Intro: Wow! I'm surprised! I thought this one sucked, but I got more reviews for the ONE chapter of Chaos 1/2 that I posted than I did for the TWO chapters of Finishing Moves! So, thanks for the reviews, people! You guys better pray I can keep it up! Anway, here it is...
Disclaimer: It's MINE!! MINE, I tell you!! Ka-klick (For those who don't know, that's the sound of a gun being cocked.) Ah-heh-heh.... Or not.
Warnings: Currently unedited. (Don't need the spellchecker for the most part.) Mild language.
------------{ Chaos 1/2 }------------
------{ Episode 2: School Is No Place For Horsing Around... }------
Akane Tendo got up the next morning and grimaced. Her muscles were still sore from yeserday's "sparring match". Even so, she slipped out of her pajamas and into her jogging clothes. It was a habit of hers, jogging. It helped to clear her mind for the day and psyched her up for the up-coming trials that she would most likely encounter at school. She carefully slipped out the door, stopping to say good morning to her elder sister, Kasumi, who was preparing breakfast.
Stepping out of the gate, she began her morning jog, her thoughts on the two guests that had arrived yesterday. The panda that turned out to be her father's friend had definitely been strange, but not as strange as the boy it had carried with it. Ranma was a mystery to her. At first glance, he seemed to be an egotistical jerk just like the rest of them. That idea had firmed in her head when he challenged her to a sparring match. Then he had beaten her. EASILY!! And he hadn't gloated. That was where that idea fell to pieces. In fact, he had plopped himself down next to her aching body and asked what was wrong. She wouldn't have been able to do a thing if he had decided to do anything to her, but he never made a move to touch her. She just couldn't figure it out. All the boys that she had ever met were at least a little perverted. This one had had her helpless... and done nothing! Granted, her family had been watching, but she doubted her father would have done anything, seeing as how he had tried to engage her to him.
Returning to Tendo compound, Akane was startled out of her musings when a pair of shouts erupted from the yard. Moving through the gate, she was treated to the sight of Ranma and his father beginning their morning sparring match in the yard. It started out slowly enough, so she grabbed a towel waiting for her off of the porch, and sat down to watch.
"Remember, boy. Today is a skill exercise." Ranma merely nodded in response. Both of them were wearing gis, and Ranma was wearing his bracers again. Or was it still? As one, they leapt at each other, exchanging and blocking blows at the same time. Akane noticed that Ranma didn't seem to be as fast today as he had been yesterday when he had beaten her. Father and son continued to fight, and smacking sounds filled the air as most of Ranma's swings slammed into his father's open palms, stopping them cold. Low whistles were heard as Genma's return strikes missed the younger fighter by millimeters.
Suddenly Ranma jumped back and took a different stance than the one he had been using. Akane looked confused for a moment until she realized that it was the same one he had used yesterday in the dojo. Balanced on the balls of his feet with knees bent. This time his hands were out in front of him, one in front of the other and both of them palm down. Instead of closed fists, his hands were flat and the fingers of each hand were tucked in, giving off the look of some sort of paw.
Genma paused for a moment also, "Oh ho. Decided to use your new style, eh, boy??" Ranma's only reply was the confident smirk he sent in Genma's direction.
Just then Kasumi called from inside, "Saotome-san, Ranma-kun! Breakfast is ready!"
Genma smiled in her direction, "Thank you, Kasumi-chan! We'll be right in!" Facing Ranma again, he leapt into the air to attack. The red-haired boy followed his lead, and they met in mid-air over the koi pond. Akane stared at their hang-time as they hung over the pond, exchanging blows for a moment. Finally Genma managed to sneak a kick through Ranma's defenses and sent him plummeting into the pond. Or he would have if Ranma hadn't twisted impossibly at the last second and altered his trajectory, landing at the edge of the koi pond. Bouncing back up into the air, he met the decending Genma and kicked the surprised man into the water below. After the giant splash subsided, a soggy Genma-panda crawled out of the pond and began growfing at the pony-tailed boy angrily.
Ranma cupped a hand to his ear, smirking happily, "What's that, Pops? You're getting sloppy? Well, I guess I'll have to whip you back into shape, then." Grinning, he sauntered into the house and sat down at the table.
"Oh my, I suppose Saotome-san will need something different for breakfast." Kasumi whipped out a large platter of bamboo shoots from underneath the table. We'll just ignore the fact that there hadn't been anything under the table either.
------{ After breakfast }------
"A'right. What's this about school?" Ranma scowled at his father, once again dressed in his Chinese clothes, complete with sash and bracers.
Genma drew himself up in return, "Well, we ARE going to be staying a while."
"Yeah, right. You just don't want me around to bug ya about training all day long."
Genma winced, "Uh, no. It's just that, as the heir to The Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, it falls upon you to educate yourself to the fullest extent so as to be able to properly take over the dojo when you marry one of Tendo's girls."
Ranma leveled a stare at him, "Uh huh. You just don't want me to bug ya."
"Well, that too."
"And you're STILL not listening to me. I will NEVER marry a Tendo girl without their willing consent!"
Nabiki, who had just come downstairs, overheard this last part, "I don't know about the others, Ranma-kun, but I'M certainly willing to give this thing a try." The red-haired boy's face suddenly matched his hair as he remembered her saying almost the exact same thing last night in the dojo.
"You're NOT helping my case, Nabiki."
The short-haired girl blithely ignored him, "You'd better hurry up and get ready if you're going to walk me to school. I don't have all day, you know."
