Forever Friends
By Sargon Dorsai
Chapter 6
Ranma gazed up at the night sky as he reclined on the roof of the Tendo home, tracing the familiar constellations with his mind. A mind thoroughly exhausted from one of the toughest battles he had ever attempted. A wry smile graced his lips as he thought back on the way he'd tried to work through his homework and the quiet support that he'd received from Kasumi. She'd always been there to help him and this was just another facet of the wonderful friend that he'd discovered within the eldest Tendo daughter. Now if only he could learn to fight as affectively against his homework as he could against his various rivals.
When they'd started working on his homework, there had only been a few moments before Ranma had first thrown his hands up in frustration. Only Kasumi's quiet and constant encouragement allowed Ranma to continue working, struggling to remember the half understood lessons from his other teachers. The topic was English, something that Ranma had never really needed to work on before and even now he was having a hard seeing how to apply those lessons into his life. Except that he needed to know it for his homework.
Things hadn't gotten any better either once dinner started. Akane arrived on the warpath, her anger readily apparent to everyone as she tried to glare a hole through Ranma, as if by looking at him she might be able to reduce the boy to mere cinders by the force of her rage. The porcine occupant of her lap lent his glare towards the pigtailed boy, though Ranma had done his level best to ignore both of them at the same time. Instead he tried to ask Nabiki if she knew something about the homework he'd been working on.
That simple question had set off a cascade of reactions from the various people at the dinner table. Most of those responses had been shock at first, with the exception of Kasumi, who looked proudly at her friend. Ranma's father immediately growled about how homework would distract from the Art and showed just how much of a weak girl Ranma had become. Soun cried about how Ranma was trying to become smarter though he immediately switched to crying about Ranma cheating on his little girl when Akane screamed at Ranma to stop flirting with her sister.
Ranma had only looked incredulously at Akane, wondering how asking about the homework was flirting. The boy had no idea what flirting really was, considering he'd never had any experience of it himself. None of his fiancées bothered to actually flirt with him, instead climbing all over him like some mobile breathing jungle gym. He did know that homework wasn't about flirting though.
Kasumi spared a disappointed sigh at Akane before looking over at her other sister to try and see if Nabiki would indeed help Ranma or if she'd continue to exploit the boy for all he was worth. The girl had opened her mouth for a moment, a sharp response ready on her lips, when she happened to catch Kasumi's look out of the corner of her eye. Nabiki's mouth shut with an audible click as her mind went into overdrive, trying to process the naked request coming from her sister and surrogate mother. That request said to help the resident chaos generator.
Nabiki tried to fit that request into her understanding of the boy and wondered which facet of her darling older sister was asking that question. The caregiver or the woman? Either way, it was a request that had to be weighed carefully, for the consequences would affect everyone in the family. One glance at Akane spelled out the disaster that would occur were she to help Ranma in front of her little sister. And suggesting that Ranma go to Akane for that help would be just as disastrous. No doubt Akane would try and help the boy only to become infuriated at his lack of progress, ultimately resulting in an impromptu flight though the district for that same boy.
Shaking her head, Nabiki just sighed. "Sorry Ranma, but I don't know anything about the homework you're working on. You'll have to find someone else to help you." It was true, for the most part. She didn't know what his homework was about, because he hadn't told her what the subject was and as long as he didn't explain, she could use that as an excuse. She tried not to wince at the frown that blossomed on Kasumi's face for a moment, but right now, she feared Kasumi's wrath a lot less than she feared Akane's blatant anger.
Ranma hung his head, having expected the answer and yet having hoped for more. He knew Nabiki wasn't the cold hearted woman that everyone made her out to be, but she did tend to shy away from trouble and dealing with Ranma inevitably led to trouble. He didn't like it, but at least he understood it. Leaning to the left slightly, he managed to dodge the porcine projectile that was P-chan then scowled at Akane who had launched said projectile at him.
"Was there a reason for that, Akane?" It was rare for Ranma to get upset but even he was unwilling to take her abuse that much today, especially when he hadn't managed to finish his homework yet. Not giving her a chance to respond, he stood from the table, clearing his dishes without being asked and once again dodging the ballistic pig who slammed into Akane after the miss.
"Thank you for dinner, Kasumi, and thanks for the help on my homework. I'm heading up to my room to finish."
