Chapter 40
Next morning Ranma was as good as his word. He met Mousse and Shampoo at the hotel restaurant and spent the next hour pumping them for every morsel of information that he thought would be useful in getting the Elders to cooperate with him.
"Shampoo not know anything else to tell. Elders all what you call hide bound and they not smart. Worse than Shampoo at worst she ever be. Not want to do any thing not traditional. Shampoo love Mousse very much now. But she not see him for long time. Not want Amazon man. Too easy walk on. Mousse try to be Amazon perfect man. Not . . . not essence of self. Tradition not all cracked up to be see Shampoo and Mousse now, tradition out window, love in door. Ok?"
Ranma grinned at Mousse, who looked like he'd been hit in the head with one of his hidden weapons. He was glad that was cleared up, Mousse deserved Shampoo's love, he'd waited for it long enough.
"Ok, thanks guys. I'm going to go see some of the people who've been reporting UFO's. I don't think as many of them are nut jobs as maybe the cops think. I want to hear their stories for myself."
Ranma got in his truck and headed farther north.
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The more people he talked to, the more he was sure he was right. The Chinese were hiding something. He wasn't sure if it was the central government or the provincial but someone was definitely trying to dig a very deep hole.
Ranma popped his phone open "Speak to me."
"Ranma. Dorrie here. We've correlated all the data we could get our hands on and we're sure it's either a dragon or a very big wyvern. I'm sorry, but the Chinese aren't cooperating. The Central Government claims if something like that was happening the Provincial Government would tell them and the Provincial people aren't taking any calls, claiming press of business. Bullshit. They just don't want to admit that they've bitten off way more than they can chew and it's choking them to death. I just hope it isn't the death of more than them."
"I think we need to find a way for me to get into the province and check things out for myself. I just wish I knew how to do that without raising suspicions."
"Oh, Ranma when you get back I need you to sign originals but I'm faxing you enlistment papers. We got the higher ups to waive the age limit for you, Ryouga has refused and Kuno isn't making his mind up; keeps dithering. But all you have to do is sign fax me back and you're in. With the rank of Major. At least for now. We'll see how it works out, if it's not high enough, we'll promote you. Ok. Need anything more?"
"No, I'll sign this tonight and get it back to you. I think I'll make two copies at a shop and send you a set by messenger. That'll get originals into your hands sooner and I'd feel better about it. I'm gonna take the slow way back but I'm on my way in. I feel like I need to be there. But I'm not wearing myself out driving all night and most of another day. I couldn't make it back today if I flew."
"No, Ranma, just come in slow. If you want a side trip, go ahead and take it. If we need you, like I said, we'll for real fly you in. Chopper could get you here in two hours from most of Japan so enjoy your drive back. I feel, if the Chinese don't want to make a big deal out of it, we shouldn't put ourselves out too much until we're sure there is a reason too. They made their bed, let them lie in it."
"Yeah, but I don't want to lie in a bed of their making. It's not what they do but what their actions bring to the rest of the world I'm worries about."
"Know what you mean but we can't do anything without proof. Bye"
Ranma took a scenic side road instead of the main highway. He had a very bad feeling about this whole thing.
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Ranma spent most of the day driving over a mountain road. The views were beautiful and he was forced to drive slow or risk running off the road. When he finally found a pull off, he decided to take it and stop for lunch. After eating, he decided to walk around a little and do some exercises, all the driving had made him stiff. He wasn't used to sitting so still for so long.
At the end of the path from the pull out he found a waterfall. It was magnificent and invited him to a meditation. So Ranma stripped down to a fundoshi and stood in the falls meditating.
Suddenly he felt hands on him. He was so startled that at first he didn't do anything, then he realized that he wasn't being attacked. Whoever it was hadn't hit him, in fact they were holding him quite gently against their chest.
"Here, young man. I've got you. What on earth were you thinking?"
Ranma shook the hands off him, careful not to hurt the man.
"I was meditating on patience. Why did you pull me out of the falls? I was . . ."
"You're cold as a frog. Standing in ice water in nothing but a fundoshi is for full masters, not boys. Come to the dojo and I'll get you warmed up. No arguing now. I'm also calling your parents to come get you."
Ranma decided he wasn't going to argue with the man, he meant well and Ranma could do with a cup of tea.
"Well I wouldn't turn down some tea. But what about my truck? It's at the head of the path at that pull off."
