'I don't wanna get up,' Yusuke thought.
He heard Ranma get up in a slow, sluggish manner. He assumed Genma was already up because the man often got up early, likely to begin warming up for his daily spar with Ranma. Yusuke sighed when he heard Akane's footsteps approach the room.
"Nooooo," he whined.
He crawled over to a closet and shut himself in there and began to doze off again. It only took Akane a few seconds to find him, "Really, Yusuke... You tried this trick a few days ago."
"Mrrr... rrr...," Yusuke grumbled.
He opened his eyes and looked up at Akane. Then, he shut his eyes again and muttered something in sleep gibberish. Akane groaned and took hold of Yusuke's ankles. She began dragging him across the room. Yusuke growled, "ALL RIGHT! I'M UP!"
He kicked a bit, forcing Akane's hands off him, and stood. He crossed his arms and grumbled to himself.
"It's about time. Yusuke, I'm getting tired of doing this every morning... Why don't you just...," Akane began.
Yusuke interrupted, "If you're so tired of doing it every morning... why don't you stop? I don't HAVE to go to school, you know..."
Akane glared at him, but stopped, she gave him a look he had only seen on Nabiki, "Oh, really?"
Yusuke paused because the look he saw on her face kind of creeped him out. Akane thought she was using a cheap shot, but honestly, she was getting tired of having to come into the guest room and drag him out of bed just about every single morning. She put her hands on her hips, "Well, then... If you don't want to go to school, I guess we could always just k---..."
Yusuke sighed irritably, "Okay, fine... Don't say anything more... I'll go to stupid school..."
"What a good boy you are," Akane mocked.
"Yeah... and you're such an angel," Yusuke countered.
Akane smiled, "You bet I am..."
Yusuke facefaulted. Akane frowned, "Don't make me drag you again, Yusuke..."
Yusuke got up and headed for the dining area for some breakfast. After breakfast, Yusuke changed into his old school uniform (he downright refused to wear the other school's uniform simply to be stubborn and rebellious) and followed Akane and Ranma out the door. He walked with them for the most part until about half-way to Furinkan High. That's when he would make a turn and head for the junior high. The odd thing about that day's walk to school was that Akane and Ranma didn't say a word, not even to each other.
'Usually, there's some kind of argument going on or something... This is just spooky...' he thought.
Akane suddenly turned to him, "You better be in school today, Yusuke. See you..."
Yusuke blinked and saw his turn, "Ah... right... yeah... Bye, Akane..."
He made the turn and stuffed his hands in his pockets, 'Stupid school... I could just go to the video arcade around here... but... What if Akane decides to come check on me like last week? I know! I'll go the first half of school... And then skip the last half! It's the perfect plan!'
Yusuke went to school, wearing a smug look on his face. He was startled when he arrived to see that all the Hawaiian decorations were gone and that there was no screaming of, 'Help! He's going to shave off my hair!'
He sat down at one of his classes and leaned back in his desk with his arms crossed, 'C'mon... Let's just get these classes over with, already... I don't have all day...'
"Attention!" a man's voice over the intercom declared.
Everyone in the classroom looked up, except Yusuke, even though he was slightly curious.
"Principal Watson has returned from his vacation in London, England. I'm sure we were all very grateful to Principal Kuno taking over his position on short notice...," the man began.
The man on the intercom suddenly went into a coughing fit and the words 'Not likely' and 'I hate this haircut' could be faintly heard within the fit of coughs.
"Sorry. Welcome, Principal Watson! We missed you!" the man exclaimed.
"Thank you, Mr. Anoun. Students, thank you for trying to be on your best behavior. If I ever go on vacation again, I will make sure that I leave the responsibility of running the school to someone... more capable. That is all," Principal Watson announced.
Cheering could be heard throughout the school and it took a lot of control from Yusuke not to cheer himself. He was relieved that Principal Kuno was gone, 'Man... That guy has problems...'
After his first class, which was so boring Yusuke fell asleep through it, he decided to just skip the other first half of his classes, anyway. He headed up to the roof of the school building and sat down. He yawned and started to take a nap...
"Hello!" a male voice greeted.
Yusuke opened his eyes and looked up at the greeter irritably, "What? Can't you see I'm trying to sleep here?"
