Disclaimer: I don't own YuYu Hakusho or Ranma 1/2

What do ya get when you pit someone who attracts chaos against someone who IS chaos itself?

You get Ranma vs Recruit.

Enjoy :D

"Ranma, wait up!" Akane hurried, rushing after her fellow Furinkan High School student hurriedly pacing out of the front door to accompany him to the establishment. Just because they had been walking to school together since day one of their dysfunctional relationship it had become their routine. Not sticking to the script would make her feel like she had done something to aggravate him needlessly.

"Leave me alone, will ya!" Ranma snapped, actually evoking a flinch from his former fiancée from the sheer venom in his tone. As if sensing her frightful hesitance, Ranma's face softened to bitter remorse, "I just… need to be left alone, okay?"

"But Ranma-!" She pressed, but the cursed martial artist pushed through the entrance of the dojo, heading toward the dojo's exit at breakneck speed, "Ranma!" When he disappeared from view, Akane's own features softened in sympathy, a hand on her chest, "…Ranma."

"Let him go, Akane," The newest house guest suggested in a relaxed tone.

She snapped around, a little annoyed at Yusuke's seemingly cold, uncaring indifference to Ranma's plight as the aforementioned young man leaned up against the wall behind her with his arms crossed, "But Urameshi-!"

"Don't worry about it," Yusuke cut in, "He probably just needs to blow off some steam. You know, after last night and all."

Akane's eyes softened, "That's what I don't get though," She pointed out, "He's getting rid of all of his engagements. I thought he would be happy."

"Yeah, that would seem odd, huh?" Yusuke grinned slyly, "But I think I gotta an idea of Ranma's beef."

Akane blinked, "You do?"

Yusuke followed up with a nod, pushing himself from his perch up against the wall, "C'mon, I'll walk ya to school. I'll lay it out to ya on the way."

"Okay."

Yusuke jerked his head in the direction of the walkway to roar with authority, "Yo, Ryo! Heading out for a sec. Do those stretches I showed ya while I'm gone! When I get back we're heading out to a find nice spot to train. Gotta real sweet evasive technique to show ya."

"Really?"

"Really. It's called dodge."

"Hey!"

"Hahaha!" Yusuke bellowed out with hearty laughter, straightening his posture back to Akane after one last give and take by way of farewell, "Alright, catch ya in a bit." He elevated his eyebrow in a perfect display of feigned ignorance to Akane's look of stifled amusement, "What?"

"You shouldn't make fun of Ryoga," She insisted, though her bursts of suppressed laughter spoke the contrary.

A sparkle of opportunity glinted in Yusuke's right eye, "Ah, I see how it is," He remarked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively Akane's way, though the implications were flying way over her head, "Coming to my lil bro's aid like that. Don't even try to hide it. You got your sights on him now, right?"

Now the full weight of Yusuke's sassy innuendo dawned on Akane in full. If there was one thing Akane could easily decipher if not hints and clues then it was the more direct approach of playful teasing, just because it didn't require her to think too much on the subject of romance. Watching the bright curtain fall of cherry blossoms rise over the girl's flushed face was the sweet spot for the demonic powerhouse.

"What?! No! Ryoga's the sweetest friend ever! I would never-!"

"I got ya, I got ya," Yusuke soothed, inwardly cringing at Akane's induction of Ryoga in her friend zone, 'Ouch! Hope Ryo didn't hear ANY of that. She just friend-zoned his ass hard,' He concluded internally, somewhat resisting the urge to shake his head and pinch the bridge of his nose in his self-annoyance if only to not totally drop the ball in regard to his self-proclaimed little brother's crush on her.

Even if Ryoga hadn't actually informed him of Akane's complete ignorance to his feelings toward her, it went without saying. With Ryoga's timid nature when interacting with an attractive female like Akane, it was entirely natural to assume he would run into trouble professing his quote-unquote undying love for her. The fact that he was still chasing after her was all the evidence Yusuke needed to just know Akane was unaware of Ryoga's crush on her.

