I do not own Ranma or Ikkitousen, though I sure as hell would like to own some of its characters. Yum…

I will be updating next on Wednesday. Real life interferes more during the week naturally, though I will be going back and correcting some of the typos/grammar issues that were pointed out to me my works tonight, especially the point About Ranko/Ranma pointed out to me by Kariston Draconis, cheers man.

I would also like to give a shout out to Isacrock, EdminReb and BlessingMan for answering the question I posed in my last authors intro. Thanks for the feedback, though Isacrock I haven't seen/read Higurashi Kai. I was thinking more along the lines of Rosario Vampire (the government has always known about the monsters, and are worried about the rise of Fairy Tail), Sekirei (much more humorous and upbeat story than Warrior's Way) or something else. Not Sailor Moon though. If I write a Sailor Moon/Ranma crossover I'll write one from the very beginning and mix them up from the moment Ranma gets back from the training journey. And he'll have another curse entirely. Ranma-chan has been way too over used in those.

Thanks to Vandenbz for reviewing and typos! I'm always willing ot go back and correct things like that.

Chapter 3 the outsider sees more of the game

When Ranma arrived at school the following day, he discovered that he had somehow achieved celebrity status. Much like at Furinkan, he had once more proven to be at the top of the totem pole, and the students afforded him the status his skill earned him. The other side of the equation however was much better than it had been at back in Nerima. Instead of a self-deluded kendo user who refused to see reason or even acknowledge he had lost, he had made a friend in Kan'u. A friend moreover, that he could have a friendly spar with, that could push him without making it personal, and who could possibly become something more in the near future. As he thought about this Ranma saw Kan'u leaning against a nearby tree, Seiryutou resting next to her. "Hey Kan-chan." Ranma greeted.

Kan'u, who had a full night to recover from her extreme reaction to their kiss and was back in control of herself, smiled at the informality, already seeing success in her positive reinforcement plan and responding in kind. "Ma-chan. There are a couple of people that want to meet you today. Can I introduce you to them at lunch time?"

Ranma shook his head, "Sorry Kan-chan I don't know if I'll be free at lunch. I got a meeting with the lit. teacher to go over a paper that I need ta do to stay in his class at some point today, and I haven't memorized my schedule yet. I need to show 'em that I already know the work enough to stay in the senior year and graduate."

Kan'u frowned but nodded as schoolwork was important to her as well. After all, it was her last year here and she was hoping to go on to a good college and then possibly travel the world, even though she didn't really know what she wanted to do with her life other than help her leader Ryuubi win this conflict. Of course, the future for those of us under the destiny of the sacred bead is always in limbo. "Very well, I will check in with you at the beginning of lunch. If you cannot meet us then are you free after school?"

Ranma nodded "Sure. I'll meet you outside my last class before lunch, I think it's chemistry."

Kan'u nodded again and the two walked inside, changing the conversation to when they could meet to exchange techniques. Kan'u was very interested in learning Ranma's hidden weapons technique, and Ranma was already thinking of ways to improve on her Explosive Palm.

An hour and a half later, Ranma was about to enter undiscovered country, well for him at least. It was called the library, and he had never been in one before. Of course the least said about what Genma thought books were good for the better (kindling was the soft option). And Furinkan didn't even have one. The price of keeping books in stock with martial arts battles (and chemistry club experiments) destroying the building every other week was not something even the Kuno family, who owned the school, was willing to put up with. After all while there was the cheap option of Martial Arts Construction for the buildings, there was no Martial Arts School of Book Repair.

Here however the library was a pretty decent size and within 5 minutes of entering Ranma was completely lost. He knew he had to find one contemporary and two classic novels to compare and contrast on his essay for the lit teacher, and he knew the classics he wanted to use. The old style romance novels by Alexander Dumas were among his favorites as were the stories of the Monkey King (both of which he had borrowed from Kasumi).

