Chasing the Rainbow
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any related characters in any way, shape or form.
Author's Notes: out of curiosity, why did so many people say Ranma's choice of words to explain to Kodachi in the last chapter was a bad choice? Ranma's reluctant to reveal any of his secrets, he was trying to be diplomatic, he wanted to ease Kodachi into the reality, he just couldn't predict she'd feel quite that wounded when he finally made it clear that he and "her rival" were the same person. Is Kodachi out of the running permanently? Eh, I wouldn't quite say that just yet.
On those who've brought up the fact that Mousse and Nabiki haven't actually interacted in canon, I'd actually consider that something of a plus, as it means neither of them has the baggage associated with so many other "potential couples" (the mutual disdain and aggravation of Ryoga/Ukyo, the kidnapping and threatening of Mousse/Akane, etc). I'll also point out that if it happens, it doesn't quite have to be "natural", and that's all I'm going to say on the matter.
Anyway, I'm glad that people are enjoying this; as long as you keep reviewing, I'll keep writing.
Chapter 8: A Draining Development
Technically, Ranma Saotome should have been on his way to Furinkan High School, not sitting in the uppermost branches of a tree outside of school. However, he had managed to wake up unusually early that morning, and had come here for privacy. Since the previous day, something ominous seemed to be hanging over his head, and he had resolved to asking the most helpful entity he knew in his life for advice.
"Okay, I know this really isn't what you're supposed to do, but can you please help me out?" He asked the Eye of Zygyg, reasoning that since it clearly reacted to his words, politeness would help him persuade it to help him.
The Eye's glass shimmered, went white, and passed through its familiar mistiness.
"Thanks, I owe you." Ranma told it happily. "I figure since I just had that mess with Akane trying to cook for my mom, that weirdo with the ki attack should be showing up next, so can you show me what the deal is with her?" The familiar images began to play in the Eye, and Ranma leaned in closer to absorb all of the details. As he watched, the Eye portrayed a disjointed array of scenes and images. He watched as a little girl was introduced as his classroom's new homeroom teacher, then saw her dive out of a window to pick a fight with Happosai - when the old lech unleashed his aura blast against the two for Ranma "accidentally" stepping on him while saving the girl/teacher, interfering with his panty raid, she pulled off some strange move that caused her to drain Happosai's ki, reducing him to a drifting weakling and growing into a voluptuous woman in the process.
Naturally, mirrror-Ranma began wheedling to her in order to try and get her to teach him the move - after all, if it could take down Happosai in one shot, then it was obviously the sort of technique that Genma had though the Nekoken to be. Unsurprisingly, the mirror's versions of Akane and Ryoga assaulted mirror-Ranma, accusing him of trying to seduce the teacher. "Why does Akane always have to think the worst of me? I mean, come on, she used that move in front of the whole school - how can she think I'd give a damn about her body when she's got a cool move like that?" Ranma complained.
The next shot was of Ranma in the dojo, trying and failing miserably to replicate the move, whereupon Happosai drifted in…"Whaddya mean, I can't learn it? Damn. Wait, why am I listening to the old goat again?" Ranma asked himself, curiosity edging aside his disappointment. As he watched, the mirror-Happosai proceeded to display a pressure point chart, which Ranma promptly began acting upon.
The next array of scenes caused the real Ranma to grimace in distaste; he could actually sympathize vaguely with the mirror-Akane getting angry with his counterpart for them – what he was doing looked really, really dirty, even if you knew the context. Finally, the mirror-Happosai revealed that he had been the one who had transformed the woman into what she was in the first place… and the pressure point treatments…
"I have to do WHAT for HOW LONG!?"
He promptly slapped a hand over his mouth, aghast that he had shouted something like that where he was, and began frantically looking around in case someone had heard his outburst. Fortunately, luck was with him and nobody seemed to have either heard or been inclined to come and investigate. Shaking his head, wondering how his other self could have gotten so suckered into such a situation, he silently resolved to avoid getting involved with this... Miss Hinako... no matter what it took; in his life, the last thing he needed was what would happen if he was seen running around trying to grab an older woman's breast. With his fingers and a few muffled profanities, he carved out a large chunk of wood from the tree where he was sitting, apologetically hiding the Eye in the resultant cavity and promising to get it back after school, then dropping to the ground; class would be starting soon.
Hinako Ninomiya strode confidently into the office of her new employer, internally grateful that she had managed to run across those bullies before hand – draining them had given her enough ki that she should remain an adult for most, if not all, of her introduction, and that always made things more go more smoothly. At the sight of what lay beyond, though, she found herself slowing in surprise. 'The decor is...a little quirky.' Was the only thing she could think to herself.
Almost immediately, a more childish voice spoke up in her head, 'It's fun! It looks like a real jungle in here! Ooh! Ooh, is that a monkey?'
Hinako stopped and blinked at the sight of a plush monkey hanging off a palm tree's branch, 'I'll need to talk to this man about proper geographical locations, there are no monkeys in Hawaii.'
'Oh don't be such a spoilsport, let him have his fun! I think it's cute!'
