Insert Self Here
Chapter Two
Welcome to Hell
***
Kari whistled to herself as she walked home from school, idly fingering a kunai in her right hand. School had been going well for the past two weeks. Most kids kept to the groups of friends they had throughout elementary school, not letting Kari become friendly with them, but Itachi was different. He was cool and collected, he was always nice to her, and it ends up that he had moved to Sendai just before spring, meaning he didn't already have a group of friends to hang out with. He was more than willing to let Kari spend time with him.
It also didn't hurt that he seemed very popular. Kari didn't care much for that sort of thing, but it was fun to mess with the other kids because she got to be with him and they didn't.
Deciding to stop at the local arcade, which was more-or-less on her route home, Kari took a right turn on the street before reaching home. Having an arcade only three blocks from her house had given her a lot to do when not training. Kari slipped her kunai back into her sleeve so she could check her wallet. She had about 500 yen, more than enough to kick a few kids around in fighting games.
Kari wondered why she had never seen King of Fighters, Street Fighter, or, her all-time favorite game in her last life, Capcom vs SNK, in the arcades, but shrugged it off. There were plenty of other games to kick kids around in, even without those three.
Noticing that her destination was right ahead of her, she stopped her pondering and walked into the building, the automatic doors opening with a hiss. The ninja girl swung her head from side to side, quickly noting everyone's position just as she was trained to do. It was more a reflex than anything else. But in doing so, she had noticed a familiar armband on a boy playing a fighting game.
"Yo!" she called out, waving her hand in the air. "Itachi!"
Itachi, momentarily distracted from his game, turned his head to the voice. "Eh?" His distraction lasted only long enough for his computer-controlled opponent to get in a seven hit combo, knocking off almost half of Itachi's previously untouched health. "Crap!" He quickly turned his attention back to the game.
Kari walked over and started watching the boy play over his shoulder, but she didn't watch for very long before Itachi won and finished playing.
"So," Itachi said, turning around and smiling at the girl who had distracted him, "what brings you here?"
"The usual," was Kari's reply. "Beat down those kids who have the gall to face me in fighting games."
Itachi laughed, a deep laugh more fit for a man than the thirteen year old boy. "I'll bet you do." His laughter died off, but he kept smiling. "So, what fighting game do you usually play?"
Kari smirked confidently. "Any game my opponent wants. It makes it all the more humiliating when I beat them at their favorite game."
Itachi's confident grin matched Kari's own. "So, you feel like taking me on?"
"Any time."
The two kids took up positions at the game machine, Itachi letting Kari take the second player position. Within seconds, the two experienced gamers were clashing in a struggle for dominance.
Kari found herself pressed hard to match Itachi. Although her character was quicker, Itachi was skilled at countering with his stronger character. The match was dead even until the very end, when Itachi managed a six hit combo, knocking the last bit of health off Kari's character.
"Damn," Kari spat. "The king of games has been overthrown."
"Don't you mean queen of games?" Itachi asked with a smirk. "Though I guess it's king, now."
Kari waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Eh, whatever."
Itachi leaned closer to her. "You know, I think you're jealous of me."
Kari double-blinked at that statement. "What?"
Itachi laughed. "I know I'm popular, and a better gamer now, right?"
Kari scowled at Itachi. "That's a bit arrogant of you to assume that, idiot."
Itachi smiled at her. "But I know you like it."
Kari was completely caught off guard when Itachi leaned toward her and brushed his lips over hers. In fact, the movement left her in shock for several moments.
Her movements after the shock wore off were understandable, though Itachi didn't seem to think so as he laid on the ground, rubbing his jaw where Kari had just punched him.
"What the hell was that for?" Itachi spat, standing up. He rubbed his jaw in irritation, sending a glare at the angry female. "I thought you'd be happy."
Kari was far from happy. She had been kissed. By a guy. She may have grown used to being in a girl's body, but she never thought like a girl. Certainly not enough for that kind of thing. "You... bastard!" Her words rang with malice, and her entire body quivered with barely controlled rage. "Just because you're popular doesn't mean girls are going to fall for you! And it certainly doesn't give you the right to kiss one whenever you feel like it!" Her knuckles were white from holding her fists so tight, and the idea of pulling out her kunai crossed her mind for a moment. She didn't immediately dismiss the idea, either.
Itachi laughed. Kari liked his laugh before, but in this situation, it made him seem like a jerk. "It always worked before," he said after he stopped laughing.
"You're a womanizing jerk!" Kari shouted. Everybody in the arcade had their eyes on the two, but Kari continued to rant without noticing them. "I can't believe I thought you were a friend! You've been thinking about nothing but getting into my pants, haven't you?!"
"That's putting it crudely," Itachi said, narrowing his eyes. But he didn't deny it, either.
"You jackass!" Kari launched forward, intent on knocking some sense into the boy, or at least knocking him around, but her fist was snagged out of the air by Itachi's hand as he used her momentum to flip her over his shoulder and into a game machine, which dented under the blow.
'What the hell?' Kari thought, trying to shake off the blow. 'Since when can he fight?'
"You can't beat me," Itachi said, offering a hand to Kari to help her up. "I'm the heir to the Gatsuhara special martial arts techniques."
Kari glared at the offered hand, before flipping up under her own power, kicking the hand away as she did so. "And I'm the only heir to the Umikage style of ninjitsu!" she spat, pulling out three shuriken and throwing them all at Itachi. It was close range, and there was no way Itachi could be anywhere near her level, so Kari made sure all three were aimed at non-vital areas. Her vision wasn't so clouded in red that she wanted to kill the boy.
The people in the arcade had all fled by this point. Kids fighting were one thing, but kids throwing shuriken and destroying machines was quite another.
Kari, at first, wondered what had happened. A blue blur seemed to come from nowhere and deflect the first two projectiles while Itachi simply caught the last shuriken between his thumb and middle finger. That's when Kari noticed what was floating over Itachi's shoulder. His blue armband was revealed to be a long strip of blue fabric tied around his arm, and that strip was now moving by itself like a cobra, one end still attached to Itachi's uniform, but the rest of the strip moving and floating under, seemingly, its own power.
"What is that thing?" Kari gasped, involuntarily taking a step back from Itachi and his cloth strip.
Kari's opponent was smiling as he flicked the shuriken he had caught to the side. "That, my dear, is the Gatsuhara special technique."
Kari quickly regained her calm, which had eluded her since Itachi had kissed her. This fight, started by anger and insurance of a quick victory, had suddenly become serious. "So, you use your ki to manipulate clothing, huh?" It explained why she had thought he wasn't a fighter - if he used his cloth as his main method of attack, then his knuckles wouldn't develop calluses because he simply didn't do enough attacking with his fists.
Itachi shrugged. "It's a bit more complicated, but that's the general idea." He looked over his opponent. "You know, if you just apologize, I'll forget this ever happened."
"Like Hell!" was Kari's vehement reply.