The greeter was a boy about his age who had black, spiked hair, narrow-framed glasses, and yellow eyes. He was wearing the appropriate school uniform, but it looked as if the entire uniform had been tye-dyed. To Yusuke, he looked rather ridiculous.
"Well, sooorrrry... For interrupting your little nap! But I'll have you know, that I'm very disappointed in you!" the boy shouted.
Yusuke stared at the boy, "What?"
"You heard me, Yusuke Urameshi! I'm disappointed! You spend all the time you have from skipping class sleeping! It's an outrage! You should be out causing some kind of commotion or something! I'm ashamed!" the boy cried.
Yusuke continued to stare. He honestly didn't know what to think. Then, his eyes narrowed, "Hey... How did you know my name?"
"Huh? Oh! Yeah. I sit behind you in one of your classes. My name's Chaz Jokin!" Chaz replied.
"Chaz Jokin? That's a strange name...," Yusuke muttered.
"It's an American name! My parents are Americans, but you know they decided to live here and all," Chaz explained.
"Yeah... Whatever. Just go away," Yusuke yawned.
"Go away? Go away? Sorry, no can do... Not until you do something besides sit around and sleep," Chaz insisted.
Yusuke glared at the strange student, "You're starting to bug me... Either go away or I'll MAKE you go away..."
Chaz laughed, "Make me? Really? As fun as that sounds... You don't want to make me do anything. Wouldn't it be more fun to beat up some of the self-proclaimed tough guys around here? Or maybe you could do something that would make everyone in the entire school go into a panic..."
Yusuke growled, "Shouldn't you be in class or something? If I have to get up, you're going to regret it..."
"Nobody even knows I'm gone... Oh well. I thought you could've been some fun, but it turns out you're just a slacker. Too bad," Chaz pouted.
He turned to begin leaving, but then stopped for a moment. The boy turned back around to face Yusuke, "You know, you can't avoid everything, forever. It's only a matter of time before things start happening to you, too. Yep. All sorts of things..."
Yusuke yawned and looked as if he wasn't paying attention, "Are you still here?"
Chaz didn't seem to be effected by Yusuke's apparent lack of attention and took on a daydreaming expression, "It'll be great. I feel better already just thinking about it!"
Yusuke groaned softly, 'All right, now he's just talking to himself. That's it. I'm throwing him down the stairs.'
Chaz snapped out of whatever daydreams he was having and grinned widely, "Well, Yusuke, it was great meeting you! I'm going to really enjoy your stay here. See you around!"
Then, much to Yusuke's relief, he headed back downstairs. Yusuke started to take a nap again, 'What a strange and annoying guy...'
A thought struck him, 'Wait... Strange guy? He might... Nah. If he was some kind of demon, I would've noticed. I'm just being paranoid. Now... for that nap...'
Ryouga was floating over Akane and Ranma on their walk to high school. Botan was following behind him and making sure he didn't somehow end up getting lost. Akane looked over at Ranma in concern, "Ranma, it'll be okay. P-chan... Well, you know, he couldn't have lived forever. We would've outlived him, anyway. Please, you have to try and get over this..."
Ranma didn't say anything because he knew if he did he would choke on his words. Inside his knowledge of the circumstances of Ryouga's death were killing him. His thoughts turned incredibly bitter towards himself and his once famous self-confidence had plummeted to nearly nothing, 'He was my friend. I was... horrible. To him. Ryouga... I'll understand if, even now, you won't forgive me for what I've done to you. I deserve it. I deserve everything bad that's ever happened to me... I...'
"Oh no! Ranma, we're late! Come on, we have to hurry!" Akane shouted.
Ranma lifted his head up slowly, "What's the point, Akane?"
Akane stopped in mid-run. She turned back to Ranma. She was really becoming worried about him. She had never seen him act in the manner he was now and her thoughts on getting to school were quickly dashed. She approached him and sighed, "Ranma..."
"Akane... I wish I could... tell you. I wish I could make you understand, but I can't. I can't tell anyone... No one that knows would ever take me seriously. I'm so... hurt," Ranma whispered.
Akane stood in front of him for a while, uncertain about soothing him in public. She didn't want humiliation to go along with the strong sad emotions Ranma was feeling. There was a long silence. Akane found herself wishing that she knew what Ranma was talking about, 'There's something more to it than P-chan dying, but what? What has caused him to be... this emotional wreck?'
Akane turned her head to look at the high school which was some feet away and then she looked back at Ranma, "Maybe... maybe you should stay home today, Ranma..."