That and he wasn't an idiot. Just simple-minded.

'Got my work cut out for me match-making them together,' He mulled over, his brow souring, 'If they ever.' He liked Ryoga. He was a good guy if not a little on the pathetic side so he tended not to think of the likely outcome of his and Akane's forgoing relationship, but he was practical, not idealistic. He knew such one-sided match-ups like Ryoga and Akane usually ended in the other's unrequited love.

He banished said pondering thoughts of whether the two were compatible to the deepest parts of his mind and offered his arm to the girl in a gentlemanly manner, sassy grin sweeping across his lips, "Alright, shall we hit the road, madam?"

Akane beamed. Being jestingly treated like a proper lady by a ruffian play-acting as a defined gentleman was a beat she could sing to, "Sure!~" She intertwined her arms around his, almost letting go from the refined muscles she heavenly felt, marvelling at their solid structure, "Why, thank you, my fair honourable gentleman." Yusuke snickered, leading the girl off the dojo premises and onto the sidewalk by the canel's fence line: Ranma's usual walking perch.

"I just don't get it," Akane mentioned, "Ranma's getting all his loose ends cut off. I thought he'd be happy if we're no longer engaged. Even Shampoo's stopped chasing him now," She crinkled up her features in frustration, "Ugh! I just don't get him!"

"Ranma's just a prideful guy," Yusuke offered, gesturing his free arm forward open at the palm by way of explanation, "I'm sure under normal circumstances he'd be thrilled to be clearing his plate, if he was the one cleaning it himself," He homed in, "Ranma's just the kinda dude who likes to take care of stuff himself, without help, you feel?"

She glanced down slightly in remorse, "That's so… ugh!" She stomped her foot a bit, only slightly disrupting their easy pace, "If it gets rid of all his problems, it shouldn't matter if he had help at all! Ugh, idiot! He makes me so mad!"

"I feel ya," The godlike demon taken humanoid form agreed easily, "But guys like Ranma are very touchy about their pride. They think having help makes 'em weak."

Akane smiled grimly, "Tell me about it." In some respects, she could sympathize with Ranma's forgoing quandary having been in his exact shoes when he unintentionally rid her of her myriad of challenging suitors. It rubbed her much the wrong way as Yusuke's intervention was rubbing him the wrong way that he had helped her be rid of them, even by mistake, but she could get over it and move on, then so could he too in her opinion. He just needed to stop being difficult.

"Ranma just needs to learn having a hand doesn't make him weak," He shook his head, grinning ruefully, "Actually, it makes him the opposite."

Akane turned his way, eyes shining with interest, "Really?"

Yusuke nodded with a hum, "Ever heard of the old saying 'It takes a big man to walk away from a fight, but it takes a bigger man to admit he was wrong'?" Akane nodded, "Well apply a similar concept to this. It's easy as hell to point out other people's shortcomings but not so much to call out your own. It takes a big man to look at himself and admit that him by his number one self isn't gonna cut it; that he needs the help of his pals to get the job done."

Akane just stared, gazing up at her senior's unexpected aged countenance in silent awe. He chose his words carefully, it was actually a little surprising to her. The general concept Akane had of Yusuke was that he was one of those hotshot ruffians who roamed the streets looking for trouble, simply based on his style. His medium green dress shirt always remained open allowing those glancing his way to see his sleeveless white wife beater tank top and dog penchant chain marking him as a ghetto thug. Even his raven-hair was slicked back by way of delinquency.

If this wasn't the image of a ruffian Akane didn't know what was. Yet despite all his outward frat-boy show his words were thoughtful, wise, and above all else; real.

"Watch it, you. You're starting to sound like an old man," Akane teased.

Yusuke grinned, caressing the back of his head, "Yeah, I guess, though when you've been through the stuff I have you can't help but feel old."

