This story wasn't originally mine, I adopted it from Ten-Faced Paladin.
My future chapters may not be like this one but I'll try my best in the future.
"You know, I think this has to be the best one yet."
"Totally."
The two speakers were a pair of students whom were standing at the front gate of their school, both with bags of popcorn in their hands, munching away. One had short hair which was smooth with slightly narrow eyes while the other had shaggy hair with wider eyes. Their names were Hiroshi (shaggy hair) and Daisuke (narrow eyes) and both were students at the somewhat infamous Furinkan High School, centre of weirdness for the Nerima district. Next to them and sitting on the outer wall with his chin resting in his hand and scorched Chinese clothes was their common friend and constant source of (good natured) amusement, Ranma Saotome.
Usually at this time of day they would have been in class, at least Hiroshi and Daisuke would. Ranma would probably either have been in class or dealing with another angry fighter who wanted a bone to pick with either him or his father depending on the situation. However, that was not to be today as Furinkan High School was now sporting a large hole in its front which covered several floors and had been on fire, at least until the emergency crews had arrived on time for a change.
It had all started when Principal Kuno once again tried to force students to be late for class so he could be allowed to punish them by either giving them all haircuts or make them practically worship a bust of him in a locked room below his office so they could escape. This time his big plan was to fill the hallways with traps that would become active when the warning bell rang so the students could be late for class when they would trigger them while they attempted to get to class. After that, he'd patrol the halls and jump anyone who was forced to stand outside, aiming for his usual punishment of buzz-cuts for boys and bowl-cuts for girls. As the norm for Furinkan, Ranma had been once again forced into the hall since he and Akane had gotten into a fight once again over Ranma supposedly staring at Ms. Hinako's adult form. Avoiding being drained by the ki vampire, Ranma went to the hall with Akane before both were jumped by Principal Kuno. The resulting fight passed through the entire school before Principal Kuno got caught inside one of his own flame traps with a pineapple bomb which went up and took several sections of floor with it, resulting in the current situation.
"The stupid moron shouldn't have been using flamethrower traps," Ranma sighed, eyeing the elder Kuno being carried away by paramedics while wrapped up like a mummy.
"Good thing the Chemistry Club wasn't using that room today though," Hiroshi continued, munching his popcorn. His statement was referring to the chemistry clubroom which Principal Kuno had been storing the fuel for his fire traps which had went up the same time he did. It certainly explained why a simple pineapple bomb took out so much of the school.
"True," Daisuke agreed. Glancing up from his snack, he looked to Ranma. "So where is Akane? Usually she's here telling you you're an idiot or something."
"Hanging out with Yuka and Sayuri I think," Ranma replied easily. "Can't really say it wasn't my fault this time."
"Well, Principal Kuno shouldn't be laying traps like that anyway," Hiroshi argued. "Maybe finally someone will notice and fire him."
"With the kind of money he has? Not likely," Daisuke disagreed. Glancing at Ranma, he noticed the pigtailed martial artist wasn't enjoying seeing a Kuno in pain like he usually would and instead seemed more distant from the usual chaos. Anyone who kept their ears to the vein of Nerima's resident peacekeeper/chaos magnet could guess why the pigtailed boy seemed so out of it lately. "So things haven't been getting better since that whole wedding thing?"
"I wish," Ranma muttered, his eyes losing focus as he remembered what was probably the biggest Fiancée Brigade spat of all time. He and Akane Tendo, his so-called 'true' fiancée as proclaimed by his father Genma and Soun Tendo, had almost been married thanks in no small part to Soun holding a cask of Spring of Drowned Boy water hostage. However before the ceremony could actually start, the fiancées crashed it, guns blazing, ready to take down Akane by any means and/or take her place at the altar, whichever came first. The dojo Ranma called home was almost destroyed in the ensuing fight and the Nannichaun water was likewise lost, leaving all the Jusenkyo-cursed boys present slumped in depression for a few days.
Shaking his head to forget that time, Ranma just sighed, "Akane's been eyeing me like a hawk, acting like the moment she can't see me I'm doing something perverted to some helpless girl. Ukyo's been turning the drama up every time she sees me, talking about her lost childhood."
"Sounds like she's trying to guilt you into marrying her," Daisuke commented. That in itself was no big surprise since Ukyo Kuonji, the cross-dressing Okonomiyaki chef whom was engaged to Ranma had a habit of bringing up how Ranma's father stole her dowry and abandoned her, usually making it into a huge dramatic scene where both Ranma and whoever was with him could hear. Lately she had become more prone to doing that whenever she would see him, no doubt trying to get public support behind her claim since she stopped making a distinction between just her and Ranma hanging out and in the middle of a mealtime rush in her restaurant. According to Ranma, it was more than a little embarrassing and both boys were quite willing to take his word on that.
"Probably right," Ranma nodded. "Shampoo's snuck into my bath twice already and now I have to practically nail the door shut to keep her out. She's also tried drugging me three times with food."
"Wow, how'd you avoid that? You eat free food like there's no tomorrow," asked Hiroshi. He knew that the Chinese Amazon who claimed Ranma as her husband through tribal law would and had done just about anything to make Ranma consummate their 'marriage'. Several attempts included using weird herbs which would affect his mind, sneaking into his bath and showing herself off to him, or even using magic trinkets to make Ranma fall in love with her by force. Naturally they all went down in flames, but lately the Amazon had been using them quite liberally in her pursuit.
"Fed some to Kuno making him think my girl side made it," Ranma answered. "Shampoo wasn't happy but once Kuno started chasing her or doing whatever anyone told him to do when someone snapped their fingers she realized she was busted. Last time she actually tried sneaking the spice into my food while I wasn't looking. I figured she would try it so I pretended to be distracted and caught her in the act. I made a big deal about being mad and stuff too."
"That's why she left so fast last time she came," Daisuke realized. "What about her great-grandma?"
"Well, she seems content to leave me alone since that trip to China," Ranma shrugged. "I think she's figured out that Shampoo's blown any chance at me and just needs to realize it."
"Sounds like the kind of lesson she'd teach," Hiroshi snickered, remembering the antics Cologne would put his friend through, having witnessed Ranma's struggles for the Phoenix Pill so long ago. "What about Kodachi?"
