girl, "But purity is but purified more
intensely when mixed with its own kind. Two becoming one
bring forth more than just what either alone can do."
"I'd go with Nabiki this time. I bet Ranma can't stay
'pure' any more than Kuno can."/ "Care to start a pool of
how long she can last?"/ "And cut into Nabiki's
territory!?"
Ranma-chan grabbed the dim wit's only weapon with both
hands, "Thanks for giving them explanations!!"
Behind her, Kaneda pleaded, "Ranma!!"
Growling, Ranma-chan planted her small feet and used her
superior lower body muscles to heave the 185.5 cm/6' 1"
teen off the ground, and toss him behind her.
...where Kaneda punched the samurai boy into his
tormentors, toppling them all.
With his breath nearly knocked out of him, the rugby player
tried to threaten, "Pervert!...Both, perverts...."
"They are perverts, aren't they?"
"I wouldn't say it to their faces."/ "And as a martial
arts fan, I'd also say not within rage of their martial
arts senses."/ "Uh...how safe a distance is safe?"
```
Looking out a window above in Classroom 2-F, Nabiki smiled
to herself, "That suppresses the negative backlash for a
while. And what fills a vacuum?...."
Tsugako looked to Nabiki. "If she really doesn't get
around, I can see where the, uh, "supply" will be limited.
There's not going to be too many who are going to risk even
asking Ranma for a date, let alone trying for first base.
But are you sure about the demand?"
Second Vice President and Treasurer Ichie said, "Yeah,
Nabiki, don't guys have better things to think about than a
super tomboy?"
Nabiki said to them, "It's all about contrasts. To them,
she's already a tomboy that flashes, and, now, maybe does
more."
Ichie said, "So she's a tease!"
Tsugako said, "And she's not even good at it. She's no
competition."
Ichie saw a glimmer of the truth, " "Contrast"?"
Followed by her company, Nabiki headed towards her desk,
"Exactly. There is too much competition: Among ourselves.
But no one (right now, anyway *Chuckle*) is competing with
her. But Ranma's a natural at getting attention, beyond her
petit attractiveness. She's the speeding red dot on a
mountain of black. That is the first step in demand.
"And after that, everything depends on her entertainment
value, where the potential customer WANTS to keep their
attention on her."
Ichie said, "You mean "Sex and Violence"?..."
Tsugako said sourly, "In Ranma's case, "Cuteness and
Mayhem"."
Nabiki addressed her followers, "There is no real contrast
there. That's on the TV that comes into our houses.
Entertainment relies on something being different among the
familiar or attractive."
Ichie said, "Contrast!"
Nabiki sat down at her desk-seat as if it were her throne.
"Ranma has something very different about her." She smiled,
"She has a strangeness factor that can become exotic that
can become erotic. It is all in niche-marketing." She had
started thinking about this plan back when Kaneda had
started getting boobs. But Kaneda WAS family. Ranma wasn't.
Tsugako shook her head, "And giving out free pictures of
Ranma taking off her shirt supplies a niche?"
Nabiki chuckled, "There is nothing really that strange
about a girl taking off even a guy's undershirt. What will
make it strange is the "Before and After" contrast.
"And even though guys can't see past a girl's looks, I
think it will be more profitable if Ranma's female assets
are etched in their little minds BEFORE they see the, uh,
'After'."
Ichie thought she understood, "You get them nibbling before
they're introduced to the hook."
```
Kaneda's new interest in Tarzan had him looking at the
trees that separated the main buildings from the playing
fields of the school. "Do you want to have a contest,
Ranma? A race through the trees to see who can get to
Lovers' Wood first."
Ranma-chan didn't even look at him. "I'm not interested in
you proving your so-called manhood. I have you around to
remind me what will happen if I forget what sex I am."
Kaneda challenged, "This is about schools!"
Ranma-chan said, "If you say so."
Kaneda wanted to say something loud, long and punctuated
with martial arts. But his school wasn't at Ranma's level,
yet. The only way he could inflict a little hard was by
using the girl-ploy--and only on the Ranma-kun. Of course,
if his girl-form 'demonstrated' on Ranma-kun it would PROVE
it wasn't about his manhood.
Right?... As he looked back towards the trees, he saw that
there were holes bored in a lot of them, three to a tree.
Pausing to glance through a few of them, he saw direct line
of sight views of the school buildings and the playing
fields. "Whoever Miss Hinako hired got the job done in
record time."
Ranma-chan said, "She had to have hired a whole
construction company." The tree house 2.5 meters/8' off the
ground had the general shape of a large forest ranger
station, with a chicken wire with circular holes in its
mesh. It even had three sliding skylights over holes in its
three-sided roof. But Ranma and Kaneda, not understanding
how the technique they yearned to learn from the age-
changing Miss Hinako worked, paid more attention to the
paint job. They had been afraid she would paint her
principal's office with bright garish, kiddy-pleasing
colors. Nabiki had done her best to convince the new
acting-principal that since she was now in charge of an
institution of high education, it needed to be in the same
colors as the institutions she was familiar with.
Ranma-chan stared at it. "Well, she did choose gray."
Kaneda stared, too. "And black. --Is that Astro Boy?" The
tree house office was covered with black-and-white anime
characters from the '60's. Just how old was Miss Hinako
really?
```
Inside the plush characters were more colorful, but there
were fewer of them. There was a TV-VCR to watch them on,
and a Playstation. There was a small assortment of coloring
books, toys and games, but they off in a neatly ordered,
unused corner of what otherwise looked pretty much as a
principal's office should look like.
When they came up through the open doorway in the floor,
they found that Miss Hinako was no little girl. Her tall,
shapely and buxom form was in a rather bulky, yellow
crochet sweater and a black skirt with a hem a couple of
centimeters above the knee. "Miss Ranma," she greeted her
as a student. She then said, "And this must be Mr. Kaneda
Tendou. Miss Saotome is your houseguest, I believe." When
they'd nodded their heads in a bow, she gestured them
towards her desk.
Kaneda followed, "The reason we're always late won't happen
tomorrow. Probably. --There were fewer guys waiting for us.
There should be fewer still tomorrow. ...Right?"
