Transferring Trouble
Usual disclaimers: Ranma, Akane and the students of Furinkin High are the property of Rumiko Takahashi and various publishing and anime producing companies. Saionji is the property of Chiho Saito, BePapa, Viz Media and other folks who I don't know and whose names I probably can not pronounce. I'm not making one thin cent/yen off this.
Rated for cartoon violence.
Chapter Three - Revenge, Served Hot and Cold, in Three Courses
He came to slowly, spitting dirt out of his teeth. He looked up, and saw a circle of feet surrounding him. Lifting his eyes further, he saw that the feet belonged to the male students of Furinkin High. It didn't take a psychic to sense the hostility.
He staggered to his feet and glared at them. "What do you want?" he demanded in his most imperious voice.
They said nothing. Some of the boys grasped various pieces of athletic equipment, which they were holding in ways that promised great bodily harm to the target of their rage. The circle silently parted to make way for a tall youth, dressed in a loose shirt and hakama. He was holding a bokken in one hand. He carried himself with an aristocratic arrogance that Saionji rarely saw outside of his own family. The strange youth pointed the bokken at Saionji.
"Cur, cringing dog. You have dared to offer violence to the fair Akane Tendo. I shall kill for your insolence!"
Saionji stared at the youth, at a loss for words. The boy spoke like a character from a bad samurai flick.
"Nothing to say for yourself, coward?" demanded the youth, who had started to wave the bokken around. "Know that I, Tatawaki Kuno, rising star of the fencing world and the Blue Thunder of Furinkin High, shall make you rue the day you were born."
Saionji stared at the bokken, remembering another time an opponent had brought a practice sword to a duel - and bested him. The memory of that incident rekindled his rage.
"What has this to do with you?" he sneered at the ranting Kuno. "I was just teaching her place. You're not even her fiancee."
In answer, Kuno swung the bokken in a sweeping arc, cutting into a young tree. Saionji blinked as the tree, at least half a meter in diameter fell to the ground. The ring of boys scrambled to get out of its way.
"Prepare to die!" yelled Kuno. He was clearly getting ready to spring upon the unarmed Saionji. Saionji held up a hand.
"Oh yes, a very fair fight. Bare hands versus a sword."
Kuno paused. "Foul attacker of maidens, you have no right to bear honorable weapons. Yet, I will not have it said that I fought dishonorably." Kuno snapped his fingers, and another youth came through the circle and tossed a bokken to Saionji. Saionji swung it through the air a few times, getting a feeling for its weight, and loosening up his muscles. He viewed Kuno with disdain. Kuno and he were of about the same height and reach. That tree must have been some trick, manufactured while he was unconscious. He would be able to defeat this clod with ease.
----
Saionji had never been so wrong about anything in his life. It took a week for his injuries to heal enough for him to return to school. He had demanded vengeance against Kuno, a demand that his family turned down.
His great-uncle had listened to his story. His great-uncle had heard of the Kuno family, of course. "Quite insane, the lot of them. But very good with weapons, not withstanding." When Saionji protested, his great-uncle quelled him with a single glance.
"Train harder," was all he said before dismissing Saionji.
So here he was, back at Furinkan High. No one would talk to him, every attempt at conversation was rebuffed. Even the teachers refused to call upon him. He was in a black mood by the end of the day, brooding on the injustice of it all. What was the matter with these fools, he thought. It wasn't like Akane Tendo was anyone important. She was just the daughter of the owner of a not very successful dojo. He was so busy brooding that, at first, he did not notice the group of boys following him. It came to his attention when a detachment kept him from turning onto the street that would take him home.
"Get out of my way," he demanded. They did not, of course. They moved forward, forcing him to take another street, and then another. He soon found himself back in the park where the hated Tatawaki Kuno had defeated him. Was one time not enough for Kuno? If they were going to force him to fight, he would fight. He would figure out someway to defeat the flaming blue lunatic of Furinkan High.
As before, the boys surrounded him. They made no move or sound; they seemed to be waiting for something. All of sudden he heard a warning yell. This time the boys did not part silently, they jumped back as a figure in yellow and black ran into the circle.
Saionji studied the newcomer. This was a youth not as tall as Kuno, but he seemed solidly built. He was wearing a yellow tunic and black trousers. He carried an enormous backpack. His hair was kept out of his eyes by a yellow and black headband. Something about that headband's design tickled his memory. Where had he seen it before?
"Are you the one who hit Akane?" the young man demanded. Saionji stared at his would-be-opponent closer. Did he have actual fangs?
"Yeah, that's him, Ryouga." said someone from the crowd. "Just slapped her across the face with no warning."
Again, Saionji could see the battle aura, fierce and uncontrolled. "What kind of jerk would ever want to hurt dear, sweet Akane?" Ryouga demanded. Saionji continued to stare at Ryouga. That headband, where had he seen that headband before? It came to him in a flash, and he blurted out, "The pig!"