And he'd managed to finish, barely. No one disturbed him in his room after the rare display of temper, and he struggled through the last few questions and exercises in his homework before heading to the roof to cool down and think. Today was as exhausting as any he'd spent in martial arts training, and he knew that it wasn't going to get any easier until he started homework training, only he had no idea where to go for that training. Normally if he needed a new technique he would go to the old ghoul of the lech but neither of those would work in this instance. Where could he find a sensei to really teach him?
The answer hit Ranma so suddenly and so obviously that he nearly fell off the roof. He already had a sensei in this subject. His actual sensei. Hinako-chan was his English teacher and who knew more about English than an English teacher? A smile on his lips and his mind made up, Ranma vaulted off the roof and made his way inside for the night. Tomorrow he was going to begin training in earnest.
The sun had barely begun to peek above the horizon when the prowler stealthfully moved across the room towards the unaware pigtailed target. A kerchief has been wrapped around her head, doing little to hide her features, especially her short blue hair. Instead, it seemed to frame the look of devilish glee that shone within those focused eyes as she tiptoed closer to her target.
For once, she'd managed to wake up before the loud sparring penetrated her sleep fogged brain, chasing her away to her morning jog. While she wasn't sure what had broken her from her beauty sleep ( not that she felt she needed it ), she merely grunted at the pig sleeping nestled between her breasts and rolled out of bed, tumbling that same pig to the ground. The tossed pig grunted to itself, eyes still half closed before it turned around the corner into the closet and disappeared.
Unconcerned for the pig, she glared at the clock, comprehension not reaching her mind until the blurred numbers on the digital display managed to coalesce into something discernable. When she realized just how early it was and noted the lack of combat outside her window, she decided to take advantage of her most unusual circumstance.
There was only one person deserving of her ire and that was the pigtailed boy who had done everything he could to make her life miserable. Oh sure he could be nice on occasion but that did little to make up for all the trouble he caused for her. It was the reason she always had to hit him, because he deserved it. Just like he deserved this pail full of ice cold water that she was carrying towards him. Holding the pail aloft for a moment, she gave herself a breath to admire the way her fiancé looked, carefree, curled around the pillow, so defenseless.
With that last thought, she let fly with her liquid missile, smiling in anticipation of the feminine cry of rage soon to herald the awakening of the boy. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw that pail heading back at her. She was still trying to process everything that had happened when she found herself completely drenched in cold pajamas. A pronounced yawn was the only sound other than the slow drip drip of a wet Akane.
Arms still outstretched from his yawn, Ranma was unaware of his close encounter of the liquid kind until his eyes fully opened, offering the rare sight of someone else soaked in his room. Blinking in surprise, he looked around and found the culprit in the form of the overturned bucket. "Geez Akane, you should be careful if you're going to carry water around the house." Ignoring the way the water began to steam around his fiancée, he decided to take advantage of being up before his pops to get in some early training.
Akane glared at the back of her fiancé and wondered just what the hell happened.
The morning flew by for everyone. It seemed like a normal day for everyone other than the strange occurrence when Akane tried to wake up Ranma. Breakfast wasn't as tense as the supper of the night before, most notably do to the lack of a certain piggish influence, not to mention Akane's stubborn desire not to let anyone know about her ignoble experience of the morning. She had yet to figure out a way to make the event look good and in her experience, anything that didn't make her look good was better off ignored or forgotten.
By the time Ranma was heading out the door, for once without his reluctant fiancée, the rest of the household had to suspect something was up with the boy. Genma began to launch into a tirade about proper treatment of one's fiancée only to sputter to a stop at the complete disregard the boy showed to him, practically shutting the door in his face. Worse, it seemed to have been completely without thought, as if Ranma hadn't even noticed his father's righteous indignation.
Just what was that boy thinking, leaving behind Akane like that? Glancing over at the girl, Genma found the same look, a mixture of shock and confusion, and wondered just what was happened. The abnormal attention paid to his homework, the way he'd snapped at the girl last night. It was all beginning to spiral out of control and Genma had to wonder if his retirement was at jeopardy again. Nothing must threaten the uniting of the schools. And there was only one place that he could go to for information about the boy.
Turning towards the middle Tendo daughter, Genma was surprised to see she'd slipped past him without his having noticed. Reaching up to scratch his bandana covered head, the portly martial artist wondered just when his life had gotten so out of control.
Today was the herald of change for many students at Furinkan High School, for a sight they never imagined had come upon their poor unfortunate lives and each and everyone one of them realized that terrible things were to come, for the first sign of the apocalypse was upon them. Ranma Saotome was early to school, so early in fact that he didn't even have a confrontation with Kuno. That disappointed many of them, as for the most part everyone enjoyed the show. Additionally, many of those same students realized just how much money they'd lost, as there was no betting pool on Ranma skipping the fight with Kuno.