"What have you been doing?" Akane asked, tilting her head in perplexity, uncertainty shining in her eyes. He made it legitimately sound like he had been dealing with all sorts of psychological affairs for years to have matured well ahead of his physical years, but he didn't look any older than twenty. The only saving graces keeping Yusuke's claim from being entirely farfetched were the few misadventures she had gone on with Ranma during the latter's time in the district of crazy and his overwhelming strength, especially the power. Someone who could effortlessly manhandle the greatest annoyance any of them had ever had to deal with in Happosai most likely had a lofty backstory explaining the origins behind its requirement.

Akane would be lying if she said she wouldn't be intrigued to learn how a young man that couldn't be much older than her could obtain such power and if she herself could ever be that strong.

"I used to work for a detective agency," Yusuke remarked.

"No way."

"Totally."

"Get out!"

"I'll stay right here thank you very much."

"You actually worked as a detective?"

"As true as the sky is blue."

"I don't believe it," Akane breathed out, glancing up to the clouds overhead, "That sounds incredible. You must have been a part of some really neat stuff, huh?"

"You bet," Yusuke clarified, gaze lulling over with fondness, "Kidnapping, conspiracy cases, and even all-out assaults, I did a little of everything. Even murder too."

Akane flinched, turning startled eyes to Yusuke's relaxed, prideful grin, softening soothingly to her discomfort. He knew that discovered case was always guaranteed to be an unsettling one for her or anyone outside of his typical crew to hear. Murder was not a concept so subsidiary that a minor could be part of without coming out bearing deep psychological scars. Neither were any of the cases Yusuke mentioned he took part in during his time as a detective, but murder was on its own level of grim.

'No wonder he sounds so old,' Akane snapped to realization in her mind. Just witnessing a murder let alone discovering the murderer would force just about anyone to grow up well ahead of their years, 'Did he even have the chance to be a kid?'

The light-hearted atmosphere the two exuded in their stroll to school dampened.

"How old were you went you joined the detective agency?" Akane asked carefully.

"Fourteen," He answered, breezy fanged grin still etched onto his face like it belonged, soothing Akane's concern for his questionable sanity.

'It's just as I thought,' She realized, eyes saddening mercifully to the ground her feet sauntered upon, 'He never got the chance to grow up.' She perked up in curiosity to the flick to her forehead by two fingers, flicking her head up to Yusuke's puckish grin, "Urameshi-san!"

"Appreciate the concern honestly, but don't get so worked up over it. My time in the agency were some of the best damned years of my life I assure you," He gazed ahead of them, eyes softening in heartfelt recognition of cherished memories of his time as a Sprit Detective and all the friends and allies he made that he recalled, leaving Akane staring up at him in a refreshed perception; one that was light and positive.

She had been given perspective and with it, her respect for the powerhouse enigma grew. At first glance, Yusuke could almost be mistaken as a ne'er-do-well ruffian two steps short of bad mouthing the wrong police officer and ending up in the penitentiary, but assuming that of him without getting to know him would be unfair. Under that hard-man persona lied an experienced veteran who had been forced to mature at a young age, but if all the selfless acts he had showed her already were any indication he had turned out more than decent.

"You're a good man, Urameshi-san," Akane complimented sincerely.

"Thanks," Yusuke soaked it up, "You're not half bad yourself, Akane."

"Humph." Akane lightly scoffed to Yusuke's half-hearted compliment of her character, "You know, I bet Shampoo will be pretty happy her beloved is such a great guy," She sassed, giggling mischievously when Yusuke's expression immediately soured.

"Ptff. As if. She doesn't love me. She only loves the idea of me," Yusuke corrected perceptively.

Akane blinked, "So you're not into Shampoo?"

"Hell no! She's a pain."

"But you were letting her hug you and what's more, you were enjoying it!" Akane pressed on pointedly, eyes narrowing in sudden suspicion, "Hey," He just stared into her eyes questionably, devoid of any sense of nervous fear she had come accustomed to seeing when she pinned her accusing glare on Ranma, "You're not just planning on stringing Shampoo along with a bunch of other girls? Well. Are you?"