"As nuts as ever," Ranma answered simply. The female spawn of Principal Kuno was all but stalking him at this point, using any opportunity she could to try and drug Ranma and kidnap him from the Tendo Dojo, somehow feeling she was rescuing him from the clutches of Akane and his female form. She seemed absolutely sure he should worship the ground she walked on and thank her for rescuing him even by marrying her as soon as possible.
"And what about the rivals?" asked Daisuke.
"They attack me pretty much on sight nowadays," Ranma replied, snickering. "They go at me in groups now. Usually it's made up of Mousse and Ryoga. Kuno sometimes get involved but now he's using a real sword to try and take me down. Its about the only time I get any real training since my Pop can't keep up with me anymore and the only exorcise he seems willing to go through is his mouth when he yells at me for not marrying Akane."
Ryoga and Kuno's reasons for attacking were pretty simple to figure out. Akane had been royally pissed off at Ranma for not going through with the event, feeling that Ranma was continuing to string the other girls along for his personal amusement and said as much to her pet piggy P-chan who was really Ryoga in his cursed form. Always seeing Akane as right and could do no wrong, Ryoga took her word as gospel and went after Ranma with even more vengeance than usual. Kuno of course fought to free his 'pigtailed girl' from Ranma's 'clutches' and also sought to punish Ranma for trying to marry Akane without his permission. Mousse had been all for the wedding and had even help set it up. What he was angry about was the fact that Shampoo was going after Ranma even harder than ever and thus figured Ranma was 'obviously' stringing her along, using her desperation as a tool for his own amusement.
"Speaking of your dad, why do you even listen to him anymore?" asked Daisuke. "I mean, he's gotta be the biggest thief and cheat in the world. Not to mention he's broken the promise to Akane's dad probably more times than even he can remember. Why doesn't Mr. Tendo just toss him out?"
"Not sure," Ranma shrugged. "The guy just seems happy to blame me for the extra fiancées even though it's mostly Pop who made them into fiancées in the first place. He takes Akane's side in everything even when he knows its Akane's fault like in her cooking. He knows it's bad and just makes me eat it so he won't have to. He can't just man up and tell her it's bad since she'll just blow a gasket and hit someone, probably me."
"Okay…" Hiroshi grimaced. "Man, it's a damn miracle you haven't gone insane yet."
"Trust me, it's not easy," Ranma nodded, his eyes regaining focus and instead looked to the missing floors of his school. "So, how many days off do you think this repair job is going to take?"
"Well, if those Martial Arts Repair and Construction guys who were hired to fix that hole in the roof the last time the Fiancée Brigade all got together then it may just take a few days. I'd say under a week." Daisuke guessed.
"Nah, they charge too much. You know how cheap Principal Kuno is," Hiroshi denied. "I'd say it'll take three weeks and that's if they use a company stationed in Nerima."
"I'm with Hiroshi," Ranma nodded. "If Principal Kuno decides that the locals charge too much then he'll try someone from Juuban or something and that'll take even longer since we bust more stuff than the Sailor Senshi do. I say it takes a month."
"You're on," Hiroshi and Daisuke spoke at once.
-Ding-Ding! Ding-Ding!-
Hiroshi and Daisuke heard the chimes of a cell phone which was so common in their age group. Both had checked their pockets out of pure reflex, finding that their own communication devices were not active and alerting them. Pocketing them, they heard the tell-tale 'beep' which signalled that someone had pressed a receiving button which accepted the message or call. Following the noise, they looked to Ranma again who had reached into his own pocket and produced a cell phone of his own. He was reading a text message of some kind and it was apparently good news since he had a grin on his face, one of those amused and nostalgic kinds rather than his usual cocky one.
"Since when do you have a cell phone?" asked Hiroshi.
"Since a few weeks ago during my birthday," Ranma answered, pressing a few buttons. "My cousin sent it to me as a gift. Took me forever how to figure out how to use messages and calling."
"You have a cousin?" blinked Daisuke. "How come you never mentioned it before?"
"Didn't seem important to mention it after I first came," Ranma answered, still pressing buttons as he made a message to reply with. "After the other fiancées and rivals started showing up, I figured it was for both my own and her safety that I don't mention it."
"So your cousin is a girl," Hiroshi began to grin. "So does she have a name? Do you have a picture?"
Rolling his eyes, Ranma began working on a different function of his phone. He should have expected this since it was a known fact that almost all of the boys in Furinkan were desperate for any kind of female attention that they could get. The pickings must have been slim since the Hentai Horde managed to gain so many members even though there seemed to be so many girls in the school. Either they all had boyfriends, proving there were more boys than girls or the whole mob mentality had taken over.
"Her name's Hakufu Sonsaku," Ranma replied, bringing up an image on the screen. Pointing it at his friends, he revealed a photo of a strawberry blonde who was smiling brightly and was wearing a violet sundress which seemed to reach down to her thighs and held back breasts which seemed capable of filling a person's hand to the point of overflowing.
"Wow…" the two boys grinned.
"Yeah," Ranma shrugged, recalling the picture and bringing his phone back. "I first met her when I was little. Pop was dragging me through Kanto when we were spotted by Aunt Goei. Boy was Pop nervous."
"Nervous?" asked Hiroshi.
"Aunt Goei is Mom's sister and if I remember right, they share a lot of habits…"
-FLASHBACK-
Genma Saotome was pulling Ranma along through one of the cities in Kanto, his son only around nine years old. The man was looking for some training dojos which he had heard about in the nearby mountains. However, he first had to get directions to those mountains and get some more supplies.
"Pop, I'm hungry!" Chibi-Ranma whined.
"Quiet Boy!" Genma hissed. "A martial artist is able to take some adversity!" While that was true, Genma's own stomach was viciously insisting to be fed like always. So much so Genma was considering trying to find some restaurant owner with a daughter so he could arrange a 'deal' with them in return for some free food, usually only enough to feed him and only him while leaving Ranma to either fend for himself or just get scraps. The problem was that all the buildings were someone similar looking and it looked like he was lost.