Ranma rolled his eyes, "Geh. Fine. I'll go to school. But I don't have a school-bag." Genma popped up in front of him, school-bag in hand. He angrily swiped the bag from his father, then snap-kicked him into the koi pond, "That's for not listening to me again!" He adjusted his bracers and turned toward Nabiki, "Well, let's go."
She gave him a look, then pointed at his feet, which were still bare, "You might want to get some shoes on, first."
He looked down, then shrugged, "Nah. Don't need 'em anyway. Shoes restrict my toes when I fight." She continued to look at him strangely until Akane breezed past with her school-bag.
"Hey, you guys. You're going to be late if you don't hurry up."
Nabiki finally shrugged, "Whatever. Come on, then."
------{ The walk to school }------
"What are you doing on the fence?"
"Balance practice."
"I see. How about you come down here, and we can cuddle a little."
"...... I happen to like it up HERE, thank you very much."
"What? You don't- sniffle LIKE me??"
" No, no. You're a nice person... when you don't want to, uh, cuddle."
"Oh...... You... want me to lay off, then?"
"Thanks. Uh, no offense."
------{ The School-yard }------
Ranma looked around the school-yard and saw most of the male half of the student body littered across the area. Further inspection revealed Akane, who was holding a rose, and a tall boy dressed in kendo garb that had just stepped out from behind a tree, who was speaking a verse of poetry to the less-than-enthusiastic girl.
He looked at Nabiki questioningly, but she waved it off, "Oh, don't worry about it. This happens every morning."
"EVERY morning??"
"Yeah. You might want to hurry up. We're almost late as it is."
Indecision flickered across Ranma's face for a moment, then cleared, "Nah, you go on ahead. I wanna see this." After looking at him for a moment, Nabiki nodded and moved into the school-building, avoiding the scattered bodies of the unconscious boys. The pony-tailed boy was about to hop up onto the school wall when Akane tried to step around the other boy.
"Oh, Kuno. Excuse me."
Kuno raised a bokken to block her path, "Oh, though she be but little, she be fierce. Akane Tendo, wilt thou spar with me?"
A cross look set on her face as she reluctantly got into a stance. It was at this point Ranma finally stepped forward, "I don't know about you, but it appears to me as if the lady doesn't WANT to 'spar'."
"I can handle it Ranma."
The other boy swung his bokken to point at Ranma, "And who might YOU be, insolent whelp??" Thunder rumbled ominously in the distance.
"Name's R-"
"WAIT! Is it not custom to give one's OWN name -first-?? Fine, then. Mine I shall give. I am the un-defeated Captain of this school's Kendo club. The rising new star of the high-school fencing world. The sound of my voice strikes fear in the hearts of my enemies. My peers call me the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High. Tatewaki Kuno, age seventeen." A flash of lightning lit the dark sky behind him as his voice echoed dramaticly across the empty school yard. A pair of school-girls watching from a window looked at each other.
" 'Blue Thunder'?? Have YOU heard that before?"
"Beats me. Last -I- heard, he was calling himself 'Shooting Star'."
Unimpressed, Ranma merely cleared his throat, "Ahem. If I'm not mistaken, it is ALSO custom to let people finish their sentences. And it's rude to point. AS I was saying, my name is Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. I'm currently staying at the Tendo Dojo."
"I SAID, I can handle it, Ranma!"
"Staying with the TENDO'S?? Under the SAME roof... as AKANE??!!" Enraged, Kuno rushed forward and swiped at the red-haired boy with a downward strike. Ranma avoided it by back-flipping away, twisting a couple of times before he landed next to Akane.
"You wanna challenge ME?? A'right. Let's dance." He smirked.
------{ Eyecatch }------
Genma-panda juggles some pieces of fruit, then snatches them out of the air with his mouth. He chokes on the last piece.
------{End Eyecatch }------
Akane had finally had enough, "RANMA!! Stop interfering with MY fight!!"
He glanced in her direction, "What? You're still here? Aren't you supposed to be in class by now?"
She suddenly looked horrified, "Oh no!! I'm going to be late!! This is all your fault, Ranma!" Her eyes narrowed in anger.
"A fool thou must be, to ignore your opponent in the midst of combat! Very well, I shall punish you for your inattention!" Kuno swung his bokken at Ranma again, but missed as the pony-tailed boy leaned to the side and continued to argue with Akane.
"Excuse me, but he challenged ME, too. Since you didn't really wanna fight 'im in the first place, I figured I'd let ya get to class. Whoop, gotta go."
Kuno slashed downward and smashed a V in the concrete wall, but missed Ranma, who jumped up and bounced off of the trunk of a nearby tree. Bouncing higher into the air, the red-haired boy avoided a side-slash from Kuno which sliced the tree trunk completely in half. Descending on the bokken-wielding boy, he was forced to twist impossibly in mid-air to avoid an upward slash from Kuno. The twist also altered Ranma's trajectory, which now took him over Kuno's head and behind him, where he kicked the angry boy in the small of the back, then flipped upright just before he hit the ground, "You use ki. That's good."
Kuno fairly shook with rage, "Thou art fleet of foot, knave. However, the vengeance of heaven is slow, but sure. I, Tatewaki Kuno, shall bring you to justice."
"Maybe eventually, Kuno. Right now, you couldn't touch me if your life depended on it. You better train some more if you want to 'bring me to justice'."
Behind him, Akane fumed, "Hey!! Stop ignoring me!!" That said, she threw her school-bag at the red-haired boy, who back-flipped out of the way, at the same time avoiding another swipe from a livid Kuno. Having missed Ranma, the school-bag was sliced in half as the swipe meant for Ranma hit it instead.
