Chapter 3: Under my will!
*sniff*
It was a night, like any other night, somewhere in the city of Nerima.
*tick tock* *tick tock*
In a part not far from the center of the city, where the hustle and bustle of the busiest part of the city barely reached, a solitary car was crossing the avenue in the darkness of the night, momentarily covering the road as it passed near a small residential complex.
The area had houses bigger than the average two building houses but smaller in comparison to the five stories buildings in downtown.
*ripple*
One of the residences had its lights off at that hour, a dark spot in the midst of all the lights on in that neighborhood.
*sob*
Sobbing sounds, sign of a crying person came from inside a bathroom.
The lights were off so it was really hard to see, but there was a person huddled against a wall inside a bathroom.
That person, a woman, or more correct, a teen. This chick was with her legs tucked in, her arms on her knees and covering her face, barely showing details such as her long hair that covered part of her body. She was only wearing her undergarments and had been crying for an hour, maybe more.
But almost drowned those cries were under the white noise of the water overflowing from the bathtub not far from the long haired teen. The water spilling out of the bathtub went down the drain, and yet some of it still reached her, leaving a puddle of moisture that formed underneath her, although this didn't bother her or give it any thought.
Whatever caused her to cry seemed to really something big, because the mirror placed on the wall behind her had a large crack in the middle, produced by a strong punch to it, there were small blood stains on the pieces that were still attached to the wall showing part of the underlying wood and other pieces of the glass had fallen on the floor decorated with tiles, coming into contact with the water that overflowed from the bathtub.
*tick tock*
"*growl* Aaaaah!"
She slammed her fists on the wet tiles around her. Her hands were covered with white tape although they were also soaked in red, with small trickles of the vital liquid on her arms.
*sob*
The clock kept making its tick tock sound.
Some weeks later.
Months had passed after the Tanabata evening disaster. Something that made it to the news, although there were details missing from the reports and coverage.
Most of those missing details had to do with these four strange spirits causing havoc in the festival. Disbelief, perhaps? And there were no mentions of Ranma or Cologne either, which was good for both.
*footsteps on concrete*
*people talking*
The morning started, and with it the daily hustle and bustle returned.
September 4. The summer break had finished and it was the time to return to school. It was the first day of the second term, and students were on their way towards their respective schools.
The street was a tad packed with both students and people on their way to work. Some of them rushing.
One of them in particular was frankly not enthusiastic about it, he'd just rather turn around and go home again.
"*yawn*"
"Come on Ranma, we're just starting the second term…at least pretend you care"
Akane and Ranma were ln their way to Furinkan, some of their schoolmates were also on the same street, apart from students from other high schools who were also on the same route at the time.
"*yawn* Sorry, I just don't feel like dealing with this today…" he said, carrying his bag over his shoulder. This time he wasn't walking over the railing like he always did, instead of that he was on the ground just a little ahead of his fiancée "Besides, I couldn't sleep well'
*stretch* "Ah!"
*yawn*
"Hmmm" Akane turned her gaze to the front, to the street. It was not far to the school from there.
During their summer break, Akane managed to have a hiking trip to the mountains, and although she didn't achieve much in swimming or on her still not so good cooking skills, she still had a fun vacation.
He on the other hand didn't have much going on these days. No strange shenanigans, no special training regimes, no learning new moves. Well, he did take a part time job in the cinema, to pay some of the debt he had with Nabiki.
The only 'exciting' thing he had was one or two encounters he had with a couple of challengers, which were not really challenging at all.
Nothing exciting they could bring to the table, ending in a contest of basic stuff, a bit like training. Only a handful of people managed to make him give it his all, like Ryoga.
He pushed him to use his techniques and those skills he had.
But he hasn't seen him for like months, ever since the movie night. And quite frankly he has been feeling a little bored. Sure, he sparred with his old man, but it wasn't the same, Genma was a sloth at times and sometimes Ranma was ticked off with his trickery and cheating when they were sparring.
And on top of that, he kept going on and on about the code, when he would barely put what he said into practice.
He yawned again.
Any way, the two teens reached the school gates, where Akane's friends, Yuka and Sayuri were waiting for her.
"Morning Akane, morning Ranma" they greeted the pair as they jogged in their direction.
"Morning girls"
"Sup ya two"
The group of four entered into school grounds along with the rest of students.