'Not lost, just taking the scenic route,' Genma corrected himself. After all, a martial artist of his calibre never got lost. He was the pinnacle of manhood!
"Why, Genma Saotome!"
Genma paled and immediately turned to face who had called his name, incidentally placing himself behind Ranma, ready to use the boy in one of his pre-made excuses to get out of trouble. Finding his opponent, he spotted a woman in a black kimono and a red obi. She had short dark hair which was curled in the back slightly and was holding a white lace daytime umbrella. Her face was pretty and she had a large smile on her red lips, but her glasses gave her that mature woman charm. All in all, she looked like the kind of woman anyone would want to get next to.
Genma began to pale further and sweat, "Go-Go-Goei?"
"Why, you do remember me!" the woman smiled as she advanced on the nervous man. "My, my, No-chan's been so worried about little Ranma. She'll be so happy to hear that he's safe and sound."
"Um…ah…huh…" Genma sputtered.
"Why, she just hasn't been herself since you left," the woman known as Goei continued. "All of the neighbours seem to think that you've gone up and abandoned her, kidnapping your only child in the process. It's very hard on her too. All sorts of debt collectors seem to keep knocking on her door too. They seem to think that Ranma, a nine-year old boy is racking up debts of sake, bar tabs, and enough food to feed a small herd of elephants. Imagine that!"
"Ah…yes…imagine…" Genma gulped.
"Luckily she managed to get it all straightened out and the debts are in your name now," Goei smiled, but her smile seemed to have an edge of steel in it.
"Lucky…" Genma slumped. If he had gone any more pale people would have assumed he was a ghost. 'Damn, I was hoping it would be longer before they figured it out and by then forget about me!'
"Hmm, now that I know I have family here, I must insist that you stay with us for at least a little while," Goei continued, looking as pleasant as ever, but the sharp steel in both her smile and her voice never leaving. "I'm sure it will be much better than staying in a tent or the open air."
"…okay…" Genma gulped.
"Thanks!" Ranma smiled. Gosh, he never got to sleep in a bed inside a house before. All he got to sleep on was futons in tents when his dad didn't try to steal them when he wasn't looking.
"Oh, anything for my nephew!" Goei giggled as Ranma's eyes lit up on her. The steel was completely gone from her face and voice as she talked to the little pigtailed boy.
-END FLASHBACK-
"Wow. Your dad is really scared of your aunt?" asked Hiroshi.
"Well, it was probably partly because she knew how to get in contact with Mom and tell her some of the stupid stuff Pop was doing in the name of training," Ranma answered, still writing his reply. "The other part was that she probably knew about the contract and would see just how manly I was at age nine. Mom can be kind of vague about what makes manly men, but Aunt Goei sure knows. She's single so she's kind of boy crazy, at least from what Hakufu told me."
"So did you meet Hakufu then?" asked Daisuke.
"Yeah, and her cousin Kokin Shuyu," Ranma nodded.
-FLASHBACK-
Upon being led to the Shu home by a smiling Goei, Ranma was guided to the backyard where two other kids were playing. One was a boy with short almost dark blue hair who wore shorts and a simple t-shirt. The other was a girl the same age as both boys with strawberry blonde hair done up in two ponytails wearing a violet sundress. The girl was yelling about something and running with a stick while the boy seemed to be trying to calm her down.
"Hakufu! Kokin!, I brought guests!" Goei called.
"Huh?" the girl, Hakufu, blinked as she spotted the sullen Genma and smiling Ranma. "Who are they Mama?"
"Why they're your Uncle Genma and your cousin Ranma of course!" Goei giggled. "I just saw them today and decided that we could all have a nice visit together. Isn't that nice?"
"Yay!" the little girl cheered as she ran towards Ranma with the other boy in tow. Reaching Ranma, she stood straight with a bright smile on her face. "Hi! My name's Hakufu and this is my cousin Kokin!"
"Hi, I'm Ranma!" the pigtailed boy smiled. "I'm training to be a martial artist just like my Pop!"
"Oh! Cool!" Hakufu smiled. "I like fighting too! My mama lets me use a punching back and I get to hit and punch it all I want! I watch all sorts of cool fighting movies when I can too! They're so awesome! I want to be able to jump and fight like them too! Say, is your father really the lazy man Mama is always saying bad things about?"
"Lazy? What's that mean?" asked Ranma in confusion.
"It…it means someone who lies down and doesn't work at all," Kokin answered somewhat quietly.
"Oh," Ranma blinked. After a moment of considering the word, he began to smile. "That's Pop! He's always laying around while I'm training. Whenever I slow down he starts yelling at me for being lazy too even though I'm the one working all the time."
"Oh ho ho! That sounds like Genma!" Goei laughed, but the steel had returned to her voice as her eyes lanced to Genma.
The round martial artist wanted to argue that he was not lazy and worked very hard to train Ranma to be the best. He missed several meals to make sure Ranma trained! However, the excuses he knew were perfectly reasonable and understandable in his mind would never be allowed in Goei's mind, much less Nodoka's. He could have tried blustering and explain all dramatic-like how he put his all into Ranma's training but Goei was never one to trust him even when he was in sight and telling the truth. As such, he decided to go the tried and true method of shutting up and nodding, an answer which women like Goei and Nodoka seemed to accept.
"Hey, wanna go play?" asked Hakufu. "We're playing Romance of the Three Kingdoms!"
"How do you play that?" asked Ranma.
"It's easy! I'm Empress Hakufu and you guys are my loyal retainers as we go out and take over China!" Hakufu cheered.
"That sounds like fun!" Ranma grinned. "Let's go beat people up!"
"Yeah!" the little girl cheered.
"Do we have to?" whined Kokin.
-END FLASHBACK-
"Kokin was all right I guess, but we never seemed to really become friends like Hakufu and I did. I guess we were just too different," Ranma explained. "He was really protective of Hakufu though. One time we got into a fight over who could protect Hakufu more before she broke us both up and said we could both protect her at the same time. Aunt Goei just loved it, saying that manly men bloomed early or something."
"Sounds like something your mom would say," Hiroshi snickered. "They must be related."