Landing from his flip, Ranma turned to glare at the fuming girl, "You didn't want to fight, so get to class, already!!" Still irritated, he turned back to Kuno, "A'right, Kuno. One more chance."
Filled with rage, Kuno raised his bokken once more, and slashed diagnally at Ranma, who for once, didn't dodge. He knocked the bokken aside with his bracers, then blurred forward with a burst of ki and stiff-armed the surprised boy in the chest. The stunned boy flew backward, then hit the wall, cracking it, before sliding down to the ground, unconscious. The watching crowd of students gasped in surprised at seeing the school's best fighter go down so quickly.
The impending rain chose that particular time to break loose, drenching occupants of the otherwise empty schoolyard. Ranma shook his head and sighed, then moved to pick up the unconscious Kuno, "Well, he was a -little- better than I gave him credit for... Akane, you better get to class. I'm gonna take this guy to the nurse's office." Akane just stood there and stared at the space where Ranma had stiff-armed Kuno.
------{ In the nurse's office }------
Kuno came to with a groan. He stiffly sat up and looked around, eventually spotting the red-haired boy sitting next to the cot he was laying on, "You!! Thou art the vile miscreant who would assume to champion the fierce tigress, Akane Tendo!"
Ranma held up a hand, "I would have words with you, User of Sword." Kuno blinked, startled. "The first order of things would be to congratulate you for a fight well fought." He got up out of his chair and bowed to the astonished swordsman, "Good fight." Kuno stared at him, speechless, so he sat back down and continued, "The second order of things would be to correct the misunderstanding that sparked our battle to begin with. You challenged me for what reason?"
Kuno stared at him uncomprehendingly for a moment until he regained control of his vocal chords again, "So, the peasant has some familiarity with proper patterns of speech. Mayhap you have some form of intelligence to be reckoned with. Very well, I shall converse with you. Thou hast asked the reason for my challenge. Being a new student amongst these hallowed halls, you must not know of the decree I made known at the beginning of the last semester."
------{ Another Painful Flashback }------
Kuno slammed a single piece of paper down on the podium. Above him, a banner read, |Furinkan High-School Speech Contest|. He ignroed the paper and began his 'speech', "The vengeance of heaven is slow, but sure! If you wish to take Akane out, you must defeat her in combat! I, Tatewaki Kuno, will permit no other terms." He leaned forward and glared at the rest of the student body, "Now, am I making myself PERFECTLY CLEAR?!"
------{ End Painful Flashback }------
Ranma stared at Kuno in disbelief. After a moment, he covered it up and nodded in comprehension, "I see."
"Being that you have made your residence at the Tendo's, thou will eventually find thyself challenged by the fierce tigress, Akane." He paused as Ranma held up a hand, "What wouldst thou ask of me?"
"Actually, Akane has already fought me and lost. She has a lot of potential, though."
"What?!?! You have already fought with my beautiful Akane Tendo?!" Kuno sat bolt upright. "And you WON?!?!"
"Yes."
Kuno's fist wrapped around an imaginary bokken, "Why, you... You fiend!! You DARE to assault the beauteous Akane Tendo?!?! You scoundrel!! Have you no honor in you at all?!?!"
Ranma's calm face took on a tense look, "On the contrary. I am a Martial Artist, and as such, Honor is my life. Akane is also a Martial Artist. Our battle was a fair fight between warriors. She fought well." He stood and moved toward the door, "Just as I fought you, I fight everyone. No matter the challenger, I fight fairly. I suggest you do the same. I now bid you some time to think on these things..." He pulled the door open, "Oh, and a word of advice, Kuno. 'A Facade lost may gain Allies instead.' " With that, he closed the door and left. Kuno sat back in the cot, pondering the words of the wayward warrior.
------{ In the classroom }------
The teacher gestured to Ranma, who stood in front of the chalk-board, "It seems we have a new student here at Furinkan High. His name is Ranma Saotome, and he's just returned from a trip to China. So let's all give him a warm 'Nihao' welcome. However, that doesn't excuse the fact that he and Akane Tendo were late, so go stand in the hall." Ranma shook his head in disbelief and headed for the buckets.
------{ Out in the hall }------
"After all THAT, you STILL didn't get to class on time?!" Ranma shook his head again.
Akane glared at him, "Well, it was all YOUR fault anyway!"
Ranma ignored her, "Jeeze. All that wasted effort, an' not even a word of thanks." He shrugged, "Oh well."
"What?! You expect me to THANK you for making me LATE?!"
He shook his head, "No, I expect you to thank me for trying to help you out."
"Yeah?! Well, I DON'T need your help! I can fight my own fights!!"
"I'm not talking about the fight, Akane. I was trying to let you get to class on time. Yet you just stood there and yelled at me. You need to get that temper of yours under control soon, or you'll never be able to attain the peace of heart necessary to reach your full potential. I've seen a lot of Martial Artists out there who have no peace of heart, and they're limited by their anger, or depression, or whatever. The point is, if you want to be the best you can be, you need to curb that anger. If you can do that, I look forward to the day when I can see you become all you want to be."
Akane stared at him, her anger draining away, "You... you..." She finally gave up and stared at the opposite wall, thinking about Ranma's speech.
------{ In a different classroom }------
"WHAT?!?! Engaged?! To a Tendo?!"
"Uh-huh. His daddy and my daddy decided. I-"
"Grrrraaahh!!!"
thwap "Kuno! Go stand in the hall!"
"... Yessir."
------{ Back in the hall }------
"So.... Kuno tells me he put a defeat-to-date rule on you?"
Akane stared at him, "You actually TALKED... to KUNO?!"