Akane was chatting with her friends about what they did in summer break and how much fun it was. Ranma was walking behind the entourage of three, just watching them talk. Among all the students in uniform he was probably the only one if not one of the few that didn't wear the school uniform, although that was one of the few uniforms (the other being the P.E. uniform).
Odd, the pigtailed boy thought. Wasn't at that very moment that Kuno would appear spouting his Shakespearean nonsense and blocking their way just to bother Akane (or Ranma in his female form when it was a rainy morning).
But the upperclassman was nowhere to be seen in that instant.
Not that he was complaining or anything. Quite on the contrary, not seeing him for a change was a relief. He could easily take him down but at times that was a nuisance.
For once, classes were going to start without a hitch.
8:40 A.M.
Ranma and Akane were already in their classroom. Their classmates were talking among themselves about how their summer break went, some of them went to visit another country or go overseas.
The class was about to start, so most went to take their seats and the last of the late students arrived just seconds before the teacher arrived.
Outside the sky was whitish, Ranma was looking out the window.
Akane glanced briefly in his direction, before putting her attention back on their homeroom teacher going towards the podium.
'Ugh, another period…' Ranma thought still watching out the window as the teacher kept talking.
"Well, some say that a new period also means new beginnings. And interestingly so on this occasion." He walked away from the podium and closer to the first row of seats.
"Class, today a new student will be joining us" he said and looked towards the classroom door. "Please, come in"
The door opened and someone entered the classroom.
'Huh?'
A girl, the new student was female. She had long light brown hair with a side bang almost covering her left eye and a red bow behind, eyes that had an intriguing golden like hue.
She was already sporting the girls' uniform. She was of average height and build, perhaps just a couple of centimeters smaller.
Everyone had their attention on the new one of the class. Ranma furtively stole a glance before turning his gaze towards the window.
His eyes widened a bit and his attention went back to that girl in front of the class.
She looked around the classroom with a neutral expression before laying her eyes on the homeroom teacher.
"Her name is Chika Yamauchi, she comes from Oyama in the Tochigi prefecture, so I hope you all give her a cordial welcome" he then turned to her. "Please tell us something about yourself"
The new girl nodded, the teacher moved aside so she could address the whole class.
"As the teacher said, I am Chika Yamauchi. I'm 16, I used to attend to the Oyama High school, although it was for a brief period" she said warming up with everyone. "In any case, I hope we all get along" she finished with a smile.
"Well Yamauchi, your seat will be hmmm, let me see" the teacher was searching for an empty seat for her to sit on.
"Aha, there. That will be your seat" the teacher saw an empty seat, in the fourth row, second column.
Chika nodded and made her way towards her, everyone's eyes kept glued on the new student.
Before the long haired girl took her seat, she locked eyes with Ranma briefly.
Ranma saw her sit down. His seat was in the sixth row, first column near the window, Akane's seat was next to him in the sixth row, second column. And Ukyo's seat was located in the seventh row, fifth column.
Their classroom had a total of 45 seats distributed in eight rows and five columns.
And with that the first period of classes started.
Chika managed to leave a good impression overall, she came as real pretty among the boys. The girls thought she seemed like a nice girl and were ok with her.
As the subjects and classes passed, she was called up to the chalkboard at times to solve class problems. She seemed just like any other of the students, and yet, perhaps not so obviously, attention was focused on her every time she went in front of the class.
Could it have been something in her? Whatever the cause, her first day was going well.
"Next question, let's see…" the science teacher selected the next student "Tendo"
Akane got up from her seat. The question was easy for her, the short haired teen was one of the top students of the class when it came to subjects like these.
Time passed, the first period of classes ended.
And with that, recess time arrived.
'School's as boring as always'
"*stretch* Geez, thought this time wouldn't come" Ranma stretched his arm above his head, as he walked out of the classroom building.
"You keep saying that Ranma" his fiancée was behind him, and her friends were right behind her as well.
Ranma kept walking ahead of the girls, listening to them speak. They were talking about Chika, the new girl of the class. If he thought about it, she was ok. He restrained himself from yawning again, he was still bored, it didn't help that the classes so far had bored him even more.
"Hey Akane" Yuka approached her friend "after club meetings we're going to the music store, wanna come? I've been waiting to buy the new Posies album"
"Sure, why not?" Akane replied.