"So did your dad try his usual scheme of clearing the house out of everything of value?" asked Daisuke.
"Nah. I think Aunt Goei kept a list of everything that was in the house," Ranma laughed. "She kept taking out this long piece of paper when Pop was around and showed it to him and pointed at something. Pop would pale, get sweaty, and try to deny it but Aunt Goei would just glare at him and he'd pull out whatever he took from his gi and give it back to her."
"Finally someone your dad can't swindle!" Hiroshi grinned.
"So what is your cousin writing to you about anyway?" asked Daisuke.
"Well, she started her new school and already managed to find plenty of people to fight," Ranma answered, slipping off the wall. The emergency crews were finishing up and getting statements. They would be leaving soon and that would signal the return of the usual strangeness which filled Nerima. "She's a sucker for a good fight like me. She said she's moving in with Kokin's family while she goes. She talked mostly about this big muscled guy who kicked her butt and how badly she wants a rematch though."
"Definitely related to you," Daisuke nodded with a laugh. "What school is she going to?"
"Uh…" Ranma frowned, scrolling through the message before finding the name. "A place called Nanyo Academy."
The two regular boys were quiet for a moment as they were told the name of the school. Both of them had heard the name before. In fact, anyone who had been keeping up with the news would have recognized the name. However, either Ranma had no clue just what the rumours were that were connected to the school known as Nanyo Academy or he did and being the fight nut that he was, didn't know just how bad things could turn out.
"Nanyo Academy, you sure that's the place?" asked Daisuke.
"Yeah, it is. Why?" asked Ranma.
"Well, it's just that there are a lot of rumours going on about that place," the narrow-eyed boy grimaced. "I mean, it's all the way out in Kanto and we're still able to hear about stuff going on there."
"What kind of rumours?" asked Ranma with a frown, not liking the tone of voice that his friend was using. His nervous fidgeting as he made the previous statement was also a dead giveaway that the supposed rumours that Daisuke was talking about were not of the good variety either.
"That Nanyo Academy and six other schools are involved in some kind of gang war," Daisuke answered with Hiroshi nodding vigorously. "I mean, it's massive and people are getting really hurt when they fight it. If your cousin Hakufu is really a fight nut like you then she's probably going to get involved."
Ranma's eyes narrowed on his two friends, trying to figure out if it was just rumour or not, but not being one to discern lies being told to him unless they were blatantly obvious, he couldn't have been sure. Still, if what they were saying was true then his cousin Hakufu might be in trouble. She was a fight enthusiast for sure, but she had no skills and no real moves beyond punching and kicking. She didn't have the patience for martial arts like he did when they were little and judging by some of the mail she had sent him, she probably still didn't. If her excitement in finding strong opponents remained the same then she'd probably get involved in the war just to be able to fight strong people…just like he would.
"Crap," the pigtailed martial artist scowled as he slipped the phone into his pocket. "Do either of you know where Nabiki went?"
"I think she went home after her cronies collected all of the bet money on your latest fight with Principal Kuno," Daisuke answered.
"Okay, then I've gotta go," Ranma nodded, his face growing very grim. "See you guys."
Ranma then exited the school grounds, leaving the two boys behind. Both of them could tell that Ranma was going to get serious on something or somebody since he only ever wore a grim look like that when he was going to kick someone's butt. If a relation of his was going to get involved then it was probably going to be the most serious that anyone was going to see him fighting in a long time. The only problem was that no one in Furinkan was probably going to see it.
"You ever get the feeling that something big is going to change because of this?" asked Hiroshi.
"I got the same feeling when Ranma first showed up," Daisuke nodded.
Tendo Dojo
Nabiki indeed had gone home early from school that day as reported by Hiroshi and Daisuke. Since a portion of the school had been obliterated by Principal Kuno with another abuse of authority idea and the students staging a revolt with Ranma in the lead, she now had some free time. After collecting the bet money made from the most recent fight, she had gone home to crunch some numbers and finish what homework she had so she could get to her favourite pastimes, lounging and skimming money off Ranma. While she didn't dislike the pigtailed boy, far from it since he had managed to solve a lot of problems for the family such as Picolet, the Dojo Destroyer, and other various problems, Nabiki skimmed money off just about everyone so to fund the monthly budget. Oh sure, sometimes she'd splurge a little on herself and that one month where she blew the monthly savings was sort of a punishment on her father who was being extra stupid at the time, but she did that sort of thing to just about everyone and Ranma just made it so easy, making it all entertainment to her.
Trying to figure out some odds for the next Kuno/Saotome battle, Nabiki heard her door open. Glancing, she saw Ranma entering her room with a very grim look on his face. Now she knew Ranma was very serious about something, having seen him wear that look mostly when Akane was in danger or something. However, to Nabiki's knowledge Akane was safe and sound at the school, complaining to her friends what an idiot her fiancé was for doing such damage to the school despite everyone else cheering for the boy. Either one of the other fiancées was in trouble or something else was up. Either way, it meant money for her and a potential new betting subject.
"Why Saotome, don't you ever knock?" Nabiki asked with a catty grin as she swivelled in her chair to greet her potential brother-in-law. "I could have been naked in here you know. Imagine what Akane or the other girls would say if they knew you were putting the moves on me?"
"Can it," Ranma frowned, stopping Nabiki's train of thought completely. Usually the Saotome would be blushing at the thought and stammering, making for an amusing floor show. If her usual flirting innuendo wasn't affecting him, then he must have been dead serious about something. Saffron-level seriousness if she guessed right. Reaching into his pocket, Ranma produced a wad of yen notes and tossed them into Nabiki's hands. The middle Tendo Daughter blinked as she caught the money while Ranma made his request. "That's 10,000 Yen. I want to know everything you can get on the supposed gang war out in Kanto involving seven schools."
Nabiki blinked again, but her brain quickly went into business mode as she pocketed the cash, "You're in luck Saotome. Since it first came on the news, I decided to learn what I could about it since I figured you were going to get involved sooner or later. One of my subordinates has relatives out there who don't mind explaining what they know in return for a little payment." Returning to her desk, she opened a drawer filled with files. Picking one, she retrieved it before handing it over to the pigtailed young man. "It seems that the gang war going on out there is involving all seven schools and their student body, not a bunch if punks who attend each school. They are fighting to dominate the area and the seven schools entirely. The reason why no one is really sure. However, there is something I'd say is weird about the whole thing and makes me think you'd get involved."