Ranma shrugged, "Well, yeah. He's not that bad, once you get past the I'm-so-superior-and-sophisticated facade he puts up."
Akane stared at him again, disbelief obvious, "Yeah, right."
"Hey, I'm not kidding! Kinda feel sorry for 'im, really. 'Course, it didn't turn out THAT great, but yeah. I talked to 'im."
Akane blinked as she remembered something, "Hey, didn't you block that swing of his with your bracers?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well... Are you okay? I mean, his bokken does more damage than a REAL sword sometimes."
"Oh. Well, you should know something about these bracers. They used to belong to Randy, the other guy that drowned in that spring. And I don't know where he got 'em, but they're really tough. I didn't even need to strengthen 'em with ki to block that. Oh, and thanks."
Akane blinked, "For what?"
"For your concern. Yeah, I know, you hate my guts. Don't worry about it. It's perfectly okay to show concern for another human being." Ranma smirked, showing off his fangs.
Akane glared at him before looking away, "Yeah, well... I'm not so sure you're even -human- anymore..."
"What do y-" He cut himself off and his eyes snapped to the end of the hall where Kuno had just screeched to a halt.
"Never!! I shall NEVER accept this travesty, this wrongdoing!!"
Akane looked at them and muttered, " 'Didn't go that great' indeed."
Ranma looked at the kendoist blankly, "WHAT are you TALKING about, Kuno?"
Kuno took a deep breath to calm himself, "I MEAN... your -engagement- to Akane Tendo."
A crowd of students suddenly crammed into the classroom window, all talking at once, "What?"/"Wow, way to go Akane!"/"Good for you, Akane!"/"So who's the lucky guy?"
Akane immediately began protesting while Ranma looked on with a slightly bored expression on his face. He finally cleared his throat, "Ahem. Actually, I believe NABIKI has volunteered for that position."
"Oh." The crowd visibly wilted and went back to their classes.
Kuno, on the other hand, "You lie!! For what man in his right mind would NOT choose the beauteous Akane, this Venus of women?!"
The red-haired boy contemplated this for a second, then smirked, "Hmmmm... I guess that means I'm not in my right mind, then. Ne?"
Taken aback, Kuno stared at him for a moment. Ranma stared back at him, still smirking. Finally Kuno nodded, "Indeed. For one such as yourself shows no fear in the face of my wrath. Thou must be a great fool to defy your betters." On the other side of the wall, the listening student body burst into laughter.
A scowl worked it's way onto Ranma's face before he covered it up with a smirk, "My betters, eh? I will prove to you exactly who is the better here. I challenge you to a duel!"
"Very well, we shall fight after-"
"-We fight here and now!" Ranma's foot slammed into the surprised kendoist's face, "When I challenge someone, or they challenge me, I expect them to fight me IMMEDIATELY!!" Kuno grasped his face and stumbled backward.
Ranma flipped over him in the low school hallway, planting a foot in the back of his head on the way over, "Still, this ain't exactly a good place to fight. Better follow me!" Turning, he sprinted down the hallway, Kuno close behind. Akane stared after them as the entire classroom poured out of the door in anticipation of another fight. Finally she slammed her buckets down and took off after them.
The janitor looked at the mess left behind and cupped a hand to his mouth, "Hey! Run QUIETLY in the halls!"
After running down a few hallways, Ranma finally spotted an open window, "Oh, look! A shortcut!" With that he spun and jumped backwards out the window, with Kuno following shortly there-after.
The panting student body finally caught up and looked out the window, "Hey! Isn't this the third floor?"
"Good thing there's a pool down there."
Outside, Ranma finally noticed the swimming pool, and a wide grin spread across his face, "Hey, look! A training opportunity!! Whooo!!!"
SMACK / SMACK
Up above, half of the student body winced. The other half stared in disbelief.
"Ooooo... That HAD to hurt!"
"Did he just do... a BELLYFLOP?!?!"
Down below, two bodies floated to the surface of the pool.
------{ Eyecatch }------
Ranma juggles several balls, a small black piglet, a white-and-lavender cat, then snap-kicks a descending Genma-panda under the jaw, knocking it out.
------{ End Episode 02 }------
Author's Notes: Ah, yes. Our first glimpse of "Ranma the Nut". Yes, he will be making more appearances, so be sure to pay attention! Yeah, and just because you thought Akane acted a little nicer last time doesn't mean that her and Ranma won't have their fair share of fights. By the way, do you guys know how freakin' HARD it is to write lines for KUNO?!?! Okay, does anyone know where I'm going with this story? No? Good.
I think I'm going to find something else to signify sounds. Fanfiction.net doesn't translate that freakin' ( ) sign right. It comes out looking like that gibberish between the parenthesis to the left.
If anybody's wondering why Red Ranma has a pony-tail instead of a pig-tail, it's because he never ate the dragon's whisker. A pony-tail was the style he kept it in before he ate the dragon's whisker. (Of course, it is a little longer than canon Ranma's. It almost reaches down to his waist.) Oh, yeah. And Red Ranma is THIS universe's Ranma, as opposed to CANON Ranma. Just to clear it up.
Okay, since it seems my on-going reviews for Finishing Moves have dwindled down to practically nil, I will continue to update Chaos 1/2 a little faster. Depending on how many reviews I get, I might or might not continue Finishing Moves past the first arc of the storyline. That arc only has one more chapter to go, so if you read it, review it! Only if you want it to continue, of course. And even if I DO continue it, I'll still most likely end up updating Chaos 1/2 faster than Finishing Moves. Okay, I'll shut up now.
Anyway, Read 'N Review! Constructive Criticism will be welcomed, Flames will be forwarded to Saddam Hussein. And for those with questions, my e-mail is: ReD2in@hotmail.com
Hello??