"What do you say we invite Chika too?" Sayuri asked the two. "Let's go together. I'm curious about what music she likes"
"Oh right, the new girl, it wouldn't be bad" Yuka was ok with that 'I mean, the first day is always tense with the introductions and the first impressions and yada yada yada"
"I wonder if she feels overwhelmed with the new ambient" Akane said "She seems nice, let's go talk with her"
Her friends nodded in agreement, and went together to see their new classmate.
Ranma didn't mind sticking around so he followed the three friends. He had to admit he had some curiosity too.
Along the way they heard some of their classmates and other students from other courses talking about the new girl.
The info was spreading like a wild fire. Similar to how it was when Ranma first arrived to the institute.
The group of four teens walked next to the soccer pitch which for the moment was not in use (there were students sitting on the small slopes around it).
They weren't much far from Ranma's favorite resting spot in school, the tree behind the metal fence near the soccer pitch.
At the east side of a T road intersection and in front of the soccer pitch, there were two red bleachers.
Sitting there they found their new classmate Chika, however, the girl was not alone.
A numerous group was around her, mostly guys sitting on the bleacher she was sitting on or standing close to it. But it looked like they were just having a friendly group conversation, and she seemed at ease with them.
Akane blinked twice.
"Huh? Would you look at that?" Yuka asked a little surprised.
'Hmmm' Ranma thought, behind the girls.
Apparently they didn't even have to worry about the new girl being lonely or not being able to make friends in her new school.
It wasn't strange considering
They still went there to at least speak with her. She looked calm and friendly.
But they were not the only ones going towards the new girl in school.
From the other side of the bleachers, Kuno was coming and his eyes were laid on Chika, it seemed that even he heard about the new student.
Akane groaned, Ranma frowned. They both knew what it felt to be constantly bothered by him. He always went for Akane and for Ranma's female side when 'she' was around.
It was thanks to him that most of the guys gave Akane a real hard time for a good while, always attacking her every morning before classes started. The Tendo girl had to battle with all of them at the entrance, barely arriving in time to her classroom after dispatching all those guys.
And for what reason? Just to date hate. What a dumb motive to cause someone so much annoyance and trouble.
Thankfully that stopped, some time after when Ranma first arrived to Furinkan.
As for Ranma, he wasn't much of a problem, more of a nuisance. He kept calling him a sorcerer that had both Akane and the girl of fiery red hair (which was his female form) under his spell.
But he was easy to get rid of. He wasn't as good as Ryoga or even Mousse when it came to fighting, so the guy wasn't really a challenge for Ranma, excluding their first encounter and a couple of fights since then.
They hoped (specially Akane) that would not be the case with the new girl in high school. Ranma and Akane knew how to deal with him and use force if needed (which was quite often because he tended to get touchy-feely with them.
But Chika didn't look like a martial artist, making things worrying because of Kuno's stubbornness.
Sporting his usual blue attire, his hakama and his thin sword made out of wood, Kuno Tatewaki was walking with a notorious air of self importance and not only because he was the captain of a sports club, in his case, kendo.
"What art mine own eyes looking at? A floweth'r in the middle of the arid des'rt. A pointeth of beauty in the midst of the mundane"
The kendoist walked closer, standing in front of the girl who was flanked by more than 20 guys in the bleachers. Some of them stepped aside to make room for him, and he felt confident, as evidenced by the subtle smile on his face.
Having no one between he and this new girl, he turned his gaze on her and rose his wooden sword.
"If the dull substance of my flesh were thought, injurious distance should not stop my way" he began to recite verbatim one of those Shakespeare poems he knew so well and recited ad nauseam.
"For then, despite of space, I would be brought from limits far remote where thou dost stay."
Ranma and Akane resisted the urge to gag at the display across them. Everyone else had an unamused look on their faces. Chika was just sitting there with a neutral expression in her factions.
He finished his poetic part tapping the tip of his bokken on the dirt.
"F'r yond is wherefore we standeth h're in front of each oth'r"
"Uhm, I'm sorry but who are you?" the long haired teen asked the sword guy standing in front of her.