Ranma gathered up his clothing and fished his keys out of his pocket.
"If you'll let him, I'll send one of the senior students to get it for you. It's difficult to find the dojo from that pull off. He's an older student, you can trust him not to hot rod or wreck it."
"Ok. Here's the key. Watch it cause it's hot and it'll get away from you if you're too heavy footed."
Ranma watched the man as he started up the steep path, he almost picked the man up and carried him but decided that he didn't need the help and if he did that it would only be showing off.
"Come along now, you're starting to shiver and I don't want you catching a cold or something. I'll have one of the other students run ahead and tell them to get you some towels and hot tea. If you don't mind me asking . . . what were your parents thinking to let you run around up here alone?"
"My parents aren't around. My guardian knows that I'm capable of taking care of myself. Thanks for offering to call but I don't think Shiori Prison takes calls from strangers."
The Sensei looked a little startled, but didn't say anything, just guiding Ranma along the path to the dojo. At the dojo Ranma was enveloped in warm towels and handed a cup of hot tea with honey and lemon. He made a face as he took his tea 'virgin'.
"I know it's kind of nasty if you take plain tea, but the honey and lemon will help ward off the consequences of standing in a cold water fall. How could you be so . . ."
"Foolish? I'm a master of Anything Goes style. I've been practicing since I could walk. So . . . well, the last time I did that particular meditation I spent 12 hours in the falls."
"Twelve hours? How could you push yourself so hard? That's not reasonable even for a past master. You tenth dan?"
"Yeah. I guess. Pop really pushed me hard. I learned a lot, but it cost me. Could I have more of that tea? I don't like the taste but my body is craving it."
As the man poured more tea he introduced himself "I'm Honda-sensei, this is my dojo. Welcome." He bowed to Ranma, Ranma bowed back, respectfully keeping his eyes on the man.
"Pleased to meet you. Saotome Ranma Very nice dojo. Do you have many students?"
"Yes, I have eight full classes, from beginner to advanced, and enough senior students to be able to teach private classes. Would you like to look around?"
Ranma was delighted, he really wanted to look around and see how a normal dojo was run.
Honda-sensei took him into the dojo proper and to the dressing room where he tried to find Ranma a gi but all he could find was a pair of pants that were slightly too short.
"That's ok, I'm used to this. My shoulders are so broad in proportion to my height that it's hard to find stuff to fit me. This'll do just fine. I'm not too particular."
"I'm embarrassed. Most of my students have their own gear and we don't have many visitors who don't have their own gi."
Ranma shrugged, "That's ok, I'm kinda used to bein' ragged. Don't worry about it."
Honda-sensei looked at him from the corner of his eye, then decided to let it slide as just Ranma trying to be polite
"You didn't act like you were sure of your rank. Haven't you been tested?"
"Anything Goes don't really have ranks. Just whether you can survive Pop or not. So I'm not really sure of a rank, and with what I'm doing now, it don't really matter. I'm in the military, sort of." Ranma wasn't sure if he should claim he was enlisted or not.
He rubbed his hands together with a rasping sound. "Excuse me, could I see your hands? I've never actually heard a sound like that before."
Ranma obligingly held out his hands to the Sensei, who took them in a careful grasp.
"Kami save me. I've never seen such hands before. How did you get such heavy calluses?"
"Hours on a striking board, breaking, punching trees and using Bakusai Tenketsu. It all adds up." Ranma eyed his hands "Hump. I need to be more careful about using that cream Sunny gave me. I'm gettn' stiff again and they're starting to peel."
"I would like to talk to your Sensei . . . with my fist. I'm not usually a violent man, but this verges on abuse. You shouldn't be doing so much. You'll cripple yourself."
"I heal really fast and my girlfriend is a Healer. She uses her ki power on me. Feels really good and it'll keep me from being crippled. But . . . um . . . thanks for caring."
Ranma felt uncomfortable. How could this man care so much for a total stranger? He'd never seen anything like it before.
"You're welcome. Come on, I'll give you a tour of the classes. I've got a beginner class and an intermediate one going on right now. Would you like to look in on one of the beginner classes?"
Ranma followed the man down a highly polished hall way, heading for the sound of youthful kei's. He looked in the door just in time to see a Sensei correcting a student's form
Ranma winced as he watched the Sensei raise the staff he held. But instead of striking the offending wrist the Sensei just rested the tip of the staff on the boy's bent wrist and said "Straighten your wrist. If you strike like that, it'll break and dissipate the force of your strike."