Hinako mentally shook her head before focusing on the person who called her here to Furinkan. Her first impression was that anyone with a palm tree on his hand was…interesting… and then he spoke, adjusting his sunglasses almost in emphasis.
"The big kahuna is so pleased dat you made it miss Ninomiya! The Big Kahuna be having all kinds of trouble with the keikei, running rampant and ignoring the big kahuna's rules! That's why you're here, to put those darn keikei in line!"
Hinako nodded, frowning at the thought of all those troublemakers. 'Although... with someone like this as the principal, some of it may be justified.' She felt a bead of sweat develop at the sight of the man starting to celebrate the "intraduction a law an orda" to the school. 'What kind of student would follow someone this unhinged?'
A disapproving voice promptly whipped through her head. 'Just because he has a slur and likes having fun doesn't give you an excuse to be mean to him! And there's troublemakers! Naughty, naughty troublemakers who won't get good grades and get into nice universities or get good jobs! We need to help them and that means punishing them so they'll be good!'
Hinako nodded inwardly and spoke up, "Principal Kuno." The man stopped and paid attention, though it was hard to say whether it was because of the cold, serious tone that the woman in front of him was using… or the free peek into her ample cleavage that her posture was giving him. Ignoring the possibilities, Hinako continued. "With troublemaking students, the best thing to do is to find the worst one and punish him as an example, its a strategy that's worked in every school I've taught at, and I'm confident it will work here. Who is the worst student here in Furinkan?"
At that point, Hinako bore witness to the most startling display of fury she had ever seen as the Principal suddenly went on a rant. "Ranma Saotome! Ya want a troublemaker, ya'll get the worst of them all in Ranma Saotome! He's the worst student the Big Kahuna's ever had! Never obeys the rules! Always picking fights with da big kahuna's son and causing other troublemaking keikei to show up! But he didn't stop there! He hurt the feelings of my sweet little wahini! Broke her heart and left her crying! He's da worst of da worst, making a girl cry!"
The rant degenerated into some strange pidgin mish-mash of English, Hawaiian and Japanese that not even Hinako could properly translate but her mind ran over the details she picked out. 'Getting into fights with lots of people, including the principal's son and even the principal himself. This one could be a challenge.' She ignored the mention of Ranma "breaking Kodachi's heart", as that wasn't strictly speaking a delinquent act and, more importantly, she was enough of a professional to realize that the principal was in no position to be unbiased.
'He's a naughty delinquent! If we beat him, then no-one will make fun of us!'
Hinako Ninomiya made her decision and, having exhausted her supply of stolen ki and shrunk back down into her child form during the Principal's rant, hopped off her chair, stopping him in mid-diatribe. "When do I start?"
Homeroom 1-F was abuzz with the usual pre-lesson chatter, the current topic of choice being the rumors of a new teacher showing up. Akane turned to Ranma, who was slouching casually in his seat. "How did you get here first?" She asked; she couldn't recall any time that Ranma had been up before she was.
"I woke up early, I don't know why. Hey, do you know where Ukyo is?" He asked.
Akane shrugged, not having the faintest clue, but kept her mouth shut as the principal had just strolled into the room, his presence silencing all of the students.
"Aloha, everybody! Today, me am having exciting news for you all! You is having brand new homeroom teacher, a real miracle worker - she already clean up four reform schools!"
"...Since when is Furinkan a reform school?" Someone asked.
The principal ignored the rather sensible question, instead continuing. "She gonna show you keikei how to walk the straight and narrow! Bruddas and sistahs, give a nice big aloha to Miss Hinako Ninomiya!" He proclaimed happily, gesturing at the door as it flew open to reveal the new homeroom teacher.
Everyone in the room save for Principal Kuno and Ranma blinked in surprise at the sight of a little girl in a yellow dress bouncing into the room with a smile, before twirling to a stop in front of the desk, "Hello class, I'm Hinako Ninomiya and I'm your new teacher! I'm here to make sure you all leave this school as good boys and girls, not troublemakers and delinquents. Do as I say and we'll all have lots of fun, but all you bad kids out there watch out, because I'll punish you if you cause trouble! So be good!"
She playfully waggled a finger in warning, and then winked cheerily. "And an especially big warning goes out to Mister Ranma Saotome; the principal has told me all about what a naughty, naughty boy you've been, even making your girlfriend Kodachi cry, so I'll be keeping an eye on you. I'm going to straighten you out if it's the last thing I do."
Akane was too surprised by the fact a little girl had just been revealed as her new teacher to pay attention to either her words or the way Ranma's expression hardened at them. "Just what did I do?" The heir to the Saotome School complained to himself, not really expecting an answer at all, never mind one he'd like.
"Right, now the first thing to do is to call roll. Please say 'present' when I come to your name, okay?" With that Hinako began organizing her array of teaching equipment and a few other items while the class simply sat there in stunned silence, many of them still disbelieving that they were about to be taught by a little kid who looked like she should still be in elementary school. As they continued to try and accept the situation, Ranma was counting the minutes on the clock, knowing from his little viewing session that Happosai would be appearing at any minute.