"I'm no sleazebag," Yusuke answered flatly, holding his gaze firmly against Akane's own fierce judging glance, "S'not gonna happen. I don't run that way. The day I hook up with any girl is the day I change my Facebook status to 'in a relationship'. I'm a one-woman guy."

Akane's expression lightened, her countenance splitting off in a wide bright smile, satisfied that Yusuke had passed her improvised internal test, "Good!" That he was indeed the man she concluded him to be; a sensible, compassionate man she was beginning to admire.

The ambience around them returned to its former serene glory.

Not long after their seemingly established friendship did Yusuke bring them to a halt outside the usual pair of gates Akane once purposefully charged through to meet the head on assault of dozen jocks, "Well, here's your stop," Yusuke quipped.

Akane gasped silently, blinking up at her school of crazy dumbly, "Oh?" She was wondering how much time had actually passed since they set off from the Tendo dojo. It couldn't have been more than ten seconds for all the scenery she noticed, which was none. So immersed in their conversation she felt as though they had been whisked to Furinkan by a teleporting magic carpet.

Yusuke chuckled, "Yeah, I feel ya. Time flies when you're having fun, huh?"

Akane giggled in kind, "Yeah you're right," She squirmed, almost reluctantly, out of her hold on Yusuke's muscular arm, being painfully reminded just how good it felt coming into contact with refined muscles as her arms brushed against his, "Thank you for walking me to school," She said in a low tone, straightening her posture maidenly, her handbag held below her waist in her hands, "And for the talk too. I really appreciate it! I feel like… like I know you a bit better now," She graced him with a content smile.

"No probs," To her surprise Yusuke wrapped her up in a one-armed embrace, pressing her against him and his sculptured figure of heavenly mould, "Glad I could be of service. Remember you got me on speed dial," He whispered resolutely into her hair, "Don't hesitate to buzz if things go south for whatever crazy reason or just need someone to talk to. I'll come running or I'll give you my ear."

It took a moment for the normally pervert-hater to register the skin-on-skin contact of intimacy, but she soon found herself returning it against her better judgement, snaking slender arms around a muscular built and relaxing contently against its solid built. A single, shameless thought of forsaking school for the reminder of the day to just linger against this godlike entity's chest passed through her mind, but she discarded it.

'What am I doing?' She found herself realizing. She was allowing herself to be aroused, getting off on the 'hot guy' embracing her compassionately without even being sexual. In other words, being the very low-life thing she ridiculed many boys for being; a pervert. She wanted to push him away, but her stimulation just wasn't full, and so, she found herself almost snuggling against him, forcefully keeping a moan from seeping from her mouth.

"Thank you, Urameshi-san," She found saying out of instinct to sway her mind from her lustrous thoughts involving Yusuke.

Yusuke broke the hug, stepping out of Akane's personal space much to the girl's expertly hidden chagrin behind a mask of sweetness, "Anytime," If he was aware of her bona-fide masturbation of his solid frame he didn't let it show, "Listen, gotta get back and put Ryo through his paces. You be good, y'hear?"

"Got it!~" Akane chirped sardonically, a sickly sweet smirk emerging on her face, "In the meantime, you try and go easy on Ryoga. It isn't nice to bully the weak."

Ouch. Calling Ryoga weak too on top of already inducting him to her friend-zone. That had to sting his ego if he had one. "I make no promises," He joked, getting a rueful shake of the head from the girl. He pivoted smoothly on his heel, sauntering from Akane with a wave over his shoulder, "See ya."

"See you later, Urameshi-san." She stood, mesmerized in place to the view Yusuke had unintentionally rewarded her with, even just walking with a casual swagger not actively doing anything to warrant the full undivided attention of the opposite sex: and yet, Akane's gaze remained pinned to his figure, roaming every inch of his muscular frame a series of times, each time removing an article of clothing until he was down to his briefs in her perception…

'Oh, get a grip, Akane!' She told herself resolutely, fiercely shaking her head. Forcefully, she pried her lecherous gaze away from the envisioned naked man, instantly getting the unbearable urge to look back. Hesitatingly, she stole a peek, losing herself again in the realm of day dream, 'Oh no.'