As the student body began to pray for their deliverance from the oncoming madness, Ranma was walking the halls of the school, looking for a door that he'd only been to once before. It was only the second day that that particular door had had that particular resident and he wasn't even sure if she was going to be there yet. It didn't take him long to navigate the hallways, easily remembering where he needed to be.
Standing outside the closed door, his school bag clutched in his hands, Ranma hesitated, unsure how to proceed. Did he present himself to Hinako-chan the same way he had to the various dojo masters that he'd visited over the years? Or did he treat her like the old friend that she was, like when he went to Ucchan to ask for things? Time to consider was taken away from him as the door swung open to reveal a pair of diminutive forms in addition to Hinako-chan. He recognized them both immediately, though he failed to comprehend why they would both be there.
It was only the smile on Hinako's face that kept Ranma from doing anything immediate and that precious moment of indecision allowed the two grandmaster martial artists to turn their attention from the young form of Hinako to their chosen heir. The male of the group was easily recognizable as the Grand Master of Anything Goes Martial Arts, Happosai, a short, purple clad gnome of a character who seemed hell bent on tormenting the female population wherever he went. The female was just as short and gnomish, and almost as scary. She was Ku Lohn, Matriarch of the Chinese Amazons and source of many of Ranma's most powerful techniques. Though she was also the source of a lot of contention in Ranma's life as well.
In the moment it took Ranma to analyze the situation, he found there was really a good reason for at least Happosai to be there. Hadn't the old man told him just the day before that he knew little Hinako-chan from before? And didn't he say he was going to visit as well? Maybe he got the old ghoul involved at the same time for some reason? It was definitely not the time to jump in half cocked, especially against the two best combatants in all of Nerima.
Seeing Happosai leaning in for a hug was almost enough to set Ranma off but he managed to control himself, just barely, when he didn't feel any of the perverted chi that usually radiated off the lech when he went in for a glomp. Ranma's surprise was compounded when Hinako-chan returned the hug with a happy giggle. Wide eyed and confused, Ranma could only stare as Happosai and Ku Lohn left the office, chuckling at Ranma's reaction.
For the Amazon Matriarch, seeing the boy like that was too good an opportunity to pass up. "Really now, sonny boy, I know I'm a catch but you shouldn't stare like that, especially with such a cute teacher right in the same room." She was rewarded with an atomic blush that had Ranma nearly as red as his Chinese silk shirt. While the boy was stuttering denials, she took her leave, hopping onto the top of her cane and pogo-ing down the hall, quickly followed by Happosai, though the old martial arts master did manage to spare the boy a quick, thoughtful gaze before he too disappeared down the school hall.
Hinako-chan looked at her friend and could only giggle at the cute expression on his face. She noted that while he sputtered denials about staring at Ku Lohn, he had made no such denial in regards to directing that same look her own way. Her cheeks heated slightly at that thought, though she fiercely fought against the reaction. Now was not the time to be a star struck preteen, especially not on the school grounds. Turning to her friend, she noticed him calming down, rubbing the back of his neck as if nervous. Aw, how cute.
"I hope that's your homework in there, Ranma. You did promise me." Her words were said in a light tone and she suppressed another giggle at how fast Ranma was in nodding his head. For a moment she considered asking for it right there, then decided it would be best if he handed it in like the rest of the class, so as not to seem like he was being favored or singled out. Which he was, but it wouldn't be good for him to 'look' like he was being singled out.
Ranma's face lit up in a smile, a little one that said 'I've got a secret that I'm going to share with you… maybe', and Hinako felt her cheek heat again. There was just so much raw energy in that grin, like the rogue of legend who seduced women with a smile. Giving herself a vigorous mental shake, she banished the line of thought that threatened to form, instead focusing on the deliberate motions of her friend. She clapped in delight as he presented the homework with a flourish.
"Ranma Saotome always keeps his promises!" It was a boast as full of ego as anyone could imagine, yet it was presented with such confidence and surety that one had no choice but to accept it.
Author's Note:
Another chapter completed! Ranma was able to get his homework done and make it to school in one piece. Interesting how getting to school always seems easier than getting away from school? And just what kind of trouble will Happosai and Ku Lohn stir up for our favorite hero?
Updated: Fixed some minor errors in formating due to transfering writing formats.