The Sensei turned and saw Ranma and Honda-sensei standing in the door way.
"Hello. A new student? Would you like to sit in on the class for a while?"
"Yes, please. I'd like to watch how you teach. I'd have gotten ten strokes for a mistake like that."
"Ten . . . Excuse me? You mean your Sensei was allowed to strike you?" Ranma nodded at the Sensei and blinked at the look on his face. He looked angry and sad.
"I suppose you were pulled out of class at once. Too bad. I'd like to have a talk with your teacher and your parents."
"My father was my teacher and my mother isn't around. I . . . I'm trying to find out some things. Like, how I should have been taught. What I should expect from 'normal' people. Stuff like that. So I'd like to sit in on the class for a while."
"Very good. Would you like to participate? Or just watch?"
Ranma opted for watching and just wandered around the room staying out of the way and watching as the Sensei corrected various students' form. Mostly with a gentle touch or a soft voiced instruction. Once or twice he actually rearranged the student's body by grasping the offending limb and moving it.
Ranma watched as one boy seemed to have trouble with the same strike over and over. He just didn't get it. He was obviously trying his best but some how he was missing something.
The Sensei turned to Ranma for help, astonishing to him as no one had ever asked his help so nicely before.
"Sure, I'll help. What do you want me to do?"
"Just watch the boy and see if you can figure out why he's having so much trouble."
As the boy went through the kata again, Ranma watched him closely. He seemed to be having trouble putting his left foot down
"Here, let me see your foot. What's the matter with it? You're not putting your weight on it square."
"I got a blister on the ball of my foot. It hurts. I'm trying, really I am."
"I know you're trying. Let me see your foot and I'll fix it for you."
Ranma healed the blister on the boy's foot. It seemed so simple to Ranma, you just ignored the pain and did it anyway. But the looks on the faces around him when he said that were astonishing. They all looked like they thought differently.
"That's not right, son. You don't hurt yourself. If something is wrong, it interferes with your ability to concentrate. That attitude only works for someone involved in life or death. In a match you don't let yourself push too far."
Ranma just rubbed the boy's foot and kept his thoughts to himself, this was something to think about. He had several things to consider and he was beginning to understand some things better.
"Excuse me, what did you do to my foot? It doesn't hurt anymore."
"Oh, I learned that from my girlfriend, Sunny. It's a healing technique. All you have to do is show the body how it's supposed to be and give it enough extra energy to be that way. Really works great."
Honda-sensei looked at Ranma and then lead him to the engawa. Getting them settled on zafus he began to carefully question Ranma about what was going on in his life.
Ranma watched him out of the corner of his eye and answered carefully, until the man finally pushed a little too hard.
"Look I'm not sure exactly what you're trying to find out. Why don't you just ask what you want to know and quit dancing around it?"
"All right. Exactly what are you doing? I hope you're not in some fight school. If your Sensei is abusing you and forcing you to fight, you need to go to the police and report him. I'll help you if you need it."
Ranma felt his jaw drop.
"Well, I . . . wow. I've never had anyone offer me anything like that except Steven. I . . . I'm..." Ranma stopped to gather his thoughts. "I'm not in a fight school. I work for Department 13. You've probably never heard of them but you saw the scars on my shoulder and back?" at Honda-sensei's nod he continued, trying to put it into words that the man would understand. "I'm a daemon hunter or whatever you want to call it. Things are bleeding over from other dimensions and some . . . no, most of them are undesirable, to say the least. I'm the one who deals with them when no one else can. Me and a few others. I'm not egotistical enough to think I'm irreplaceable, I'm not, but right now I . . . well, I'm more or less it. My boss--and friend I'm glad to say--has a hard time, he has to balance my needs and the needs of his higher ups and like everyone he's only human. He's made a few mistakes lately and I just needed to get away for a while. So that's why I'm out here wandering around like a lost lamb. I need to think things through a little and frankly I just needed to not be there for a while. Get a little perspective. See what a normal life is like. Sorta."
"Your parents let you do this? I'd think your father would. . . ."
"Could we just leave him out of this all together? He's one of the reasons I'm as fucked up as I am. I saw a normal father/son relationship just the other day and I woulda killed for something like that. My Pop was so busy making me the man among men my mother wanted that . . . well. Here's an example, and this happened a lot. I made a mistake in a kata. He beat me, then made me do the same section over again . . . for six hours. I know now that that's not normal. Everyone I tell something like that either thinks I'm a liar or just freaks out."