Suddenly, just as Hinako was about to call the roll, screams and shrieks filled the air and shocked the class out of their stunned stupor, heading to the windows to see a small form running towards the gates, carrying underwear and gym shorts. Hinako squealed out loud, "A delinquent! Right, none of you leave this class room, especially Mister Saotome!" With only a spare second to open the window, Hinako leapt out with a loud 'whee!' of excitement - to the shock of the watching students.
"Is she crazy!" Akane yelped; sure, Ranma and even some of those bimbos that chased him might do stunts like that, but Miss Hinako was clearly just a little girl- she could get hurt!
Most of the other students were too stunned to do anything, but Ranma had leapt up from his desk and dove after the teacher, hot on her proverbial heels. Knowing what was coming, he just managed to grab her out of the air, then spin around to be the one who took the brunt of the landing. Unfortunately, they had flung themselves out rather earlier then their counterparts in that other timeline, so he didn't end up landing on Happosai. Still, Ranma had jumped higher then this in the past, and so it was no difficulty for him to soak the impact. Gently, he placed the teacher back on her feet.
"You alright, teach?
Hinako spared only a curious glance at Ranma before shouting at the fleeing figure, "Stop right there, you delinquent!"
"Don't waste your time; that old fart just gets a kick out of chasing school girls, he's no student. Hang on, teach, I'll stop him." Ranma told her, shooting the last few words over his shoulder as he darted forward, racing up to the unsuspecting lecher and then lunging into a powerful kick to the back of his head, catching him off-guard and knocking him flying into a tree.
"Why do you keep coming here, y' old goat? You know I can't let you get away with this, ya sicko." Ranma taunted his most hated "tutor".
"Ranma, how dare you disrespect your elders like this! I will not forgive you for interfering with the one pleasure of a feeble, sickly old man!" Happosai proclaimed, dropping his bag of plundered bras and panties in order to fully make his dramatic gestures.
"Feeble and sickly, my ass! You oughta be ashamed of yourself, ya randy old fart!" Ranma snapped back in disgust, then took a step back as Happosai's aura flared; much as he disdained the ancient pervert, he was forced to admit that the he-crone was a powerful foe. However, he discovered the prickling on the back of his neck wasn't entirely due to Happosai, as he heard a feminine voice cry out from behind them both.
"Happo Five-Yen Satsu!"
Ranma hurled himself to the side, not quite fast enough to escape being struck by some of the ki vampire's energy draining attack, a sensation that he would most directly liken to a barbed harpoon slamming into his body hard enough to knock the wind from his lungs, then being brutally wrenched free. But it was Happosai, directly in the line of fire and with his battle aura flaring, who took the full force of the attack. Ranma twisted as he fell, too weak to stay upright, watching as Happosai visibly withered, the coruscating energy of his battle aura flowing from him, tightening into a smoky tendril that streamed through the hole in Hinako's five yen piece and washing over her body... her rapidly changing body.
The rush of ki was always euphoric when they 'acquired' it from troublemakers and delinquents and both voices couldn't help but audibly hiss in pleasure as the Adult fully took over from the Child. The immature body seemed to warp in shape and proportion as the glow hid the way her figure rapidly filled out her dress, before the light faded and the boys watching from the classrooms felt their jaws drop at the sight before them.
Hinako Ninomiya opened her now adult eyes and tossed her hair back, regarding the weakened Ranma and drained Happosai before turning to the school, speaking loud enough that no-one misheard her husky voice sounding clear across the silence, "This is what will happen to any delinquents and troublemakers in this school! No exceptions!" She smiled at the scared nods from the students before turning back to Ranma, "And mister Saotome?" She smiled at the curious look on Ranma's face, "Detention for being out of class."
Without another word, she turned on her heel and strode back towards the school.
For a long while, Ranma lay there, numbed and covered with pins and needles, too exhausted to even complain in the privacy of his head. Slowly and awkwardly he pushed himself upright; he hadn't taken the full drain like Happosai had, but he had been sapped of much of his energy - he felt soft, slow, clumsy, weak, half-blind, half-deaf. Was this what it was like to be an ordinary kid? Or was he just overreacting to the draining? That was a wicked technique - shame about the requisitions, though. Ranma could see why his counterpart, lacking the knowledge that only a specially treated child could learn it, would have thrown himself into trying to learn it himself, or to cut it off in jealousy after finding he couldn't.
Staggering back to class made it clear the ordeal of the day had just begun. Akane was clearly still steamed over that "girlfriend" comment Miss Hinako had made, but between her nature as an obedient student and, Ranma presumed, her fear of Hinako's energy draining ability, meant she settled for merely giving Ranma the cold shoulder, which he was happy to return. The rest of the day passed by in a daze as Ranma focused his attention on building up his depleted ki... partially because he was disgusted by the way just about every guy in class was fawning over Miss Hinako, now that she had revealed her voluptuous true form (which naturally led to an outbreak of sorrow when it was revealed that Hinako couldn't stay adult forever, naturally shrinking back into a child once the stolen ki wore off).
By the time Ranma was finally let out of school, his strength had returned, and he went to the dojo to practice. His goal was to try and think of a way to train himself to be able to either better resist or better avoid Hinako's ki draining attack, but his efforts were quite futile. In a way, he was kind of glad of the distraction when Happosai crawled into the room; apparently, between being caught in the full blast and his own somewhat leech-like approach to ki, it was taking longer for the old pervert to restore himself. Ranma was grateful that he was still too weak to heft a bucket of cold water; getting glomped by Happosai was never his favorite of pastimes.