The adult kept her eye on him as she sat on the edge of the
desk, one fine leg bent. "You two aren't here for that
reason. As part of the agreement I made with the teachers
to recognize me as the acting-principal, I am to let them
decide when a low-Chi conflict goes beyond what they term
"a sporting challenge".
"Sports are the main reason for this school's existence,
apparently. That makes Furinkan something of a vocational
high school."
Kaneda said to the woman who was keeping her eyes on him,
"And you heard I was the best athlete in the school."
Miss Hinako was pleased, "You are?"
Ranma-chan said, "I'm the reason you called us here."
The woman finally turned her attention to the girl, "Yes,
Miss Ranma. One of the concessions the teachers gave ME was
that there would be more emphasis on girls' sports."
Ranma-chan said, "I am not a team player."
Miss Hinako said, "There are non-team sports."
Ranma-chan said, "I can't change with girls."
Miss Hinako raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Do you have a
condition? A deformity?" Ranma-chan didn't like the way she
was checking for them.
Ranma-chan tried again, "It'd be like cheatin'. I'm
different from, most girls." All, if you excluded the ones
who must've been cursed over the centuries.
The Principal stood up, "I sensed that yesterday. Your Chi
is the most masculine I've felt in a female. It is very
polar." And this from a reform school teacher.
Kaneda picked up his ears, "Oh? So she's mostly a girl,
right?"
Miss Hinako said to him, "And yours is definitely the most
feminine I've felt in a male. Again, with practically no
blending of the two."
Kaneda blushed.
Ranma, "That proves it for me."
The Principal went around her desk, "Though you are not
related, you both have a similar...let us say "Yin-Yang
Flux"." Both of the teens waited tensely for the truth to
be spoken. "But, then, you both practice "Anything-Goes
Martial Arts."
The teens facefaulted.
"The same as me."
From the floor the said in surprise, "You!?!"
She leaned over the desk; "My variation of the "Anything-
Goes School" left me with, an age problem." There was a
brief flash of resentment. "Yours has given you...another
problem. I would like to help you, if I can."
Ranma was the first to jump up, "You think you can!?!" Was
there hope?!
Standing straight again, Miss Hinako said, "I think I may
be able to help. But it can only be performed while you are
doing sports, Miss Ranma. That is why you have to
participate."
Ranma grinned to break her cute face, "You got it! I'll
give just about anything a try!"
Pleased, the trained reform school teacher said, "Let's be
positive!" It felt good to be able to encourage rather than
punish. The correctional officers and the students only
took her seriously when she used her powers. Furinkan was
her chance to prove she could do more. And Ranma Saotome
was her test case.
Kaneda hesitated. "And, and me? Is, is that why you, wanted
me here, too?"
Feeling good for once without any childish (or a couple of
more adult) diversions, Miss Hinako said to him, "If my
idea works for Miss Ranma, it will point the way for you,
Mr. Kaneda. But it will require more thought, I'm afraid. I
will let you know when I have thought of the missing piece
to the puzzle. But I promise to do it in private.
"But in the meantime, I wanted to meet Miss Ranma's
support, her...finace(?)"
Her smiled grew slightly wider; "You remind me of Miss
Akane Saotome, Ranma's cousin."
Though Kaneda didn't understand yet, Miss Hinako's Chi
power hadn't had much direct contact with Kaneda's girl-
form; the readings she had of her was swamped out by
Ranma's, her focus at the time. And now, through the holes
in the trees, she was feeding on the Chi of the whole
school. Though it kept her an adult, it took effort to
distinguish between individuals. Right then, she was in
near her optimum capacity. The former little girl with the
short attention span so far wasn't aware yet of the effect
Chi has on living trees.
Of course, even trees have their limits.
```
On their way back to the classroom, Kaneda wondered, "If
she knows our secret, why did she say I reminded her of
Akane?"
Ranma was just too happy at the thought of a cure, "So? She
knows our secret, not the names we call our other forms."
Kaneda still fretted, "Should we tell her?"
Ranma said, "A secret's a secret until there's no need for
reason for it."
Kaneda said, "I guess you're right. I can hide out from her
making me a girl by being Akane Saotome."
Ranma said, "Me, I was gettin' sick of hidin'. I was about
ready to show everybody I AM a guy."
Kaneda thought for long moments. "Ranma. Are you sure you
don't want to be a girl?"
Ranma laughed humorlessly, "What do you think!?"
```
Kaneda thought of something else, "She says she belongs to
the "Anything-Goes School". How many have YOU heard say
that?"
Ranma-chan said, "Don't worry about it. If you have to, ask
the Two Fathers about it."
Kaneda muttered, "If Dad will talk about it."
When they opened their classroom door: Bang! Pop, pop, pop!
Whiz--Bang!
Kaneda grabbed the back of Ranma-chan's collar and shirt
back to keep her from using her martial arts.
The National Anthem of the United States of America started
playing, then sung in English: "O say can you see by the
dawn's early light, What so proudly we hail'd, Whose broad
stripes and bright stars, Thro' the perilous fight, O'er
the ramparts we watched, Were gallantly streaming? And the
rocket's red glare, The bombs bursting in air..."
Bang! Pop, pop, pop! Whiz--Bang!
Kaneda directed Ranma-chan as inconspicuously as they could
to their seats, while the smaller redhead stared at their
homeroom teacher. She had thought he was a fairly fit man
in his thirties who was as dull as most teachers. Kaneda
told her quietly, "Mr. Egami earned his tuition working as
a magician in a theme park. He almost quit the idea of
teaching to go into special effects."
With a flag waving scene from an American production on the
chalkboard behind the man, Ranma-chan had to ask, "Why
didn't he?"
Kaneda sat her down in her desk-seat; "He says computers
have taken the wonder-factor out of it."
The fireworks and lightshow over, Mr. Egami said, "Now, as
a further reward for finishing your homework tasks on the
Napoleonic Wars, I give you the "Anvil Chorus" of "The 1812
Overture".
The scenes on the chalkboard were now ones of Tchaikovsky,
and then an orchestra maestro leading a dirty, bloody
battle of Europeans dressed up like their nutcrackers. And
over the music were the clang of anvils and the boom of
canons! It was a true spectacular production.
...And when the lights came on, it seemed the whole class
was glancing, staring, or glaring at Ranma-chan from all
sides.
