COPYRIGHT LOLOLOL
What? I gotta fill this spot up somehow.
Chapter 5: The Boomerang Effect
Thus was the end of the Second Mahora War. The people of Mahora were able to hold off the threat on the ground, but it was up within the Gravekeeper's Palace above that the battle came to its conclusion. Negi and the Ala Alba had left Mahora to search for his father in the Magic World, but they had returned as its heroes and saviors. As time passed by, Ala Alba felt something they hadn't felt in a long time: a sense of normalcy. And among those that embraced the status quo back the most were the two girls currently at the train station.
"Ah! Yuuna-chan! The door's closing!"
"Not if I've got anything to say about it!"
Meet Yuuna Akashi and Makie Sasaki, students of Mahora Academy Class 3-A. It is now almost a week since the beginning of the fall trimester, and the two are ready to enjoy the day. It only comes at the unfortunate price of being a disturbance to everyone.
"Oh no you don't! Stay open!" With an exaggerated swing Yuuna slammed her hand on the edge of the train door, forcing it to pop back open. In that brief moment Makie rushed in, with Yuuna just barely spinning inside before the doors closed. Grabbing their hands on the rail, they both tried to catch their breaths as the train began moving.
"Whew! That was close!" Yuuna panted. "For a second, I thought we weren't gonna make it."
Makie tried her hardest to smile, but couldn't muster the energy. "Me…*huff*…neither. Why didn't we come sooner?"
"Hey, I just left my phone in my room! I didn't think we'd have to make a dash like that!" As she regained her focus, she began to notice her surroundings. "Aw great, everyone's staring at us. Sorry 'bout that, folks! Nothing to see here!"
A voice chimed in. "I don't know, I found that quite entertaining. I'd give it 8 outta 10." Yuuna looked towards the voice, and saw a girl sitting down. She could recognize that hair anywhere.
"Hey, Asakura-san!"
Makie also had her attention towards her. "Asakura-chan!"
Kazumi Asakura smiled. "Hey girls. Everything alright?"
Yuuna nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine." It was then that she noticed who Asakura was sitting next to. The hair, glasses, and posture gave it away instantly. "Hi Chisame-san."
"What do you want?" Chisame asked bluntly. Her head turned slightly to show that she was at least acknowledging Yuuna, but the glare on her glasses made it impossible to see her eyes.
"Oh, nothing. So, where you guys going?"
"Do I really need to answer?" Chisame's eyes were like needles, forcing Yuuna to take a step back.
Asakura intervened. "Relax, Hasegawa. No need to be so wound up." Chisame simply turned away, refusing to respond. Asakura continued, "I'm heading to Nerima, Got myself a pretty interesting lead."
Yuuna looked confused. "Nerima? Why would you go there?"
"Ooh, a new scoop?" Makie jumped between them, her face shining with joy. "Sounds exciting! What's the story?"
"Well, I'm not one to brag, but I suppose I could tell."
That's a lie, Yuuna thought.
Asakura began. "A friend of mine came back from visiting her relatives a couple of days ago. They had just moved into a house in Nerima, and she wanted to see the house. However, when she came back she just went on and on about all of this martial arts business going on. Literally every day someone was getting beat up. And she said every fight scene looked like it came straight out of a manga! People jumping all over the place, pulling off fancy fighting moves and sending debris all over the place. She even described some kind of energy source that sounded a lot like ki!"
Makie was in awe. "Wow! That's sounds cool!" Yuuna nodded in agreement, a smirk on her face.
Asakura continued. "When I heard all that, I just knew I had to get a closer look! I won't let a chance at a big scoop get away!"
"Jeez," Yuuna said, "you sure got something neat going on. Me and Makie were just gonna hang out at Harajuku for today."
"Oh? What about Ako or Akira?"
"They couldn't come. Sports related stuff. The last few days have been pretty boring. Me and Makie figured we might as well still do something."
"Well, hope you guys have fun." She turned her attention to Chisame "So what about you, huh? No need to be shy."
Chisame stared at Asakura, unfazed by the reporter's teasing. "If you really must know, I'm also heading to Harajuku."
"Really?" asked Yuuna. "Awesome! Just think about it! The three of us together, just like back in-"
"DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT THAT!"
Yuuna reeled back. "Whoa! What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" Chisame turned back around, and nothing the girls could do could make her respond.