"If you don't accept me, I'll just force you to accept me!" Itachi leaped forward, his fist cocked back to punch and his cloth ribbon lashing out at the same time. Kari was able to dodge the cloth, barely, and was able to parry Itachi's attack, but his other hand snaked through to deliver an open palm strike to Kari's chest, knocking her back onto the floor. She slid several feet before stopping in front of the entrance. The automatic doors slid open behind her.
Kari didn't even bother taunting the boy as she flipped herself onto her feet, launching several more shuriken as she did so. All of her shuriken were deflected by the swiftly moving strip of cloth, but it distracted Itachi long enough for her to dive out of the door and into the busy street that was one of Sendai's main roads.
Kari ignored the honking of car horns as she leaped up onto a street light across the street from the arcade, turning around just in time to see Itachi leaping toward her new position. She backflipped off the light and onto a roof, sending another batch of shuriken to her former position, knowing Itachi would land there. But, just as he had before, Itachi deflected all of the projectiles with his ribbon.
Soon the two were trading blows on the roof. Itachi was only using his ribbon to deflect attacks now, only trying to land blows with palm strikes and kicks.
'Jeez,' Kari though as she ducked under a kick, attempting a sweep, only to have the ribbon block her leg as if it were a brick wall. She leaped back in time to avoid Itachi's return kick. 'He's only attacking with open-hand techniques and kicks, and we're dead even.' Itachi's face was one of anger, but it hadn't even broken a sweat yet. 'Scratch that, I'm getting tired and he's not. If this keeps up, I'll drop from exhaustion.'
"Nobody refuses me," Itachi said in a low voice. "Nobody!" The last word was a shout he gave as he launched himself forward.
Kari cursed as she leaped backwards, trying to put some space between herself and her opponent. However, in the middle of her leap Itachi's ribbon snapped toward her, wrapping itself around her leg and dropping the blue-haired girl, painfully, onto the ground. Itachi suddenly loomed over her, his ribbon snaking itself around her legs to effectively pin her down.
"I never lose," Itachi said, his anger gone and replaced by arrogance. "Especially not to a girl."
Kari smirked. "I never lose, either. Especially not to arrogant asses like you." One of her kunai was suddenly in her hand and she threw it up at Itachi. He flinched back, but the kunai still caught him in the face, leaving a long trail of blood along his left cheek, all the way from his jaw to above his eye, which the kunai had missed my less than an inch.
Itachi screamed, clutching his face in pain. Blood quickly seeped through his fingers and began to trail down his neck. In all honesty, the wound wasn't that deep, but any wound to the head bleeds profusely. Itachi also wasn't used to being hit. If he ever got into a fight, his cloth protected him from any blows. Unfortunately for him, his cloth was busy keeping Kari on the ground at the time.
Itachi took a few steps back, his ribbon unwinding itself from Kari's legs, allowing her to flip backwards and away from him. His ribbon began to writhe around, as if feeling the pain Itachi felt. "You cut me!" he cried. "You cut me!" His voice sounded hysterical.
Kari took a step back, instinctively pulling out two more kunai, one in each hand, spinning the one in her left hand on her ring finger and holding the one in her right like a dagger. "I'd do a lot more to you, too." She was much less confident now than at the beginning of the fight, even though first blood had been hers.
She doubted Itachi would forgive her now, judging from the way he was leaping toward her, screaming in wordless rage. This time his ribbon was lashing toward her as well, intent on striking her down.
Kari threw the kunai in her left hand, forcing the ribbon to divert from its course towards her to deflect it, and leaped to the right, avoiding Itachi's attempted strike to her face. Itachi didn't even pause, he simply leaped forward again, spinning in mid air and trying to catch Kari's head with a heel kick, which Kari easily avoided by jumping into the air. However, Itachi's ribbon lashed out from underneath her (when had it moved there?) and struck her with the force of a very solid bo staff. Kari's trajectory changed, sending her off the edge of the building and into a dingy alleyway behind the edifice.
Kari was busy trying to catch her wind, which had been knocked out by the ribbon's blow to her ribs, when another blow came, striking her in the face. She spun like a top, falling down on the ground after spinning in a complete circle. She hadn't even seen what hit her.
Even with the new pain, Kari realized she was in a bad situation and used her hands to propel herself into the air, which allowed her to narrowly avoid the next blow from Itachi's cloth strip. Kari wondered, briefly, if it really was made of cloth. It seemed much tougher.
Itachi stood in the middle of the alley, his ribbon moving around him like a living entity of its own. "You're going to pay tenfold for everything, girl." His ribbon lashed out at Kari again, who was still feeling slightly woozy from Itachi's last two attacks. However, she still managed to bring up another kunai, attempting to slice through the cloth ribbon. All that she accomplished was to deflect the attack, the cloth able to take the sharp steel edge of the kunai without cutting. Itachi continued to attack with his ribbon, and Kari couldn't react fast enough to dodge. She was barely able to place her kunai between herself and the ribbon.
As he attacked, Itachi was slowly walking forward. He cracked his knuckles. "You're going down today," he intoned, raising his fist when he reached Kari. His ribbon, being as close range, was going at her faster than ever, and Kari doubted she could fend both it and Itachi off at once. Hell, she doubted she could hold off the ribbon itself for much longer.
Her thoughts, as well as Itachi's attacks, were cut off as a foot appeared from nowhere, knocking Itachi away from Kari and into the wall to the side. The foot was attached to a young man, wearing a blue school uniform and a yellow headband, which kept his wild black hair from his dark brown eyes. "What kind of martial artist attacks a girl?" the new boy growled, revealing a pair of fangs in his mouth. He snarled. "I won't let you keep attacking her!"
Kari growled herself. What did she look like, a damsel in distress? Though, she HAD been losing that fight, she admitted to herself.
Itachi's ribbon pushed against the wall, propping up the arrogant boy. "This is between me and her. Stay out of it, boy."
The new boy held his hand in front of his face, clenching the muscles in his hand, which had the interesting effect of cracking his knuckles while leaving his hand open. "Well, I'm making it my business. If you want to fight her-"
His monologue was cut off by Kari, who stepped forward. The few moments she had to recover did wonders. "You'll have to fight both of us, then!" She growled at Itachi. "Think you're good enough to take both of us?"
Itachi didn't speak, glancing between his two opponents. Finally, his ribbon wound itself around his arm. "I'll see you again, Kari." He turned and walked away, prompting a sigh of relief from Kari. With a flick of her wrist her kunai disappeared into her sleeve.
"Are you alright, miss?" The boy was now looking over Kari for any sign of injuries, and she shifted under his gaze.
"Nah, I'm fine," she replied. "He only got in two hits."
The boy nodded in understanding. "So, what was he after you for?"
Kari grimaced at the memory of being kissed. "I thought he was my friend," she replied. "He betrayed my trust."
Her savior looked curious as to the details, but he didn't mention anything. "Well, I'm glad I could help." He grinned sheepishly. "I was lost myself, so I guess it's lucky I got lost, this time."