"Trying to figure out a way to shake off that move?" The old goat cackled.
"Maybe, what's it to you?" Ranma replied, wondering momentarily if that had maybe been a bit harsher then it should have been - he didn't want to get roped into Happosai's attempt to nullify Hinako, but he didn't need to make the old goat suspicious. After all, Ranma shouldn't have prior knowledge.
Fortunately, Happosai didn't seem to get suspicious. "What if I told you that I knew a way to stop her being able to use that nasty technique of hers, eh?" He grinned winningly (well, as much as that word could be said to apply to him).
"I'm listening..." Ranma replied warily; he didn't want to say that, but he had to keep up appearances.
The perverted grandmaster held out a rolled up scroll. "This shows a series of pressure points that you can hit to nullify her capacity to drain the ki from others. Her technique is based on her having a specially modified metabolism, and this undoes the pressure point regime that modified it in the first place." He stage-whispered in a conspiratorial tone.
"And how would you know this...?" Ranma commented sarcastically.
"That's not important!" Happosai snapped. "Do you want this or don't you?" He complained.
"Give it here..." Ranma grumbled, snatching it up and making a show of studying it, then looking irritated and bonking Happosai on the head. "Do I look like some kind of moron?" He snapped in only slightly faked anger.
"Ow! What didya do that for?" Happosai complained.
"That's my line. And look at these points, you old goat!" Ranma snapped, showing Happosai the anatomical diagrams, the elderly martial artist squinting up at them in confusion.
"...What's wrong?" He asked, genuinely bemused.
"If I try to pull these off, I'm going to either look like I'm molesting a little girl, or end up with a hand full of breast!" Ranma complained.
"...Your point?" Happosai asked, still genuinely confused.
"The point is I'll look almost as bad as you on your best behavior, that's what my point is, you senile old pervert!" Ranma shouted, taking this opportunity to punt the still-weakened lech out the dojo's doors and over the wall. Smiling with pride at his accomplishment, Ranma carefully stowed the chart away; who knew, it just might come in handy...
The next day, Ranma felt like he was walking on eggshells when he got to school. As the new homeroom teacher for 1-F, Hinako was the first teacher Ranma had to face that day, and though she would leave to teach other classes at specific times of the day, she still taught many of the subjects Ranma was taking. Between that, and the fact she evidently seemed to consider him her primary "delinquent" (Ranma would bet that the principal was behind this, somehow), he felt under a constant scrutiny. Not wanting to get detention, and wanting to be drained even less, Ranma had done his best to metaphorically tiptoe around the new teacher that day. Fortunately, in her child form, she seemed rather... scatterbrained. Unfortunately, the guys lusted after her adult form so much that she inevitably spent little time as a child; some boy would invariably start acting up all of a sudden, either pressured into "taking one for the team", so to speak, or willingly sacrificing himself to his perversion, and get drained, allowing her to assume her much more focused and coldly seductive adult form. All in all, lunch that day was more of a relief then usual.
"Ranchan!"
Ranma blinked and turned to see Ukyo jogging up towards him and smiled slightly. "Hey Ucchan, haven't seen you in a while."
The girl stopped close to him and smiled. "Had a martial arts contest down in another ward, missed you and decided to finish things up quickly." Ranma shook his head with a smile as the girl continued, "So what's been happening? I hear that some super-teacher's been brought in to 'reform' you."
The slight sarcasm made Ranma chuckle before he got serious. "Yeah, some lady called Hinako Ninomiya, and she's got some nasty tricks Ucchan, like..."
"Airen!"
Ukyo stiffened as Shampoo landed near Ranma, "Shampoo had to make delivery to other side of Tokyo! Shampoo miss Airen too-too much!" Ranma promptly began flailing in much the way he normally did as Shampoo latched onto him eagerly – not because of an intent to hide his change in relationships, but out of a genuine sense of panic, albeit of a different cause. The Chinese girl paid no attention to this, and if she was wondering why Ranma was acting like he had before, she gave no sign of it. Possibly because she hadn't a chance to hold him long before she noticed the other girl present. "What you here for Spatula-girl? Go away now, Airen have Shampoo."
"Get your dirty hands off my fiancé, you Chinese hussy!" Ukyo snarled angrily. How dare that woman show up and try to sink her hooks into her Ranchan, after he had finally come to his senses!
"Who you calling hussy?! You is one what try and sink claws into Shampoo's airen!" The Chinese Amazon spat. Where did this deluded crossdresser get off accusing Shampoo of stealing what was rightfully hers? It had been laughable before, but now that Ranma had at last accepted that Shampoo was his only choice, it was just plain insulting!
"Girls! Girls! You really don't wanna start a fight here!" Ranma half-protested, half-pleaded. Admirably, only a small part of his concern was that one or both of them might let it slip that he had been on a date with each of them; the rest was genuinely concerned that they might attract Hinako's wrath - there was nothing she hated more then kids fighting on the school grounds.