Honda-sensei looked like he was ready to explode. He calmed himself with a visible effort and told Ranma that he had never heard of such a bad example of parenting.
"This Steven, he takes care of you?"
"Yes and no. I'm an emancipated minor, which means I'm responsible for myself, just like an adult. I manage my own money and decide things for myself. I decide if I'm going to take a mission or not. I have a therapist and I asked a friend about my finances after I found out how much money I've been makin'; I had her set it up so I'll have something when I get old. The Compound provides me with everything I need. I never thought about it until she pointed out that I have too much money in checking and set up things so I have a better grip on money. I don't really understand it all but I know I can trust Nabiki-chan."
"This is incredible. You do all these things for yourself? Don't you have a mother?"
"Yeah, and she . . . I'm not even talking about her. The last time I saw her I was in the stockade, and she brought me an honor knife and left me. Can we change the subject entirely? I know you're just trying to help, but right now I'd rather not deal with that specific incident."
The expressions that chased each other across Honda's face were too quick and confused for Ranma to follow. He shook his head and then nodded to himself.
"I won't press you but I make this offer. I think you are a good boy in an almost impossible situation. If you find you need a sanctuary, come here and I'll do what I can for you. Also remember, if you don't stand up for yourself no one else will do it for you, and sometimes standing up for yourself means asking an outside party for help."
Ranma smiled at the man, he had figured out that the first thing his father had done was try to break him. He didn't break, but he was still trying to find his feet.
"My biggest problem is I spend a lot of my time confused. I don't know what I really want to do and I don't think it really matters. I have to do what I'm doing, who's gonna do it if I don't? There are too few of us for me to pull a childish stunt and say 'I don't wanna'. I gotta. I really don't mind. I think I'm hard wired to be a protector. It's a vocation, not a job. But there's a lot of other stuff I . . . well, I just...I'm not even sure how to explain it."
Honda laughed softly, this he could handle. "How old are you? . . . Seventeen? I think most of your problems are simply this. You are seventeen. I remember seventeen and you couldn't pay me to go through that again. Raging hormones and teen angst. No thanks. But it does get better. You outgrow it, you get life experience and you get older. Give yourself a chance. You're still young. Don't try to grow up so fast. Do you trust this Steven person or is it just that you're stuck with him?"
"I really feel I can trust Steven, he has a hard balancing act and he's doing the best he can. He's made a mistake recently but he's really trying to make up for it. I'll admit I didn't like the Stockade much but I shouldn't have punched him either. His biggest problem was caused by someone else. And the fact that the Board of Directors really didn't know how old I am messes things up really bad . . . that I'm so young. But I think you are right, I'm just young. I got a lot of martial arts experience but not much life experience and a lot of that is what you might call . . . well, outrageously abnormal. I got a lot of stuff to think about and I got no time to do it in. The incursions are going to get closer together soon and there's a dragon in China, if I'm not wrong. And believe me, when it comes to something bad, I'm never wrong. Damn it.
"But that's enough of me feeling sorry for myself. I got better things to do than plan a pity party. Why don't you show me the rest of the dojo? I'm seriously thinking of starting a school at the compound; there are a lot of men who could be a bigger help if they were properly trained. See? I'm not just thrashing around, I'm really trying to figure things out, and frankly, you've been a real big help. Would you really turn down the chance to be seventeen again?"
Honda shuddered. "In a heartbeat. I remember and . . . 'Ooh, hell! No way!' comes to mind as a first response. Come this way and I'll show you the weapons hall. One more question if you don't mind? Just so I don't spend the next few years trying to figure it out. . ." Ranma smirked and nodded; he knew what the man was going to ask. "How did you do that healing thing?"
"I used my ki power to heal his blister. I'm nowhere as powerful as my girlfriend, she's practiced healing all her life, while I've practiced combat techniques. Like Mouku Takabisha and Hiryu Shoten Ha; yada, yada; on and on. That's what I really want to do. I want to pass on what I learned in a better way than I was taught. You don't have to . . . well, in this case, I'm preaching to the choir, ain't I? But ...well, show me the hall, I've bent your ear enough but you really helped me clarify some things. Thanks."