Kari looked the boy over curiously. He looked familiar, but she couldn't place where. He looked a year or two older than she was, and she was pretty sure she had never met him at school. But, to be sure... "What school do you go to?"
"Akimachi School for Boys," was his reply.
"I guess that means we don't go to the same school," Kari ventured, laughing. "So, what's your name, oh great hero?"
"Ryoga. Ryoga Hibiki." Ryoga looked over at Kari. "What's your's?"
'Ryoga Hibiki?' Now that name rang a bell for Kari. 'It can't be...' She looked him over. He looked younger than she'd expect, and he wore a yellow headband instead of a yellow and black bandana, but it was definitely Ryoga Hibiki. Or at least how she'd expect him to look if he were real and not an anime character. "My name's Kari." Kari's reply was bland, as her mind was still trying to process this information. 'Have I... been living an anime for the last twelve years?'
Ryoga looked concerned. "You don't seem well," he commented, showing that he wasn't completely dense. "You sure you're okay?"
Kari shook herself out of her stupor. He was growing suspicious of her behavior; she needed to wise up. She could think about things later. "I'm fine." 'Just trying to absorb the fact I'm in a TV show,' she thought sarcastically to herself. "You said earlier that you were lost. Do you want my help to find wherever you were going?" The ninja looked the anime character over, curiously. "Where were you heading, anyway?"
Ryoga chuckled nervously. "Um, I was heading home, actually."
The girl laughed at Ryoga's plight. "You know your address? I'll help you get home."
Ryoga looked grateful. "Really? Thanks."
Kari's eyes widened as she heard his address. That was on the other side of town. 'Guess we'd better get walking, then,' she thought to herself.
***
It was late that evening when Kari got home. Ryoga had arrived home to find both his parents home; it ends up his guide dog, Shirokuro, had found Ryoga's parents and brought them home, explaining why he wasn't there to guide Ryoga home from school. His parents insisted Kari stay for a bit, as they never got to meet Ryoga's friends (they barely got to see Ryoga.) It was almost dark by the time the girl left.
Kari sighed as she was about to put down her school bag, before she realized something. "I left my bag at the arcade," she moaned. That wasn't good. She sighed, trudging up to her room to change her clothes. She had been stuck in her school uniform all day and she didn't like skirts. Changing quickly into a pair of green pants, a green long-sleeve shirt, and a black netting shirt to wear under it, she felt refreshed. Her ninja apparel was much better than her crappy uniform any day of the week.
Walking to the kitchen, Kari fumbled around in the fridge for something to eat. There was a few slices of cheese, a little bit of milk, and some undeniable mass in the back corner. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, she decided that the fridge was out of the question. She quickly scribbled a note for her father, in case he came home, tacked it to the fridge, and was out the door.
The small city of Sendai was quiet. It wasn't like Tokyo, which bustled with life even at night. Kari felt at peace as she walked down the familiar streets, navigating without even paying attention to her surroundings. Instead of heading to the small corner store a few blocks away, as she intended, the girl decided to keep going. After about twenty minutes of walking, during which the sun had sunk below the horizon, enveloping the city in twilight, Kari found herself in front of an unfamiliar building, one she learned of only that day.
"Akimachi School for Boys," she read, looking over the sign in front of the school. "This is where Ryoga goes." And Ranma, if she remembered correctly. She'd better; Ranma 1/2 had been one of her favorite anime series in her old life. It had been the first anime she had ever watched, the first she ever bought, and remained one of her favorites for years.
She wondered why the blue-haired woman (her wish granter, not herself) had dumped her in the Ranma universe. Did she read her mind to put her here? Did the Ranma universe draw her here? Or was it that only this place could give her the proper training to be a great ninja? No matter what the answer, though, she found herself wanting to be part of it. Part of the Ranma storyline. But how could she do it?
She glared at the school sign. It kept her from getting close to Ranma and Ryoga. Suddenly, her glare stopped. A smile formed. It'd be hard to convince Shinzumaru, but she could do it.
She left Akimachi feeling better.
***
"Class, we have a new student." The teacher's voice droned the information. He made it sound boring. Kari wondered if all teachers had that power, to make interesting things seem boring. "Welcome Kari Umikage to Akimachi School for Boys."
A few of the boys in class snickered. Kari sent glares their way, and they shut up. She was dressed in the same outfit she had worn when going out yesterday, her green ninja outfit, because she didn't have time to go looking for the proper school uniform. It had been surprisingly easy to convince Shinzumaru to transfer her to the all boy's school, and even easier for the two ninjas to change her records before giving them to her new school.
But Kari's disguising skills were going to waste. She had wanted to use her advanced ninja techniques to make her blend in perfectly with the boys, but her father waved off her suggestion. So she wasn't disguised at all. It irked her somewhat that she was being mistaken for a boy. Her breasts weren't even bound.
She had almost killed her father when he said, "They're so small you don't have to."
She might be a guy inside, but damn, there are some things you just don't tell people.
Kari stood in front of the class. "Hello. My name's Kari Umikage. I'm an only child, and my hobbies are playing chess, shougi, go, the occasional arcade game, and practicing ninjitsu." She stopped and looked over to the teacher. "Is that enough?"
The teacher nodded. "Take the free seat to the left, Mister Umikage."
Kari nodded and took her seat.
***
When lunch rolled around, Kari was the first out the door. She had thought her public school teachers had been boring, but at her new school it was as if the teachers tried to put their classes to sleep. She had already been beaned with erasers twice.
Maybe it was because she was a first-year student. Did Ryoga have it easier? She had found out yesterday, while she was at Ryoga's house, that he was in his second year of middle school, making him fourteen. She felt slightly irked by that. That meant all the main Ranma 1/2 characters would be two years older than her.
Kari was easily able to find the cafeteria; she just followed the throngs of students. She hoped she could find Ryoga, she had made a bento for him as well as herself.
"Last curry bread of the day!" the lunch lady shouted above the herd of students. A small piece of bread went sailing over the heads of the students and, as Kari watched, Ryoga leaped high into the air to catch it.
"I got it!" he shouted, his fingers already brushing against the bread...
And then a foot shoved him down from above, and another boy caught the bread in his mouth.
Ryoga landed with a thud on the ground, the other students having stepped back from his spot of landing. The boy who had the bread landed softly on the other side of the crowd, looking pleased with himself.
Ryoga shakily got to his feet. "Who, who are you?" he demanded, pointing at the ponytailed boy who had dared keep Ryoga from what was rightfully his.
The boy took the bread from his mouth. "Ranma Saotome."
"Ranma!" Ryoga's fist was shaking. "I'll never forgive you for this! You stole my bread!"
Kari was impressed. He was really getting worked up about this.
"You lousy thief!" Ryoga finished with a snarl.
To the students around her, it appeared as though Kari disappeared from her spot to appear right behind Ryoga. She tapped him on the shoulder.