```
This class over with, Mr. Egami went to packing up his
equipment to move to them to his next class with the help
of the "Big Production" Club.
Meanwhile: "Well, we now know they're real."/ "You don't
think they were...doctored?"/ "What, the pictures or her
boobs?"/ "Either."/ "Who cares. I'd just like to 're-
touch' her."/ "Who's that old guy spraying milk?"/ "Her
old man?"/ "That's Kaneda's dad."/ "No bull, Hiroshi!?"/
"Hiroshi, Daisuke, you're Kaneda's best friends. If the
chick flashes at his house, maybe--"/ "Hey, didn't she
flash yesterday, at the gate?"/ "Didn't you hear what she
did in the guys' lav?!!"...
While among the girls: "Flashing in the guys' lav!? She IS
an exhibitionist."?/ "Hmf! Like she needs to do that with
a body like that."/ "I say she has been to a doctor."/
"I'm jealous, too."/ Hasn't she heard of a bra?"/ "I
hear she wears guys' underwear."/ "Used?"/ "Stained.
She likes to play with danger."/ "If she wears some guy's
clothes, it she isn't Kaneda Tendou's."/ "That pervert's
so desperate, he's whipped."/ "Get with the program,
Ainoko: Ranma's USING Kaneda."/ "Oh, right. The poor
jerk."...
It didn't take Ranma's sensitive ears to hear what was
being said. She burned.
Yuka stood by Ranma-chan's side, "It's not Ranma's fault.
Her problems come because her daddy is a girl-hater." And
she put a hand on the girl in Chinese clothes, "You've
never had the chance to be a girl, have you?"
Ranma-chan said, "I never WANTED the chance!"
Yuka said to the other girls, "See how bad it is?"
Daisuke was on the petit redhead's other side, "Ranma, you
can be one of the guys with us."
The tall, tough girl No stepped up in front of Ranma-chan,
"And you're guy enough?! If Ranma's going to hang out with
anybody, it's going to be with the girls!"
"Why do we want to be around a girl who looks at us like a
guy does!?"
Na slammed an open palm down on a desk. "Because I remember
you girls saying the something like that about me!"
"So THAT'S why you want Ranma near you."/ "I hear Ranma
swivels both ways."/ "Yes, she likes girls who act like
guys."/ "And guys who act like girls, I hear."
Kaneda said, "--Wait a minute! Why does everybody look at
me when they say things like that!? You've never known me
to be a girl!! I'm as big a pervert as Hiroshi and Daisuke,
remember?!!"
There were some knowing nods.
Sayuri said, "Stop! It's obvious that Ranma didn't pose for
that picture! It's pure voyeurism!"
"I love it when girls use words like that."
Ranma-chan jumped up from between Yuka and Daisuke, onto
her the back of her desk-seat, and behind to Sayuri. "What
picture?!"
Sayuri held out a hand, "Hiroshi!"
Shamefacedly, looking to the other guys for understanding,
he got out the wrinkled paper her had under his coat.
Sayuri handed it to Ranma.
Ranma-chan of course recognized it as one of those Kuno had
had of her girl-form. "Nabiki."
"Did you hear that, guys?!"/ "You just figure that out?"/
"But if NABIKI Tendou is giving out FREE pictures!"/ "--
They're samples!"
"Did you hear that, girls?!"/ "I should've thought of
that in the first place."/ "But if Nabiki Tendou is
giving out pictures like this--"/ "Where will it end?!"
Professional beauty contestant Yuumei Natsume said, "We've
got to stop her before she hands out pictures of me--US!"
Designated P.E. Equipment Manager Go-don Amori said, "We've
got to see if she's got to protect Nabiki Tendou!"
A squadron of guys and one of girls headed for the door.
A plain girl was the last of the group. She hesitated at
the door, uncertain about what she would do. Finally she
said, "I want to be a kogal!" and left.
The room now only had a dozen people in it. A stunned
Kaneda asked. "Is this what uncontrolled Karma is like?"
The End of this chapter
By Ron Dow75
20: Concepts Unleashed
As much as he tried to not let it bother him, it still
rubbed at him. Last night Kaneda, had had to play keepaway
from an opponent. The better martial artist the heir to the
Tendou Dojo faced had been his own fiancee.
It was clear with only a slight chill this morning. The
longhaired redhead jogged in his running shoes, blue shorts
and yellow, short sleeve sweatshirt, with a short towel
around his neck. His muscles could be seen as they moved,
even in his arms. Especially those of his arms. While the
"Anything" of "Anything-Goes Martial Arts" required the
ability to use any muscle group, the Tendou School put the
emphasis on those of the upper body.
The Saotome School put the emphasis on those of the lower
body.
Slowing down, Kaneda resorted to his usual method of
letting off steam, but this time he used an imaginary
cinderblock. He threw it up with one hand and smashed it to
pieces with the other as it came down.
He stopped to look down at the where they could've landed
on the street in front of his home. Why HAVEN'T I done
anything like that before? I've blamed Dad for not training
me properly. He didn't find any satisfaction in helping
Ranma-chan knock out his dad last night. And sleeping on it
hadn't helped at all. ...If I really WAS serious about
being a true master, I would've worked to develop the
skills I DO have. He turned away in total dissatisfaction,
My techniques have just been stunts, nothing serious. He
may've been exaggerating, but like exaggerations, there was
a truth in it.
As he headed for his front gate, he glanced up at its
fortress-like wall he knew Ranma-chan could leap over.
There would only be one way he could learn to jump it.
"...Then I would be admitting whose was the better
school...and who was going to be the Master of the Dojo."
At that painful thought, he dug his strong, fingers into
the texture of the wall.
"Tendou Upper Body Whip Crack!!"
In that one thrust, Kaneda pulled himself up the wall like
a rock climber. When his knees were at the height of his
hands, he dug his shoe's toes in and grabbed for the terra
cotta tiles of the wall's roof.
He hung there as he refocused his efforts. There were
dozens of minor but important muscle readjustments he
needed to make. He could make them all at once with the
right concept. Then his Chi energy would flow through the
proper channels and charge his body. And yelling out the
concept increased the definiteness of that power.
"Tendou Tarzan Ascend!!"
As quickly as a jolt, Kaneda cleared the eave and landed
crouching on to top of the wall's roof. It surprised him at
just how right the silly concept WAS.