"Ah, the mistress asks f'r the nameth of this gentle s'rvant. Liketh a breeze of windeth yond blows the leaves, liketh wat'r from a riv'r, t is not cullionly to anyone. Traveling through the vast air thee shall heareth the lett'rs yond f'rm the nameth of the sir bef're thee-"
Ten minutes later.
"f'r yond I am Kuno Tatewaki"
The guys in the bleachers were asking each other what time it was, to them it felt like an hour with the blue thunder speaking. Akane and her friends were bored with his excessive verbiage.
"Uh…" Chika had a sweat drop running down. Ranma's snot bubble popped waking him up. He did fall asleep albeit briefly.
"I see, nice to meet you" she said "My name's Chika Yamauchi"
"T might not but beest fate yond we meeteth" the Shakespeare aficionado flashed another subtle smile on his lips.
"Oh, I'm not so sure about that" she replied, sounding unconvinced by what the upperclassman was saying. "Anyway, it was nice to meet you"
She got up from her seat and tried to excuse herself, no longer feeling comfortable, only to find the long blade of Kuno's bokken blocking her way.
"Don't you dare!" Ranma took a step forward, indignant and worried about what he might do to her. He was going to intervene.
"O Mistress mine, where are you roaming? O, stay a-" suddenly Kuno started to feel a light headache, which made him touch his temple with his free hand.
"Huh?..." Ranma stopped in his tracks.
The light brown haired girl did not look in his direction or say something to the kendoist for a few seconds.
"I'm sorry, I'm not interested" those were her words, her voice sounded serious.
"A-are you not? I can't a-allo…." The blue thunder experienced some difficulty speaking, like the words were not coming easily.
"My apologies…"
Those two words, heard loud and clear came as a surprise, no one had heard Kuno say them before and to hear him say them was rare.
"Ugh, m-my head…"
Without even looking at her or saying anything else, the new girl left the bleachers. Some of the boys stepped aside to let her pass.
The boys voiced her disappointment and disheartening when they saw her go away, some of them leaving as well while giving the stink eye to a still sore-headed Kuno, who was feeling his temple.
"What was all that?" Ranma asked, a bit perplexed.
With Chika gone, the last of the boys in the bleachers dispersed, leaving the seats empty.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully. The first day of the second term.
5:30 P.M., the afternoon sky was covering almost everything with orange hues.
Akane met with her friends at the school gates, their club meetings have finished, so the three were about to hit the records store. Yuka was eager to buy her new music cd to play it in her compact disc portable player. Ranma was leaning against the wall, outside the school grounds, eager but just to go home.
The girls remembered they were going to ask Chika if she wanted to come along with them, but as they went back inside the school to wait for the transfer student, she was coming out but not alone.
She was coming out with a group of guys from different courses and groups, and they were all giving her their undivided attention, just like hours ago in the lunch break.
Just like before, Akane blinked twice, her friends did the same, all in synchrony. But it made sense, she just transferred today and she was pretty to boot, so it made sense she was the center of attention.
Again, something like that happened when Ranma first arrived, although the revelation of his engagement with Akane was what made him the talk of the school for days.
Her classmate was so focused with her apparent entourage that she didn't see the three girls standing at the side of the gate, passing them by and leaving the school grounds.
As the transfer student came out of the school, her eyes came in contact with Ranma's for a short instant. He followed her gaze from his spot until another student blocked his view with his burly build.
A strange and sudden feeling came over the boy with the braid, a feeling that maybe he had seen the new student before or something like that.
"Well, there she goes…" Yuka commented standing between her two friends and placing her hands on one shoulder of each of them. "Shall we go?"
He took advantage of the moment to tell his fiancée that he was going home. What he wanted most was to get home and lie down in his room.
A couple of weeks have passed.
Things at the school went by with apparent normality. There was only one thing to note.
Chika, the transfer student was getting popular, like really popular in the school. There was hardly a moment when someone did not mention her, students would pass by and pass by her classroom just to see her for a moment. Heck, even the crazy director seemed to like her a lot.
Every day she was accompanied by several boys and problems began to arise. Teachers began to notice that she was being asked more frequently for permission to go to the bathroom. There were crowds at recess time wherever the transfer student went.
Could you pass me the beaker? One of the students in the chemistry lab sporting a white lab coat was asking her partner to pass her the chemical tool so she could perform the next step of her chemistry experiment.