"Glad I could help. I know I'm minding your business with a vengeance, but this therapist of yours. How much experience does he have? How old is he? Does he have any combat experience?"
"Ryouga is my age or just a little older. He's got just about as much combat experience as I do. I know he's young but he really helped me through a bad time. But I've been thinking about that too and I think I need someone older to talk to. I'll talk to Ryu about finding someone older. He said since he's my friend he really shouldn't be my therapist, too. And he's been dropping subtle hints for the last month or so that I should find someone else; I think I'll see who he wants to hand me off to and see how that goes. I maybe do need an older person. See, just talking to you I'm figuring out stuff."
Ranma followed Honda into the weapons hall and felt a Frission du Morte. He grabbed the teacher by the gi and turned on one heel, spinning the man around with him. The patter of running feet echoed loudly in the hall and Ranma completed his turn just in time to dodge a sword held in the hand of a wide-eyed boy of about twelve. The boy was running with the sword in his hand, he hadn't seen Ranma or Honda-sensei because he was looking back over his shoulder.
Ranma watched as everything slowed down to a crawl, he had plenty of time to reach out, take the sword and stop the running boy before anything very bad happened. If he hadn't reacted like a warrior, Honda-sensei would now have a sword in the heart and a young boy would have ruined his life; all for a moments inattention and the foolish boyish desire to hold a sword.
The older boy, who was running after the younger, yelled, 'Stop! Look out!' but he was way too late. Ranma had already handled everything and hadn't noticed the blood running down his side yet.
"Here! What the hell! If I was . . ."
Ranma took a deep breath and let it out slowly then handed the sword off to Honda-sensei, clenched his fists, and struggled to stop shaking. That had been so close. If he'd been even a thousandth of a second slower–it was worth every thing he'd ever been through. That was something he'd never really thought about and it hit him with a sudden intensity. This was what it was about. He'd always known he was meant to save lives. It just hadn't touched him so directly before.
"Sensei. I'm going to let you handle this. If it was left up to me . . . I don't know what to do. What would Pop have done? I. . . ."
Sensei turned to the boy and shook his head, "I think you need to consider your dedication to the arts. You have been told time and time again to stay away from the sword. Why do you keep this up?"
The boy was looking at the sword then Sensei's face, back and forth, he gulped and muttered, "I want to be a kendo master. I can't be one unless I start learning swordsmanship." Ranma listened as the Sensei tried to explain to the boy but all the boy did was get smart.
"Uresei! Damn it. Listen to me. The first thing you need to learn is discipline. You aren't ever going to be good with anything unless you learn control. Of yourself first of all. That is the hardest lesson to learn. You can't just go off in any direction you want. That's one of the things I learned the earliest. You. Must. Have. Control. Now pay attention. I hate talking about stuff like this except to a select few. If I had pulled a stunt like that my father would have beaten me unconscious, waited for me to come to and hung me by my wrists from the rafters until I swore not to do it again; and then he'd have made me train twice as hard the next day. I learned early on that any mistake was harshly punished. Swords aren't toys. They are weapons. If you'd been a second faster or me a second slower, your Sensei would be dead. You understand me?"
The boy was looking at Ranma with wide eyes and a trembling lip. He nodded vigorously and started backing up
"Sorry . . . I'm sorry . . . I just wanted to hold it. It's . . . I'm . . . really, really sorry. I really won't do it again, I swear. And I'll go see Sensei."
The boy whirled and ran, followed by the older boy, who'd not said a word in all the time Ranma had been talking. He'd just nodded.
Suddenly Ranma felt the cut on his rib. "Ow! Shit, I'm cut." He pressed his hand to his side and looked at the blood. There wasn't much and his probing fingers found a very shallow cut about two inches long. It was bleeding sluggishly and tender. But he decided it wasn't much, he'd cut himself worse sliding on gravel. "Huh! Not bad, just a deep scratch. I'll . . ." Ranma found himself scooped up into the Sensei's arms.
"Call the hospital! Get help! Hurry!"
"Hey! Put me down. It's nothing. Really, come on, don't have a cow. Look, see, it's almost stopped bleeding already. All I need is a bandage and . . .well . . .clean gi . . .again. Damn, I'm so hard on clothes it's ridiculous."
Honda-sensei grabbed his panic with both hands and stuffed it down for later. He looked closely at Ranma and realized that his evaluation was right. He was barely touched and the bleeding had stopped. It was a very minor cut.