Until he realized humans WERE ape-men; upper-body strength
WAS their natural forte.
Not lower-body strength.
He rose and surveyed his domain, that which was his to
inherit: The Tendou compound.
He saw what was becoming a familiar scene: "I'm not going
to go easy on you, Ranma!" Mr. Saotome yelled from beside
the koi pond.
The pigtailed guy in just a tank shirt and boxers yelled,
"You NEVER go easy on me! Every time I improve, you take it
up a notch! Well, you're at the end of your belt, now, you
Fat Old Man!"
"I'll show you just how fat I am!"
Ranma was the first to leap. Splash!
"Nnnyyaaarrh!!" a very wet Nabiki cried from the garden
hall. The wave of cold pond water had shot straight for
teen in green pajamas. She dropped her camera.
The pigtailed girl in the wet underwear gloated, "Got her!"
Genma asked, "You jumped in just to do that!?!"
Ranma-chan cried, "And this!" shoving against his shins.
She leaped out of the pond as he was falling in. Using her
speed on her distracted "sensei", she untied his black
belt.
By the time the giant panda was able to stand up in the
shallow water, the redhead was tying the belt around the
white coat she'd taken off of the Old Man.
"Berao, waorru!"
She walked away from it, "Aw, it was only gonna disappear,
anyway. You don't need clothes; you got fur, now."
Suddenly her trained senses warned of something on her
right coming towards her.
Kaneda used a branch from the tree to catapult himself over
the bushes that helped divide the front of the yard from
the pond side. He landed on his hands and somersaulted,
stopping decimeters from Ranma-chan.
The girl was unimpressed, "What kind of stunt was that?"
Kaneda said, proudly, "THAT was not a stunt: That was--"
Suddenly his arms shook. The tremors traveled through his
body, until he had to drop to his knees.
The small girl said, "Uh, hunh. Not a stunt," and walked
away.
The redhaired guy wanted to make a fist, but could barely
get his thumb up; "I just over-exerted myself, doing this
after I'd just cross-trained for 10-k!"
Picking up the towel she'd had left lying in the garden
porch. "Will breakfast be ready, soon, Kasumi?"
Struggling back to his feet, Kaneda his fingers were still
bent from swinging in trees, "You know what it can be like
when mastering a new technique: A lot of the leftover Chi
doesn't find its way back--"
The black-and-white beast bellowed as it charged. The
Tendou boy was in its way. It didn't care. It bumped him.
K-Prap!
```
Kaneda woke up at the feel of hot water. With an hourglass
figure, now, she opened her eyes to see Ranma-chan's bare
legs walking back to the house with the copper teakettle.
Kane-chan sat up and saw the panda lying on the ground like
a rug. The last thing she remembered was the Chi-equivalent
of a large static shock leave her guy-body. He had no idea
how. But he wasn't going to let it circle around in his
thoughts.
Getting up, Kane-chan asked, "Why did you make me a girl?"
Ranma-chan answered, "Why not? If I'm gonna be a girl, you
might as well be one too."
She looked at the cold water of the pond. But decided to
follow her cute fiancee back into the family room, "You're
staying a girl?"
Setting the kettle down, Ranma said, "I'm going to go to
school like this, too." She looked down at the wet tank
shirt and oversized gi-coat, "I am gonna wear something
else."
Kane-chan hoped, "A school uniform?"
Ranma-chan plopped down at the table, "Get real. I guess
I'm gonna wear those Chinese clothes your doctor gave me."
Kane-chan sat where she could get a good view of Ranma-
chan's boobs under her plastered down shirt that the
overlarge gi-coat couldn't hide very well; "Maybe I
shouldn't question a wish coming true, but why are you
staying a girl?"
Nabiki could be heard before she could be seen, "Ranma!"
She entered the family room in her school uniform. She was
very wet. "How did you get smart enough to rig a bucket of
water to spill on me when I opened the lav door!?!"
Showing no glee or regret, Ranma-chan said casually, "Pop
did things like that to me lots of times. His little booby
traps helped sharpen my awareness and senses."
Getting her voice more back under control, Nabiki said, "I
can make booby traps that he could not possibly even
conceive of."
Kane-chan said, "Ouch."
Nabiki turned her cold glare at blackhaired girl, "Do you
WANT me to make the term "booby trap" literal?"
Kane-chan had to hesitate, "Er... It might be less painful
if you did." She knew her sister prided herself on her
creating situations.
Some of Nabiki's aplomb returned, "You've got that right."
From the garden hall, her father said, "Ha, ha! Don't let
my daughter Nabiki's words mislead you, Miss Akane. She
really has a warm and gentle heart."
Kane-chan looked at the father figure with the toothbrush.
She had to ask, "Just how well do you know people?"
Soun Tendou said in his most charming fashion, "Before I
took on the responsibilities of a single parent, I traveled
all over, meeting every sort of person." He got a bit
nostalgic, "Why I've even been off the islands of Japan.
I've been to Hawaii. That's in America, you know."
Ranma asked, "You didn't swim there, did you?" For someone
who'd swam to China, even she found that difficult to
believe.
Soun chuckled, "I didn't have to. I had a tsunami wave."
Nabiki said, "Now, you want to reminisce! Daddy, I know you
want to impress a certain some one, but right now--"
Kane-chan was curious. It wasn't too often he would tell
them anything about himself. "How did you get back, a
reverse-tsunami?"
Soun Tendou smiled down at the charming Miss Akane, "My
word, no. I used a geyser."
Kane-chan suddenly thought of something, "You got home
using a geyser?! Is, isn't a geyser like a spring?"
Soun was still smiling, his battle to be a gentleman
temporarily lost as he stared at Kane-chan's bare legs,
"VERY hot springs."
Kane-chan tried to add something up, "I know about the
Curse of Pelee. Doesn't that mean there could be other
curses in Hawaii?"
Ranma-chan asked, "Are you sayin' your dad might've been
cursed, too?" She studied the mustached man. "That would
explain things."
Kane-chan said, "Well, magic does attract magic."
Nabiki said, "A good reason not to believe in it. The best
remedy against magic is not to accept it in the first
place. Let it happen to those with weak minds."
Ranma-chan cried, "Who're sayin' has a weak mind!?!"