When she received no response and had not passed on what she had asked for, she took off her goggles and saw that she was alone in the lab and the door had been left open.
"Hey, where'd you go!?" she went to the door "You know this is an important experiment!"
But her exasperation was interrupted when she heard a bubbling noise coming from inside the lab. The mixture of chemicals she had prepared had become volatile and unstable without the stabilizing compound.
"Uh oh"
*Boom*
One afternoon, the girls were in their P.E. class, they were all gathered outside, one by one had to sprint and impulse themselves over the structure ahead (that looked like a group of small stools stacked on top of each other with a padded top).
It was Chika's turn, she went ahead, took impulse to sprint over the line of mattresses leading to the obstacle. The long haired girl used her arms to push and propel herself over the structure.
To which she was applauded by everyone, her jump was flawless.
She felt satisfied with her effort and the praise she received.
Akane was sitting with her friends near a wall, where mattresses were placed over the dirt, among the others that had already done the exercise.
The blue-haired girl saw her perform the exercise without any problems and felt impressed, not only with that but with how she was doing so far, she was becoming very popular. She still maintained a certain level of popularity among the student body, with the girls not so much.
The last student who was having some problems with the exercise managed to finish with a little help from the P.E. teacher.
"All right, take five and return here" the teacher gave them a 5 minutes break to refresh.
Akane went to the outdoor sinks next to the pool bathrooms to freshen up after an intense series of physical exercises. She turned on the faucet and splashed some water a few times, then dried her face with the white towel she was carrying on her shoulders.
"Ah, much better!"
*ring ring*
From above the roof of the restrooms, a bicycle flew through the air, landing only a short distance away from her, in full view of a group of students who looked closely at the purple head girl riding it.
"Shampoo?"
The chinese girl hearing her name, set her eyes on Akane as she was on her way to where the biker girl was standing.
"Oh, nihao dojo girl!"
"What are you doing here?" Akane rarely saw the biker chick enter the school.
"Sometimes I do delivery here, teacher call restaurant, I bring food and get money" the amazon warrior answered showing the empty metal box where the noodle bowls were usually carried in.
"And you, what you doing?"
"P.E. class, some exercise routines" Akane dried some still damp spots on her hair with the towel.
Their conversation got interrupted when the two girls saw Chika pass, not far from them.
"Who is that?"
"Oh, she got transferred here a month ago" She explained to the Chinese teenager who that was "Her name is Chika, and well, she's quite popular here" the Tendo put her hands on her hips.
Shampoo stood there watching the back of that transfer student. The chinese teen narrowed her eyes and said something puzzling.
"She be dangerous"
The blue-haired girl did not understand why the other said that. Why would she consider the transfer student a danger?. But the hardness in her eyes indicated that she wasn't kidding.
But how could she be dangerous? Sure, the boys were fixated on her unlike with the other girls in school, but that was because she was like a social magnet.
Nothing strange with it, right?
Hours later, that same day.
Ranma was by himself, he found a note on his desk written by one of his friends calling him to go to the side of the school pool.
It was 4:30 P.M., most of the students were still busy at that time, but with club related stuff, something Ranma Saotome didn't bother with.
Although he found it weird, if Hiroshi or Daisuke wanted to tell him something, they would just go to him and talk it out. And yet he knew what his friends' handwriting was like, so there was no way it was a joke or a trap.
So he went where the note said, the pool was clean and its pristine waters shone under the yellow rays of the sun. And bingo, Ranma found his two friends standing ahead and side by side.
But they were standing there, looking straight ahead. Ranma didn't give it much thought, he knew the two could come as a pair of weirdos. Still he went to his friends.
"Sup guys, what's the deal?" Ranma waved his hand with the other put on his hip, leaning forward. "Why did ya call me here?"
However both Hiroshi and Daisuke did not answer their friend, not even turning to acknowledge his presence.
"Huh…guys? Hiroshi? Daisuke?" perhaps they did not hear him well? Nonsense, he spoke loud and clear, he thought.
Suddenly his friends turned around, but something was not right. Their eyes, they had a red ring and aura around them.
"G-guys? What's going on?" Ranma asked, Hiroshi and Daisuke started to approach him in eerie silence.
The pigtailed boy backed away instinctively, what were they up to? Were they seriously going to attack him? No way, they knew Ramma was stronger. Definitively something was going on.