"Maybe I should just stay here... it's not going to matter, either way," Ranma mumbled.
Akane opened her mouth to try and say some words of comfort, but then...
"Ranma, you knave! What spell have you put under Akane this time, vile sorcerer?" Kuno screamed.
Akane didn't even bother asking any questions as to how Kuno got out of school when he was supposed to be in it. Almost immediately, she sent him flying. There was no way Ranma was going to be in any mood to deal with the every day havoc of Nerima. Botan quickly nudged Ryouga, "Hey! She just knocked that guy out! Now, is your chance! Get a move on. Your concern for your friend will be eased once he finds out you're coming back to life..."
Ryouga nodded, "Ah... Right!"
He began heading towards the now rapidly descending unconscious Kuno and allowed his spirit to possess him.
"Now, which way to Furinkan High?" Ryouga wondered out loud, trying to get used to the fact that he was in someone else's body.
Botan caught up with him and was telling him which way to go to get to the high school. She had never before had to follow someone so closely before, but then she hadn't ever met anyone like Ryouga before, either.
'Poor guy... It must be pretty hard on him not knowing where he's going to end up next...' she thought.
Ryouga had to stop himself (or rather Kuno since he was inhabiting his body) before he ran into girl-type Ranma (he had gotten sprayed with water on his way back). Ranma gazed up at him with tired eyes. Ranma's father had stopped by the high school and had insisted that he would walk him home. Akane, of course, wasn't certain, but she did have to go to school and she needed to explain why Ranma wasn't attending that day. Of course, it wasn't long before Genma left Ranma in favor of some free food samples that were being handed out nearby. So, there was no one to take care of Kuno, but her. Ranma sighed miserably and prepared herself to knock Kuno out.
"Ranma! Stop being miserable for a second! I need to talk to you!" Kuno exclaimed.
Ranma blinked and stared at Kuno awe-struck, 'What?'
She checked herself and found that she was still a girl. Yet, Kuno had called her Ranma and wasn't making a move to hug her. She knew right away that she could not have been speaking to the real Kuno.
"Who are you?" Ranma asked.
"Well... umm... This might come as a shock to you... but... It's me. Ryouga Hibiki," Kuno said slowly.
Ranma took in a breath shakily, but he didn't dare hope, "Is this some kind of cruel joke? Because... if it is... It's not even close to funny... I'll... Please, don't mess with me... Please."
Kuno shook his head, "It's not a joke, Saotome. It really is me. P-chan, Ryouga... boy who made the silly mistake of having some strange face painted on his stomach in order to become super strong..."
Ranma's eyes widened, "Ryouga... It is you! Ryouga..."
Tears started to spring forth from Ranma's eyes, but she wiped them away quickly. She didn't want Ryouga to see her cry.
"Listen, I have something important to tell you," Kuno stated.
"I'm... listening, Ryouga," Ranma replied, eager to hear what Ryouga had to say to him.
"I'm coming back to life," Kuno started.
Questions swarmed Ranma's head, "Back to life? But... I thought... You..."
She lowered her head.
"No, Ranma. I didn't kill myself... I... don't think I ever will, that is, when I come back to life. It was something else that killed me. I don't know what it was, but apparently it wasn't supposed to have killed me. It's not even suppose to be here... So, the people... These people in this place called Spirit World... They're giving me a second chance. There is something I need your help with," Kuno explained.
"I'll do anything you ask, Ryouga! Anything, just name it," Ranma responded eagerly.
It was like Ranma had just woken up from a nightmare. He felt a little nauseated because of how badly it had made him feel, but yet, he was relieved. He was happy to hear that his friend hadn't committed suicide and he was even happier to hear that he was coming back to life.
"My body, Ranma! You need to keep an eye on it! If anything happens to my body I'll never be able to come back to life! That goes for the burying to... You need to make sure that I'm not buried. Okay? Can you do that for me?" Kuno declared.
'Oh man... This is going to get tricky... Akane definitely isn't going to like this, but I can't let Ryouga down. I'm going to show him that I can be a good friend,' Ranma thought.
He nodded his head, "Yeah! I'll do it, Ryouga. Nothing is going to happen to your body on my honor as a martial artist and a man."
"Good. And.. uhh... umm...," Kuno began.
'Akane... I need to make sure Akane will be okay while I'm gone,' Ryouga thought.