Hinako was skipping about the school grounds, making sure that the students were being good and behaving, 'Yay! It looks like everything's working out great! Even that meanie Ranma is behaving!' The Adult nodded in the back of her head, before she suddenly felt it, Hinako's head whipping around and her body stopping dead in its tracks as she spoke in an ominous tone, "I sense delinquents". Several nearby students shuddered as the reform specialist dashed off.
'Hmm, not mister Saotome. Interesting, we haven't felt these delinquents before. New students? Or interlopers?' The Adult was speculative while the Child was more concerned with punishing the new delinquents as she rounded a corner and stopped to see Saotome, the boy openly desperate in his attempts to play peacekeeper between the two girls.
'Hmm, perhaps he can be reformed after all. Still, how do we deal with these two? The 5-Yen Satsu won't be able to hit and drain them both without one getting enough warning to dodge out of the way.' The Child nodded and then reached into her pocket.
'No choice, we'll have to use the 50-Yen Satsu to deal with these two delinquents at the same time!' The Adult spared a glance through their eyes and saw that the argument was about to become physical.
'Agreed. Do it.' The Child nodded and pulled out a 50-Yen coin and brought her hand up in the proper stance. At that point, she saw Ranma abandon attempts to defuse the situation and high-tail it out of range as she shouted, "Happo 50-Yen Satsu!" The larger, more powerful beam immediately engulfed the two girls before they had a chance to react and immediately the familiar euphoric rush of the transformation swept through her.
Tossing her hair back as usual from the transformation, Hinako approached the two drained girls as Ranma landed back near them, fixing her typical cool gaze on the boy, "I assume you know these two, Mister Saotome?"
"Uh... yeah, I know them. Ukyo's a student here, Shampoo drops by every now and then. They didn't mean to start any trouble, it's just... you know how martial artists and rivals get..." Ranma trailed off, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head and trying to explain the situation without mentioning the whole conflicting engagement thing.
"A student here? Does she have a reason for being absent?" Hinako looked over the one named 'Ukyo' and made certain to remember her face when she recovered, it wouldn't do for a student to simply come and go as she pleased.
"She runs her own business, and she's a martial artist on top of that, it happens now and then." Ranma replied.
Hinako raised an eyebrow, 'Student and a business owner, impressive. Perhaps we can use her to influence Saotome into being a better student...'
The Child heard the Adult's thoughts and frowned. 'But she's a martial artist! That means she gets into fights! She could be a delinquent as well!'
The Adult nodded internally to the suspicion. 'Yes, but we'll need to give her a chance; she may yet prove useful in reforming Saotome.' The Child huffed, not totally convinced but she gave her assent as Hinako focused back on Ranma, "This...Shampoo was it? I trust she won't disrupt my classes?"
'Such a strange name.' Both minds were in agreement about that.
"She doesn't normally come here except at lunch, and even that's rare. She's a waitress at her great-grandmother's restaurant." Ranma answered, puzzled, but somewhat relieved; it looked like Hinako wasn't going to go on the warpath after all.
'She works? Must only visit on her breaks or days off, acceptable.'
The Child was unsure of the Adult's statement. 'I don't know...she could be skipping work and she might not even go to school if she works full time! She might even be a delinquent in her spare time!'
The Adult shrugged internally. 'She isn't a student, but that doesn't mean I'll go easy on her. She gets out of line, and there will be hell to pay.' The Child nodded in the back of her head; it sounded like a good idea to her. The Adult focused back on Ranma.
"Very well, I'll forgive miss Ukyo's absence on the grounds of her business, Mister Saotome, but I expect miss Shampoo to restrict her visits to lunch times and to leave the school grounds immediately after lunch ends. I will be checking to make sure that Ukyo keeps up with her schoolwork." She glanced at the two on the ground, "Now, I suppose I'll need to get some students to take them to the nurse's office."
"I'll do it. They know me, and I can keep them from doing anything... rash." Ranma immediately volunteered. He didn't know how the girls would take this, and he wanted to try and head anything that they might come up with off at the metaphorical pass.
Hinako nodded, "I'll leave it to you mister Saotome." She turned to leave, before she glanced back over her shoulder at him, "I saw you trying to settle their argument peacefully mister Saotome. Perhaps there's some hope for you after all." With that she walked off.
Ranma sighed; while getting her to ease off on him was good, he would have preferred not to have to done so at the expense of two of his fiancées. Now, how to get these girls to the nurse's office... bending down, he tried to lift Ukyo first - to his surprise, she was much lighter then he would have figured, as though the draining of her ki had left her physically depleted. After a bit of awkward juggling, he managed to pick up both girls at the same time and proceeded to carry them to the nurse's office.
It took several long minutes before either Shampoo or Ukyo had the strength to speak, and both girls were simultaneously pleased to see Ranma had chosen to sit between their beds and wait for them to recover their strength and angered that their bitter rival was also there. It was Ukyo who first managed to speak, her voice wavering from the draining she had taken. "I'm guessing that was Hinako?" She asked.
"Got it in one, Ukyo." Ranma said, trying to sound lighthearted.
"Who Hinako?" Shampoo asked, feeling irked that her husband was practically flirting with another girl.