But for the third book he needed a contemporary novel, and unfortunately he had no idea where to begin. He had downplayed his ability to read and learn when he arrived back in the country because he was even then thinking of splitting from his father and wanted everyone around him to underestimate him. But because of this he had never really gotten into any contemporary books. Kasumi, the only one who knew of his reading skills only read classics and romance novels, which Ranma wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.

So here he was wandering the aisles looking around desperately for some book he could use. It isn't like this is going to be important to me later on anyway, he thought to himself irritably. Ranma didn't have any idea what his future would hold, but he knew that it didn't hold any more schooling i.e. college. What he really wanted to do was explore the world, learn more martial arts styles, and finish returning all the old scrolls and tomes his father and Happosai had stolen from other martial art schools. Maybe with a girlfriend by his side, maybe alone, though the first choice had definitely gained some ground after he clicked with Kan'u the day before.

After 15 min. of searching Ranma was at the end of his tether and he stomped over to a table where a slightly younger girl was sitting behind a huge pile of books. She looked up as he came near and cocked her head quizzically, obviously not having seen him before.

"Excuse me," Ranma said, exasperatedly, "but I need help. I'm looking for a contemporary book I can use on a compare and contrast essay on heroic tropes found in literature. I've got Western and Eastern classics I can use, but I still need a contemporary book."

The girl blinked in confusion and looked over at the librarian's desk only to see her already helping several freshmen. "W-well", she stammered for a moment before controlling herself, "you could probably use this book." She pulled out a book from her pile and handed it over to him. On the cover it read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. "It's the first in a series." She added helpfully, "And I think there are several heroic tropes in it that you can compare and contrast to other books with heroes. What other books did you choose?"

Without asking permission Ranma sat down across from her and pulled open the book to look at the summary inside. "Oh I chose the Monkey King's tale and the Three Musketeers. I always liked the Athos and Richelieu characters, although the sword fighting involved is so stupid it's not even funny. I mean come on a rapier? Good weapon if your enemy's wearing chain mail, but really? And everythin' the Monkey King's father put him through kind of struck home with me." With that he opened the book and started to read the first chapter. The girl across from him glanced up at him from time to time, sometimes quizzically, sometimes with a smile on her face as she saw him get more and more into the book.

About 30 min. later she sighed, a long irritated despairing sigh and Ranma looked up at her. "That's a sigh number twenty-two if I ever heard one."

The girl looked up at him through her large Coke bottle glasses. "Sigh number twenty-two? You've been able to number them?"

Ranma smiled slightly, though there was no humor in it and his voice was as dry as a desert. "Trust me I've sighed often enough to note the difference in the tone and duration of sighs, also screams and groans."

The girl smiled slightly. "So what does a number twenty-two tell you?"

"Sigh number twenty-two indicates 'oh I can't believe I have to deal with this I can't handle it'." Her eyes widened in surprise as he hit the nail on the head as that was exactly what she was thinking. "Anything ya want to talk about?"

The girl frowned. In the two years since her current circumstances had been thrust upon her, she had often wanted to talk to someone who did not have a connection to the problem itself, an outside source that could give her some advice. While she didn't know the boy in front of her, he was obviously a senior and seemed worldly enough that he may have some good advice for her. So she decided to ask him his opinion and spent a moment thinking of how to phrase the problem without giving him too much information or scaring him off.

"I was nominated the student body president, and here at Seito, that is a very important position that has a lot of responsibilities. But the problem is that I never wanted it. I was thought to be the best for the job because of something completely out of my control and I really don't want to be involved in the decision-making of anything at all. I would much rather be left alone to read my books, and there are certainly far better candidates for the post then I am here, people who can get things done, who other people notice and who put themselves forward. I do not do any of these and I still have the position and I-I just do not think I am doing a good job at all. I'm not doing anyone any good, neither the people I'm supposed to be serving or me." The girl flushed as she realized what she was saying and sat back down breathing heavily. She hadn't expected to let out her frustrations that much to a complete stranger, but the tension and pressure had been really getting to her.