Ranma was all too willing to do more favors that Ryouga asked, "What? And what?"
"You better be nice to Akane, Ranma. Just because I'm not here to keep you in line doesn't mean you can be a pervert," Kuno growled.
Ranma sweatdropped and waved his hands, "Oh, come on, Ryouga. I'm not a pervert."
"Don't deny it, Saotome! I've seen you be a pervert! You just better redeem your ways," Kuno accused.
Ranma glared at Kuno, but remembering how unhappy he was before because of Ryouga's death he kept his anger in check. He smiled at Ryouga, "Okay. Fine. If that's the way you're going to be, Ryouga. I'll be nice to Akane and I won't be... perverted."
Kuno beamed, "Great! Now... uhh... How do I get out of this body?"
Ranma looked at Kuno puzzledly, "You're asking me? How am I supposed to know? You're the one who got in there in the first place."
Kuno pointed behind him, "I'm not asking you. I'm asking her."
Ranma didn't see anyone behind Kuno, "Who?"
Botan giggled, "Ryouga, he can't see me, silly. Anyway, it's very simple to get out of his body, but you still have a few hours before you have to get out. I mean, it's a good opportunity to get out there and do some good deeds."
"Oh, yeah. Good idea, Botan," Kuno replied.
Ranma just became more confused, "My name isn't Botan and I didn't say anything else..."
"Don't worry about it, Ranma. I'm off to do some good deeds!" Kuno declared.
"But... Kuno is suppose to be in school," Ranma pointed out.
"Oh... well, umm... I can do good deeds at school!" Kuno exclaimed.
He turned around and began to run towards Botan. Ranma slapped his forehead, "Ryouga! The school is this way!"
He pointed in the opposite direction Kuno was heading. Kuno stopped and laughed sheepishly, "Ahh, right. I knew that."
'It's good to be talking to Ryouga, again. Even if he is in somebody else's body,' Ranma thought.
Ranma walked Kuno (or rather Ryouga in Kuno's body) to school. Students who were staring outside the windows in boredom were obviously very shocked to see the pig-tailed girl and Kuno walking together, side by side. Rumors began to circulate around the school and it wasn't long before those rumors reached Akane's ears.
"What? Are you joking?" Akane shrieked.
"No, I'm not, Akane! The pig-tailed girl is walking with Kuno towards school! I didn't think they would ever hook up like that, but... I guess maybe the pig-tailed girl through all those times she beat Kuno up must've secretly liked him. It's kind of romantic," one of Akane's friends responded.
Akane couldn't believe she was hearing this and rushed to the window to see for herself. Students were already crowding the windows and talking amongst themselves. No matter how much the teacher shouted at them to get back in their seats, the noise they were generating drowned him out. One of the students that was looking out the window was a wide-eyed Ukyou.
"Man, has he gone insane?" Ukyou muttered to herself.
A guy student next to her looked at her like she was crazy, "What do you mean? Kuno has always been insane..."
'I wasn't talking about Kuno,' she thought.
Akane pushed past the crowd and saw for herself that girl-type Ranma was indeed walking with Kuno. They entered the building. The students returned to their seats and waited for the bell to ring, so that they could find the 'couple' and interrogate them. Akane and Ukyou couldn't wait and had sneaked out the door.
"Hey, Akane. Do you know what's up with Ranma?" Ukyou asked.
They were rushing down the halls, trying to find Kuno and the 'pig-tailed girl'. Akane looked thoughtful, "I don't know, Ukyou. This is really, really unlike him. I mean, I know he was depressed, but..."
"Depressed? Ranma-honey is depressed? Why? What did you do?" Ukyou accused.
"Me? I didn't do anything! I don't know why he's so depressed, but I do know that P-chan has something to do with it," Akane informed.
"P-chan? You mean your pet pig?" Ukyou questioned.
"Yeah... P-chan... he's dead," Akane said sadly.
Ukyou blinked and didn't say anymore to Akane. She hadn't really known the little black piglet very well, so she couldn't really feel upset about its death. Akane and Ukyou soon spotted Nabiki and three of her friends running with them.
"Faster, girls! We're going to get to the bottom of this," Nabiki ordered.
"Yes, Nabiki!" the three girls behind her shouted in unison.
She was likely trying to find some way to turn a profit out of the whole incident. Akane glared at her older sister, "Nabiki..."