This wasn't good.

She couldn't possibly be falling for Urameshi-san, could she?

Coasting Through Life

C

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SIX

When Chaos Collide

Ranma was frightened like he had absolutely never been before, huddled in on himself on his desk as he let out shuddering breaths, tightly embracing his arms for the sought-out security he desperately desired. For the first time in ever, Ranma fought against his natural instincts to accept the bait from a challenger coming for his proverbial head, and bolted, scurrying off to school with his tails between his legs. He cared little for the fact Akane had beaten him to Furinkan.

Just as long as he was away from that murderous cannibal he would content himself on whatever little losses he had as a consequence for going off kilter. So submerged he was in his nightmarish thoughts of a gloved hand being driven through Mousse's chest like a spear before being doused in cold water so the last remnants of his life would leave him in curse form he didn't even notice Ukyo still pining for his affection.

He didn't even give her the time of day. He didn't acknowledge her presence, in fact.

He was used to fights becoming lethal, but no matter high the ante was raised they never crossed that very delicate line of dick-measuring contests to all-out death matches. This was all too real and grim.

'Who would wanna do Mousse in, though?' He found himself pondering thoughtfully, biting down on his thumb. He made a myriad of enemies during his time in Nerima, Mousse being one of them, but they were usually just that; antagonists out to one up him for the hand one of the ladies yearning for his affection. They had spoken about killing him, even threatened to, but had always been metaphorical. They only exaggerated their threats just to sound more intimidating than they should.

Hell, they had never even drawn actual bodily fluid blood from each other in any of their scuffles.

At most, Ranma would send them packing with a few bruised ribs and a bruised ego, so they could challenge him again and again until they were all old and grey.

'Unless it was those Jusenkyo Preservation guys,' He mulled over, nonchalantly tilting back on his chair's two legs until the sudden blast of realization prompted him to straighten up like a whip, 'Of course! It has to be 'em! Duh! That's totally obvious!' He recalled Cologne's relay on the enigmatic, villainous organization. It wasn't much, given that she was as much in the dark about the apparent peacekeepers as he was, but it was enough for Ranma to suspect them as prime suspects in Mousse's potential murder. Cologne even flat out stated they would most likely kill someone breaking their code of conduct.

'Well nothing else screams 'crook' better than actually busting outta jail,' Ranma quipped bitterly, clenching fists and sucking through his teeth as he shuddered in his anger. He had never been truly fond of Mousse so he couldn't say he was saddened by his likely death, just murdering anyone was a definite method to earn his distaste. No one should die by the hands of another, especially in the horrifying manner Mousse had. It sickened Ranma to the bone.

'What's gotten into him?' Akane wondered beside his desk, feeling afar despite sitting right next to him, 'First he runs off to school by himself and now this!' She softened her gaze mercifully, 'Is your pride really so important to you, Ranma?'

'Ranma-honey looks pretty shaken up,' Ukyo analysed, optimistic smirk still etching onto her face despite her negative observation of her beloved, 'Meh, nothing my cooking can't fix, and with Akane out of the way getting to Ranma should be a cinch.' She almost couldn't believe her ears when Akane had flat out told her she and Ranma were finished pointlessly trying to wed for the sake of their father's schools. She had to pause as if she were slow, just to take a moment to fully swallow her former romantic rival's no-nonsense statement.

If Ukyo wasn't in school she was sure she would've exploded in overblown joy. She did have a reputation to uphold so she managed to contain herself, but only barely. For Akane, arguably her most dangerous contender in the race for Ranma's hand, to all of a sudden drop out… it was too good to be true.

As much as it pained Ukyo's pride to admit even to herself, Akane was likely the forerunner. She did possess an inherent advantage none of the girls could ever pry from her no matter how persuasive they tried to be, in that she lived with Ranma, thus was afforded extra time with him. Add to the fact she technically knew Ranma first.

Claiming Ranma was well within her hands. Spontaneously pulling out the race…

Ukyo couldn't be happier.