X~~~X~~~X~~~X~~~X
Chisame, Makie, and Yuuna all stared wide-eyed at the sign before them. On it was the following:
ATTENTION
DUE TO RECENT EVENTS, THE YAMANOTE LINE WILL BE TEMPORARILY OUT OF SERVICE. JR EAST IS TRYING TO FIX THE PROBLEM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.
THANK YOU
Chisame's eye began to twitch, and her hands, which had balled into fists, were shaking. All I wanted to do see if there were any new styles out. Maybe see if I could use something for the site, and get it out of the rut it's been in. But no, apparently I'm not even allowed to do that.
Meanwhile, Makie looked like she was about to burst into tears. "Aw, now what are we gonna do?"
Asakura shook her head. "Wow, that's a bummer for you guys. Hope you can find something else. Sorry, but I gotta get going."
"Wait!" Yuuna shouted. "Can Makie and I tag along? We've got nothing else better to do."
Makie nodded, catching on. "Yeah! What you're doing sounds like fun!"
Asakura scratched her chin and pondered. "I don't know, I usually don't let people tag along when I'm on a story."
"We promise not to get in the way! Please?" Makie looked up at Kazumi with the cutest puppy-dog eyes she could get, which glimmered with the few tears that had formed.
"Eh…oh alright. You girls can come."
"Yay!" Makie squealed, as the trio prepared to board the next train. However, before they could even take a step, a single voice rang out.
"WAIT!" Chisame cried, her voice ringing with frustration.
"Yeah? What is it?"
"I'm coming," Chisame barked, gritting her teeth tightly.
"Huh? But I thought-"
"Don't. Ask. Got it?"
And not one more word of it was spoken.
X~~~X~~~X~~~X~~~X
Police tape and police cars surrounded the rubble at what was once Harajuku Station. Controlling the area is a group of cops, a couple of them inspecting the debris while the rest drive away curious eyes. Yet one woman, with short black hair, dark shades, and a black coat, makes her way through the barricade unopposed.
One of the cops notices the woman and bows. "Good to see you, Detective."
"What do we have?" the woman orders.
"Definite signs of damage, but it actually isn't as bad as it looks. Most of the interior is secured; it's just hard to see through all this rubble here, which is actually the biggest concern right now."
"Sounds like he made the biggest mess just trying to get out. Any possible suspects?"
"We have had some eyewitness reports that match descriptions given in the other cases, but unfortunately we have no solid leads. We still can't identify what his motives are."
The woman went over to one of the nearby cars and pounded her fists on it. "Damn! This is the 3rd case this week! How the hell can I keep my reputation up if this punk keeps wrecking shit!"
She turned around, and with all of her fury she raised her fist in the air. "I swear, in the name of all that is just, that I, Detective Yuri Watanabe, will do everything in my power to catch this criminal, or die trying!"
The officer tapped her shoulder. "Uh, Detective, you do realize people are watching, right?"
Around the corner, in a dumpster deep in an alley way, a small black piglet tries to keep itself silent.
X~~~X~~~X~~~X~~~X
"Thank you for shopping, ma'am."
Pushing her glasses back up, Chisame walked out of the store and stood right by the doors, giving the sunlight some time to shine on her face. Her once-fast walk had now slowed down, but there was still a feeling of tension in every step. As the white bag brushes her leg she looks towards all of the people moving about the bazaar-like street, each of them busy in their own little worlds.
What's wrong with me? Chisame thought, as she looked at the bag's contents. It's a city I haven't been to before, sure, but I'm still shopping alone. I would've done this in Harajuku. So why does it feel so odd? I've got the website updated (which unfortunately hasn't helped my ranking that much) and I no longer have to worry about the brat! That's how it's supposed to be! Why does that feel weird?
As she walked ahead she glanced at one of the vendors. Yuuna and Makie were nearby, talking with each other. Yuuna had a bottle of soda in her hand, while Makie was giggling hysterically, probably about some joke.
Look at them, the same as ever. As she thought, her eye began to slightly twitch, and her right hand began to squeeze on the bag handle. We just got back from spending months in the Magic World, even though I wouldn't be surprised if it actually took years. I'm struggling just trying to grasp the fact that everything's normal, yet the rest of the class just rebounds like it's nothing! How the hell does that work? I'm supposed to be the one grounded in reality, so why am I taking the longest to recuperate? Could it be that I'm the only one capable to understanding all that was happening back then?