Ranma's eyebrows rose in surprise but that was the only indicator that he was taken aback by her outburst and he leaned back for a moment thinking of what to say and then nodded decisively. "I have two pieces of advice for ya. The first one's this: things may happen because of doers, but they're thought up by thinkers. Tokyo Tower was built by builders but it was thinkers that thought up the plans, thinkers that created the government, thinkers that even command the armies o' the world. Ya were chosen for this job because ye're a thinker, not a doer and don't let anyone else make you think you need to change from one to the other. Start using your brain ta solve these problems you're running into. Ya don't have to be a doer to be a leader but you do have to be a thinker."

"The next piece of advice I have for ya is play to your strengths" he waved a hand expansively at the pile of books in front of her. "You're obviously a good reader. So how can that help you solving your problems? Think of other strengths you have too. Think 'n research and then give the other people a solution and let the doers go out and do it because by that point you'll have done your job."

The girl looked across at him in surprise before nodding slowly, then faster and more decisively as his advice percolated into her head. "Thank you Mr…"

"Ranma" he said. "Just Ranma no Mr., it makes me feel like my old man and that's just wrong." He stood up. "Thanks for the book by the way you can have it back. Now that she's free to help me find another copy I'll get the librarian. Have a nice day." The girl watched him go for a few minutes then turned back to her own reading more confident and certain than she had been more moments before.

Ranma stopped halfway to the librarian's desk and looked to the side and nodded to someone unseen for a moment before moving away. Behind him a silver haired girl, dressed in an older style school uniform and with her eyes closed appeared as if from nowhere, looking a little shocked that she had been found out. Her glance at Ranma was at first calculating then interested as her eyes traveled down his back to his rear and watched it move as he walked away. Yum! Not only strong but intelligent and aware of his surroundings, nice ass and that back, what a beefcake! I can understand how he affected Kan'u-san so much last night. I'm afraid however dear Kan'u-san may not be the only one chasing after our new arrival by the end of today.

About 10 min. later Ranma left the library with his new book in hand. He still had two classes before lunch, but he knew now he would be able to make that meeting that Kan'u wanted him to do.

The girl with coke bottle glasses waited until the door closed, before getting up and moving over to one of the library computers. If I'm going to use my strengths to do my job better, then this is a good place to start. She thought.

Behind her, the silver haired girl walked over and took a seat next to her, saying "his name is Ranma S… something, perhaps that will give you a good starting point."

The girl in glasses nodded and typed it in asking at the same time "the one who beat Kan'u yesterday?" The silver haired girl nodded again and the coke bottle glasses girl nodded and turned back to the computer "interesting."

After his chemistry class Ranma exited into the hall of the school to find Kan'u waiting for him. He smiled happily at seeing her and walked over to her immediately as she smiled in welcome. "Turns out I do have time to go to your meeting now." He held up an overlarge lunchbox and dangled it between them his smile turning a bit mischievous. "Maybe this time we can have a match that doesn't end in a weapon malfunction."

Kan'u surprised passing students by giggling and hooking an arm around one of his arms, leading him off down the hallway. This caused all the male students to gape in surprise and envy and a few of the female students to turn away, sad they wouldn't have a chance at the new hunk with Kan'u so obviously staking her claim.

Ranma blushed at the close contact, but didn't run away. Whatever was going on between him and Kan'u, he welcomed it with open arms, something he would never have been able to do in the past.

Kan'u led him to the fourth floor and then through a conference room into an office where three other people were waiting for them. Ranma was astonished to recognize two of them, the spectacle wearing girl from the library, and the calm, stoic silver haired girl who had been trying to hide her presence from him in the library. He had her pegged as some kind of ninja, and a very good one from her ki control and the size of the ki reserve he had seen upon sighting her in the library, but the spectacle girl being here was a complete surprise, though her sitting behind the desk, given the problems that she had described to him was not. The third girl in the room was a much younger girl, looking around middle school-age, with short almost chopped off brown hair and she scowled irritably when he came in.