Kasumi had come in with a breakfast tray, and heard enough
to ask, "A cursed spring? But there are no dragons in
Hawaii, are there?"
Her father's eye twinkled, "The only one I know of was the
dragon kite I rode over the Pacific on." Miss Akane had
very nice legs.
Kane-chan asked Kasumi, "What's this about dragons?"
Kasumi greeted, "Hello, Mr. Saotome. Breakfast is ready."
Ranma-chan frowned at it, "You play bear rug until it's
time to eat. I thought you wanted to fight? Ha-nh! You
couldn't even beat a guy who was ready to drop from
fatigue."
Kane-chan asked, "Is that what happened?" Her mind divided
between dragons, what had happened outside, breakfast and
the back-and-forth of everybody but Kasumi, she didn't find
the answer to any of the questions.
```
After changing to a dry school uniform, Nabiki hurried to
leave.
But the closed front gate was stuck. Even when she used
both hands, it still wouldn't open. There was something
small on the other side that was preventing it from
opening. "Ranma!" she concluded.
She refused to give Ranma the satisfaction of showing any
frustration. Assuming that was what Saotome wanted to see,
and so wouldn't take the side gate, she waited as calmly as
she could. She sought to keep her Chi-void from collapsing.
If the martial artist got emotional enough, SHE would be
ready to turn it back on the baka. And the more emotional
she could make the pigtailed one, the harder would be the
fall.
Finally the heavy gate opened behind her. Ranma-chan was on
the other side. The pigtailed girl in the black, silk
Chinese shirt and pants was flipping and catching a shim.
There was a proverb in there about how a small wedge of
wood could stop a huge door from opening.
Nabiki was in no mood for trite analogies. The only thing
she wanted to hear was how Ranma had turned the tables on
her. SAOTOME was more the sap type. ...And Ranma would be
again, she vowed.
Ranma-chan asked, "Ready to go to school?"
He chin tilted up, Nabiki began her trip to school.
"Tendou Tarzan Ascend!"
A moment later, Kaneda dropped from over the compound wall
to the street ahead of them. In his school uniform, he
landed on his hands and swung up to his feet in NEARLY one
motion. He did need practice.
Ranma-chan passed him, "That's so uncute. Why can't you at
least TRY to act less like a guy."
Exasperated, Kaneda pointed to the wall, "I just did what
YOU can do: But without using my legs!"
Ranma-chan said, "Big whoop. What if the wall had been
ancient, unstable, booby trapped, or electrified."
Kaneda caught up to her and Nabiki, "But it wasn't!"
Nabiki told them, "Why do you both of you simpletons have
the need to exert yourselves, anyway? If the wall had been
any of those things, it would've been for strategic
reasons. Understand those and the resources available, and
you can figure out a less strenuous way in or out of
things."
Ranma-chan scoffed, "Like how you got the gate open?"
Nabiki said coolly, "You opened it for me, didn't you?"
Ranma-chan scoffed, "Like you had it planned."
Nabiki said coolly, "I figured it out. ...As I will figure
you out...again." It had probably started when Ranma-chan
was caught naked in the guys' lav and then got stuck among
the girls in the girls' locker room...
Kaneda broke in with, "I got over the wall! The Tendou
School can match the Saotome School!"
Ranma-chan jumped on top of the nearest privacy wall; "A
stunt doesn't prove anything."
Scowling at her stunt, Kaneda started to wonder how he
could walk walls using just his Tendou skills.
```
Anything Kaneda said he may have said to the walls along
their way. Neither Ranma-chan nor Nabiki were paying him
much attention. They were both focused on the school day
ahead.
For once it looked like the he and Ranma-chan were going to
make it to class early. The big school clock said "8:20".
That was part of the reason there were a number of students
around the front gate. But among them were several diehards
from Kaneda's previous mornings' battle.
Kaneda prepared himself for another.
Behind him: Ranma-chan pounced, "Nabiki-chan!"
Nabiki had seen this coming since last night. She used her
aikido skills to anticipate and avoid the little redhead
WITHOUT touching her. It was done with the minimum of
motion and seeming effort. Inside, though, she was
struggling to draw in Ranma's Chi. But Ranma was using her
emotions in a way Nabiki wasn't used to. The Chi was put
more into propelling than attacking.
Ranma-chan landed and in one fluid motion tried again.
Nabiki took a couple of steps, and bowed her head just
enough for Ranma-chan to whiz past. But Ranma-chan
ricocheted off the wall and back at her. With relief,
Nabiki became a matador, pivoting out of the way on one
foot.
Ranma-chan landed against the distracted Kaneda. Kaneda
automatically moved to cushion the impact and keep his
fiancee from falling. That meant he fell with her on top of
him.
Ranma-chan cried, "Thanks for the help!"
Kaneda told her, "You jumped me!"
Nabiki looked down at the petit girl still in the arms of
her brother; "I left my pants at home. I thought you didn't
go after those who wear skirts." Literally, it was true.
Ranma swore not to fight girls.
Ranma's emotions shifted, "What!!?" Nabiki got her!
Nabiki straightened herself up, "Is THAT why you want to
marry into the Tendous? Ranma! I'm supposed to be your
'SISTER-in-law' We Tendou girls don't swing that way." She
started to walk away, "I guess you're going to have to be
satisfied with just my LITTLE brother."
Her back to Ranma-chan now, she gave the guys who were
witnessing all of this a knowing look. She said in a voice
for them, "...As if Kaneda alone could satisfy a person
with a girl's BODY and a guy's mind."
"Whoa! I didn't think of that."/ "Does that mean she,
like, has to have, one of each?"/ "Maybe that's why she's
engaged to Kaneda."/ "HA! That's why he needs to beat
guys up!"/ "--Why he's so angry!"/ "Right! He's trying
to prove he's NOT half-a-man!"
As she passed through the group of mainly guys, Nabiki
helped the sale along, "It has become a contest to see who
will be wear the apron."
Ranma struggled to get up from Kaneda, "Let me at her!"
Kaneda held her back. He wasn't going to let her get away
with it now that her Karma was unprotected, "Why not tell
them who you're engaged to!" Of course, if she told them
ALL of the truth, he'd be seen as a far greater pervert
than Ranma.