"She's this new nutjob that the principal hired to be a 'reform teacher'. You two just got a taste of her anti-delinquency methods." Ranma explained.
"What the hell did she hit us with anyway? I feel like I've been sucked dry!" Ukyo complained, Shampoo reluctantly nodding.
"She's got this weird ass technique that lets her drain ki from other people. Her metabolism's been messed with to let her do it; normally, she looks like this little kid, but let her drink somebody's battle aura, and she grows back to her real age." Ranma explained. "That's why I've been laying low; I can't fight her without producing a battle aura, and the moment I do that, she can drain me so badly I can't move, just like you girls."
"There must be some way to fight her! No technique invulnerable!" Shampoo protested, her pride severely wounded.
"Well... there's this one trick you can do that'll fix her metabolism, make it so she can't drain folks anymore..." Ranma hesitantly began.
"What is it? Come on, Ranma-honey, tell us!" Ukyo insisted, managing to force herself upright to look Ranma in the eyes for empasis.
"Yes! Airen tell Shampoo how Shampoo can beat sneaky little cheat!" Shampoo echoed.
Ranma looked between the two girls, then sighed and pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket. "Hit all of these pressure points at the same time, and you nullify her ki drain attack." He told them.
"...If you know this, why not defeat her before now?" Shampoo asked quizzically.
"Gotta admit, she's got a point, Ranma-honey." Ukyo added reluctantly.
"Take a good look at these points. Now try and figure out where they are on a girl's body." Was all Ranma said. When the two girls looked the chart over, then promptly flushed with embarrassment, he couldn't resist a mocking grin. "Now you see why I can't do it; it's easier to just live with the risk then to have Akane go off on me for doing something 'perverted'. But I can't stay here any longer; I gotta get back to class or Hinako will suck me dry too. You girls just rest up here and get your strength back, alright?" After a nod indicating a temporary peace, he got up and walked away.
In the nurse's office, the two girls lay there in silence before Shampoo said, "Look on Spatula-girl's face when technique hit, too-too funny."
Ukyo snarled. "Oh, and the whimper for your mother when you got hit wasn't?" She smiled at the Chinese girl, "I bet Cologne would just love to hear about how you got beat by a teacher."
Shampoo sniffed, "At least Shampoo no take lessons from vampire-woman, spatula-girl probably get detention after this."
Ukyo grinned. "Yeah? With those points Ranma showed us, I'll have her begging me for mercy, not the other way round."
Shampoo glared at Ukyo, who only smugly smiled back. "Shampoo proud warrior! Shampoo not let some, some spatula-girl beat vampire-woman before her!"
Ukyo's eyes narrowed even as her smiled widened. "May the best girl win."
"Thank you, Shampoo will."
Three days passed and for the residents of Nerima, it was strangely quiet. Well, save for the regular attacks on one teacher at Furinkan but for Hinako Ninomiya it was surprisingly routine as she walked away humming from the drained form of Ukyo, the chef groaning as she forced her body to laboriously drag itself to its feet and head back to her restaurant.
"Three days...three days and not a goddamn scratch on her! Smoke bombs, the noodle ropes, the gunpowder tempura, even throwing Sasuke and a mess of throwing spatulas at her and she still beats me!" She winced and stopped to catch her breath, "Damn, is this what's its like to be a civilian? How the hell do they put up with this? Damn aura-vampire bitch! Bet that Chinese hussy is probably laughing at me now!"
Meanwhile, on a connecting street, a certain 'Chinese Hussy' was groaning to herself as she walked down the street, muttering strings of Mandarin and Cantonese swears, along with a smattering of Xiang, Gan and Hui.
Finally, she reached the street corner and had to pull herself short to avoid running into Ukyo, who also managed to avoid colliding into her rival. After a long moment, Ukyo broke the silence, "Sugar, you look like shit."
"Shampoo is Shampoo, not Sugar. Sugar have smaller chest, blue eyes and green hair. Shampoo think Spatula-girl few Jiao short of a Yuan." Shampoo muttered loud enough for the girl to hear before slumping against the wall, "Not fair! Shampoo use everything; Amazon technique, special foods, even use Mousse and bag full of cats and dogs as distraction and still vampire-woman beat me! Vampire-woman cheater, mean cheater with 'I win' button! How Shampoo supposed to beat cheater with technique like that!"
Ukyo nodded, "Yeah, I know. And it's not like a near miss is any better. Get your aura scratched by that and bam! She drains you like a damn juicebox! It...arrrgh! Dammit, this is pissing me off! One on one she's unstoppable!"
Shampoo nodded weakly, before her expression soured, "Shampoo think we outmatched if fight alone. Shampoo think we need work together."
Ukyo snarled, before nodding, "It ain't just about beating her now; it's about our pride! If we let some, some...civilian with a whacked up metabolism and a single technique beat us, how the hell can we call ourselves martial artists!?" She glared at Shampoo, "I don't like you and you don't like me. If it came down to it, we both know we'd sooner see the other one dead than have Ranma, but this woman is bigger than Ranma, its about our pride and we're never going to get it back if we just lay down and behave!"
Shampoo nodded, "But how we beat vampire-woman's cheat?" Ukyo grimaced.