Her train of thought suddenly came to a screeching halt as she noticed a bit of a flicker in front of her. Refocusing herself, she saw that Yuuna was now right next to her, waving her hand in front of her eyes.
"Hey, you okay?" Yuuna asked. "You've been staring into space for almost two minutes. It's creeping us out."
"I'm fine, Akashi."
"So then, whatcha thinking about?"
"Nothing concerning either of you."
"Well, can you at least tell me what's in the bag?"
"Again, nothing concerning you." Chisame reflexively tried to move the bag away, only for Makie to catch it and pull it away.
"Hey! Give that back, Sasaki!"
"Aw, but I wanna see what's in it!" Digging her hand in the bag, she pulled out a martial arts gi and a black belt. One of her eyebrows rose. "Uh, what's this stuff?"
Yuuna got a devious look on her face. "Ooh, what do we got here? You actually thinking about learning martial arts, or is that just for the pose shots?"
"Shut up! Sasaki-san, give it! NOW!" With a quick motion Chisame swiped her stuff back, shoving the gi and belt back into the bag forcefully.
The mischievous look on Yuuna's face now became more inquisitive. "That did look really nice. Lemme guess, that store over there?" She pointed at the costume shop down the road. "Not really doing anything for me, but I am interested in that clothing store a couple shops down. C'mon, Makie-chan!"
While the two ran off to the store, Chisame stood there, shaking her head and sighing with relief.
X~~~X~~~X~~~X~~~X
Makie stood by the door of one of the changing rooms, listening in on the scuffle going on inside.
"Damn it!" Yuuna grunted. "Why don't any of these bras fit me?"
As she heard the sound of clothes thrown violently on the floor, Makie was trying to suppress a giggle. Finally controlling herself, she knocked lightly on the door.
"Hey Yuuna-chan, you need more time?"
"You think? Just go off and do something else, alright? I'll call you when I'm done."
With a nod and a skip, Makie made her way into the halls of the store. Hm, there's nothing I really need in here. Still, it's nice to be with Yuuna-chan, even if she's having a bit of a freak-out. Might as well look around, see if there's anything pretty.
She passed by one of the aisles, only to stop and circle back. Down the aisle was an old man, crouched on the floor. He looked to be the size of an elementary school kid, and he wore some kind of purple uniform. She could've sworn she heard faint crying, which only grew louder as she approached the man.
"Um, excuse me?" Makie asked, trying to get his attention. He darted his eyes towards her, tears straining down his cheeks.
"*sniff* My apologies, miss. No need to mind me." The man's was choking on his own voice, and his sniffles only stopped when he brought a handkerchief up to his nose.
Now Makie was concerned. "What happened?"
"Oh, it's nothing. Y-y-yes…nothing…*choke*…nothing…AT ALLLL!" With those last words the man burst into a loud sob.
In a panic, Makie rushed up and embraced him. "Aw, no need to cry, mister!"
The man sniffled some more. "Th-thank you, miss. That's very…considerate of you to come to me like this. I-if you don't mind, I-I just need you to do me a favor."
"S-Sure! What do you need?"
"I just need you to stand up straight for a sec. Don't go anywhere, okay?"
"Okay!" Makie stood up, only for the man to do something unexpected: he jumped on her chest!
"Hm, I gotta say, dear, you definitely got more 'push' here then I thought!" the man said with a satisfied grin, as he gave Makie's bust a quick squeeze. "I was afraid you'd be completely flat!"
"GEEEHHH?" Makie shrieked, as she struggled to keep her balance. "Wh-wh-what are you doing?"
"Oh don't worry about it, missy! I just needed a bit of the ol' strength back! You did your part very well! Now, I gotta say, that's a nice skirt ya got there! Mind if I take a look?"
Makie could feel a tear coming down her eye, and a scream coming through her throat.
X~~~X~~~X~~~X~~~X
"Hey, these actually feel kinda good!" Yuuna said to herself, as she was trying out the last bra in her pile. She tried a pose in front of the mirror as she pushed her breasts up. "Aw yeah, this set's a lot better than the last one! At least these actually fit me!"
It wasn't long before Yuuna had gotten back to her street clothes and had a pile of bras thrown into a bag. She began heading towards the register when she suddenly heard a wailing scream.
"GAAAAAAHHHH!"
Yuuna went into shock. That sounded like Makie-chan! And it sounded like it came from right over there!