Nabiki didn't even slow down as she approached Furinkan's
main doors; "I don't take that seriously. Do you?"
```
First Vice President and Secretary Tsugako was waiting on
the front stoop for her as Nabiki had told her to in a call
last night. She asked, "What was that about?"
Nabiki told her, "Merchandising. Did you get those photos I
gave you copied?"
Tsugako showed her the filing folder under her arm.
"They're pictures of Ranma only half-dressed." She lowered
voice, questioning the wisdom of her President, "They're
almost pornographic!"
Nabiki said, "And they'll stay soft until demand falls
off."
Tsugako asked, "What demand?"
Nabiki looked out to the guys waiting around the gate and
the engaged pair who was just approaching it; "The demand
for a real-life fantasy that's short in supply."
```
Ranma-chan and Kaneda would find that the emphasis was on
"real-life". What may be unthinkable in isolation can
burrow into a psyche when there is an actual example that
can be seen, heard, smelled, and, perhaps...touched?
The first to speak up were those who still had something to
prove: "Ha, ha! Kaneda! How'd you get so 'luc-key'?"/ "I
can't believe we hadn't thought WHY she would stick with
you!"/ "I bet she can beat your sorry ass!"
Kaneda's reactions were never as cool and calm as Nabiki's,
"If she could, what does that say about YOU! There hasn't
been a day this semester I haven't beat yours and twenty
others!"
"Ranma, how much of a girl are you?"/ "You look like you
have everything...."/ "...perfect...."/ "You definitely
have female hormones."/ "But you think like, a guy?"/
"She dresses like a guy."/ "Is it possible that, that,
uh, er, both ways, I mean, threesomes, I mean--"/ "Oh,
ho, ho! There's something I've dreamed about...."/ "But
have you thought about doing it with somebody who's both?"
Ranma-chan's reactions were somewhere in-between the two
Tendous, "Leave me alone! I ain't interested in anybody,
girl and ESPECIALLY guy!"
People ahead of them started moving aside for an all too
familiar voice, "She is trying to tell you, you spawn of
the bourgeois media, that as with any true warrior, she is
celebrate. One must be pure of heart to wield power
properly." Kuno was in his usual kendo-gi, holding his
usual wooden sword. The only thing different were the
bandages that he was still wrapped in.
"But Nabiki said--"
The still recovering Kuno held up his bokken in challenge
to the pigtailed girl, "But purity is but purified more
intensely when mixed with its own kind. Two becoming one
bring forth more than just what either alone can do."
"I'd go with Nabiki this time. I bet Ranma can't stay
'pure' any more than Kuno can."/ "Care to start a pool of
how long she can last?"/ "And cut into Nabiki's
territory!?"
Ranma-chan grabbed the dim wit's only weapon with both
hands, "Thanks for giving them explanations!!"
Behind her, Kaneda pleaded, "Ranma!!"
Growling, Ranma-chan planted her small feet and used her
superior lower body muscles to heave the 185.5 cm/6' 1"
teen off the ground, and toss him behind her.
...where Kaneda punched the samurai boy into his
tormentors, toppling them all.
With his breath nearly knocked out of him, the rugby player
tried to threaten, "Pervert!...Both, perverts...."
"They are perverts, aren't they?"
"I wouldn't say it to their faces."/ "And as a martial
arts fan, I'd also say not within rage of their martial
arts senses."/ "Uh...how safe a distance is safe?"
```
Looking out a window above in Classroom 2-F, Nabiki smiled
to herself, "That suppresses the negative backlash for a
while. And what fills a vacuum?...."
Tsugako looked to Nabiki. "If she really doesn't get
around, I can see where the, uh, "supply" will be limited.
There's not going to be too many who are going to risk even
asking Ranma for a date, let alone trying for first base.
But are you sure about the demand?"
Second Vice President and Treasurer Ichie said, "Yeah,
Nabiki, don't guys have better things to think about than a
super tomboy?"
Nabiki said to them, "It's all about contrasts. To them,
she's already a tomboy that flashes, and, now, maybe does
more."
Ichie said, "So she's a tease!"
Tsugako said, "And she's not even good at it. She's no
competition."
Ichie saw a glimmer of the truth, " "Contrast"?"
Followed by her company, Nabiki headed towards her desk,
"Exactly. There is too much competition: Among ourselves.
But no one (right now, anyway *Chuckle*) is competing with
her. But Ranma's a natural at getting attention, beyond her
petit attractiveness. She's the speeding red dot on a
mountain of black. That is the first step in demand.
"And after that, everything depends on her entertainment
value, where the potential customer WANTS to keep their
attention on her."
Ichie said, "You mean "Sex and Violence"?..."
Tsugako said sourly, "In Ranma's case, "Cuteness and
Mayhem"."
Nabiki addressed her followers, "There is no real contrast
there. That's on the TV that comes into our houses.
Entertainment relies on something being different among the
familiar or attractive."
Ichie said, "Contrast!"
Nabiki sat down at her desk-seat as if it were her throne.
"Ranma has something very different about her." She smiled,
"She has a strangeness factor that can become exotic that
can become erotic. It is all in niche-marketing." She had
started thinking about this plan back when Kaneda had
started getting boobs. But Kaneda WAS family. Ranma wasn't.
Tsugako shook her head, "And giving out free pictures of
Ranma taking off her shirt supplies a niche?"
Nabiki chuckled, "There is nothing really that strange
about a girl taking off even a guy's undershirt. What will
make it strange is the "Before and After" contrast.
"And even though guys can't see past a girl's looks, I
think it will be more profitable if Ranma's female assets
are etched in their little minds BEFORE they see the, uh,
'After'."
Ichie thought she understood, "You get them nibbling before
they're introduced to the hook."
```
Kaneda's new interest in Tarzan had him looking at the
trees that separated the main buildings from the playing
fields of the school. "Do you want to have a contest,
Ranma? A race through the trees to see who can get to
Lovers' Wood first."
Ranma-chan didn't even look at him. "I'm not interested in
you proving your so-called manhood. I have you around to
remind me what will happen if I forget what sex I am."
Kaneda challenged, "This is about schools!"
Ranma-chan said, "If you say so."