"I don't know Sugar, but something will let us beat her."
"Shampoo is Shampoo, not Sugar! Shampoo really do think Spatula-girl missing few Yuan in her head!"
"Shut up!"
It was the end of the school day directly after the day that, unbeknownst to everyone, Shampoo and Ukyo had reluctantly made their pact to team up against their mutual source of humiliation. Ranma and Akane were walking home together, Akane on the footpath, Ranma on the fence, and the former in quite a good mood. "So what's got you so happy?" Ranma asked.
"You haven't noticed the entertainment of the last few days?" Akane playfully teased him back. "Don't tell me you haven't thought it was funny to see those two attacking Miss Hinako like idiots and getting flattened for it."
"Okay, I won't tell you." Ranma replied deadpan. "Well, speak of the devils..." He said, stopping where he was and turning for a better view.
"Don't tell me those idiots are at it again?" Akane asked, one third disbelief to two thirds delight in her voice. Ukyo might be fairly friendly towards her when Ranma wasn't involved, but both girls were her rivals and made no secret of the fact that they looked down on her, and thusly seeing them being humiliated was quite therapeutic. "So is it Ukyo, or Shampoo?" She asked, trying to see where the latest curb stomp battle was about to take place.
"Both of them; they've teamed up," Ranma commented in disbelief.
"What? Those two? I'd sooner believe Happosai was trying to reform himself." Akane said, even more shocked then Ranma and still trying to find a way to see what Ranma was looking at without actually getting onto the fence (not because she couldn't, but because she was uncomfortable doing so).
"It's not that unbelievable - they've fought together before. Besides, Happosai did try and reform himself once, remember?" Ranma pointed out.
Akane made a dismissive noise, then finally swallowed her pride and sprang up onto the fence beside her protested fiancé, eagerly settling there to watch her rivals get beaten yet again.
"You delinquent girls are stubborn ones, aren't you? I've had to straighten out many bad kids before, but you two take the cake!" Hinako cried.
"Did you really think we'd let you get away with what you've been doing?" Ukyo retorted.
"That right! Shampoo and Ukyo is true martial artists, have much pride; to lose to rank amateur what have cheating technique… that is unforgivable!" The Chinese Amazon decreed, striking a dramatic pose that set her hair billowing in the wind.
"I always suspected she was a Sailor Moon fan… but now I'm sure of it." Akane murmured.
"I don't know what your problem is, but I will reform you no matter how many times I have to drain you to do it! Happo Five-Yen… hey! Stop moving!" Hinako squealed in dismay as her two opponents suddenly split off, racing in different directions at their top speed and then twisting to charge at her. Again and again she tried to drain them, but she could only aim at one of them at a time and their speed and agility made them hard targets in either case.
"I get it, so that's why they teamed up. Smart girls…" Ranma muttered.
"What?" Akane questioned, a hint of warning in her tone. She did not like hearing her rivals praised – mainly because they were so willing to rub their so-called superiority in her face themselves.
"Hey, it's a good tactic!" Ranma protested.
Good tactics or not, this was a battle in which luck was determined to play its part, and eventually it turned against the girls; Hinako managed to catch Shampoo with her Happo Five-Yen Satsu and drained her dry, immediately growing to her adult form. At that, Ukyo suddenly charged in from behind, intending to tackle Hinako before she could react. Unfortunately for her, she had underestimated Hinako's own reflexes. It shouldn't be possible to smirk and shout "Happo No-Yen Coin Return" at the same time, but the new teacher at Furinkan High managed to pull it off as she whirled to face her rebellious student, twisting her hands into a gesture where thumbs and index fingers touched, creating a roughly diamond-shaped opening in front of her eyes. Crackling green energy erupted from between her hands, spreading into a vaguely arrow-shaped bolt that slammed into Ukyo and tossed her flying.
"Where the hell did that come from!?" Was the unanimous cry.
"Bullseye!" Hinako cheered, having reverted from her adult form back into a child again… not that it stopped her from making a triumphant pirouette and doing her best to smirk sadistically. "Surprised? After I've absorbed ki energy through a circular object, I can expel it all at once to knock other bad kids like you for a loop! You've lost again."
"That what you think!" Shampoo suddenly shouted, diving for Hinako from behind, the now-child too slow and startled to react. Before she and Ukyo had made their latest challenge, Shampoo had… "borrowed" some special ki restoratives from her grandmother's special supply of herbal medicines, saving a batch for herself and giving a batch to Ukyo. After Hinako had drained her and turned away to face Ukyo, Shampoo had managed to just barely cram the vile-tasting herbal concoction into her mouth and swallow it, feeling her strength pouring back into her as it stimulated her body to rapidly replenish the energy drained from her. There would be a price to pay for it, of course; she would be stiff and sore for a week as her body rebelled at being forced to such levels. Fortunately for her, she had managed to catch Hinako so off guard that she had hoisted her off of the ground by her arms and hold her so that she couldn't use her ki draining technique. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't do anything about Hinako's flailing legs, which were hitting her tender stomach.