'Heh, I can just picture our honeymoon now,' The Okonomiyaki specialist envisioned the two's warm, intimate holiday on a romantic, faraway tropical island like they had just gotten married right there in school, chin lay atop her palm as she giggled contently, staring at Ranma's back from her place behind him. Content to drift blissfully in the realm of day dream.

Deeply engrossed as she were it made the sudden magnetic-like pull back to reality that much more jarring when the entire front classroom door itself exploded off of its hinges, followed by a huge portion of the wall, allowing smoke in waves to billow amongst the startled gasps and horrified shrieks of the students.

"What the hell?" She shot to her feet, hands slammed against the surface of her desk.

"What the hell is right," Her fiancé followed suit, eyes narrowed in suspicion, "I got a bad feeling about this."

The culprit was fast revealed, the plumes of his destruction swelling around his decidedly underwhelming image. It took some of the sting off the tension for the students seeing a screwy military-dressed individual, but just a little. Anyone who could bust through walls as easily as hay was not someone any normal student wanted to trifle with.

Ranma, however, froze, heart stopping and eyes dilating wide to the recognizable figure he had seen mere moments before, "It's you," He breathed out almost in a hushed whisper, promptly causing inquisitive eyes to turn one another followed by hushed whispers of gossip.

"You know this guy, Ranma?" Akane asked, concern unhidden in her eyes.

Ranma scowled, blood heating in his veins, "Yeah. Saw him a little while ago eating a roast duck."

Akane gasped at the implications, hands clamping over her mouth, "You don't think…?"

"Who knows!?" Ranma responded back sharply, glare never leaving the shielded gaze of his likely adversary, "But I hope not!" Mousse was a lot of things, but even he didn't deserve to die. No one did, "So Mr Soldier-guy, what gives? Any special reason for the big ol' grand entrance or do ya just like to show off?" He asked the military soldier directly with his patented sarcasm. He felt it was better off being snarky to hide his fear of this situation turning into a bloodbath.

Recruit's words were as decisive as they were elaborate, "Tango acquired."

"He's after Ranma?"

"Well, no shit. Who else could he want?"

"Go figure."

Ranma bristled at the unanimous decision, "Aw, screw the lot of ya!" Huffing in irritation to himself, earning a sympathetic smile from Ukyo in the process, Ranma turned to his latest opponent, thumbing his chest confidently, "Wanna piece of this? Then come and get it!"

Recruit made a gesture as if indicating he would make good on Ranma's acceptance, but hesitated noticeably, shifting glances that could be described as uncertain to Ranma's classmates then back to the braided haired martial artist himself, obviously trying to convey a message in regard to them.

"What?" Ranma asked blankly, "What about them?"

"I think he's worried they'll get caught in the crossfire," Akane offered.

Ranma's face fell into a blank state of stunned incomprehension, "Really?" Recruit nodded, seemingly giving the girl beside his desk the tiniest of thankful smiles, much to her awkward acceptance, "Interesting." He obviously wasn't a mindless killer or straight up bad guy in the deepest ends of the black spectrum otherwise he would have no qualms injuring anyone to get to Ranma.

"So now, what?"

"Yeah, if he can't attack Ranma until he moves we kinda at a stalemate."

Ranma shadow boxed the air in the direct direction of Recruit's face in experimentation, not even getting so much as a flinch from his military-dressed assassin, "Uh, whaddya know, he really won't attack if I'm around innocent bystanders."

Akane let out a visible sigh of relief before rummaging through her blouse, "Oh, I get it. As long as you stay near even just one of us he'll have his hands tied," A smile worked its way onto her face, ignorant of the dry gazes she received from Ukyo and Ranma from her retelling of Ranma's observation, "If I just call Urameshi-san, I'm sure he ca-."

"NO!" Ranma cut off any such suggestions of assistance from the older teen with a furious, belligerent yell, causing Akane to flinch. Paying no heed to the gossip questioning the identity of Yusuke and wondering if he were the same 'infamous' one he charged from his decided sanctuary amidst the other students, skidding to a stop across from the shining gaze of opportunity of his opponent, "It's me you want, isn't it!? Well, here I am!"