Anyone out there??
Anybody??
sigh
Disclaimer: It's MINE!! MINE, I tell you!! Ka-klick (For those who don't know, that's the sound of a gun being cocked.) Ah-heh-heh.... Or not.
Warnings: Currently unedited. (Don't need the spellchecker for the most part.) Mild language.
------------{ Chaos 1/2 }------------
------{ Episode 2: School Is No Place For Horsing Around... }------
Akane Tendo got up the next morning and grimaced. Her muscles were still sore from yeserday's "sparring match". Even so, she slipped out of her pajamas and into her jogging clothes. It was a habit of hers, jogging. It helped to clear her mind for the day and psyched her up for the up-coming trials that she would most likely encounter at school. She carefully slipped out the door, stopping to say good morning to her elder sister, Kasumi, who was preparing breakfast.
Stepping out of the gate, she began her morning jog, her thoughts on the two guests that had arrived yesterday. The panda that turned out to be her father's friend had definitely been strange, but not as strange as the boy it had carried with it. Ranma was a mystery to her. At first glance, he seemed to be an egotistical jerk just like the rest of them. That idea had firmed in her head when he challenged her to a sparring match. Then he had beaten her. EASILY!! And he hadn't gloated. That was where that idea fell to pieces. In fact, he had plopped himself down next to her aching body and asked what was wrong. She wouldn't have been able to do a thing if he had decided to do anything to her, but he never made a move to touch her. She just couldn't figure it out. All the boys that she had ever met were at least a little perverted. This one had had her helpless... and done nothing! Granted, her family had been watching, but she doubted her father would have done anything, seeing as how he had tried to engage her to him.
Returning to Tendo compound, Akane was startled out of her musings when a pair of shouts erupted from the yard. Moving through the gate, she was treated to the sight of Ranma and his father beginning their morning sparring match in the yard. It started out slowly enough, so she grabbed a towel waiting for her off of the porch, and sat down to watch.
"Remember, boy. Today is a skill exercise." Ranma merely nodded in response. Both of them were wearing gis, and Ranma was wearing his bracers again. Or was it still? As one, they leapt at each other, exchanging and blocking blows at the same time. Akane noticed that Ranma didn't seem to be as fast today as he had been yesterday when he had beaten her. Father and son continued to fight, and smacking sounds filled the air as most of Ranma's swings slammed into his father's open palms, stopping them cold. Low whistles were heard as Genma's return strikes missed the younger fighter by millimeters.
Suddenly Ranma jumped back and took a different stance than the one he had been using. Akane looked confused for a moment until she realized that it was the same one he had used yesterday in the dojo. Balanced on the balls of his feet with knees bent. This time his hands were out in front of him, one in front of the other and both of them palm down. Instead of closed fists, his hands were flat and the fingers of each hand were tucked in, giving off the look of some sort of paw.
Genma paused for a moment also, "Oh ho. Decided to use your new style, eh, boy??" Ranma's only reply was the confident smirk he sent in Genma's direction.
Just then Kasumi called from inside, "Saotome-san, Ranma-kun! Breakfast is ready!"
Genma smiled in her direction, "Thank you, Kasumi-chan! We'll be right in!" Facing Ranma again, he leapt into the air to attack. The red-haired boy followed his lead, and they met in mid-air over the koi pond. Akane stared at their hang-time as they hung over the pond, exchanging blows for a moment. Finally Genma managed to sneak a kick through Ranma's defenses and sent him plummeting into the pond. Or he would have if Ranma hadn't twisted impossibly at the last second and altered his trajectory, landing at the edge of the koi pond. Bouncing back up into the air, he met the decending Genma and kicked the surprised man into the water below. After the giant splash subsided, a soggy Genma-panda crawled out of the pond and began growfing at the pony-tailed boy angrily.
Ranma cupped a hand to his ear, smirking happily, "What's that, Pops? You're getting sloppy? Well, I guess I'll have to whip you back into shape, then." Grinning, he sauntered into the house and sat down at the table.
"Oh my, I suppose Saotome-san will need something different for breakfast." Kasumi whipped out a large platter of bamboo shoots from underneath the table. We'll just ignore the fact that there hadn't been anything under the table either.
------{ After breakfast }------
"A'right. What's this about school?" Ranma scowled at his father, once again dressed in his Chinese clothes, complete with sash and bracers.
Genma drew himself up in return, "Well, we ARE going to be staying a while."
"Yeah, right. You just don't want me around to bug ya about training all day long."
Genma winced, "Uh, no. It's just that, as the heir to The Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, it falls upon you to educate yourself to the fullest extent so as to be able to properly take over the dojo when you marry one of Tendo's girls."
Ranma leveled a stare at him, "Uh huh. You just don't want me to bug ya."
"Well, that too."
"And you're STILL not listening to me. I will NEVER marry a Tendo girl without their willing consent!"
Nabiki, who had just come downstairs, overheard this last part, "I don't know about the others, Ranma-kun, but I'M certainly willing to give this thing a try." The red-haired boy's face suddenly matched his hair as he remembered her saying almost the exact same thing last night in the dojo.
"You're NOT helping my case, Nabiki."
The short-haired girl blithely ignored him, "You'd better hurry up and get ready if you're going to walk me to school. I don't have all day, you know."
Ranma rolled his eyes, "Geh. Fine. I'll go to school. But I don't have a school-bag." Genma popped up in front of him, school-bag in hand. He angrily swiped the bag from his father, then snap-kicked him into the koi pond, "That's for not listening to me again!" He adjusted his bracers and turned toward Nabiki, "Well, let's go."