"What's that?" asked Ranma.
"It seems that the best fighters there are named after historic figures from Romance of the Three Kingdoms," Nabiki explained. Seeing Ranma's raised eyebrow, she snickered. It figured that he had never read the story before since Genma considered things like books and education a waste of time. "It's a story from the 16th century about a war out in China. Apparently the gang war is some kind of re-enactment of it according to my source."
"Oh," Ranma nodded. This was just sounding better and better. "Was there a character named Hakufu Sonsaku?"
"Yup," Nabiki nodded. "That was one of the leaders of the three Kingdoms. One of the toughest too."
"Great," Ranma frowned. It seemed that his cousin was all but guaranteed to be part of the war if it was being some kind of re-enactment of events which happened centuries ago simply because she was named after one of the strongest fighters that had taken part in it. "Do you know the seven schools that are in the middle of this?"
"Yes," Nabiki nodded. "They're called Rakuyo High School, Nanyo Academy, Kyosho Academy, Youshu Private School, Yoshuu Academy, Seito Private School, and Ryoushu Private School. At the moment it seems that Rakuyo is the toughest school out there."
"Perfect," Ranma frowned. Flipping through the papers in the file, he found a map which had seven points circled in red, presumably the positions of the seven schools.
"Now that I've answered your question, answer mine," Nabiki smirked. "Just why are you so interested now?"
"I have a relative who started going to Nanyo today," Ranma answered immediately. Unlike him, Nabiki could sniff out a lie a mile away which was why the fathers never really tried to get her on their side in getting him married to Akane. She could see through the layers of bullcrap they could dish out and she knew that their reasons for the engagement weren't as pure as they liked to think they were. Well, at least for Genma's side anyway. It was better to just tell the truth and get it over with. "Hiroshi and Daisuke mentioned the war and I was worried."
"Hmm. And you relation's name is Hakufu Sonsaku eh?" wondered Nabiki, guessing the supposed relative's identity from the questions Ranma had been asking.
"Yes. She's a fight nut like me but unlike me she has no training whatsoever," Ranma sighed. "If she is going to be forced to be part of this, she's probably not going to last long unless she gets training."
Now, Nabiki usually would have milked this for all it was worth by selling her silence to Ranma before selling the info to the fiancées and rivals once his cash dried up. However, that would have been if this Hakufu girl Ranma was so worried about was a friend or something. Ice Queen and money-grubber she might have been, but there were some lines that she wouldn't cross. Dealing against family was one of those things. Well, past a certain point anyway. Ranma was showing genuine concern for this Hakufu girl and Nabiki knew just how bad the gang war could get, having gotten reports of deaths and intensive care visits by some of the people who had lost in it.
"Thanks Nabiki," Ranma nodded, slipping the file into his ki pocket. "How much will it cost to keep you quiet?"
"Pro bono in this case," the middle Tendo shrugged. "If this Hakufu girl is a relative then there's no point in getting the Wrecking Crew all worked up. Besides, you're concerned for a genuine reason rather than one of your usual dumb reasons like pride or something your father did. If I find out she's really a girl on the side though…"
"Right, right," Ranma shivered. That would just be Armageddon in the Nerima district and it wasn't something he wanted to risk. "Trust me, Hakufu is a cousin and that's all. No romantic interest there."
With the file in his possession, Ranma left the room. Nabiki was left wondering what exactly he planned to do now that he knew the situation out in Kanto. If a relative of his really was involved then he was most likely going to try and do something about it and that meant he'd be likely setting out for Kanto. Well, if anything else once the news came to Furinkan she could make bets about how long it'd be before he started making waves, made the news, or even stopped the war by beating up everyone involved.
With a small smile, she began calculating the odds.
Ranma had returned to his own room and began packing his clothes. He knew that getting out of Nerima so to check out Kanto was going to be tough by itself; especially since the fiancées had a habit of following him everywhere he went so to try and squeeze some kind of romance out of the trip. However, he couldn't let them come this time. This was a family affair and it would be handled by family and just because they were engaged it didn't mean they were family despite the arguments they would no doubt make to the contrary.
The sounds of a sliding door alerted him to someone coming. Turning his face, he saw the form of his mother looking at him with some confusion.
"Son, why are you packing? Are you and your father going on another training trip?" asked Nodoka.
"Ah…no," Ranma answered. Steeling himself he began to explain, hoping it was an acceptable reason. When it came to his mother, one was never sure what could be called reasonable with her state of mind. "Well, I got a message from cousin Hakufu today and I just figured that since it's been so long and I had some free time, I'd go down and visit her and Aunt Goei. You know, see the family again."
Nodoka once again blinked at the explanation, but then her smile began to light up the room, "Oh Ranma that's a splendid idea! It has been a while since you've seen Go-chan and Hakufu-chan. Why, I'll bet they'll just love how manly you've become. Hakufu-chan has become quite the young woman too. It's a shame you two are related since you two would make quite the couple but that's life." If possible, Nodoka's face lit up even more as a new idea came to her. "Say, why don't you take Akane with you? You can introduce your fiancée to Go-chan!"
"Ah, I was kind of hoping to go alone," Ranma sweatdropped. Having Akane around would just make the situation worse since she'd call him a pervert who would eye up his own cousin no doubt and probably make fighting those gangs even harder. Akane had a habit of getting into the middle of his fights even though she often yelled at him for doing the same. "You know, catch up and see what they're up to. I mean, things have been so hectic here I've been hoping to get some time alone and relax." There, that sounded like a perfectly reasonable request.
"Hmmm," Nodoka pondered, placing her finger on her chin. "Well, I suppose even the manliest of men need some time to relax. Although I do feel if you just took those other nice girls as mistresses then relaxing wouldn't be a problem. Still, it's your choice I suppose and if you want to go see Go-chan then I won't stop you. Although, there is something I'd like to give you before you head out though."
"Huh? Something to give me?" Ranma blinked.