Ryoga had been so worked up that the tap sent him almost five feet in the air, before he spun around, glaring at whomever had dared sneak up on him like that. He was also a bit surprised that somebody had enough skill to sneak up behind him, but that was momentarily shoved to the back of his mind. "Who the hell are you?!" he demanded, before he got a good look at the girl disguised as a boy. "Wait, Kari?"
"In the flesh," Kari said with a smile. "Glad ya remembered, lost boy."
Ryoga winced at being called "lost boy," but it seemed affectionate, not mean, so he let it slide. "What are you doing here?"
"Going to school," the ninja girl replied. "Oh, and I brought you a bento." She held up the mentioned item. "I didn't know if your mother would still be home to give you one, so I figured I'd make one for you."
Ryoga blushed at the mention of his mother. As a matter of fact, she had gotten lost sometime during the night.
Ranma watched the scene, raising an eyebrow. "So, you got food, right?" He had already finished off the bread. "So you got nothing to be mad about."
Ryoga turned to his future rival. "You get off the hook, this time."
"If you want some more food, I can share my bento," Kari offered. Inside she was celebrating. Score! She was hitting it off well with both boys! She neglected her evil laugh, deciding it might cause too many questions.
"Sure!" There were many things Ranma wouldn't do, but turning down free food wasn't one of them.
***
The three teens (well, two teens and one preteen, if you want to get technical,) sat under a tree in the schoolyard. Ranma was happily munching on a rice ball, while Ryoga picked at his food. Kari, surprisingly, was the first one finished, so she had given her bento to Ranma so he could finish the rest.
Ryoga swallowed the bit of food he was chewing before speaking. "Kari, why are you here, anyway?" He glanced at Ranma. "I mean, you really shouldn't." He didn't want to mention she was a girl, because the ponytailed boy might get Kari in trouble.
Kari laughed. "It's easy enough to get away with, Ryoga." It was true enough; she was a ninja, so she should be able to do a much better job than Ukyo. Not to mention, she HAD been a guy at one point. That gave her better experience at acting like a boy than Ukyo could ever have.
Ranma swallowed his rice ball quickly so he could speak. "What are you guys talkin' 'bout?" He promptly pilfered another rice ball from the bento and began to munch on it.
Ryoga was about to speak up, probably to tell Ranma to shut up, but Kari cut him off. "I'm a girl."
Ranma almost choked on his rice ball as Ryoga glanced at Kari. "What?!" Ranma cried, after his coughing fit had ended.
Kari almost burst out laughing from seeing Ranma's reaction. That had been funnier than she had thought. "It's true," she began. "You see, at my old school, there was this jerk I hated, and I wanted to get away from him." It was true enough. She did hate Itachi now, and she did want to get away from him. It wasn't the reason she had left, but the other two didn't need to know that. "You can ask Ryoga 'bout him. Ryoga stopped the guy from trying to kill me yesterday, and that's when I found out he came here." Kari shrugged. "I figured I'd start coming here, because I already knew somebody here. And it's kinda fun, pretending to be a guy."
Ranma looked Kari over with an appraising eye. "You sure you're a girl? You look like a guy."
Ranma found his face on the ground, Kari's elbow smashing him there quite quickly.
The ponytailed boy got up, grimacing. "That was a compliment!" He rubbed the back of his head, hoping there wouldn't be a lump there or something. "Your disguise is really good, that's all."
Ryoga waved a fist toward Ranma. "Look, now that you know, you can't tell anybody!" He still wasn't quite sure why his new friend felt the need to pretend to be a boy, but if the school found out she'd be in trouble.
Ranma waved his hand in a dismissing gesture. "Yeah, I ain't tellin' nobody." He leaned back against the tree and looked Kari dead in the eyes. "But are you sure a girl should be here in an all boy's school? I mean, what if somebody wants to fight?"
Foot, meet mouth.
Ranma, meet elbow.
"Oh, so that's what you'll do," Ranma said in understanding, his head embedded within the tree he had been leaning against.
***
"I'm home!" Kari called out, taking her kung-fu slippers off at the entrance of her home. She didn't expect anybody to be home, but a cry of "Welcome back!" met her ears. Curious, she walked into the kitchen, where her father was munching on the stale cheese Kari had found in the fridge yesterday.
"Good mornin'," her father said, raising a hand in greeting.
Kari's eyebrow twitched. "Did you even go to work today?" she inquired, irritated.
"Nope," Shinzumaru replied. "Didn't feel like getting up this morning."
Kari groaned. Her father was probably lazier than Genma! And that was saying something.
Shinzumaru took another bite of the stale cheese, then took a swig of the milk, drinking straight from the jug. Kari briefly wondered if the milk was bad. Shinzumaru, noticing his daughter's stare, spoke up. "Hey, I'm gonna finish off the milk, so don't complain about me drinkin' from the jug."
Kari slapped her hand to her forehead. Honestly, that man...
"So, how was school?" Shinzumaru asked, deciding a change of subjects was in order. "Meet any interesting boys?"
Kari threw her bag on the floor and took a seat at the kitchen table. "Yeah. Two guys." She didn't say anything else, but her father pressed on.
"So, which one caught your attention?"
Kari stopped. She blinked. Looking at her father, she asked, "My attention?"
Shinzumaru nodded as soon as he drained the last bit of milk from the jug. "Yeah. You went to the all boy's school to meet some guys, now which one are you interested in?" He leaned closer to his daughter. "Or are you gonna try to go after both." He looked like he was conspiring something with her. "You know, I tried that when I was younger, but it didn't work out."
Kari thwapped her father over the head. "Is THAT why you think I wanted to transfer there?!"
Shinzumaru rubbed his head where she had hit him. "Isn't it? I tried the same thing when I was younger, using my illusionary techniques to sneak into the all girl's school."
The ninja girl felt like throwing a few shuriken at her father, but she reigned in the urge. "I'm not chasing after boys." Her tone ended the talk immediately. Even Shinzumaru wasn't stupid enough to continue the conversation after hearing his daughter talk in that tone.
"So, um, how was school?" he asked again.
***
End Chapter Two
To be continued...
***
Author's Notes: I cranked out this chapter fairly quick, due to having two days off from school. I intended to go a bit further than this, but I decided that this was a good cutoff point for the chapter. As you can probably tell, I don't intend for this fanfic to be short. I haven't even gotten to China yet...
I enjoy fight scenes. Really, I do. It's why I chose Action/Adventure for the main genre. But fights are also the thing I have the least experience writing. So I would appreciate anything you can tell me to improve my fights, in particular.
And, lastly, a personal note. I fully expected to enjoy writing myself and Ryoga (my favorite character) the most, but after these two chapters and knowing what I have in mind for the future, my favorite character is actually Shinzumaru. I find that odd. But... he's just so fun to write!
Anyways, I don't like reading long author's notes, so I doubt you people will, either. I'll stop now.