Ryouga gave an inarticulate scream of rage. One of his hands flashed out and hit a stone pillar that bore a sign explaining the park's rules and regulations. There was a brief pause, and then the stone shattered into a million tiny pieces. As Ryouga closed in, Saionji had a feeling that this was going to be as bad as his fight with Kuno.
------
He was wrong again. It was much, much worse. This time it took over two weeks for his injuries to heal sufficiently for him to return to school. Again, his great-uncle quizzed him on the fight, to determine that it had been a one-on-one fight, not a mob of boys attacking one opponent. Again, Saionji demanded vengeance, and again he was turned down.
"I told you to train harder," was all his great-uncle said.
His return to school was a repeat of the last time. No would speak to him, or acknowledge him in anyway. He finally cornered an underclassman in the hallway and demanded an explanation.
"Maybe you should try apologizing to Akane," suggested the youngster.
"Me, apologize? Never!" said Saionji. "Why should everyone care?"
"Because we like Akane, and even if we didn't, we don't like guys who beat up girls around here."
"Beat up girls!" yelped Saionji. "She's the one who hit me with a mallet." He tried not to think about that, since he couldn't figure out where she had been hiding it. Like the Sword of Dios, but - not.
"You still hit her first," the boy explained as if to a mentally deficient three-year old. The bell rang, and the boy took advantage of the distraction to get away from the furious upper-classman looming over him.
This time Saionji was more alert. He noticed the boys following him after school, and how they were once again trying to herd him toward the park. Oh no, he thought. How did that English saying go, the one they had just learned this week. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." He wasn't going to play into their hands again. He suddenly dodged into a small restaurant, hoping to escape out the back way and avoid the boys.
His plan was dashed when his way was barred by a girl holding a ridiculously large spatula. It took a moment for him to recognize her. Ah yes, Ukyo, another one of Ranma's fiancees.
"Out of my way," he snapped. She scowled at him.
Get out of my place," she spat. She waved the giant spatula for emphasis.
Saionji was confused. "Why do you care? I thought Akane was your hated rival?" What in the name of the seven hells was the matter with people in this town?
"I don't need help from you, jerk." For emphasis, a small spatula flew by his ear and quivered in the wall behind him.
He turned back into the street. He allowed himself to be herded into the park. He wondered who the offended party would be this time. The circle again formed. This time there was a girl with them. He recognized her - Nabiki, Akane's elder sister, the one with the reputation for earning yen at the expense of her fellow students. The mind, in times of stress, often focuses on inconsequential details. Why did Nabiki have a pail and a teapot sitting by her feet, he wondered.
This time, the circle of boys did not part. A flash of scarlet and black came over the circle, landing next to Nabiki. It was Ranma Saotome, who was now viewing Saionji with a look usually used by people who are engaged in cleaning drain pipes.
"So Saotome, you're a bit late in defending your fiancee," said Saionji. "Maybe she should be engaged to Kuno or Hibiki."
"Oh, you know what they say in America. Gotta save the best til last." Saotome smirked at him. "Besides, Nabiki discovered such interesting things about you."
Saionji was confused. He tried to cover it up with his usual arrogance. "What could she possibly know about me?"
Nabiki looked on him with cool amusement. "Some of the guys in the computer club owned me money. I offered to forgive some of their debts if they gave me some background on you. You know, for such an exclusive school, their computer security is pretty poor."
Saionji blinked. "You actually forgave a debt?" This was not the Nabiki Tendo he had heard about.
Nabiki actually looked embarrassed for a fleeting second. She recovered. "Think about the extra-credit question on today's English quiz," she said dryly.
English quiz? Extra-credit? Oh yes, he remembered it now. "Translate and explain the English proverb, 'Blood is thicker than water.'"
"Yeah, it was very interesting," Saotome broke it. "Especially after we called the school and talked to some of your ex-classmates. Hear you got a thing for slapping girls around." Ranma cracked his knuckles experimentally. "So I'm going to make this fight more interesting for you." He held out his hand. Nabiki stooped, picked up the bucket and handed it to him. Ranma poured the contents of the bucket on himself - and changed.
In the place of Ranma Saotome was a girl with dark red hair, shorter and slighter than Ranma, and yet, unmistakably Ranma. Saionji was suddenly aware that his jaw was hanging open. Another memory clicked into place. He pointed at Ranma.
"You're the girl who ran into me! You knocked my homework into the mud, and my lunch into a panda." This was insane. It must be some aftereffect of the beatings Kuno and Hibiki has given him. This could not be happening.
Ranma smiled at him and cracked his/her knuckles again. "Since you like hitting girls so much, you should be happy to accept this fight." Again, Saionji could see his opponent's battle aura, but unlike Akane's and Hibiki's, this one was tight, focused. As Saionji watched his impossible opponent approach him, he had a sinking feeling that this fight was going to be worse than the other two put together.
For once, Saionji was correct.
This was the End. But then something came up...