"Yes," Nodoka nodded, withdrawing her hand into her kimono. After a moment, she brought it back out with a small black box which seemed to be polished and lacquered to perfection. "It took me forever to find one, but I just had to since Go-chan said the manliest men and womanliest women wear these out in Kanto."
Taking the box, Ranma removed the lid to see what was inside. As the lid was removed, the light flooded the box and sparkled off of what looked like a gold bead. It was shaped like part of a Tao yin-yang symbol with a hole where the oppositely coloured dot would normally be. It was actually a very mesmerising trinket and it had a way of catching the eye when Ranma had peered at it. Somehow, it felt like more than just a simple bead.
"Where did you find this?" asked Ranma.
"I found it with an old man in a shrine," Nodoka answered with a smile. "He said it was a family heirloom but his son had died in an accident and that he had no one to pass it on to. When I mentioned my son was a strong martial artist that was unmatched in my home district, he seemed quite eager to sell it to me. I got it for practically nothing!"
"Oh," Ranma blinked. Shrugging, he plucked the bead out of the case and continued looking at it. "So, all of the strong people in Kanto wear these?"
"From what Go-chan told me, yes," Nodoka nodded. "If you have one on then people will try to fight you apparently. I guess there are just so many people who want to test how manly they are or girls who are looking out for the best possible match for them!"
"Right…" Ranma sweatdropped. "Well, thanks Mom."
"My pleasure!" Nodoka smiled. "Still, if you plan to go visit Go-chan and Hakufu-chan then you had better get going. I'll let Kasumi know not to set a place."
"Thanks Mom," Ranma nodded, pushing the last of his things into his backpack. Hefting it over his shoulder, he headed to the window and leaped out, beginning his trek across the rooftops. Nodoka just watched him go with a smile, but it soon turned into a frown.
"Go-chan…it's just like I predicted…" she sighed.
Kanto was a fair distance away, even for roofhopping so Ranma had decided to spring for train fare from what measly amounts of spare cash he had leftover from paying Nabiki off. The ride had taken a little while, but it was at least peaceful. No one was causing trouble and it wasn't all that crowded either. During the trip, Ranma had taken out the golden bead his mother had given him. He still couldn't figure out why it gave him such an odd feeling, but as long as it wasn't dangerous he didn't care all that much. However, he didn't notice some people gulp nervously and shuffle away from him as they saw the item in his possession. Oblivious to the nervous people around him, Ranma just continued to look at the item before he reached into his pack and produced a length of string he had gotten from somewhere and made a makeshift necklace from it with the bead at the centre. Jewellery wasn't really his thing, but if the thing would help him blend into the Kanto region then all the better for him.
With the train finally stopping, Ranma got off and looked around. It didn't escape his notice that there were some other kids his age that sported the same kind of beads as either earrings or necklaces, but the colours were different. He didn't escape their notice either as they kept their eyes on the arriving crowd or spotted the bead hanging around his neck. They didn't make any moves, but they did bring out their cell phones and begin making messages. Still, Ranma didn't care. Let them talk. He had more important things to do like finding where Nanyo Academy was so he could check on his cousin.
Exiting the station, he retrieved the file Nabiki had given him and retrieved the map. Like he had seen, it had marked out the seven schools' positions, but it didn't say which of the schools were which. Sighing, Ranma decided to just go through them one by one starting with the one closest to his current position, "Okay. Let's see which one comes first."
While Genma may have disregarded a lot about maps except where his position was and where he wanted to go, Ranma had taken the skill of map reading seriously since he had gotten sick of being lost during the training trip and his father making stupid excuses about how men didn't need to ask for directions or similar crap. It was easy for Ranma to find his position and thus find where the closest of the seven schools were. After that, he folded the map and placed in his pocket again before he set off.
Meanwhile…
The Tendo household was in its usual measure of downtime between martial arts challengers and various antics of the mentally unstable or downright idiotic people which would plague them. Genma and Soun were playing shogi and doing nothing but cheat as they tried to beat each other yet again. Nabiki was enjoying the peace and reading one of her magazines at the table while Kasumi was sitting at the table, enjoying some tea and having a break. Akane was in the kitchen once again trying her hand at cooking while Nodoka was elsewhere, doing the laundry.
"Say, where's Ranma anyway? I made dinner tonight," Akane spoke as she brought out a plate of her usual cooking disasters which she seemed to believe was perfectly edible even though she never tasted it to be sure, believing that it was as perfect as Kasumi's.
"Yes, where is the boy?" asked Genma. "He should be here to taste his fiancée's cooking." 'Better him than me!'
"I haven't seen him since this afternoon," Soun pondered, likewise hoping the boy would take the brunt of Akane's horrible cooking skills.
"Oh, he's gone to go visit some relatives," Nodoka smiled, entering the room. "He said Hakufu-chan sent him a message today so he was going to go visit her and Go-chan. Isn't that nice?"
"Hakufu? Go-chan? Who are they?" asked Akane suspiciously. She noticed Genma flinch and begin to sweat. Whenever the heavyset martial artist did that it meant that something he did was about to catch up to him or it was someone he would prefer to forget about. Usually it was an extra fiancée he set up and that meant another girl who Ranma would be 'perverted' with in Akane's often misinformed mind. She was already ready to break out her mallet if that was the case.
"Why, they're Ranma's cousin and aunt," Nodoka smiled. "It has been a while since he's seen them and Hakufu has only recently started keeping in contact with him when she sent him that cell phone for his birthday."
Akane blinked, remembering that day. Everyone had gotten something for Ranma save for Genma who got himself drunk again while stating a birthday was just a distraction from Ranma's duties to the families. Of course, the man promptly threw a fit when it seemed like everyone save for Nodoka and Soun had forgotten that it was his own birthday in the past. Ranma had gotten the cell phone in a pink box and Akane assumed that it was a girl who gave it to him. The way his face lit up for that simple gift rather than for the training towel with the horse (mistaken for a tiger and thus received a freak out) she had worked so hard to make for him just made her temper worse. She assumed the phone came from Ukyo or Kodachi and she thus lost her temper and pounded him, feeling justified as usual with her father and Genma backing her yet again.