He turned, sprinted over to the window and pulled it open with purpose before leaping headstrong in the wide-open sky, not surprising anyone considering this wasn't the first time they had seen him soar from a third floor of a four-story building.

"Ranma-honey!" That was all Ukyo was able to get out right before the entire flooring of which the two combatants stood on was ripped by an upheaval of such kinetic force the fierce gust of wind comparable to a mini tornado appeared in its wake, flipping over the front desks of the classroom and knocking said students over.

"WAH!"

"HOLY SHIT!"

The next Ranma-hunter had literally torn the classroom asunder on his route to his prey, ploughing through the glass window itself instead of jumping over it, leaving a wide gaping hole in the wall that let in all the cold of the outside world.

Absentmindedly, as they helped their fellow students up, assuring they fortunately didn't suffer any concessions from the sudden impact they realized they had to count themselves lucky that he wasn't willing to go through them to get to Ranma, otherwise he would've decimated them all just by simply charging toward them.

XxX

'Didn't mean to overreact like that, but at least this way no one'll get caught in the crossfire,' Ranma deadpanned, annoyed and mostly disappointed with his outburst as he continued to descend at a high frequency. He liked to think he could maintain his composure so for him to flip so melodramatically left a sour taste in his mouth, 'Oh well, guess I can just blow off some steam on militar-.'

The devastating ear-splitting sounds of shattering glass shards and a detonation akin to a bomb going off rang in his ear, prematurely ending his declaration the same time a solid clutch likened to a bear's grip tightened around the back of his head, prompting him to widen his eyes comically.

"Holy hell!" He could do nothing other than helplessly flap his arms up and down like a chicken as he was driven downward so forcefully numerous rings of air manifested through the driven downward push he was on the end of, sinking into the ground as the entire playground was upheaved, several huge spikes of stone now protruding from the ruined ground.

He was yanked from his face down position in the annihilated ground to his back to meet the shielded gaze of his current tormentor, still scowling defiantly at Recruit even as the one-man wrecking team tightened a fist above his head.

With all the momentum he could muster, Ranma hauled his entire weight heavily to the left, flinging himself from Recruit's grasp with enough force to make him bounce off of the elevated rocks just as Recruit's gloved fist buried into the ground, producing a shockwave that shattered the protruding crags and further cratered the ground, sending Ranma tumbling in a frenzy just from the violent winds the mere power generated from his earth-shattering punch created.

"Darn it!" Ranma grimaced, stopping against the now curved walls of a fairly deep crater he resided in, rolling down the edges before halting his momentum. He pushed himself up to his knees, eyes widening to the rocky terrain he now found himself in, "No way. The guy just turned the playground into a pit with one stinking punch." He dawned on him just how grave a mistake he had made overlooking his luck by leaving the other students, 'Maybe I shoulda just let Akane call the jerk to handle this juggernut after all?'

Recruit wasn't about to let him get away, not after isolating him from other civilians he was powerless to inflict harm upon due to his own kind-hearted nature. He zoomed, tearing a wide, square-shaped chunk off of the ground from the charge and appeared before Ranma's widened eyes, thundering a fist to his face he just barely inched out of the way of, though the air pressure shrouding Recruit's speedy fist ripped into his shoulder-blade, tearing the fabric of his red Chinese shirt.

'Aw nuts! Now he doesn't even need to land a hit on me to do any damage!' He was trapped in a frenzy, backpaddling with all the tangible urgency of his life being in serious legitimate danger of ending as thunderous right and left hooks were rocketed toward his panicked visage, cutting into his cheekbones with the powerful armour-like coats of sheer air pressure his flying limbs were shrouded in, 'Crap, crap, crap!'

He found his back pressed up the proverbial wall of the jagged edges of the crater, eyes widening in horror to the dire predicament he was caught in with his foe bearing down his neck, winding up another wrecking ball-empowered punch.