She headed through the store before she let out a gasp. In front of her was Makie on the floor and shivering as though she just came out of a snowstorm.
"Whoa, Makie-chan, what the hell happened? You look like you've seen a ghost!"
"N-n-n-not a g-g-ghost!" Makie stammered. "I-i-it was an o-old man who just came along looking really sad only he didn't seem s-sad anymore and then he just started jumping a-a-all over me and I-I couldn't get him…"
"Hey, Makie, calm down a bit, alright? You're going too fast. You were saying something about an old man?"
"She must've been talking 'bout ME, of course!" Out of nowhere the old man returned, hanging on the side of Yuuna's boob like a life preserver.
"GAHH! Get the hell off me, ya perv!"
Yuuna tried to catch him with a swipe of her arm, but in an instant he had hurdled over it. He kicked off the hand, grappling Yuuna's other breast. Yuuna gritted her teeth in frustration as she tried to hit him, each attempted strike failing as the old lecher groped various areas of her body. Eventually she stopped to gasp for air as the man somersaulted to the floor.
"I'll…*pant*…I'll get you, you bastard!"
"HAHAHA! You're a hundred years too young to catch me, girl!"
As Yuuna tried to take a step forward, the man leaped into the clothes rack, disappearing from sight.
"W-where'd he go?" Makie cried.
"Don't worry. I'll get him, but I need you to cover me for a sec! I'm grabbing my artifact!"
"What? But aren't we supposed to keep that secret?"
Just then, the old man returned, a large sack now slung over his shoulder. Yuuna leapt forward for another strike, but the man jumped and springboarded over her head.
"I do not care anymore! ADEAT!"
X~~~X~~~X~~~X~~~X
"Hey, Hasegawa-san! Everything alright?"
Chisame turned to see Kazumi coming behind her. "Yeah, everything's fine."
"Where'd Yuuna and Makie go?"
"They went in the store over there."
Asakura smirked. "So what, are you waiting for them?"
Chisame glared. "Why would I be waiting for those two?"
"No need to be defensive about it. I was just-"
At that instant, Kazumi's train of thought stopped as a series of gunshots rang out. She and Chisame began staring at the clothes store, sure that the shots had just come from there.
"What the hell was that?" Asakura stammered. "Is it a robbery?"
Chisame shrugged. "I didn't see anyone suspicious go in."
Just as they approached the doors, an old man with a large bag hopped out, jumping in various directions as shots blew past him.
"WHAT A HAUL! WHAT A HAUL!" Happosai cackled, as he began running down the street. It was the next voice that caught Kazumi and Chisame's attention.
"Why can't you just stand still and get hit?"
The doors bursted open, and Yuuna flew out, brandishing one of her pistols. Makie emerged closely behind Yuuna, with her gymnastics ribbon in hand. The pervert ran down the street, not even acknowledging the girls as he danced around the bullets.
"Yuuna! What's wrong with you?" Yuuna's stopped firing as she felt Kazumi grab her arm and jerk it to the side. "I shouldn't have to tell you not to fire guns in public! Heck, you shouldn't even have that out!"
"I'm pissed, alright!" Yuuna barked. "And I'm not stopping until I get a hit on that old pervert!"
"Old pervert?" Chisame repeated. "What, that short guy?"
"Yeah, Chisame-chan! He groped me and Makie in the store! He! Must! PAY!"
Yuuna tried to dash for another charge, only for Chisame to pull her back from the collar. "First, I never gave you permission to call me Chisame-chan, so don't. Second, what you told me sounds like something right out a bad anime."
"I'm being serious right now, Chisame-chan!"
"I SAID DON'T CALL ME THAT!"
"Um…guys?" Makie whispered, her finger shaking as it pointed down the street. "H-H-He's coming back!"
Sure enough, the old lech was hopping his way right back to the girls, cackling his tiny head off.
"Alright!" Yuuna shouted, pointing her gun back down the road. "You girls better not miss it, 'cause I'm gonna put one right between his eyes!"
As Yuuna looked down her sights, she noticed something was off. The ground slightly trembled, and the sound of rolling thunder could be faintly heard in this distance.
Makie panicked. "Wh-what is that? Is it a stampede?"
Chisame glared at her. "What?"
"Doesn't it sound a lot like a stampede?"
"Makie, what could possibly be stampeding?"
As if on cue, a giant blob appeared into view, following the lech. As it drew nearer, its details came further into view, and a noise that had once blended in with the rumbling had now emerged as a high-pitched scream.