***
EternallyLost
spiffystudios@hotmail.com
Chapter Two
Welcome to Hell
***
Kari whistled to herself as she walked home from school, idly fingering a kunai in her right hand. School had been going well for the past two weeks. Most kids kept to the groups of friends they had throughout elementary school, not letting Kari become friendly with them, but Itachi was different. He was cool and collected, he was always nice to her, and it ends up that he had moved to Sendai just before spring, meaning he didn't already have a group of friends to hang out with. He was more than willing to let Kari spend time with him.
It also didn't hurt that he seemed very popular. Kari didn't care much for that sort of thing, but it was fun to mess with the other kids because she got to be with him and they didn't.
Deciding to stop at the local arcade, which was more-or-less on her route home, Kari took a right turn on the street before reaching home. Having an arcade only three blocks from her house had given her a lot to do when not training. Kari slipped her kunai back into her sleeve so she could check her wallet. She had about 500 yen, more than enough to kick a few kids around in fighting games.
Kari wondered why she had never seen King of Fighters, Street Fighter, or, her all-time favorite game in her last life, Capcom vs SNK, in the arcades, but shrugged it off. There were plenty of other games to kick kids around in, even without those three.
Noticing that her destination was right ahead of her, she stopped her pondering and walked into the building, the automatic doors opening with a hiss. The ninja girl swung her head from side to side, quickly noting everyone's position just as she was trained to do. It was more a reflex than anything else. But in doing so, she had noticed a familiar armband on a boy playing a fighting game.
"Yo!" she called out, waving her hand in the air. "Itachi!"
Itachi, momentarily distracted from his game, turned his head to the voice. "Eh?" His distraction lasted only long enough for his computer-controlled opponent to get in a seven hit combo, knocking off almost half of Itachi's previously untouched health. "Crap!" He quickly turned his attention back to the game.
Kari walked over and started watching the boy play over his shoulder, but she didn't watch for very long before Itachi won and finished playing.
"So," Itachi said, turning around and smiling at the girl who had distracted him, "what brings you here?"
"The usual," was Kari's reply. "Beat down those kids who have the gall to face me in fighting games."
Itachi laughed, a deep laugh more fit for a man than the thirteen year old boy. "I'll bet you do." His laughter died off, but he kept smiling. "So, what fighting game do you usually play?"
Kari smirked confidently. "Any game my opponent wants. It makes it all the more humiliating when I beat them at their favorite game."
Itachi's confident grin matched Kari's own. "So, you feel like taking me on?"
"Any time."
The two kids took up positions at the game machine, Itachi letting Kari take the second player position. Within seconds, the two experienced gamers were clashing in a struggle for dominance.
Kari found herself pressed hard to match Itachi. Although her character was quicker, Itachi was skilled at countering with his stronger character. The match was dead even until the very end, when Itachi managed a six hit combo, knocking the last bit of health off Kari's character.
"Damn," Kari spat. "The king of games has been overthrown."
"Don't you mean queen of games?" Itachi asked with a smirk. "Though I guess it's king, now."
Kari waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Eh, whatever."
Itachi leaned closer to her. "You know, I think you're jealous of me."
Kari double-blinked at that statement. "What?"
Itachi laughed. "I know I'm popular, and a better gamer now, right?"
Kari scowled at Itachi. "That's a bit arrogant of you to assume that, idiot."
Itachi smiled at her. "But I know you like it."
Kari was completely caught off guard when Itachi leaned toward her and brushed his lips over hers. In fact, the movement left her in shock for several moments.
Her movements after the shock wore off were understandable, though Itachi didn't seem to think so as he laid on the ground, rubbing his jaw where Kari had just punched him.
"What the hell was that for?" Itachi spat, standing up. He rubbed his jaw in irritation, sending a glare at the angry female. "I thought you'd be happy."
Kari was far from happy. She had been kissed. By a guy. She may have grown used to being in a girl's body, but she never thought like a girl. Certainly not enough for that kind of thing. "You... bastard!" Her words rang with malice, and her entire body quivered with barely controlled rage. "Just because you're popular doesn't mean girls are going to fall for you! And it certainly doesn't give you the right to kiss one whenever you feel like it!" Her knuckles were white from holding her fists so tight, and the idea of pulling out her kunai crossed her mind for a moment. She didn't immediately dismiss the idea, either.
Itachi laughed. Kari liked his laugh before, but in this situation, it made him seem like a jerk. "It always worked before," he said after he stopped laughing.
"You're a womanizing jerk!" Kari shouted. Everybody in the arcade had their eyes on the two, but Kari continued to rant without noticing them. "I can't believe I thought you were a friend! You've been thinking about nothing but getting into my pants, haven't you?!"
"That's putting it crudely," Itachi said, narrowing his eyes. But he didn't deny it, either.
"You jackass!" Kari launched forward, intent on knocking some sense into the boy, or at least knocking him around, but her fist was snagged out of the air by Itachi's hand as he used her momentum to flip her over his shoulder and into a game machine, which dented under the blow.
'What the hell?' Kari thought, trying to shake off the blow. 'Since when can he fight?'
"You can't beat me," Itachi said, offering a hand to Kari to help her up. "I'm the heir to the Gatsuhara special martial arts techniques."
Kari glared at the offered hand, before flipping up under her own power, kicking the hand away as she did so. "And I'm the only heir to the Umikage style of ninjitsu!" she spat, pulling out three shuriken and throwing them all at Itachi. It was close range, and there was no way Itachi could be anywhere near her level, so Kari made sure all three were aimed at non-vital areas. Her vision wasn't so clouded in red that she wanted to kill the boy.
The people in the arcade had all fled by this point. Kids fighting were one thing, but kids throwing shuriken and destroying machines was quite another.
Kari, at first, wondered what had happened. A blue blur seemed to come from nowhere and deflect the first two projectiles while Itachi simply caught the last shuriken between his thumb and middle finger. That's when Kari noticed what was floating over Itachi's shoulder. His blue armband was revealed to be a long strip of blue fabric tied around his arm, and that strip was now moving by itself like a cobra, one end still attached to Itachi's uniform, but the rest of the strip moving and floating under, seemingly, its own power.
"What is that thing?" Kari gasped, involuntarily taking a step back from Itachi and his cloth strip.
Kari's opponent was smiling as he flicked the shuriken he had caught to the side. "That, my dear, is the Gatsuhara special technique."
Kari quickly regained her calm, which had eluded her since Itachi had kissed her. This fight, started by anger and insurance of a quick victory, had suddenly become serious. "So, you use your ki to manipulate clothing, huh?" It explained why she had thought he wasn't a fighter - if he used his cloth as his main method of attack, then his knuckles wouldn't develop calluses because he simply didn't do enough attacking with his fists.
Itachi shrugged. "It's a bit more complicated, but that's the general idea." He looked over his opponent. "You know, if you just apologize, I'll forget this ever happened."
"Like Hell!" was Kari's vehement reply.