"His cousin sent him that? He didn't tell me that he had a cousin!" Akane cried.
"Well, you did beat him into unconsciousness for smiling when he got it and whenever he tried to explain for the next week you just kept pounding him," Nabiki commented from her magazine. She remembered seeing Ranma get hit with Akane's trusty mallet so fast he could never even say where the phone had come from. "After that week he just gave up trying to explain since you just didn't want to listen to him…like always."
"He's gone to visit relatives?" Soun blinked, ignorant of his friend's nervousness. "Why didn't he take Akane with him? He could have introduced her to them!" and received more support for the marriage from more of the Saotome and hopefully get the boy to finally see reason and marry his little girl as was right and proper in his mind.
"Well, Ranma said he wanted some time alone so he wanted to visit by himself," Nodoka shrugged. "I must say, after all of the hijinks him and his friends get up to, I can't say that I blame him."
"Hnnnn!" Akane frowned. No doubt Ranma was going to get into trouble or into some kind of perverted mess. "I'd better go after him then. Where does his cousin live Auntie?"
Nodoka merely walked past Akane and took a seat at the table while she began to pour a cup of tea, "I don't think telling anyone would be a good idea. Ranma wants some peace and quiet and I think he could use some as well. Besides, Go-chan is a responsible adult and will make sure nothing bad happens to him. He's in good hands."
Akane of course didn't believe that as she began to grit her teeth, angry as always when her supposed fiancé wasn't there to try her cooking, spar, say something nice, or anything Akane expected a man of hers to do. Not that she let anyone know that since she constantly stated she hated boys and often saw them as perverts no matter what.
Kanto
Ranma walked up to the inner-city school building which was labelled as closest to him. It didn't really look all that impressive, but if there was supposedly a gang hanging around then he could believe that it was in this school. It was bland and more or less small. Definitely a place where thugs would hang out since it probably didn't receive that many students who wanted to enter besides thugs who had gotten low grades and needed a dumping ground. Ignoring the various punk-types who were sporting the same beads and glaring at him, Ranma spotted the sign posted outside the outer wall.
"Youshu Private School," Ranma read. "Great. Wrong one." Taking out a pen, Ranma began scribbling on the map, marking the proper position on the paper as Youshu.
"Hey buddy! Just who the hell are you? What do you think you're doing here?" demanded one of the punks crossly. Apparently Ranma had overstayed what welcome he had and was being targeted by the local thugs who wanted to make a name for themselves. It seemed that the beads everyone wore really did single you out as being a tough guy.
"Hm?" Ranma looked up at the guy who yelled at him. He was some guy who wore a yellow jacket and a black hat and even had a beard, making him look older than the average high school student. He had a magenta bead on his ear, marking him as a fighter, but from what Ranma could tell he wasn't a very good one. "Keep your hat on, I'm just looking for one of the seven schools. This one wasn't it."
"Oh yeah?" asked the hat guy suspiciously, walking towards Ranma. "And just which school are you looking for?"
"Nanyo," Ranma answered, putting his map away. "You know which way that is?"
"Hnnn, must be another transfer. First the booby bombs and now this guy," the hat guy frowned before he raised his voice so Ranma could hear. "So you want to know where Nanyo is? Well, I can say that you won't be getting there from the afterlife!" Pointing out at Ranma with a deadly serious frown on his face, he shouted, "Get him!"
The united outcry from the other thugs, Ranma was charged from all sides. The first thug raced at him with a crowbar, but didn't get a chance to even swing when Ranma's kick landed on his face and sent him flying backwards. Another thug tried his luck with a punch, but the pigtailed martial artist easily caught it before tossing him into one of the other thugs who crashed to the ground in a heap. Glancing over, Ranma spotted the hat guy backing away as more thugs continued running at him with their bare hands or simple weapons.
"Tsk!" Ranma growled before he leaped up, easily going over the heads of the other thugs and landing at the feet of the hat thug with the beard. Lashing out, Ranma grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and lifted him off of his feet, making the other thugs freeze. The yellow-shirted thug seemed pretty intimidated by his position alone, but Ranma's glare certainly finished up the intimidation tactics. "Okay pal, just who are you and why'd you have your goons attack me? What did I do?"
"Rrgh! My name's Hanno!" the thug growled. "You should know damn well why we'd attack you, jackass!"
"No I don't!" Ranma frowned, bringing Hanno's face closer. "Now start talking before I decide to take you all down on principle!"
"He means you seem like you're a new transfer to Nanyo."
The new voice was smooth and calm, catching Ranma's attention along with Hanno and the goon squad. Turning to the gates of the school, the thugs began to part as someone new began to enter the scene. He had tanned skin and long black hair which was tied up into braids which hung over his shoulders with a headband. He wore a white shirt and slightly saggy green pants with his hands in his pockets. On his left ear was a gold bead like Ranma's and sunglasses shielded his eyes. Unlike the other goons and thugs which populated the battlefield, this guy spoke of considerable skill, power, and experience. His actions likewise spoke of respect and style. He may have looked like a thug, but he was anything but.
"You guys think I'm transferring to Nanyo?" Ranma frowned. It figured. Once again the people he just met began to assume things about him and a whole lot of violence followed. Dropping Hanno onto his butt with a thud, he sighed. "I'm not transferring to any of the seven schools. I just wanted to check something which was happening in Nanyo." The thugs and punks began whispering to each other, mentioning things such as 'unaffiliated', 'another school' and such words.
"Is that so?" gold bead-bearing young man blinked. "Well, it seems we owe you an apology then. Hanno has a habit of doing stupid things."
"Hey!" Hanno cried, getting to his knees with a frown.
"Shut up!" Ranma snapped at the punk before looking back to the other young man. "So just who are you anyway?"
"Taishiji Shigi," the teenager answered as he pushed his sunglasses up with his finger before hiding his hand in his pocket again. "You?"
"Ranma Saotome," the pigtailed martial artist grinned.
"Well met," Taishiji nodded. "I notice that your blood seems to be boiling a little after just being attacked. Being attacked by low-ranked fighters probably doesn't doo much good for the warrior's spirit, does it?"