Instinctively, he threw his body into a barrel roll, narrowly avoiding a cataclysmic blow and consequently, similar large-scale destruction to the ruined area ahead of them. The surrounding gates barring entry to the school grounds and the parking lot it shielded were simply no more, decimated from the explosive impact triggered by Recruit's mini nuke-level punch.

He forced himself to his knees once again, ignoring his searing wounds across his thoroughly shredded countenance. Finally, all his pain endurance training his old man forced him to do was paying off in spades, "Damn it…" He turned his head to the collision of a thousand explosions, eyes dilating to the numerous spider cracks and wide cervice split open in the slope, "This guy's nuts…!"

Danger signals were detected in his warrior's instincts, but his body just couldn't react to the instantaneous-like movement. He took a blow to his sternum, feeling the solid boot-clad foot rip his muscle tissues in his chest apart, bruising his skin while the momentum of the punt carried him skyward with such ferocity it was as if he had flown using a jetpack.

"Ugh!" He grunted, wheezing in the agony of his bruised sternum. Every time he breathed in air he felt as though he was being stabbed several times over, 'Crap… that smarts. I'm in the air, though. My domain.' Recruit didn't give him a moment's rest, didn't afford him the luxury of descending at his own leisure and jumped, soaring to the heavens like a rocket to reach his target, forcing said target to skillfully weave out of dodge allowing him to pass by a hair, 'Gimme a break.'

Recruit nosedived back at him, but it was clear to the disciple of the air bound fighting style the powerhouse brawler was inexperienced in air fighting, allowing him to surprisingly take the ascendancy and deliver a three-hit combination of kicks, flipping him from his diving position, twisting him inside out and finally slamming him back toward the playground-turned-crater they started in.

"Ha! How do ya like 'em apples, pal?!" Ranma bragged, coasting on his laurels to space. "No one can dethrone a Saotome in an air fight." He felt a large measure of deep satisfaction hearing the impact of his opponent's fall and cloud of dust erupting as a result with his enhanced vision honed from years of intense training, "Suck on that, jerk!" Showing impeccable zoom once more, Ranma caught sight of a crimson star-shaped shine glowing through the dust cloud, raising his eyebrow, "What's that?"

A high humming sound of a halo suddenly whooshed into existence, birthing entry to a towering blood-red beam of light shooting upward on a one-way course to Ranma-extinction, causing said target to widen his eyes substantially.

"Holy crap!" He pushed the upper half of his body back, narrowly evading fiery doom, the sheer heat of the blinding red light burning into his face, "What else is this guy hiding up his sleeve?" He couldn't worry about that now, his main concern being the barrage of rocketing pillars blasting his way from Recruit's now unshielded eye sockets, pulling his frame in numerous directions at such a speed he unintentionally created the delusion there were several duplications of himself all dodging Recruit's faint, blood-red light blasts of doom, 'Darn it! How much juice has he got in the tank? He's gotta be running low on fumes.'

At least he hoped, because Ranma didn't how long he could keep up the act of evasion. Visible sweat was beginning to coat his forehead and armpits, soaking his shirt.

A flash of inspiration hit him like a truck when his eyes honed in on the bane of his existence and one thing he made sure to avoid like the plague since his time at Furinkan, reflecting the sun's brightness on its liquid surface, 'Well, beats being target practice,' He mused dryly, diving vertically to the pool across campus, thanking his lucky stars each pillar of death dissipated within moments of missing him otherwise his spontaneous on-the-feet solution would've been much more difficult to pull off.

Recruit also lacking any real semblance of complete control over his laser beams helped too seeing as the demolition man could only fire off his beams in one direction only. Knowing that, he ceased firing once Ranma was way out of range by re-cladding his eyes in his ski glasses and instead took off, further rupturing the ground just by the earth-shattering pressure produced from his flight-like charge, easily singling out Ranma's increasingly smaller-looking frame and powering after it shrouded in an intense aura of air pressure alone.