Ranma noticed something behind them. He heard footsteps coming from behind the two dudes.
Moving aside, they allowed that person to pass, showing it was Chika.
He was plainly confused, what was going on? Why his friends were acting like that? And what was the transfer student doing there?
Her eyes, her golden like eyes shone a little brighter than usual.
"H-hey, what's going on here?" Ranma asked cautiously, not sure of what to do. Besides the four of them no one else was in sight.
Their eyes crossed again, and this time she gave him a sunny smile with half open eyes.
"What are you-"
Hiroshi and Daisuke walked past the transfer student and soon their walk became faster and then the two dudes simply ran towards him. He didn't like that one bit, they were going to hit him. Ranma could hear someone laughing.
The first strikes came, his friends tried to kick and punch him at the same time on his leg and on his shoulder.
Ranma grabbed Daisuke's hand and Hiroshi's leg with opposite hands. The martial artist struggled a little to hold them back without applying too much force. When he looked ahead, Chika, the transfer student was no longer there.
"Nngh *struggle*"
Meanwhile he had to deal with his friends, that despite hearing him telling them to stop, they were still attacking him.
Having no option, he had to take them out but without overdoing it.
Both guys threw a combined punch towards Ranma.
He caught their fists with hid hands, and quickly take the opportunity to grab them by the head and make them collide with each other.
The blow was enough to make them dizzy before they fell to the ground.
Ranma saw his friends laying unconscious on the floor with little stars over their heads. But that was no time to stand there, what about the transfer student? Did she have something to do with what happened to his friends?
But as he turned to leave, several students from different classrooms and years appeared from all around him.
They all looked like how Hiroshi and Daisuke were looking, their eyes.
'Crap' Ranma thought, they were six or seven according to him.
But as he took a fighting stance, he saw even more schoolmates appearing and trying to corner him.
'What the heck!?" and they went after him, rushing towards the pigtailed boy.
Ranma jumps backwards to dodge the onslaught of the other boys, they were acting like a mindless mob, acting on impulse.
Fighting then would take him time, so he had no option but to escape from there, he had to use the secret Saotome technique, without the fancy theatricals like how he used it against Ryoga. This situation was uncertain, perhaps even more uncertain than it was in that time.
Ranma ran away from there, being followed closely by that group of pursuing him.
He left the school grounds, the group of other students weren't far.
The martial artist had to lose them, get away from them and try to get to the bottom if this situation.
He ran across the street fast, his pursuers were on his trail, but as long as they did not find him.
People looked on in surprise to see a young boy being chased by several students from the same school.
As the young boy ran he was beginning to distance himself from the crowd that was chasing him.
"Gotta get away from them!"
Ranma made a stop near a narrow corridor to catch his breath, he has been running for ten minutes, getting intercepted at different points, and although he got some distance, he wasn't out of the woods yet, near him and behind an electric light pole were a couple of garbage cans next to it.
Knowing that it was only a matter of time before they would catch up with him, he opted to hide behind them. Soon, like six Furinkan students came from the corner and looked around briefly before moving on, continuing the pursuit.
They lost sight of each other at the next intersection ahead, spreading to cover more ground.
Seconds later, Ranma resurfaced, his head sticking out from behind the trash cans.
After making sure no one was following him anymore, he sighed. There were lots of questions, but the main one of them was: "What the heck was going on?".
End of Chapter 3.
Author's notes: Greetings everyone, Ranko here with the author's note. Let's go.
First, I'm sorry for taking longer for this chapter's publishing but a lot of things happened in this time span, and although I've felt a little overwhelmed, I still want to see this story reach its conclusion.
Second, the world is going through complicated times. I don't know much about the current situation of both sides (mass media doesn't help much when they have their own agenda as well) but I know there is nothing to gain from conflict, only losers. Therefore, it is better to reach peaceful conclusions through dialogue. No to war!
Third, and back to the story, I have some chapters already finished and ready for further revision. I'm kinda bummed no one is dropping any review, but I guess I have to roll with it. Expect new chapters soon so like, drop a comment and follow me.
Anyway, that's all for this. I thank those who like and follow this story. I'll try my best to continue this story as best as I can.
Without further ado, I hope you all have a good time.
Ranko out!