Kan'u moved from his side over to stand between the silver haired girl and the girl at the desk as Ranma followed her forward to stand in front of the desk himself. From her place Kan'u spoke formally. "Ranma, be known to my friends Chouhi, Chou'un and Ryuubi Gentoku, our leader. Ryuubi this is Ranma, the man who fought and defeated me yesterday."

"We've met actually. I'm glad you went with the Harry Potter book Ranma." said Ryuubi smiling.

Ranma nodded, smirking a little himself. "Guess your problems are a little more serious than I thought when I gave you that advice huh?"

While Kan'u looked blinked in surprise the younger girl Chouhi scowled even more at his familiarity and was about to shout at him but Ryuubi simply smiled and said "yes, but your advice was very good."

Ranma nodded "Happy to help." And then he turned to Kan'u. "And don't be mad about losing yesterday Kan'u. You took me on hand-to-hand, which ya said yourself ain't your main style. There's no loss in an honorable defeat like that." Kan'u nodded, winking at him and he grinned back, while Chou'un nodded as well, putting another check mark in the tally sheet next to Ranma's image in her mind.

Chouhi however scowled, more than a little pissed that her mighty nee-sama had been defeated. Why, Kan'u-neesama had been so ashamed last night she took a bath and went right to bed without talking to anyone! "He doesn't look that tough to me."

Ryuubi spoke up before Ranma could reply, which was doubtless a good thing considering his temper. "Are you really the Ranma Saotome from Nerima Prefecture? Is it true you destroyed two mountains during two different fights?" Kan'u and Chouhi looked at her surprised at both the information and the fact that Ryuubi had it, while Chou'un twitched at the last name. She had missed that part, having to start work on a research paper of her own at the time Ryuubi was looking up information on their newest classmate.

Ranma blinked in surprise and said "Yeah, I am. And yeah I did accidentally destroy two different mountains in my fights with Herb and Saffron. How the heck do ya know about that though?"

Ryuubi smiled and held up a rather thick folder. "Your exploits are on file at the Federal Dept. of Paranormal Activity, and I'm a bit of a hacker. A lot of what is in the file I can believe given our own circumstances here, such as the curses and the rivals you seem to have collected during your time there. But the way people treated you and the way no one tried to solve the problems you kept on running into is just too weird. The multiple engagements your father made using you to cover up his own thefts that all came home to roost when you lived there was just the beginning of the report. I can honestly say that while we have many a scumbag around here, none of them would do to a friend what your so called friends put you through."

Ranma nodded and was about to answer when a slight cough from Chou'un interrupted them, looking slightly more tense than she had before learning his last name. The tension however was so well concealed under her calm, controlled appearance that only if someone looked close could they see it. "I don't suppose you are any relation to Genma Saotome?" She asked. "He is a well-known thief who stole two sacred scrolls from my martial arts school. The school has been looking for them forever, and was greatly diminished by their loss."

Ranma winced, but nodded, looking a little nervous. "Yeah, unfortunately he's my old man. In fact I probably have your scrolls 'cause I claimed all that he had taken when I beat him for leadership of the clan. And then I cast him out, one o' my best memories that. Since then finding the people who he stole from has been one o' my ongoing projects. If ya can tell me what they're about I can get them to you by tomorrow."

Chou'un lost her composure momentarily and looked very excited for a moment before regaining her self-control. "One has to do with compressing and hiding your ki signature to make it look like that of a random animal, and the other has to do with creating wind blades using your sword. Both of them are treasures of my school, if you can give me them back that will be incredible!"

Ranma nodded, but still looked nervous. "Er, he, um, did just steal from yer school right, there was no talk 'o compensation or anythin'?"

Kan'u stiffened but Chou'un shook her head sadly. "Alas no, this was an instant where he was merely a thief rather than a thief and oath breaker, he didn't make plans to affiance you to the heir of my school which from where I'm standing is a pity indeed. Though if you are offering to change that state of affairs…" She smiled seductively at him, and Kan'u had to force herself not to glare at her friend. I saw him first damn it!