"If you don't accept me, I'll just force you to accept me!" Itachi leaped forward, his fist cocked back to punch and his cloth ribbon lashing out at the same time. Kari was able to dodge the cloth, barely, and was able to parry Itachi's attack, but his other hand snaked through to deliver an open palm strike to Kari's chest, knocking her back onto the floor. She slid several feet before stopping in front of the entrance. The automatic doors slid open behind her.
Kari didn't even bother taunting the boy as she flipped herself onto her feet, launching several more shuriken as she did so. All of her shuriken were deflected by the swiftly moving strip of cloth, but it distracted Itachi long enough for her to dive out of the door and into the busy street that was one of Sendai's main roads.
Kari ignored the honking of car horns as she leaped up onto a street light across the street from the arcade, turning around just in time to see Itachi leaping toward her new position. She backflipped off the light and onto a roof, sending another batch of shuriken to her former position, knowing Itachi would land there. But, just as he had before, Itachi deflected all of the projectiles with his ribbon.
Soon the two were trading blows on the roof. Itachi was only using his ribbon to deflect attacks now, only trying to land blows with palm strikes and kicks.
'Jeez,' Kari though as she ducked under a kick, attempting a sweep, only to have the ribbon block her leg as if it were a brick wall. She leaped back in time to avoid Itachi's return kick. 'He's only attacking with open-hand techniques and kicks, and we're dead even.' Itachi's face was one of anger, but it hadn't even broken a sweat yet. 'Scratch that, I'm getting tired and he's not. If this keeps up, I'll drop from exhaustion.'
"Nobody refuses me," Itachi said in a low voice. "Nobody!" The last word was a shout he gave as he launched himself forward.
Kari cursed as she leaped backwards, trying to put some space between herself and her opponent. However, in the middle of her leap Itachi's ribbon snapped toward her, wrapping itself around her leg and dropping the blue-haired girl, painfully, onto the ground. Itachi suddenly loomed over her, his ribbon snaking itself around her legs to effectively pin her down.
"I never lose," Itachi said, his anger gone and replaced by arrogance. "Especially not to a girl."
Kari smirked. "I never lose, either. Especially not to arrogant asses like you." One of her kunai was suddenly in her hand and she threw it up at Itachi. He flinched back, but the kunai still caught him in the face, leaving a long trail of blood along his left cheek, all the way from his jaw to above his eye, which the kunai had missed my less than an inch.
Itachi screamed, clutching his face in pain. Blood quickly seeped through his fingers and began to trail down his neck. In all honesty, the wound wasn't that deep, but any wound to the head bleeds profusely. Itachi also wasn't used to being hit. If he ever got into a fight, his cloth protected him from any blows. Unfortunately for him, his cloth was busy keeping Kari on the ground at the time.
Itachi took a few steps back, his ribbon unwinding itself from Kari's legs, allowing her to flip backwards and away from him. His ribbon began to writhe around, as if feeling the pain Itachi felt. "You cut me!" he cried. "You cut me!" His voice sounded hysterical.
Kari took a step back, instinctively pulling out two more kunai, one in each hand, spinning the one in her left hand on her ring finger and holding the one in her right like a dagger. "I'd do a lot more to you, too." She was much less confident now than at the beginning of the fight, even though first blood had been hers.
She doubted Itachi would forgive her now, judging from the way he was leaping toward her, screaming in wordless rage. This time his ribbon was lashing toward her as well, intent on striking her down.
Kari threw the kunai in her left hand, forcing the ribbon to divert from its course towards her to deflect it, and leaped to the right, avoiding Itachi's attempted strike to her face. Itachi didn't even pause, he simply leaped forward again, spinning in mid air and trying to catch Kari's head with a heel kick, which Kari easily avoided by jumping into the air. However, Itachi's ribbon lashed out from underneath her (when had it moved there?) and struck her with the force of a very solid bo staff. Kari's trajectory changed, sending her off the edge of the building and into a dingy alleyway behind the edifice.
Kari was busy trying to catch her wind, which had been knocked out by the ribbon's blow to her ribs, when another blow came, striking her in the face. She spun like a top, falling down on the ground after spinning in a complete circle. She hadn't even seen what hit her.
Even with the new pain, Kari realized she was in a bad situation and used her hands to propel herself into the air, which allowed her to narrowly avoid the next blow from Itachi's cloth strip. Kari wondered, briefly, if it really was made of cloth. It seemed much tougher.
Itachi stood in the middle of the alley, his ribbon moving around him like a living entity of its own. "You're going to pay tenfold for everything, girl." His ribbon lashed out at Kari again, who was still feeling slightly woozy from Itachi's last two attacks. However, she still managed to bring up another kunai, attempting to slice through the cloth ribbon. All that she accomplished was to deflect the attack, the cloth able to take the sharp steel edge of the kunai without cutting. Itachi continued to attack with his ribbon, and Kari couldn't react fast enough to dodge. She was barely able to place her kunai between herself and the ribbon.
As he attacked, Itachi was slowly walking forward. He cracked his knuckles. "You're going down today," he intoned, raising his fist when he reached Kari. His ribbon, being as close range, was going at her faster than ever, and Kari doubted she could fend both it and Itachi off at once. Hell, she doubted she could hold off the ribbon itself for much longer.
Her thoughts, as well as Itachi's attacks, were cut off as a foot appeared from nowhere, knocking Itachi away from Kari and into the wall to the side. The foot was attached to a young man, wearing a blue school uniform and a yellow headband, which kept his wild black hair from his dark brown eyes. "What kind of martial artist attacks a girl?" the new boy growled, revealing a pair of fangs in his mouth. He snarled. "I won't let you keep attacking her!"
Kari growled herself. What did she look like, a damsel in distress? Though, she HAD been losing that fight, she admitted to herself.
Itachi's ribbon pushed against the wall, propping up the arrogant boy. "This is between me and her. Stay out of it, boy."
The new boy held his hand in front of his face, clenching the muscles in his hand, which had the interesting effect of cracking his knuckles while leaving his hand open. "Well, I'm making it my business. If you want to fight her-"
His monologue was cut off by Kari, who stepped forward. The few moments she had to recover did wonders. "You'll have to fight both of us, then!" She growled at Itachi. "Think you're good enough to take both of us?"
Itachi didn't speak, glancing between his two opponents. Finally, his ribbon wound itself around his arm. "I'll see you again, Kari." He turned and walked away, prompting a sigh of relief from Kari. With a flick of her wrist her kunai disappeared into her sleeve.
"Are you alright, miss?" The boy was now looking over Kari for any sign of injuries, and she shifted under his gaze.
"Nah, I'm fine," she replied. "He only got in two hits."
The boy nodded in understanding. "So, what was he after you for?"
Kari grimaced at the memory of being kissed. "I thought he was my friend," she replied. "He betrayed my trust."
Her savior looked curious as to the details, but he didn't mention anything. "Well, I'm glad I could help." He grinned sheepishly. "I was lost myself, so I guess it's lucky I got lost, this time."