"Oh, hello, Akane," Nabiki greeted in an innocent tone of voice.
Everyone came to a sudden halt when they nearly ran into the now boy-type Ranma (he had stopped at the bathroom to pour hot water on himself). Akane was surprised to see how cheerful he looked. Ranma smiled at everyone, "Hey, guys. What's up?"
Nabiki was the first to speak. She dawned a sly look, "We were just going to ask you that, Ranma. Why, it wasn't too long ago we saw the pig-tailed girl walking with Kuno. You wouldn't happen to know why that is, would you?"
The three girls behind her knew nothing of Ranma's curse. Besides, Nabiki enjoyed messing with Ranma's head. Ranma suddenly realized the implications, "Hey! I... He..."
"What's going on, sugar?" Ukyou demanded.
"What were you doing with Kuno?" Akane asked.
Ranma gulped, "Well... uhh..."
How was he going to explain it? He looked around, hoping Kuno would help, but he couldn't find him, "Hey! Where'd Ryouga go?"
"Ryouga?" the group of girls muttered in unison.
Ranma groaned silently. What a mess he found himself in!
'What a great time for Ryouga to get himself lost. Ah, he wouldn't have been able to help, anyway. He turns into jello every time he's near Akane,' he thought.
While Ranma tried to explain himself, Kuno was out wandering the halls.
"I can't believe he ditched me! I don't know my way around this place!" he yelled.
"He didn't ditch you, Ryouga. You just wandered off... I tried to say something to you, but it looked like you were daydreaming and didn't hear me," Botan told him.
Kuno frowned, "Oh... I'm sorry, Botan. I guess I got carried away..."
Botan smiled, "Don't worry about it, Ryouga. It's okay."
A small smile crossed Kuno's face.
'What a nice smile she has,' Ryouga thought.
Then, Kuno shook his head.
'What am I thinking? Akane has a nicer smile... I think. Well, they're both nice. Botan's nice... Akane's nice...' Ryouga thought.
His own thoughts were confusing him, but luckily something drew his attention away from them. He had just stumbled across a small group of guys who were mercilessly taunting a girl who was just trying to get to class.
"Please, could you move? I really need to get to my next class... I'm going to be late," the girl said to the boys timidly.
"Did you hear that boys? She wants us to move. We wouldn't want the know-it-all sophomore to be late, now would we?" an older boy, likely the leader of the group, laughed.
A scrawny-looking boy of the group suddenly looked alarmed, "Uhh... Genda. We should start heading to class before Principal Kuno shows up and cuts our hair."
"In a minute. I'm not afraid of the principal and I'm just starting to have some fun. But, you give me an idea. Why don't we give this girl a haircut ourselves? Anyone got any scissors?" Genda asked.
A boy handed Genda a pair of scissors. Genda smiled cruelly, "Great."
The girl had no room to run because the boys had surrounded her, "Please, leave me alone..."
Ryouga couldn't stand watching it anymore. Botan didn't even have to say anything to him.
"Hey! Leave her alone!" Kuno ordered.
The boys glanced at him a bit nervously. Genda himself looked a slight bit nervous, but he figured there wasn't too much to worry about. Tatewaki Kuno hadn't been the "Chivalrous Warrior of Furinkan High" ever since Akane began attending high school. When Kuno had been a freshman, he went around the school beating up all the bullies and earned a reputation as the strongest guy in school for quite a while (until Ranma showed up). There had been one time Genda and his group had started picking on some freshman girl who was always making the best scores in some business class or another. Kuno had come to her rescue and the boys could still feel the bruises they had received from such a long time ago. Since Akane had come to school, Kuno's focus of being a 'chivalrous warrior' went out the window, leaving the bullies to do whatever they wanted. All of other strong students were too busy with their own affairs to bother beating them up.
Of course, now Genda couldn't pick on the freshman girl because she was no longer a freshman and had earned a reputation herself as someone you wouldn't want to mess with because it was very easy for her to make someone's life miserable. That didn't mean he had stopped picking on everyone else, though.
Genda coughed, "Hey, Kuno. Don't you have something to be doing right now? You know... Like... Which one, man? Akane Tendo or the pig-tailed girl?"
Ordinarily, this would've worked, but...
"You guys make me sick! You're not getting away with being such... jerks!" Kuno snarled.