She gave him a look, then pointed at his feet, which were still bare, "You might want to get some shoes on, first."
He looked down, then shrugged, "Nah. Don't need 'em anyway. Shoes restrict my toes when I fight." She continued to look at him strangely until Akane breezed past with her school-bag.
"Hey, you guys. You're going to be late if you don't hurry up."
Nabiki finally shrugged, "Whatever. Come on, then."
------{ The walk to school }------
"What are you doing on the fence?"
"Balance practice."
"I see. How about you come down here, and we can cuddle a little."
"...... I happen to like it up HERE, thank you very much."
"What? You don't- sniffle LIKE me??"
" No, no. You're a nice person... when you don't want to, uh, cuddle."
"Oh...... You... want me to lay off, then?"
"Thanks. Uh, no offense."
------{ The School-yard }------
Ranma looked around the school-yard and saw most of the male half of the student body littered across the area. Further inspection revealed Akane, who was holding a rose, and a tall boy dressed in kendo garb that had just stepped out from behind a tree, who was speaking a verse of poetry to the less-than-enthusiastic girl.
He looked at Nabiki questioningly, but she waved it off, "Oh, don't worry about it. This happens every morning."
"EVERY morning??"
"Yeah. You might want to hurry up. We're almost late as it is."
Indecision flickered across Ranma's face for a moment, then cleared, "Nah, you go on ahead. I wanna see this." After looking at him for a moment, Nabiki nodded and moved into the school-building, avoiding the scattered bodies of the unconscious boys. The pony-tailed boy was about to hop up onto the school wall when Akane tried to step around the other boy.
"Oh, Kuno. Excuse me."
Kuno raised a bokken to block her path, "Oh, though she be but little, she be fierce. Akane Tendo, wilt thou spar with me?"
A cross look set on her face as she reluctantly got into a stance. It was at this point Ranma finally stepped forward, "I don't know about you, but it appears to me as if the lady doesn't WANT to 'spar'."
"I can handle it Ranma."
The other boy swung his bokken to point at Ranma, "And who might YOU be, insolent whelp??" Thunder rumbled ominously in the distance.
"Name's R-"
"WAIT! Is it not custom to give one's OWN name -first-?? Fine, then. Mine I shall give. I am the un-defeated Captain of this school's Kendo club. The rising new star of the high-school fencing world. The sound of my voice strikes fear in the hearts of my enemies. My peers call me the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High. Tatewaki Kuno, age seventeen." A flash of lightning lit the dark sky behind him as his voice echoed dramaticly across the empty school yard. A pair of school-girls watching from a window looked at each other.
" 'Blue Thunder'?? Have YOU heard that before?"
"Beats me. Last -I- heard, he was calling himself 'Shooting Star'."
Unimpressed, Ranma merely cleared his throat, "Ahem. If I'm not mistaken, it is ALSO custom to let people finish their sentences. And it's rude to point. AS I was saying, my name is Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. I'm currently staying at the Tendo Dojo."
"I SAID, I can handle it, Ranma!"
"Staying with the TENDO'S?? Under the SAME roof... as AKANE??!!" Enraged, Kuno rushed forward and swiped at the red-haired boy with a downward strike. Ranma avoided it by back-flipping away, twisting a couple of times before he landed next to Akane.
"You wanna challenge ME?? A'right. Let's dance." He smirked.
------{ Eyecatch }------
Genma-panda juggles some pieces of fruit, then snatches them out of the air with his mouth. He chokes on the last piece.
------{End Eyecatch }------
Akane had finally had enough, "RANMA!! Stop interfering with MY fight!!"
He glanced in her direction, "What? You're still here? Aren't you supposed to be in class by now?"
She suddenly looked horrified, "Oh no!! I'm going to be late!! This is all your fault, Ranma!" Her eyes narrowed in anger.
"A fool thou must be, to ignore your opponent in the midst of combat! Very well, I shall punish you for your inattention!" Kuno swung his bokken at Ranma again, but missed as the pony-tailed boy leaned to the side and continued to argue with Akane.
"Excuse me, but he challenged ME, too. Since you didn't really wanna fight 'im in the first place, I figured I'd let ya get to class. Whoop, gotta go."
Kuno slashed downward and smashed a V in the concrete wall, but missed Ranma, who jumped up and bounced off of the trunk of a nearby tree. Bouncing higher into the air, the red-haired boy avoided a side-slash from Kuno which sliced the tree trunk completely in half. Descending on the bokken-wielding boy, he was forced to twist impossibly in mid-air to avoid an upward slash from Kuno. The twist also altered Ranma's trajectory, which now took him over Kuno's head and behind him, where he kicked the angry boy in the small of the back, then flipped upright just before he hit the ground, "You use ki. That's good."
Kuno fairly shook with rage, "Thou art fleet of foot, knave. However, the vengeance of heaven is slow, but sure. I, Tatewaki Kuno, shall bring you to justice."
"Maybe eventually, Kuno. Right now, you couldn't touch me if your life depended on it. You better train some more if you want to 'bring me to justice'."
Behind him, Akane fumed, "Hey!! Stop ignoring me!!" That said, she threw her school-bag at the red-haired boy, who back-flipped out of the way, at the same time avoiding another swipe from a livid Kuno. Having missed Ranma, the school-bag was sliced in half as the swipe meant for Ranma hit it instead.
Landing from his flip, Ranma turned to glare at the fuming girl, "You didn't want to fight, so get to class, already!!" Still irritated, he turned back to Kuno, "A'right, Kuno. One more chance."