Ranma backed away waving his hands wildly. "No, no it's cool, I mean, not that you aren't beautiful or anythin' but I'll just return the scrolls and we'll call it square and that'll be that."

The girls all laughed at his discomfiture as Chou'un blushed at the inadvertent compliment. Kan'u laughed along with the others, but kept one eye on Chou'un. We are going to have to have a talk sometime soon.

Ryuubi stopped laughing but still smiled as she asked. "While I'm glad that meeting like this helps both of you, I have to ask why one of the most powerful martial artists in all of Japan has suddenly showed up here. I somehow don't think that you're here to join the game as another participant, especially considering your 'new sheriff' line when you neutered Hanno yesterday."

A wicked smirk appeared on every girl's face as they thought of that while Ranma merely nodded impassively. "Before you answer that, where did you get the sacred bead that you showed your classmates yesterday?"

"Oh that, I took it from Hanno yesterday, and I kinda destroyed it accidentally last night."

This matter-of-fact statement brought startled responses from everyone present. Kan'u and the Chou'un haired girl looked astonished, while Ryuubi looked surprised and hopeful and the younger girl looked skeptical and disbelieving. "How did you manage that?"

"A ki enhanced punch. A really powerful ki enhanced punch. I was studying it and what I found in it pissed me off so much I couldn't stop myself when I broke out of the visions it sent me. It was probably a combination of me not givin' in to the images and the punch that really destroyed it though."

"Studying it, what do you mean?" Ryuubi asked excitedly. "You mean to say you found something that could be the reason why all of us are operating under the destiny of the sacred bead?"

"I don't know about destiny" Ranma scoffed, "but the thing was definitely possessed. There was a soul inside, and it wasn't a very nice one, a soldier in the troubled times of China, who enjoyed..." he flushed "the, uh, the darker, the darker aspect of being a soldier at the time." All the women present got it and nodded as he hurriedly moved on. "The images got worse and worse until I finally snapped out of 'em and destroyed the thing. On the other hand it tells me that they can be destroyed, which gives me a clue as to how to go about following what the government has asked me to do."

"And what have they asked you to do?" Ryuubi asked, glancing at her friends.

"End or control the lawlessness in the area, round up or get rid of the murderers and fighters that break the law and endanger other people that the police can't handle." Ranma said met matter-of-factly, and then looked over at Kan'u. "I told you it wouldn't bother you or the other honorable fighters here. As far as the police department are concerned, you're allowed your own tournament and allowed to fight each other in that tournament or in other controlled settings as often as you want. It's when you guys involve bystanders and innocent civilians that they have a problem with it, as well as the outcome of those fights, like murder and sometimes rape." He ended grimly. "Those problems and the attacks on the police are gonna stop one way or another."

The absolute confidence in his voice surprised all present at the young girl simply scoffed again. "You're thinking way too highly of yourself! The sacred destiny has been going on for over 1000 years now. No one has ever been able to break it, no one has been able to change it and no outside force is going to tell anyone on the inside how to act or think."

Ranma scoffed in turn. "That's nice to say chibi, but you people ain't exactly actin' in a vacuum 'round here. A lot of other people live in the area and it's their lives that get hurt the most when your factions clash. I ain't having that, I'm going to stop it one way or the other. Besides, don't any of ya want to see what yer lives could be without this so-called destiny hangin' over yer head?"

The girl was about to shout back at him when Ryuubi interrupted. "I for one don't doubt either your prowess or the fact that you want to end the ongoing cycle Ranma, but there is a lot more going on around than the beads themselves."

"Do you mean that weird ki signature that some people around here have? I ran inta a girl who had one the other day, and I think that I can do something about them, but I'd have ta look at it a lot closer than I was comfortable with at the time."

"What do you mean comfortable?" Ryuubi asked. She already knew of his meeting with Hakufu of course. Something like his punishment on Hanno spread quickly.