He drew the wooden sword and charged at the group of boys and a few of them started to take off running. He didn't let them get away.
Swish. WHAM! Swish. WHAM! Swish. WHAM!
'Three of them down, three to go. Heh. This thing is pretty cool,' Ryouga thought.
He sheathed the wooden sword and went back to the fighting style that was more familiar to him. He slammed his fists a few times against two of the boys and they joined their friends in the realm of unconsciousness. Genda looked around him, 'Uh-oh. This doesn't look good...'
Kuno punched him in the face pretty hard. Genda was knocked out cold. The girl looked at Kuno in amazement and then, she bowed to him, her long, straight black hair falling past her shoulders, "Thank you very much, Upperclassman Kuno."
Kuno's cheeks tinged red, "Ahh... You're... umm... welcome. I... uhh... You should get to class. You know... before you're... umm... late..."
The girl stood straight and nodded happily. She started walking to class. Then, thinking for a moment, Kuno began to follow her. The girl looked at him questioningly. Kuno didn't make eye contact with her, "Uhh... Well, I just thought I'd walk you to class..."
The girl smiled, "You're so nice."
Kuno blushed, "Uhh... umm... It's no... problem."
Botan watched the scene with a big grin on her face, 'What a gentleman! This egg is sure to hatch into a good spirit beast.'
The girl said her goodbye to Kuno before she entered her classroom. Kuno said goobye to her and then left to do some more good deeds. Botan stopped him, "Actually, I think you better get out of his body, now. The fighting you did looks like it took a small toll on him. I'm willing to bet he's not much of a fist fighter..."
Ryouga looked at the wooden sword that was in its sheath, "Yeah... You're probably right. I don't think I've ever seen this guy use anything but this sword thing to fight."
Ryouga concentrated hard and finally, his spirit left Kuno's body. Kuno blinked and looked as if he had just woken up from a dream. He looked around with a suspicious look in his eyes, "That's funny. I could've sworn that I was outside rescuing Akane Tendo from the evil clutches of Ranma Saotome."
Botan handed Ryouga his spirit beast egg, "Safe and sound. If you keep up with the good deeds, it won't be long before this egg will hatch."
Girl-type Ranma walked onto the stage in the auditorium of the school with a solemn look on her face. It seemed like millions of people had gathered to hear what she had to say. In reality, it was only everyone in Nerima except Kasumi (who told her father that she didn't feel like going because she was feeling a little tired and still needed to clean up around the house) had gathered there. Yusuke was just glad to be out of school, 'I don't know why I'm here, but hey... I'm not complaining.'
Naturally, all of Ranma's fiancés were there to hear what she had to say. Ukyou and Akane couldn't get a straight answer out of Ranma, but then Ranma insisted that he go before the whole school as a girl and explain what went on between him and Kuno. Shampoo and Cologne went as well when the rumors had circulated all the way to them. Of course, Mousse followed Shampoo and would've already been on stage attacking Ranma, but the problem was he couldn't see. His glasses had still not been fixed and while he continually searched the crowd for Ranma he would mutter, "As soon as I get my hands on him, that Tendo boy is going to pay..."
Genma and Soun were there to figure out what had went on and were currently not speaking to each other because of an argument they had over Ranma's sexuality and mental health. Dr. Tofu had been invited over by Ranma himself, in case of an emergency. Happosai was, of course, not invited, but he went to the school anyway to raid the girls' locker room for various unmentionables while all the girls were up in the auditorium. All of the schools in the district of Nerima had decided to go to the large assembly because everyone else was going. Kodachi, in particular, had pressured her school to attend because of her curiosity of matters involving the pig-tailed girl and her older brother. Nabiki was heading a poll in which it cost 50 yen per person to vote. The poll choices were vast and one of the most disturbing choices had to be, 'Pig-tailed girl is going to announce that she is pregnant with Kuno's child'.
Ranma tapped the microphone, "Is this thing on? Oh. It is. Nevermind. Umm... Well, uhh... Ladies and gentlemen... I'm sure you're all wondering why I was walking with Kuno this morning. And the answer is kind of... funny, really... Heh... heh. Uhhh..."
Sasuke appeared before his master, kneeling, "Master Kuno! I have a gift here for you... It is from a girl..."
Kuno's eyes snapped open from his 'meditation', "The pig-tailed girl?"