He had already attracted attention, so he told one of the goggling boys to get the first aid kit. When it arrived, he carefully cleaned the blood off Ranma with an antiseptic swab and dusted the cut with styptic powder. Ranma hissed softly between his teeth but didn't make another sound. After applying a bandage, the man called a senior student over and gave him quiet voiced instructions.
"Saotome-sama. I can only apologize. This is very embarrassing and shameful. I am responsible for this . . .disaster. I am so sorry you were hurt."
Ranma waved his hand, dismissing the whole incident without a blink.
"I"m fine. It's just a scratch. I'm just glad you weren't hurt. . . ." At the Sensei's grimace he laughed. "Look, I've been clawed by a Feral Imp and a wyvern." Ranma pointed to the scars which, he now realized, they had been too polite to ask about. "I heal really fast and if Sunny were here I'd be healed before you knew it."
"If you can heal Yahiko, why can't you heal yourself?"
"Don't know. I think it's possible, but I've never . . . hmmm. . . if. . . I . . . let me see. Like this and then . . . yeah . . ."
As Ranma mumbled to himself the Sensei watched as he picked the newly applied bandage off and ran his hand over the cut. It disappeared.
"Yah. But it doesn't feel as good as Sunny doing it and I don't think I could fight after healing a really bad wound. Takes too much energy."
Honda-Sensei just shook his head, he didn't believe this young man. He was so different from his students. In one way; so hesitant and in others, self-assured far beyond his years.
"If you'll come with me I'll help you get cleaned up. I think you could use a shower and some clean clothes."
The Sensei took Ranma to the showers and left him to see about getting him something clean to wear. After some consideration, he decided that Ranma had to be a kendo master, the way he'd handled the accident showed more experience with edged weapons than he wanted to think about.
He came back to the locker room with not only hakama and short kimono but Ranma's street clothes as well. He put the street clothes into a small basket and handed Ranma the kendo uniform.
"Here. Please put these on. I would like you to meet me in the main hall as soon as you get dressed."
Ranma took the uniform and stood looking after the man for a moment. (I wonder what he's up to.)
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Vignette
"Damn it, Steven You can't quit on us."
"Yes I can. I've been juggling my time for three years now and it's not working. I'm a fighter, not a bureaucrat. I don't like all this paperwork."
"Well, you'll need to train your replacement."
"No, I won't. She'll make me sleep on the couch for a month, but I'm turning all this crap over to Doris."
"She's not an administrator she's . . ."
"If you say just a secretary, I'll turn you over to yours. See how you like it."
"NO, NO. That's okay, if you're sure."
"She's been handling a lot of it already. I'm going back to what I know. I've made too many mistakes already. This is right for all of us and you know it."
"Yeah. But I hate to admit we made a mistake like that."
Well better to admit it now than for me to mess anything else up. I've made one bad mistake already. I just . . . I was built to fight, not to shuffle papers, so I tend to listen to the higher ups too much. They aren't close enough to the problems to understand exactly what is going on and I don't know how to reason with a bunch of bean counters. Let Doris take it over. She's good at getting that kind of thing done."
"If you're sure. Steven, just turn it all over to her and don't be too hard on yourself. You did the best you knew how and you didn't do too badly. After all, you found Saotome and convinced him to work for us. That was a real break for our side."
"Yeah but how good was it for him?"
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Ranma walked to the main hall and stopped in the door way. All the students who were here were gathered in the hall; standing in ranks, youngest to oldest, back to front.
Ranma walked up to Honda-sensei and bowed, cupping his right hand around his left fist. The whole room saluted him in return.
"Please stand here."
Ranma stood where he was pointed, wondering what was going on.
The next thing that happened boggled Ranma's mind completely. The Sensei called the boy who'd caused all the trouble into the hall and stood him in front of all the students
"I am sorry. Please. Haven't we told you time and time again that you must not touch the swords?"
"Yes Sensei, you have."
"And haven't the other students warned you that they would tell a teacher each time you did so?"
"Yes, Sensei."
"Then I am sorry. I apologize. We have been doing a bad job with you."
"I don't understand."
"We haven't been able to instill the needed discipline in you. Please accept my apologies."
"Sensei?"
The teacher bowed to the boy; ducking his head and looking at his feet.
"Please leave now."
"Sir?"
"I'm sorry. Please leave the dojo."
Two of the older students gently guided the boy to the door and shut it behind him, effectively ejecting him form the dojo proper.