"Well there are two normal ways of reading a ki signature." Ranma said, going over to a nearby sofa and opening his lunchbox. The other girls looked up at the clock on the wall and hurriedly pulled out their own. Business was one thing, but the teachers still required them to be back to class on time, and a discussion was simply not a good enough reason to skip out. Kan'u had already missed half a day's worth of classes, and Chou'un and Ryuubi were both honor students. Chouhi wasn't but her homeroom teacher had devised a horrible torture to punish her for being late to classes: sitting still for an hour after school in a corner without anything to do. For someone with ADHD like her it was pure agony.

Chou'un and Kan'u both nodded and Chou'un spoke up. "You're talking about the ki sight and ki pulse techniques. Ki sight gives a fighter who can use it a decent overview of the person she or he is looking at, essentially telling them how strong the person is and some clues as to their character. A ki pulse is when you send out a pulse of your own ki like a sonar pulse that gives you a rough idea of the shape and placement of auras around you in a given radius." Ranma nodded, thinking that was a far better explanation of the techniques than he could have given as she continued. "I can use both, but my ability to understand what I am seeing is not the best."

She looked at Kan'u, who had sat down next to Ranma and was eating half from her store bought sandwich and half from his bento. After swallowing she said "I can use ki sight, but it's one of my newest techniques, and I haven't tried it in actual combat yet. The ki pulse is not something I am particularly interested in."

Ranma nodded, and took up his explanation. "I learned a third way that can tell ya a lot more about a person's aura and their bodies, but it's really invasive. Basically yer sending into their body a kinda probe and it connects you to 'em for a short amount of time, lettin' ya see all of their auras and body functions from the inside like. It takes a lot out of me ta do it, but the doc I learned it from could do it easy enough and it really paid off sometimes."

Ryuubi nodded. "So you would have to do that to get a better feel for the dragon within ones such as myself and the Shaoh Haou. But what can you tell with just ki sight?"

Ranma had stopped eating and was staring at her in consternation. "Dragon, did you say dragon?" Ryuubi nodded quizzically, wondering at his odd reaction. Ranma began to hit his head on the wall behind him, slowly making a dent as he spoke. "Why does it always have to be dragons? God damn it every time I run into a dragon it means either a tremendous amount of trouble or all out war, and most times both! WHY are you calling that weird ass ki a dragon?"

Ryuubi chuckled. "Run into a lot of dragons do you?"

Ranma went back to eating, counting on the fingers of his free hand. "First dragon whiskers, don't ask, second Yamato no Orochi, eight headed dragon monster that I had ta kill because it went berserk, third Mr. Turtle, psycho Kodachi's pet got turned into a dragon by a wish gone wrong and I had to fight it to get it ta change back, then bloody Prince Herb descendant of a dragon and a human who I had ta fight, durin' which we destroyed a mountain in that first fight you mentioned. So yeah I've run into a fair few."

Ryuubi and the others looked at one another in shock but Kan'u eventually nodded. She believed him. Ryuubi paused for a moment to gather her scattered thoughts before she answered Ranma's question. "According to legend the bearers of the sacred magatama are destined to continually relive the conflict known as the War of the Three Kingdoms in China. In that ancient conflict each leader received a part of a dragon's power as a blessing indicating they each were destined to conquer and rule. Today they reside in me, the Shaoh Haoh, Totaku the current emperor and Sosou of Kyosho. And before you ask, the passage of the dragon does not follow a specific magatama, and only loosely family lines. No one in my immediate family for example had been a part of this destiny for as far back as we can remember, but one of my thrice removed uncles was the last to house the dragon of Liu Bei."

"But ya can't control the power can ya." Ranma made the question a statement and Ryuubi nodded shivering as she remembered when her inner dragon had once awoken and nearly laid waste to friends and foes alike.