"No. A different girl... She said she wanted to give you this as a token of her appreciation for rescuing her from Genda and his gang of bullies..." Sasuke replied.
"Genda? I haven't fought him in... Oh well, nevermind. Let me see this gift," Kuno insisted.
Sasuke handed him a very small package with a paper card attached to it. Kuno opened the package first. Inside was a white headband with the words 'The Chivalrous Warrior of Furinkan High' printed on it. Kuno stared at the headband and then grabbed the card to read it.
"I can't thank you enough for what you've done, Upperclassman Kuno. Those boys were always picking on me and no matter what I did, they wouldn't go away. You're a true hero," he read.
Kuno was struck speechless. He couldn't remember fighting anyone and he certainly didn't remember saving a girl from a group of bullies.
"Hmm... Sasuke!" Kuno called.
"Yes, Master Kuno?" Sasuke responded.
"It seems I have neglected my real duties for too long. This... memory lapse I've had... It's a sign from my ancestors! They're trying to tell me that I must draw my sword against the forces of evil, not just against the accursed Ranma Saotome, but of the other villainous fiends out there, as well. Sasuke, this will mean that I will not have the time to meditate. Therefore, you will take my place!" Kuno explained.
"Err... uhh... Take your place, master?" Sasuke wondered out loud.
Kuno grabbed Sasuke and placed him on the pillow, "Yes! You must meditate on the choices. Akane Tendo or the pig-tailed girl... Akane Tendo or the..."
Sasuke nodded, "I get it, master! I've seen you do it millions of times! I won't fail you!"
"Thank you, noble Sasuke. Now, I must inform the entire school of my realization," Kuno said, putting on the white headband he was given.
"So, you see... After being knocked out by Akane, Kuno suffered temporary amnesia. He couldn't remember anything, not even his own name! I had to help him. He was in such a pitiful state and I was the only person that looked somewhat familiar to him. So, I walked him to school," Ranma told the crowd.
Nabiki grabbed a bullhorn, "Hey, pig-tailed girl! Where does Ryouga come into all of this?"
A nervous smile came across Ranma's face, "Excellent question, Nabiki. Umm... Well, I bumped into Ryouga when we entered the school building. Yeah. He had gotten lost somehow trying to find me. The funny thing is that he didn't want to fight. He said he only came here to tell me that he would be going away for a while... On some kind of mystical training journey... Then, he just disappeared like he always does. I don't know how long it'll be for him to get back."
"How do we know you're not making this up to cover up the real truth?" Nabiki shouted.
This drew a strong reaction from most of the members of the crowd. Ranma started to say something, but then...
Kuno who wasn't paying attention to the fact it was the pig-tailed girl on stage, grabbed her and put her in the crowd. He immediately started addressing the crowd, "Students of Furinkan High..."
Kodachi waved at him, "Brother dear!"
Kuno gave her an annoyed glance, "And my twisted sister whom has come here for some reason that I have not a clue of..."
It was if he was oblivious to the fact that just about everyone in Nerima was in the crowd, "I have come before you today to tell you that my ancestors have contacted me!"
Murmurs of 'Not again...', 'Is he serious?', and 'Basket case' traveled through the crowd. Kuno didn't let it phase him, "I had a memory lapse, in which during I saved a girl from a gang of scoundrels... Later, I reached an epiphany. My ancestors have signaled to me that it is my duty as the 'Chivalrous Warrior of Furinkan High' to protect the innocent and punish the fiends of our world! No longer will acts of cruelty be allowed to go on, so long as I, Tatewaki Kuno, walk this earth!"
Ranma blinked, 'Weird... But at least, all the attention isn't on me, now.'
Kuno continued, "Pig-tailed girl! Akane Tendo! Do not despair, but I must do this! You are still held very dear to my heart. Always! Time will only tell when I will be able to date with either of thee."
A neutral expression crossed Nabiki's face, 'I hope this doesn't mean he isn't going to buy pictures from me, anymore. Hmm... Gotta say, though... I did kind of miss the Chivalrous Warrior...'
Genma and Soun started leaving the building with smiles on their faces. Soun turned to Genma, "I'm sorry I ever doubted your son, Saotome."
Genma nodded, "It's all right, Tendo. He had me worried for a second there, too."
Soon, the entire crowd began to disperse. Yusuke walked out of the school building shaking his head, 'This place just keeps getting crazier and crazier...'