Kari looked the boy over curiously. He looked familiar, but she couldn't place where. He looked a year or two older than she was, and she was pretty sure she had never met him at school. But, to be sure... "What school do you go to?"
"Akimachi School for Boys," was his reply.
"I guess that means we don't go to the same school," Kari ventured, laughing. "So, what's your name, oh great hero?"
"Ryoga. Ryoga Hibiki." Ryoga looked over at Kari. "What's your's?"
'Ryoga Hibiki?' Now that name rang a bell for Kari. 'It can't be...' She looked him over. He looked younger than she'd expect, and he wore a yellow headband instead of a yellow and black bandana, but it was definitely Ryoga Hibiki. Or at least how she'd expect him to look if he were real and not an anime character. "My name's Kari." Kari's reply was bland, as her mind was still trying to process this information. 'Have I... been living an anime for the last twelve years?'
Ryoga looked concerned. "You don't seem well," he commented, showing that he wasn't completely dense. "You sure you're okay?"
Kari shook herself out of her stupor. He was growing suspicious of her behavior; she needed to wise up. She could think about things later. "I'm fine." 'Just trying to absorb the fact I'm in a TV show,' she thought sarcastically to herself. "You said earlier that you were lost. Do you want my help to find wherever you were going?" The ninja looked the anime character over, curiously. "Where were you heading, anyway?"
Ryoga chuckled nervously. "Um, I was heading home, actually."
The girl laughed at Ryoga's plight. "You know your address? I'll help you get home."
Ryoga looked grateful. "Really? Thanks."
Kari's eyes widened as she heard his address. That was on the other side of town. 'Guess we'd better get walking, then,' she thought to herself.
***
It was late that evening when Kari got home. Ryoga had arrived home to find both his parents home; it ends up his guide dog, Shirokuro, had found Ryoga's parents and brought them home, explaining why he wasn't there to guide Ryoga home from school. His parents insisted Kari stay for a bit, as they never got to meet Ryoga's friends (they barely got to see Ryoga.) It was almost dark by the time the girl left.
Kari sighed as she was about to put down her school bag, before she realized something. "I left my bag at the arcade," she moaned. That wasn't good. She sighed, trudging up to her room to change her clothes. She had been stuck in her school uniform all day and she didn't like skirts. Changing quickly into a pair of green pants, a green long-sleeve shirt, and a black netting shirt to wear under it, she felt refreshed. Her ninja apparel was much better than her crappy uniform any day of the week.
Walking to the kitchen, Kari fumbled around in the fridge for something to eat. There was a few slices of cheese, a little bit of milk, and some undeniable mass in the back corner. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, she decided that the fridge was out of the question. She quickly scribbled a note for her father, in case he came home, tacked it to the fridge, and was out the door.
The small city of Sendai was quiet. It wasn't like Tokyo, which bustled with life even at night. Kari felt at peace as she walked down the familiar streets, navigating without even paying attention to her surroundings. Instead of heading to the small corner store a few blocks away, as she intended, the girl decided to keep going. After about twenty minutes of walking, during which the sun had sunk below the horizon, enveloping the city in twilight, Kari found herself in front of an unfamiliar building, one she learned of only that day.
"Akimachi School for Boys," she read, looking over the sign in front of the school. "This is where Ryoga goes." And Ranma, if she remembered correctly. She'd better; Ranma 1/2 had been one of her favorite anime series in her old life. It had been the first anime she had ever watched, the first she ever bought, and remained one of her favorites for years.
She wondered why the blue-haired woman (her wish granter, not herself) had dumped her in the Ranma universe. Did she read her mind to put her here? Did the Ranma universe draw her here? Or was it that only this place could give her the proper training to be a great ninja? No matter what the answer, though, she found herself wanting to be part of it. Part of the Ranma storyline. But how could she do it?
She glared at the school sign. It kept her from getting close to Ranma and Ryoga. Suddenly, her glare stopped. A smile formed. It'd be hard to convince Shinzumaru, but she could do it.
She left Akimachi feeling better.
***
"Class, we have a new student." The teacher's voice droned the information. He made it sound boring. Kari wondered if all teachers had that power, to make interesting things seem boring. "Welcome Kari Umikage to Akimachi School for Boys."
A few of the boys in class snickered. Kari sent glares their way, and they shut up. She was dressed in the same outfit she had worn when going out yesterday, her green ninja outfit, because she didn't have time to go looking for the proper school uniform. It had been surprisingly easy to convince Shinzumaru to transfer her to the all boy's school, and even easier for the two ninjas to change her records before giving them to her new school.
But Kari's disguising skills were going to waste. She had wanted to use her advanced ninja techniques to make her blend in perfectly with the boys, but her father waved off her suggestion. So she wasn't disguised at all. It irked her somewhat that she was being mistaken for a boy. Her breasts weren't even bound.
She had almost killed her father when he said, "They're so small you don't have to."
She might be a guy inside, but damn, there are some things you just don't tell people.
Kari stood in front of the class. "Hello. My name's Kari Umikage. I'm an only child, and my hobbies are playing chess, shougi, go, the occasional arcade game, and practicing ninjitsu." She stopped and looked over to the teacher. "Is that enough?"
The teacher nodded. "Take the free seat to the left, Mister Umikage."
Kari nodded and took her seat.
***
When lunch rolled around, Kari was the first out the door. She had thought her public school teachers had been boring, but at her new school it was as if the teachers tried to put their classes to sleep. She had already been beaned with erasers twice.
Maybe it was because she was a first-year student. Did Ryoga have it easier? She had found out yesterday, while she was at Ryoga's house, that he was in his second year of middle school, making him fourteen. She felt slightly irked by that. That meant all the main Ranma 1/2 characters would be two years older than her.
Kari was easily able to find the cafeteria; she just followed the throngs of students. She hoped she could find Ryoga, she had made a bento for him as well as herself.
"Last curry bread of the day!" the lunch lady shouted above the herd of students. A small piece of bread went sailing over the heads of the students and, as Kari watched, Ryoga leaped high into the air to catch it.
"I got it!" he shouted, his fingers already brushing against the bread...
And then a foot shoved him down from above, and another boy caught the bread in his mouth.
Ryoga landed with a thud on the ground, the other students having stepped back from his spot of landing. The boy who had the bread landed softly on the other side of the crowd, looking pleased with himself.
Ryoga shakily got to his feet. "Who, who are you?" he demanded, pointing at the ponytailed boy who had dared keep Ryoga from what was rightfully his.
The boy took the bread from his mouth. "Ranma Saotome."
"Ranma!" Ryoga's fist was shaking. "I'll never forgive you for this! You stole my bread!"
Kari was impressed. He was really getting worked up about this.
"You lousy thief!" Ryoga finished with a snarl.
To the students around her, it appeared as though Kari disappeared from her spot to appear right behind Ryoga. She tapped him on the shoulder.