Ranma looked directly at Ryuubi, and all four girls gasped as his eyes glowed like twin stars for a moment. "Alright, with ki sight I can tell ya got kinda the same ki signature as that Hakufu chick. Yer own aura is spread normally throughout yer body and the dragon ki is centered in yer main torso and heart just like hers. Yer ki is decently sized, though ya could do with a little more exercise, and some control exercises as well. Your dragon looks more," he halted searching for the right word, "er, sleepy, no not quite, forgiving no, begins with a d, dormant that's it! Like it'll take a lot to rouse it and it'll go right back to sleep given the chance. It don't radiate hate, it doesn't seem angry or anythin' just sleepy. Not at all like the dragon in that Hakufu girl, that thing was angry and evil feeling. Your dragon would kill anyone around it once it woke up like a volcano; hers would actively go looking for people ta kill and enjoy it."

This accurate summation of her inner dragon shocked Ryuubi to her core and Ranma turned to Chou'un. "You had a dragon in you too didn't you? Not as powerful but there right?"

Chou'un gasped but nodded, opening her eyes slightly to show the reptilian slits her pupils had become. "If exposed to an original dragon's presence for too long without protection, a sliver of its soul may become embedded in your own. It is possible however to defeat such and merge with it as I have."

Ranma grinned. "Good fer you! And ya should open yer eyes more, they're cute. But I'd say Kan'u still has a slight edge on ya in the ki department. I'd guess her own ki overwhelmed the dragon's presence rather than mergin' right?" Kan'u nodded as Chou'un blushed at the compliment. Ranma really doesn't know how he does it does he? Kan'u thought as she looked at her friend, who was now looking even more interestedly at Ranma.

Chouhi, who had been silent up to this point spoke up now, having regained some of her irritation that this man had beaten her onee-sama and was now talking to them like equals. "How the hell can you tell all that just by looking at someone with ki sight!? I don't believe it!"

Ranma shrugged, tucking into his lunch once more. "I told ya, I'm grandmaster of Anything Goes. Did ya think it was just a fancy title or somethin'? And it don't tell me what I really need to know, like how the hell it got there in the first place, or how ta remove it."

"And we're just supposed to take your word for it?" Chouhi scoffed.

Ranma looked at Ryuubi, nodding at the folder. "That only covers Nerima don't it?" She nodded and he scoffed. "Typical," He turned to address Chouhi, eyes going hard for a moment.

"Tell me somethin', did all of ya have kindergarten?" The girls, bar Kan'u who had already heard some of Ranma's life from his own lips, looked at him wondering where he was going with this. "How 'bout lower school have that? Or middle school, do you regularly attend high school? Ya finish all yer years, go to school most of the time ya have to?" Chouhi and the others nodded, still wondering as Kan'u put a hand on Ranma's shoulder. "Well I didn't chibi. From the time I was five till I was sixteen I was on the road with my old man, and the only times I went to school was when a truant officer caught up with him and forced him to let me go, normally fer a week at a time at most. Then it would be back on the road and training 24-7. I didn't eat as much as I should have, 'cause fighting him for it was a part of my trainin'. I spent weeks in the hospital for various broken bones 'cause my old man never pulled his punches 'cause that was trainin'. I had to learn on my own around age six or seven how to use my inner ki to toughen myself up so he couldn't do that anymore. All my life has been like that, struggles, hardship and pain to make me the best in the world. Then it got worse in Nerima, where people who should have been my friends, who should have been on my side, instead took their own damn turns to hurt me. Again I survived girl, and when I turned 18 walked away the only way I could, by going through everyone who wanted ta stop me. I learned every trick, every technique and move because it was literally life or death ta me. So don't tell me I ain't a grandmaster, girl. Ya don't have the right, not until ya walk a year in these shoes."

Kan'u saw how his memories had affected Ranma and gave him a one armed hug as the others all stared at him in horror. Chou'un, who had a few dark memories of her own, walked over and placed a hand on his free shoulder and Ranma nodded to both girls thankfully.