Filled with rage, Kuno raised his bokken once more, and slashed diagnally at Ranma, who for once, didn't dodge. He knocked the bokken aside with his bracers, then blurred forward with a burst of ki and stiff-armed the surprised boy in the chest. The stunned boy flew backward, then hit the wall, cracking it, before sliding down to the ground, unconscious. The watching crowd of students gasped in surprised at seeing the school's best fighter go down so quickly.
The impending rain chose that particular time to break loose, drenching occupants of the otherwise empty schoolyard. Ranma shook his head and sighed, then moved to pick up the unconscious Kuno, "Well, he was a -little- better than I gave him credit for... Akane, you better get to class. I'm gonna take this guy to the nurse's office." Akane just stood there and stared at the space where Ranma had stiff-armed Kuno.
------{ In the nurse's office }------
Kuno came to with a groan. He stiffly sat up and looked around, eventually spotting the red-haired boy sitting next to the cot he was laying on, "You!! Thou art the vile miscreant who would assume to champion the fierce tigress, Akane Tendo!"
Ranma held up a hand, "I would have words with you, User of Sword." Kuno blinked, startled. "The first order of things would be to congratulate you for a fight well fought." He got up out of his chair and bowed to the astonished swordsman, "Good fight." Kuno stared at him, speechless, so he sat back down and continued, "The second order of things would be to correct the misunderstanding that sparked our battle to begin with. You challenged me for what reason?"
Kuno stared at him uncomprehendingly for a moment until he regained control of his vocal chords again, "So, the peasant has some familiarity with proper patterns of speech. Mayhap you have some form of intelligence to be reckoned with. Very well, I shall converse with you. Thou hast asked the reason for my challenge. Being a new student amongst these hallowed halls, you must not know of the decree I made known at the beginning of the last semester."
------{ Another Painful Flashback }------
Kuno slammed a single piece of paper down on the podium. Above him, a banner read, |Furinkan High-School Speech Contest|. He ignroed the paper and began his 'speech', "The vengeance of heaven is slow, but sure! If you wish to take Akane out, you must defeat her in combat! I, Tatewaki Kuno, will permit no other terms." He leaned forward and glared at the rest of the student body, "Now, am I making myself PERFECTLY CLEAR?!"
------{ End Painful Flashback }------
Ranma stared at Kuno in disbelief. After a moment, he covered it up and nodded in comprehension, "I see."
"Being that you have made your residence at the Tendo's, thou will eventually find thyself challenged by the fierce tigress, Akane." He paused as Ranma held up a hand, "What wouldst thou ask of me?"
"Actually, Akane has already fought me and lost. She has a lot of potential, though."
"What?!?! You have already fought with my beautiful Akane Tendo?!" Kuno sat bolt upright. "And you WON?!?!"
"Yes."
Kuno's fist wrapped around an imaginary bokken, "Why, you... You fiend!! You DARE to assault the beauteous Akane Tendo?!?! You scoundrel!! Have you no honor in you at all?!?!"
Ranma's calm face took on a tense look, "On the contrary. I am a Martial Artist, and as such, Honor is my life. Akane is also a Martial Artist. Our battle was a fair fight between warriors. She fought well." He stood and moved toward the door, "Just as I fought you, I fight everyone. No matter the challenger, I fight fairly. I suggest you do the same. I now bid you some time to think on these things..." He pulled the door open, "Oh, and a word of advice, Kuno. 'A Facade lost may gain Allies instead.' " With that, he closed the door and left. Kuno sat back in the cot, pondering the words of the wayward warrior.
------{ In the classroom }------
The teacher gestured to Ranma, who stood in front of the chalk-board, "It seems we have a new student here at Furinkan High. His name is Ranma Saotome, and he's just returned from a trip to China. So let's all give him a warm 'Nihao' welcome. However, that doesn't excuse the fact that he and Akane Tendo were late, so go stand in the hall." Ranma shook his head in disbelief and headed for the buckets.
------{ Out in the hall }------
"After all THAT, you STILL didn't get to class on time?!" Ranma shook his head again.
Akane glared at him, "Well, it was all YOUR fault anyway!"
Ranma ignored her, "Jeeze. All that wasted effort, an' not even a word of thanks." He shrugged, "Oh well."
"What?! You expect me to THANK you for making me LATE?!"
He shook his head, "No, I expect you to thank me for trying to help you out."
"Yeah?! Well, I DON'T need your help! I can fight my own fights!!"
"I'm not talking about the fight, Akane. I was trying to let you get to class on time. Yet you just stood there and yelled at me. You need to get that temper of yours under control soon, or you'll never be able to attain the peace of heart necessary to reach your full potential. I've seen a lot of Martial Artists out there who have no peace of heart, and they're limited by their anger, or depression, or whatever. The point is, if you want to be the best you can be, you need to curb that anger. If you can do that, I look forward to the day when I can see you become all you want to be."
Akane stared at him, her anger draining away, "You... you..." She finally gave up and stared at the opposite wall, thinking about Ranma's speech.
------{ In a different classroom }------
"WHAT?!?! Engaged?! To a Tendo?!"
"Uh-huh. His daddy and my daddy decided. I-"
"Grrrraaahh!!!"
thwap "Kuno! Go stand in the hall!"
"... Yessir."
------{ Back in the hall }------
"So.... Kuno tells me he put a defeat-to-date rule on you?"
Akane stared at him, "You actually TALKED... to KUNO?!"
Ranma shrugged, "Well, yeah. He's not that bad, once you get past the I'm-so-superior-and-sophisticated facade he puts up."
Akane stared at him again, disbelief obvious, "Yeah, right."