Ryoga had been so worked up that the tap sent him almost five feet in the air, before he spun around, glaring at whomever had dared sneak up on him like that. He was also a bit surprised that somebody had enough skill to sneak up behind him, but that was momentarily shoved to the back of his mind. "Who the hell are you?!" he demanded, before he got a good look at the girl disguised as a boy. "Wait, Kari?"
"In the flesh," Kari said with a smile. "Glad ya remembered, lost boy."
Ryoga winced at being called "lost boy," but it seemed affectionate, not mean, so he let it slide. "What are you doing here?"
"Going to school," the ninja girl replied. "Oh, and I brought you a bento." She held up the mentioned item. "I didn't know if your mother would still be home to give you one, so I figured I'd make one for you."
Ryoga blushed at the mention of his mother. As a matter of fact, she had gotten lost sometime during the night.
Ranma watched the scene, raising an eyebrow. "So, you got food, right?" He had already finished off the bread. "So you got nothing to be mad about."
Ryoga turned to his future rival. "You get off the hook, this time."
"If you want some more food, I can share my bento," Kari offered. Inside she was celebrating. Score! She was hitting it off well with both boys! She neglected her evil laugh, deciding it might cause too many questions.
"Sure!" There were many things Ranma wouldn't do, but turning down free food wasn't one of them.
***
The three teens (well, two teens and one preteen, if you want to get technical,) sat under a tree in the schoolyard. Ranma was happily munching on a rice ball, while Ryoga picked at his food. Kari, surprisingly, was the first one finished, so she had given her bento to Ranma so he could finish the rest.
Ryoga swallowed the bit of food he was chewing before speaking. "Kari, why are you here, anyway?" He glanced at Ranma. "I mean, you really shouldn't." He didn't want to mention she was a girl, because the ponytailed boy might get Kari in trouble.
Kari laughed. "It's easy enough to get away with, Ryoga." It was true enough; she was a ninja, so she should be able to do a much better job than Ukyo. Not to mention, she HAD been a guy at one point. That gave her better experience at acting like a boy than Ukyo could ever have.
Ranma swallowed his rice ball quickly so he could speak. "What are you guys talkin' 'bout?" He promptly pilfered another rice ball from the bento and began to munch on it.
Ryoga was about to speak up, probably to tell Ranma to shut up, but Kari cut him off. "I'm a girl."
Ranma almost choked on his rice ball as Ryoga glanced at Kari. "What?!" Ranma cried, after his coughing fit had ended.
Kari almost burst out laughing from seeing Ranma's reaction. That had been funnier than she had thought. "It's true," she began. "You see, at my old school, there was this jerk I hated, and I wanted to get away from him." It was true enough. She did hate Itachi now, and she did want to get away from him. It wasn't the reason she had left, but the other two didn't need to know that. "You can ask Ryoga 'bout him. Ryoga stopped the guy from trying to kill me yesterday, and that's when I found out he came here." Kari shrugged. "I figured I'd start coming here, because I already knew somebody here. And it's kinda fun, pretending to be a guy."
Ranma looked Kari over with an appraising eye. "You sure you're a girl? You look like a guy."
Ranma found his face on the ground, Kari's elbow smashing him there quite quickly.
The ponytailed boy got up, grimacing. "That was a compliment!" He rubbed the back of his head, hoping there wouldn't be a lump there or something. "Your disguise is really good, that's all."
Ryoga waved a fist toward Ranma. "Look, now that you know, you can't tell anybody!" He still wasn't quite sure why his new friend felt the need to pretend to be a boy, but if the school found out she'd be in trouble.
Ranma waved his hand in a dismissing gesture. "Yeah, I ain't tellin' nobody." He leaned back against the tree and looked Kari dead in the eyes. "But are you sure a girl should be here in an all boy's school? I mean, what if somebody wants to fight?"
Foot, meet mouth.
Ranma, meet elbow.
"Oh, so that's what you'll do," Ranma said in understanding, his head embedded within the tree he had been leaning against.
***
"I'm home!" Kari called out, taking her kung-fu slippers off at the entrance of her home. She didn't expect anybody to be home, but a cry of "Welcome back!" met her ears. Curious, she walked into the kitchen, where her father was munching on the stale cheese Kari had found in the fridge yesterday.
"Good mornin'," her father said, raising a hand in greeting.
Kari's eyebrow twitched. "Did you even go to work today?" she inquired, irritated.
"Nope," Shinzumaru replied. "Didn't feel like getting up this morning."
Kari groaned. Her father was probably lazier than Genma! And that was saying something.
Shinzumaru took another bite of the stale cheese, then took a swig of the milk, drinking straight from the jug. Kari briefly wondered if the milk was bad. Shinzumaru, noticing his daughter's stare, spoke up. "Hey, I'm gonna finish off the milk, so don't complain about me drinkin' from the jug."
Kari slapped her hand to her forehead. Honestly, that man...
"So, how was school?" Shinzumaru asked, deciding a change of subjects was in order. "Meet any interesting boys?"
Kari threw her bag on the floor and took a seat at the kitchen table. "Yeah. Two guys." She didn't say anything else, but her father pressed on.
"So, which one caught your attention?"
Kari stopped. She blinked. Looking at her father, she asked, "My attention?"
Shinzumaru nodded as soon as he drained the last bit of milk from the jug. "Yeah. You went to the all boy's school to meet some guys, now which one are you interested in?" He leaned closer to his daughter. "Or are you gonna try to go after both." He looked like he was conspiring something with her. "You know, I tried that when I was younger, but it didn't work out."
Kari thwapped her father over the head. "Is THAT why you think I wanted to transfer there?!"
Shinzumaru rubbed his head where she had hit him. "Isn't it? I tried the same thing when I was younger, using my illusionary techniques to sneak into the all girl's school."
The ninja girl felt like throwing a few shuriken at her father, but she reigned in the urge. "I'm not chasing after boys." Her tone ended the talk immediately. Even Shinzumaru wasn't stupid enough to continue the conversation after hearing his daughter talk in that tone.
"So, um, how was school?" he asked again.
***
End Chapter Two
To be continued...
***
Author's Notes: I cranked out this chapter fairly quick, due to having two days off from school. I intended to go a bit further than this, but I decided that this was a good cutoff point for the chapter. As you can probably tell, I don't intend for this fanfic to be short. I haven't even gotten to China yet...
I enjoy fight scenes. Really, I do. It's why I chose Action/Adventure for the main genre. But fights are also the thing I have the least experience writing. So I would appreciate anything you can tell me to improve my fights, in particular.
And, lastly, a personal note. I fully expected to enjoy writing myself and Ryoga (my favorite character) the most, but after these two chapters and knowing what I have in mind for the future, my favorite character is actually Shinzumaru. I find that odd. But... he's just so fun to write!
Anyways, I don't like reading long author's notes, so I doubt you people will, either. I'll stop now.
***
EternallyLost
spiffystudios@hotmail.com