Kaneda wanted to say something loud, long and punctuated
with martial arts. But his school wasn't at Ranma's level,
yet. The only way he could inflict a little hard was by
using the girl-ploy--and only on the Ranma-kun. Of course,
if his girl-form 'demonstrated' on Ranma-kun it would PROVE
it wasn't about his manhood.
Right?... As he looked back towards the trees, he saw that
there were holes bored in a lot of them, three to a tree.
Pausing to glance through a few of them, he saw direct line
of sight views of the school buildings and the playing
fields. "Whoever Miss Hinako hired got the job done in
record time."
Ranma-chan said, "She had to have hired a whole
construction company." The tree house 2.5 meters/8' off the
ground had the general shape of a large forest ranger
station, with a chicken wire with circular holes in its
mesh. It even had three sliding skylights over holes in its
three-sided roof. But Ranma and Kaneda, not understanding
how the technique they yearned to learn from the age-
changing Miss Hinako worked, paid more attention to the
paint job. They had been afraid she would paint her
principal's office with bright garish, kiddy-pleasing
colors. Nabiki had done her best to convince the new
acting-principal that since she was now in charge of an
institution of high education, it needed to be in the same
colors as the institutions she was familiar with.
Ranma-chan stared at it. "Well, she did choose gray."
Kaneda stared, too. "And black. --Is that Astro Boy?" The
tree house office was covered with black-and-white anime
characters from the '60's. Just how old was Miss Hinako
really?
```
Inside the plush characters were more colorful, but there
were fewer of them. There was a TV-VCR to watch them on,
and a Playstation. There was a small assortment of coloring
books, toys and games, but they off in a neatly ordered,
unused corner of what otherwise looked pretty much as a
principal's office should look like.
When they came up through the open doorway in the floor,
they found that Miss Hinako was no little girl. Her tall,
shapely and buxom form was in a rather bulky, yellow
crochet sweater and a black skirt with a hem a couple of
centimeters above the knee. "Miss Ranma," she greeted her
as a student. She then said, "And this must be Mr. Kaneda
Tendou. Miss Saotome is your houseguest, I believe." When
they'd nodded their heads in a bow, she gestured them
towards her desk.
Kaneda followed, "The reason we're always late won't happen
tomorrow. Probably. --There were fewer guys waiting for us.
There should be fewer still tomorrow. ...Right?"
The adult kept her eye on him as she sat on the edge of the
desk, one fine leg bent. "You two aren't here for that
reason. As part of the agreement I made with the teachers
to recognize me as the acting-principal, I am to let them
decide when a low-Chi conflict goes beyond what they term
"a sporting challenge".
"Sports are the main reason for this school's existence,
apparently. That makes Furinkan something of a vocational
high school."
Kaneda said to the woman who was keeping her eyes on him,
"And you heard I was the best athlete in the school."
Miss Hinako was pleased, "You are?"
Ranma-chan said, "I'm the reason you called us here."
The woman finally turned her attention to the girl, "Yes,
Miss Ranma. One of the concessions the teachers gave ME was
that there would be more emphasis on girls' sports."
Ranma-chan said, "I am not a team player."
Miss Hinako said, "There are non-team sports."
Ranma-chan said, "I can't change with girls."
Miss Hinako raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Do you have a
condition? A deformity?" Ranma-chan didn't like the way she
was checking for them.
Ranma-chan tried again, "It'd be like cheatin'. I'm
different from, most girls." All, if you excluded the ones
who must've been cursed over the centuries.
The Principal stood up, "I sensed that yesterday. Your Chi
is the most masculine I've felt in a female. It is very
polar." And this from a reform school teacher.
Kaneda picked up his ears, "Oh? So she's mostly a girl,
right?"
Miss Hinako said to him, "And yours is definitely the most
feminine I've felt in a male. Again, with practically no
blending of the two."
Kaneda blushed.
Ranma, "That proves it for me."
The Principal went around her desk, "Though you are not
related, you both have a similar...let us say "Yin-Yang
Flux"." Both of the teens waited tensely for the truth to
be spoken. "But, then, you both practice "Anything-Goes
Martial Arts."
The teens facefaulted.
"The same as me."
From the floor the said in surprise, "You!?!"
She leaned over the desk; "My variation of the "Anything-
Goes School" left me with, an age problem." There was a
brief flash of resentment. "Yours has given you...another
problem. I would like to help you, if I can."
Ranma was the first to jump up, "You think you can!?!" Was
there hope?!
Standing straight again, Miss Hinako said, "I think I may
be able to help. But it can only be performed while you are
doing sports, Miss Ranma. That is why you have to
participate."
Ranma grinned to break her cute face, "You got it! I'll
give just about anything a try!"
Pleased, the trained reform school teacher said, "Let's be
positive!" It felt good to be able to encourage rather than
punish. The correctional officers and the students only
took her seriously when she used her powers. Furinkan was
her chance to prove she could do more. And Ranma Saotome
was her test case.
Kaneda hesitated. "And, and me? Is, is that why you, wanted
me here, too?"
Feeling good for once without any childish (or a couple of
more adult) diversions, Miss Hinako said to him, "If my
idea works for Miss Ranma, it will point the way for you,
Mr. Kaneda. But it will require more thought, I'm afraid. I
will let you know when I have thought of the missing piece
to the puzzle. But I promise to do it in private.
"But in the meantime, I wanted to meet Miss Ranma's
support, her...finace(?)"
Her smiled grew slightly wider; "You remind me of Miss
Akane Saotome, Ranma's cousin."
Though Kaneda didn't understand yet, Miss Hinako's Chi
power hadn't had much direct contact with Kaneda's girl-
form; the readings she had of her was swamped out by
Ranma's, her focus at the time. And now, through the holes
in the trees, she was feeding on the Chi of the whole
school. Though it kept her an adult, it took effort to
distinguish between individuals. Right then, she was in
near her optimum capacity. The former little girl with the
short attention span so far wasn't aware yet of the effect
Chi has on living trees.
Of course, even trees have their limits.
```
On their way back to the classroom, Kaneda wondered, "If
she knows our secret, why did she say I reminded her of
Akane?"
Ranma was just too happy at the thought of a cure, "So? She
knows our secret, not the names we call our other forms."
Kaneda still fretted, "Should we tell her?"
Ranma said, "A secret's a secret until there's no need for
reason for it."