"Nasty brat stop kicking, or Shampoo be sick!" The Chinese girl groaned, obviously not far from her threat. Whether Hinako truly believed it was possible she might get vomited on or she simply realized how futile it was, she stopped struggling.
"Oh Hinako… that's what you get for relying on a single technique, my dear."
The fight paused at the sound of a new and very unwelcome voice, all three local girls immediately looking around warily in anticipation of a lustful lunge at their rears or bosoms.
"How long have you been here ya old lecher? And how'd ya know we were here anyway?" Ranma called sourly.
Happosai cackled as he appeared from his treetop hiding-place. "Three girls getting into a fight and you don't think I'd notice? You don't know me very well do you Ranma my boy?" He walked over to where the girls were still standing in the same positions as they had been during the fight, "Looks like you lost Hinako-chan, too bad really. But then, what did I really expect from someone with no real training? Well, I suppose that's the breaks for you."
Happosai shook his head as if he was truly a disappointed sensei, the effect ruined as Hinako's face scrunched up in confusion.
"Um, excuse me, but who exactly are you?" She asked.
Happosai face faulted before he recovered, eyes tearing up. "How could you forget your dear sensei, after he went through all that trouble in the hospital for you!"
Just before any of the girls or Akane could question him further, Ranma took that as his cue. With the ease of practice, he leapt into the air, soaring gracefully to land on Happosai and reduce him to something that resembled a squashed frog even more strongly then normal. "I knew something felt off about this from the start - like how did you know what her technique was, or how to counter it? You've got some connection to her and her tricks, so I suggest you spill it."
Happosai croaked several times, prompting Ranma to reluctantly lighten the pressure he was exerting on the old pervert. "It was... many years ago. I met Hinako when she was just a little girl, a few years younger then she currently looks. She was in hospital with a condition that gave her a frail constitution; I was passing by, met her by chance, and offered to help. I taught her special exercises and modified her metabolism with a special shiatsu regime, so she could drain ki energy from others to bolster her own and cure her frailness. Fortunately, that hospital had a lot of naughty nurses who wouldn't stand for a little old man helping someone they couldn't, so she had plenty of opportunities to drain ki." Happosai promptly croaked louder, his claims cut off as Ranma dug his heel in again, an expression of disgust on his face.
"In other words, you turned an innocent little girl into a weapon to use against the female staff who got upset about you stealing their lingerie? You're sick." He spat.
Hinako was aghast; was that really how she had gained her special powers? It had been so long ago that she couldn't remember... had she really been just a pawn for some ancient delinquent? Had she been so wrong...?
While Hinako suffered a crisis of faith, the other girls had adopted expressions of righteous fury, Akane the foremost amongst them. Ranma barely had time to realize she was a heartbeat away from either punting the old pervert to the next island or mashing him to a pulp and hastened to speak up. "Wait a minute!" He shouted desperately.
"What, Ranma?" Akane growled, so enraged by this latest depraved trick of Happosai's she was having a hard time thinking straight.
"That right; why wait? Why not kill horrible little gnome?" Shampoo spat, having unconsciously dropped Hinako in her anger; child abuse was not something she would stand for, and Ukyo seemed to be sharing her sentiments exactly.
"There's one more thing I need to know - old man, how does this 'counter technique' of yours work... if it works at all?"
"It works fine!" Happosai protested, offended that they would doubt a move of his own development. "It nullifies her ability to affect the ki of other people and to absorb it afterwards... but it only lasts about a day."
"WHAT?!" Was the unanimous outcry from Ranma, Shampoo and Ukyo.
"It can be made permanent!" Happosai quickly clarified. "It just... takes a whole month of consecutive treatments to do so. It's like any treatment really, you need to do it over time for the most -" His voice was cut off in a strangled croak as an angry Ranma stamped down on him - hard. Nobody quite knew who shouted "Get him!", but nobody particularly cared as they fell upon the old lech like a pack of raging warhounds.
As the dust cleared, the results were quite clear as Happosai twitched at the bottom of the self-made crater as Akane and Ranma said their goodbyes and walked off. For a moment, Shampoo and were about to leave before Ukyo frowned, "Ya think we should...you know." She indicated Hinako standing nearby staring at nothing as Shampoo looked thoughtful before shaking her head.
"Not worth it, Shampoo not want put up with entire month of hitting points."
Ukyo glanced at Hinako and after a moment, nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right Sugar."
The pair walked off as Shampoo growled lightly. "Shampoo is Shampoo! Not Sugar! Why Spatula-girl think Shampoo is Sugar? Spatula-girl never even meet Sugar!"
Ukyo's reply was lost as the pair left, leaving Hinako standing there.
An hour later, she regained her senses and after checking her watch, Hinako Ninomiya started walking home, her childlike appearance at odds with the somber, solemn air surrounding her.
And thus the chapter ends. Is Hinako defeated? I think not. Will she become even more of a headache for Ranma and company, or back away? Your guess is as good as mine. I suppose you're all wondering when Ranma's dirty little secret will come out…? Let's just say "soon", alright? Anyway, votes are still open, both for Ranma and his official destined girl, and for Ryoga and Mousse, whose votes will remain open until chapter 10 (in the titles sense, not the posted chapters sense). Hope you enjoyed this latest work.