Again Chouhi was about to speak up, angry at being spoken down to like that. But Ryuubi waved her hand for silence and the younger girl looked at her in surprise. Ryuubi almost never put herself forward and here she was telling her to be quiet several times in the same conversation! She wasn't certain what she felt about that… "Alright that tells us what you can see, but what are you going to do with that information?"

Ranma shrugged. "Right now I'm just collectin' info. In terms of yer dragons, I ain't goin' to do anythin' just yet, not until I know how they all tie in to this so called destiny thing. The dragons would act like berserkers right, so maybe beatin' 'em hard enough would exorcise 'em or maybe somethin' like a demon container would work. I think a lot of the low ranked beads possess their owners giving them some knowledge of how to fight but also encouragin' 'em to act in a certain way and obey certain leaders. I haven't examined enough of 'em to see if that's really the case though, and as for the high ranked ones, I don't know. Hopefully after you two" he nodded at Kan'u and Chou'un, "trust me I can look at yers, but I need more info before I say yeah I can break yah out of this cycle. Controllin' the chaos is easier though. I'm just gonna make myself a big target and beat on anyone who comes after me, take their beads, and deal out some punishment accordin' to what they've done in the past."

Kan'u spoke up. "The problem I see is that your way of fighting, regardless of your long term attempts to end the game, is going to put a lot of pressure on not only you but possibly the school in general. I don't want to see you adding more pressure to what Ryuubi and the rest of us are already facing." She didn't like saying that but it had to be said.

Ryuubi cut in before Ranma could reply. "Regardless I think this is something we need to be a part of. And I can think of a few ways to protect the school and our territory that we haven't used yet. Since this was thrust on me I've been trying to think like the original Liu Bei and not thinking like myself. I'm not going to do that anymore. I'll have some plans for you all to follow by tomorrow; that is if you all still want to follow Ryuubi, not the reincarnation of Liu Bei?" The answer was said jokingly but everyone else could see she was worried, biting her lip as she looked at her friends.

Kan'u responded by standing up and moving to grip the younger girl's hand warmly as Chou'un nodded simply and Chouhi emphatically. "While who you were in the past mattered when we first met, I follow you because I trust you to do what is best, not because of the dragon in you or because of who you were."

Ranma stood up as well. Walking forward he leaned across the desk to ruffle Ryuubi's hair. "My own plans are one thing, but I still got yer back little sister. I'll watch out fer ya, and help ya'll if the school is attacked, though I won't join ya if you attack someone else."

Ryuubi smiled happily at the nickname, and nodded agreement as the bell rang signaling the end of the lunch period. "That's fine, we won't be attacking anyone. Though if your research takes long enough would you be willing to help represent our school in the interschool tournament?"

Ranma nodded as he cleaned up after himself. "Sure, I'll think about it. See ya later."

Kan'u hurried after him and caught up before he left the student council conference room. "Ranma." He turned and she grabbed him in a tight hug. He stiffened at first then relaxed and his arms went around her loosely, his attraction to her once more overcoming his Nerima Indoctrination™. "I don't know what you said to her, but I have never seen Ryuubi put herself forward like this before. Thank you. I'll see you after school?"

Ranma nodded, looking into her eyes through her dark purple bangs. "Sure, I'll meet ya at the school's dojo okay? And I don't think I said anythin' special really, just gave her some advice."

"Well, whatever it was worked. And meeting there is fine, I look forward to seeing everything you can show me." She teased kissing him on the check and walking away, once again leaving behind a crimson colored Ranma.

A giggle behind him made Ranma turn back to the inner door to see Chou'un standing there, one snow white hand covering her mouth to hide her mirth. "I do know what you said to Ryuubi-san, and while it might not have been a big deal to you, it was what she needed to hear, and something none of us would have thought to say."

"Er, well, I'm glad ya approve."

"Very much so." Chou'un chuckled, "I will see you later as well. Perhaps there are things we can teach one another as well as you and Kan'u." And she walked out, leaving Ranma wondering if there was something unsaid there that he had missed. Shrugging he headed off to his class.

end chapter 3