"No, it doesn't," Ranma shrugged, knowing the frustration of being attacked by weaklings who figured themselves the top dogs and thought they could beat anyone. He couldn't even compare half of his skills against such people and it left him feeling empty rather than excited like a real fight would. Unfortunately, since the battle with Saffron most of his fights left him feeling that way since the rivals had been attacking in groups driven by desperation rather than actually training to get better. "But I'm used to beating up people weaker than me since they just keep finding reasons to come after me."
"A shame then," Taishiji sighed, his stance telling of similar feelings of being unfulfilled when faced with inexperienced and low-level fighters. "Then I propose this. As part of my school's apology; we'll fight as equals and test our skills against one another and see how we stand."
"What?" Hanno shouted, getting to his feet. "Taishiji, you know Ryuyou won't-!"
"Sounds good," Ranma grinned, pushing the upset Hanno back onto his butt with a thud. The feeling he was receiving from Taishiji told him that the guy was an honest fighter and would stick to the unspoken fighter's code. It was a rare thing for Ranma to face such a foe since almost everyone he knew would try some kind of cheap trick in order to gain victory, even if they came to regret having to rely on such things in the end. Dropping his bag on the ground, he took a stance as the other thugs made room between him and Taishiji. "Ready when you are."
"Good," Taishiji grinned, slipping his hands from his pockets and raising his fists. "Shall we begin?"
Grinning, Ranma led the first attack, racing past stunned thugs who almost didn't see him before he lashed out with a kick. Taishiji, despite not looking like a martial artist, managed to see the attack and raise his leg, blocking the blow. Acting quickly, he retaliated with a punch which Ranma escaped by leaning backwards to stay out of reach from. At the same time, he kicked upwards, aiming at Taishiji's chin. The long-haired teen jerked his head to the side to avoid it, but gave up his sure footing to do so. Ranma capitalized on the move by bouncing back up with his hands, ready to punch at his opponent. However, Taishiji's loose standing wasn't as loose as it first seemed as he suddenly regained his standing and shot a punch of his own. The two fists met with a smashing force which caused the ground to shatter into chucks and force both fighters back several feet, their feet skidding across the dirt.
Several of the lower fighters had been knocked over by the force since they were too close, but Ranma and Taishiji were both still standing. Both were panting, not having been expecting such recoil from their punches, but they weren't done yet.
"Man, you are good!" Ranma grinned, laughter in his voice.
"You too. This is getting fun," Taishiji grinned.
That was all that was said before the two charged at each other once again. Ranma moved for some grappling moves in attempts to throw off Taishiji's punching style, but the braided teen seemed to have experience with such opponents and was able to slip through some of the grapples or dodge them entirely. Dodging one such grapple, Taishiji shot out with another punch. This time it was able to graze Ranma's side, making the pigtailed fighter wince as even with a glancing blow, the force of the punch managing to bring some pain. However, Ranma Saotome never took a hit without returning it with interest. As Taishiji's glancing blow connected, he lashed out with a kick of his own which crashed against the tanned teen's left arm, making him wince before Ranma pushed away from him again.
Ranma grimaced as he checked his side. It was probably going to leave a bruise, but it was going to make his muscles stiffen and probably not in a small way if the jolt of pain he felt was any sort of indication. On the other side, Taishiji was feeling his arm echoing the pain from the kick and already stiffening. It would cut the effectiveness of his left punch by about half until the feeling returned but at the speeds the two were fighting at, that might be too long. Still, both fighters had to agree that it was a most fulfilling fight.
"Give up yet?" Ranma snickered.
"Not even close," Taishiji grinned.
With another yell, both fighters charged at each other again.
Nerima
"What? Why not?"
The source of the commotion in the Tendo home this time came from Nabiki's room. Inside, the middle daughter was working on some paperwork while her younger sister was gaping at her in disbelief from the door. A few moments before, Akane had entered, intending on getting information about where Ranma was going and where his relatives lived out of her sister. Nabiki rarely denied Akane information about the pigtailed boy if for no other reason than to stir the pot and reap benefits such as money or just for plain amusement. However, far from getting the information she wanted, Nabiki had stonewalled Akane's request.
"Because this time Ranma has a really good reason to go and he didn't want anyone from the Fiancée Brigade or his rivals following him, getting in the way, and making the whole thing that much worse in the process," Nabiki replied, looking up from her desk. "You have to admit that whenever you all try to follow him you end up making a pretty big mess out of just about anything."
"It wouldn't happen so much if he just wouldn't bring those hussies along all the time," Akane huffed, crossing her arms. Nabiki observed that her sister had conveniently forgotten that she had helped make a bad situation worse in the past. Such incidents included giving those diet pills to Ranma while he was pretending to be Picolet's fiancée and not telling him what they were or when she ate that super soba and had went on a destruction spree, thinking she could beat anybody while ignoring the warnings about the side-effects. "Now come on, we're sisters! You should at least be able to tell me!"
"You can't keep a secret to save your life," Nabiki retorted. "Once somebody asks you enough about it, you lose your temper and shout it loud enough for everyone in the district to hear. Don't try to deny it either, I have plenty of evidence on tape."
"I am not that bad," Akane frowned grimly.
"Oh, yes you are," Nabiki snickered. "Face it, Ranma wanted to do this alone and you aren't his keeper or the one holding his leash despite what you think and what Daddy and Mr. Saotome like to believe since they got onto this marriage bandwagon. Despite what you may think and what I may do while he lives under our roof, he does have the right to a little privacy."
"That's big coming from you!" Akane frowned.
"Hey, what he does outside of the house is his business," Nabiki shrugged. "It's not my fault he makes such a public spectacle of it all the time."
"Traitor," Akane growled as she stomped out of the room and down the hall, her footsteps making the lights shake as she went.
"Another day, another impending tantrum," Nabiki sighed as she returned to her papers. "Maybe she really is getting out of control."
AND THAT'S IT! If you wish to read the rest of this story, come to my profil and go to Ikkitousen; Wild Card.
Like I said; this idea is originally belongs to Ten-Faced Paladin, I just feel we should give this story a chance.
And don't forget to leave a review.