Ranma suddenly realized that the boy had been removed from the class.
"Sir? Was that really necessary?"
"Yes, Ranma. I don't know what else we could do for him. We've told him time and time again that he isn't ready for the practice of kendo. I've disciplined him as harshly as my heart would allow. I can't seem to get through to him. He's too stubborn. It's a shame, but I have failed with him and I'll bear the burden for a long time, but I can't allow him to disturb the dojo anymore.
"I don't believe in striking my students and, no matter what you were taught, it's not what should be done. If you do something bad enough to deserve to be hit, you don't belong in my dojo. And so he goes. Such a shame, too."
Ranma suddenly found that he had a catch in his throat.
"I see. Well, discipline is very important. If you don't have discipline, you don't have proper control and, especially if you are as powerful as I am, control is so important. That's one of the reasons I think Pop was so hard on me, he knew what I could turn into if I got out of hand. But he . . . I'm better than that. I don't want to hurt someone by accident. The other reason was that he...never mind that either."
"Please. Accept our apologies. We were remiss. That boy should have been removed from the school before an accident like this could happen."
Honda-sensei turned to the room and clapped his hands. Every man and boy in the room knelt in concourse, one hundred pairs of hands slapped the floor and one hundred people bowed to Ranma in apology.
Ranma bowed back, giving them the respect they deserved.
"Please. Rise. I accept the apology in the spirit it was given. Thank you very much. You have all given me much to think about, and your example is one that will shine in my heart forever."
All the students stood up and, bowing again, filed out leaving Ranma with the Sensei and the four senior students, who gathered in front of him, bowing again with their eyes on the floor.
"Hey! Enough already. You're not that responsible. He needs to be responsible for himself, too. You told him several times, and punished him too, so he knew he was doing wrong. I'm okay and so is everyone else. Give it up already."
"Thank you. We're sorry you got hurt. I'm glad it wasn't more serious."
Ranma smiled at the men and bowed, giving them the respect of keeping his eyes on them (There are only two reasons to turn your eyes away from someone when you bow in a dojo; either they are so good you have no hope of defending yourself or they are so bad that you don't need to.)
Ranma turned away and started for the dressing room. He was going to have to get on the road and find a place to spend the night, he'd messed around here way too long but they had definitely given him something to think about.
"Here. Why don't you keep the uniform? You're certainly entitled to it. I don't know why you don't wear proper Hakama instead of a simple gi."
"I think Pop didn't want me to know how much respect I was entitled to. He wanted to keep me under his thumb. I . . . Well. I'm not . . ." Ranma sighed. He wasn't sure what he wanted to say exactly. "My people skills leave a great deal to be desired. I don't have much tact and I hate getting into arguments. So I come off as either spineless or arrogant. I don't even know how to start out half the time. I just tend to blurt things out and then have to deal with the consequences."
"Again with the advice. Just remember it's worth exactly what you pay for it. Treat people the way you want to be treated. Say things as gently as you can and remember. You're human, and you get to make mistakes. Your tongue won't fall out if you apologize. You. Are. Worthy. Of. Respect. If you have to demand it of people, do so, but do it with respect of your own. Do you see what I mean?"
"Yeah, I think I do. Sometimes it's so hard. I'm too young to be doing what I do. I have to accept that and I think I've found way around some of the problems. Some I'll just have to put up with until they go away on their own. But I'm not lettin' some hidebound bureaucrat put my friends in danger because he won't see past my age. I just have to figure out how to do that. . . . Geez, here I stand yapping away. You've got a school to run and I need to get on the road."
Ranma waived to the Sensei as he drove away, the hakama and hakama shita folded carefully and packed into their bag, resting on the seat beside him.
Ranma turned the radio up as loud as he wanted it, rolled down the widows and headed for home, with several ideas churning around in his head. He had made some decisions and he just hoped that he had the nerve to make them stick.
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wow thanks to all my kind reviewers.
Wonderbee31,powellt, Jerry Unipeg, who has reviewed every single chapter, dogbertcarroll, shadowtime, gopu( ), nightowl123, Korina Stone, mysticalflame, Alex Ultra, motherCHOWgoddess( ), special thanks to OvenWookie, I'm sure I forgot someone but thanks to them, too
also a special thanks to Niana Kuonji for the beta. Huggles and cookies especially since she's working and writing her own really good fic. (go read her works, please)