Kaneda said, "I guess you're right. I can hide out from her
making me a girl by being Akane Saotome."
Ranma said, "Me, I was gettin' sick of hidin'. I was about
ready to show everybody I AM a guy."
Kaneda thought for long moments. "Ranma. Are you sure you
don't want to be a girl?"
Ranma laughed humorlessly, "What do you think!?"
```
Kaneda thought of something else, "She says she belongs to
the "Anything-Goes School". How many have YOU heard say
that?"
Ranma-chan said, "Don't worry about it. If you have to, ask
the Two Fathers about it."
Kaneda muttered, "If Dad will talk about it."
When they opened their classroom door: Bang! Pop, pop, pop!
Whiz--Bang!
Kaneda grabbed the back of Ranma-chan's collar and shirt
back to keep her from using her martial arts.
The National Anthem of the United States of America started
playing, then sung in English: "O say can you see by the
dawn's early light, What so proudly we hail'd, Whose broad
stripes and bright stars, Thro' the perilous fight, O'er
the ramparts we watched, Were gallantly streaming? And the
rocket's red glare, The bombs bursting in air..."
Bang! Pop, pop, pop! Whiz--Bang!
Kaneda directed Ranma-chan as inconspicuously as they could
to their seats, while the smaller redhead stared at their
homeroom teacher. She had thought he was a fairly fit man
in his thirties who was as dull as most teachers. Kaneda
told her quietly, "Mr. Egami earned his tuition working as
a magician in a theme park. He almost quit the idea of
teaching to go into special effects."
With a flag waving scene from an American production on the
chalkboard behind the man, Ranma-chan had to ask, "Why
didn't he?"
Kaneda sat her down in her desk-seat; "He says computers
have taken the wonder-factor out of it."
The fireworks and lightshow over, Mr. Egami said, "Now, as
a further reward for finishing your homework tasks on the
Napoleonic Wars, I give you the "Anvil Chorus" of "The 1812
Overture".
The scenes on the chalkboard were now ones of Tchaikovsky,
and then an orchestra maestro leading a dirty, bloody
battle of Europeans dressed up like their nutcrackers. And
over the music were the clang of anvils and the boom of
canons! It was a true spectacular production.
...And when the lights came on, it seemed the whole class
was glancing, staring, or glaring at Ranma-chan from all
sides.
```
This class over with, Mr. Egami went to packing up his
equipment to move to them to his next class with the help
of the "Big Production" Club.
Meanwhile: "Well, we now know they're real."/ "You don't
think they were...doctored?"/ "What, the pictures or her
boobs?"/ "Either."/ "Who cares. I'd just like to 're-
touch' her."/ "Who's that old guy spraying milk?"/ "Her
old man?"/ "That's Kaneda's dad."/ "No bull, Hiroshi!?"/
"Hiroshi, Daisuke, you're Kaneda's best friends. If the
chick flashes at his house, maybe--"/ "Hey, didn't she
flash yesterday, at the gate?"/ "Didn't you hear what she
did in the guys' lav?!!"...
While among the girls: "Flashing in the guys' lav!? She IS
an exhibitionist."?/ "Hmf! Like she needs to do that with
a body like that."/ "I say she has been to a doctor."/
"I'm jealous, too."/ Hasn't she heard of a bra?"/ "I
hear she wears guys' underwear."/ "Used?"/ "Stained.
She likes to play with danger."/ "If she wears some guy's
clothes, it she isn't Kaneda Tendou's."/ "That pervert's
so desperate, he's whipped."/ "Get with the program,
Ainoko: Ranma's USING Kaneda."/ "Oh, right. The poor
jerk."...
It didn't take Ranma's sensitive ears to hear what was
being said. She burned.
Yuka stood by Ranma-chan's side, "It's not Ranma's fault.
Her problems come because her daddy is a girl-hater." And
she put a hand on the girl in Chinese clothes, "You've
never had the chance to be a girl, have you?"
Ranma-chan said, "I never WANTED the chance!"
Yuka said to the other girls, "See how bad it is?"
Daisuke was on the petit redhead's other side, "Ranma, you
can be one of the guys with us."
The tall, tough girl No stepped up in front of Ranma-chan,
"And you're guy enough?! If Ranma's going to hang out with
anybody, it's going to be with the girls!"
"Why do we want to be around a girl who looks at us like a
guy does!?"
Na slammed an open palm down on a desk. "Because I remember
you girls saying the something like that about me!"
"So THAT'S why you want Ranma near you."/ "I hear Ranma
swivels both ways."/ "Yes, she likes girls who act like
guys."/ "And guys who act like girls, I hear."
Kaneda said, "--Wait a minute! Why does everybody look at
me when they say things like that!? You've never known me
to be a girl!! I'm as big a pervert as Hiroshi and Daisuke,
remember?!!"
There were some knowing nods.
Sayuri said, "Stop! It's obvious that Ranma didn't pose for
that picture! It's pure voyeurism!"
"I love it when girls use words like that."
Ranma-chan jumped up from between Yuka and Daisuke, onto
her the back of her desk-seat, and behind to Sayuri. "What
picture?!"
Sayuri held out a hand, "Hiroshi!"
Shamefacedly, looking to the other guys for understanding,
he got out the wrinkled paper her had under his coat.
Sayuri handed it to Ranma.
Ranma-chan of course recognized it as one of those Kuno had
had of her girl-form. "Nabiki."
"Did you hear that, guys?!"/ "You just figure that out?"/
"But if NABIKI Tendou is giving out FREE pictures!"/ "--
They're samples!"
"Did you hear that, girls?!"/ "I should've thought of
that in the first place."/ "But if Nabiki Tendou is
giving out pictures like this--"/ "Where will it end?!"
Professional beauty contestant Yuumei Natsume said, "We've
got to stop her before she hands out pictures of me--US!"
Designated P.E. Equipment Manager Go-don Amori said, "We've
got to see if she's got to protect Nabiki Tendou!"
A squadron of guys and one of girls headed for the door.
A plain girl was the last of the group. She hesitated at
the door, uncertain about what she would do. Finally she
said, "I want to be a kogal!" and left.
The room now only had a dozen people in it. A stunned
Kaneda asked. "Is this what uncontrolled Karma is like?"
The End of this chapter