"Hey, I'm not kidding! Kinda feel sorry for 'im, really. 'Course, it didn't turn out THAT great, but yeah. I talked to 'im."
Akane blinked as she remembered something, "Hey, didn't you block that swing of his with your bracers?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well... Are you okay? I mean, his bokken does more damage than a REAL sword sometimes."
"Oh. Well, you should know something about these bracers. They used to belong to Randy, the other guy that drowned in that spring. And I don't know where he got 'em, but they're really tough. I didn't even need to strengthen 'em with ki to block that. Oh, and thanks."
Akane blinked, "For what?"
"For your concern. Yeah, I know, you hate my guts. Don't worry about it. It's perfectly okay to show concern for another human being." Ranma smirked, showing off his fangs.
Akane glared at him before looking away, "Yeah, well... I'm not so sure you're even -human- anymore..."
"What do y-" He cut himself off and his eyes snapped to the end of the hall where Kuno had just screeched to a halt.
"Never!! I shall NEVER accept this travesty, this wrongdoing!!"
Akane looked at them and muttered, " 'Didn't go that great' indeed."
Ranma looked at the kendoist blankly, "WHAT are you TALKING about, Kuno?"
Kuno took a deep breath to calm himself, "I MEAN... your -engagement- to Akane Tendo."
A crowd of students suddenly crammed into the classroom window, all talking at once, "What?"/"Wow, way to go Akane!"/"Good for you, Akane!"/"So who's the lucky guy?"
Akane immediately began protesting while Ranma looked on with a slightly bored expression on his face. He finally cleared his throat, "Ahem. Actually, I believe NABIKI has volunteered for that position."
"Oh." The crowd visibly wilted and went back to their classes.
Kuno, on the other hand, "You lie!! For what man in his right mind would NOT choose the beauteous Akane, this Venus of women?!"
The red-haired boy contemplated this for a second, then smirked, "Hmmmm... I guess that means I'm not in my right mind, then. Ne?"
Taken aback, Kuno stared at him for a moment. Ranma stared back at him, still smirking. Finally Kuno nodded, "Indeed. For one such as yourself shows no fear in the face of my wrath. Thou must be a great fool to defy your betters." On the other side of the wall, the listening student body burst into laughter.
A scowl worked it's way onto Ranma's face before he covered it up with a smirk, "My betters, eh? I will prove to you exactly who is the better here. I challenge you to a duel!"
"Very well, we shall fight after-"
"-We fight here and now!" Ranma's foot slammed into the surprised kendoist's face, "When I challenge someone, or they challenge me, I expect them to fight me IMMEDIATELY!!" Kuno grasped his face and stumbled backward.
Ranma flipped over him in the low school hallway, planting a foot in the back of his head on the way over, "Still, this ain't exactly a good place to fight. Better follow me!" Turning, he sprinted down the hallway, Kuno close behind. Akane stared after them as the entire classroom poured out of the door in anticipation of another fight. Finally she slammed her buckets down and took off after them.
The janitor looked at the mess left behind and cupped a hand to his mouth, "Hey! Run QUIETLY in the halls!"
After running down a few hallways, Ranma finally spotted an open window, "Oh, look! A shortcut!" With that he spun and jumped backwards out the window, with Kuno following shortly there-after.
The panting student body finally caught up and looked out the window, "Hey! Isn't this the third floor?"
"Good thing there's a pool down there."
Outside, Ranma finally noticed the swimming pool, and a wide grin spread across his face, "Hey, look! A training opportunity!! Whooo!!!"
SMACK / SMACK
Up above, half of the student body winced. The other half stared in disbelief.
"Ooooo... That HAD to hurt!"
"Did he just do... a BELLYFLOP?!?!"
Down below, two bodies floated to the surface of the pool.
------{ Eyecatch }------
Ranma juggles several balls, a small black piglet, a white-and-lavender cat, then snap-kicks a descending Genma-panda under the jaw, knocking it out.
------{ End Episode 02 }------
Author's Notes: Ah, yes. Our first glimpse of "Ranma the Nut". Yes, he will be making more appearances, so be sure to pay attention! Yeah, and just because you thought Akane acted a little nicer last time doesn't mean that her and Ranma won't have their fair share of fights. By the way, do you guys know how freakin' HARD it is to write lines for KUNO?!?! Okay, does anyone know where I'm going with this story? No? Good.
I think I'm going to find something else to signify sounds. Fanfiction.net doesn't translate that freakin' ( ) sign right. It comes out looking like that gibberish between the parenthesis to the left.
If anybody's wondering why Red Ranma has a pony-tail instead of a pig-tail, it's because he never ate the dragon's whisker. A pony-tail was the style he kept it in before he ate the dragon's whisker. (Of course, it is a little longer than canon Ranma's. It almost reaches down to his waist.) Oh, yeah. And Red Ranma is THIS universe's Ranma, as opposed to CANON Ranma. Just to clear it up.
Okay, since it seems my on-going reviews for Finishing Moves have dwindled down to practically nil, I will continue to update Chaos 1/2 a little faster. Depending on how many reviews I get, I might or might not continue Finishing Moves past the first arc of the storyline. That arc only has one more chapter to go, so if you read it, review it! Only if you want it to continue, of course. And even if I DO continue it, I'll still most likely end up updating Chaos 1/2 faster than Finishing Moves. Okay, I'll shut up now.
Anyway, Read 'N Review! Constructive Criticism will be welcomed, Flames will be forwarded to Saddam Hussein. And for those with questions, my e-mail is: ReD2in@hotmail.com
Hello??
Anyone out there??
Anybody??
sigh