Asakura stared. "…Is that a mob of pissed-off girls carrying brooms?"
Yuuna also stared, lowering her gun. "Y-Yeah. I think it is."
Chisame also (also) stared, her eyes filled more with disbelief than shock. "Okay, seriously? What the hell is going on?"
Makie was only staring because she had gone so into shock that she could barely move herself. She made a couple of noises with her mouth, but couldn't get any words out.
"OUTTA MY WAY, LADIES!" The old man had reached them, but before they could react, he hurdled over them. Chisame could feel her mouth slowly gaping as the elderly midget somehow managed to get several feet above her head.
"HAHAHAHA! What's the matter? Given up trying to catch-OOH!" His taunt was cut short as he was forced to spin around the ribbon that had whipped its way past him. "HEY! Watch where you're swingin' that thing!"
"Uh…uh…sorry?" Makie stammered. "Reflex?"
"Yeah? Well ju-AHH!" The man looked felt a quick poke at his hip. Looking down, he saw a dart hanging from his gi.
"HAH!" Yuuna triumphantly shouted. "Finally got ya, ya creep!"
"What's a little dart gonna…gonna…do?" As he flew through the air, he began to get a dizzy feeling in his head. He tried to shake it out, but it only made the delirium worse. Each hop was shorter and less controlled than the last, until Happosai was left lying on the ground.
Kazumi looked closer at the dart. "What is that? A tranquilizer?"
Yuuna nodded while twirling the gun on her finger. "Yeah. I have no idea how strong they are, but as long as he doesn't wake up, we're good!"
The girls were nearly trampled as the mob swarmed its way around them. The group surrounded Happosai as the sound of screams was soon accompanied with the sounds of brooms flailing, wood breaking, and grumbled grunts of pain. Yuuna, Chisame, and Kazumi all stared as the rumble was engulfed in a cloud of dust.
Chisame's jaw nearly hit the floor, and her hand shook as she raised it to her face. "I…I…I have no idea what's going on. This is so stupidly insane I might just-" Her eyes turned left and glared. "Asakura, is this really the time for pictures?"
"Hey, I'll take any story I can get!" She punctuated this with a click of her camera.
"GYAHH!" Happosai's body flung from the center of the mob and landed a couple of feet away from the Mahora girls. He tried to shake his head out of the daze, but his arms struggled to push himself up. The crowd opened itself up as a girl with short blue hair charged forward with a broom.
"LOOK OUT!" The girl swung the broom like a bat, sending the lech over Yuuna's head. Like a rocket he soared high into the stratosphere until he disappeared from view.
Chisame's eyes stared at the spot Happosai vanished from, which was now twinkling like a star. "Okay, no! Nothing I've seen this summer will make me believe that just happened! How the hell is that even possible?"
The girl panted. "Thank you so much for that! We've been trying to catch him for an hour now!"
"Ah, no problem." Yuuna replied. "That pervert deserved…whatever it was you just did to him." She turned around, put her hands on her hips, and squinted her eyes as she looked at the remnants of the twinkle in the sky. "Seriously, that was so cool! How'd you do that?"
"What, hitting Grandfather Happosai? I didn't use any special techniques. I just hit him. Hopefully that keeps him gone for the rest of that day."
"Wait, 'the rest of the day'? You mean he comes back?"
"Unfortunately. By the way, my name is Akane. What's yours?"
"I'm Yuuna. Chisame's here on my right."
"Hi." Chisame deadpanned.
Makie jumped up at the chance of an introduction. "Hi! I'm Makie!"
Kazumi waved. "Kazumi Asakura, Mahora Class 3-A ace reporter."
"Oh, your name's Kasumi?" Akane asked.
"Nah, not Kasumi. Ka-zu-mi. But you could just call me Asakura. Everybody else does."
"Oh, okay." Akane got a good look at the whole group. "Asakura, you said you were from Mahora? Hmm, where have I heard that before?" She tapped her foot a bit as she concentrated, before snapping her fingers. "Ah! I remember! That boy Negi said he was from there!"
"Wait, you know Negi-sensei?" Yuuna and Makie both jumped towards Akane with excitement, while Chisame and Kazumi stayed back.
"Yeah, I remember him! He showed up about a month ago, asking a lot of questions…wait, you said Negi-sensei, right? He told me he was a teacher! You girls wouldn't happen to be his students, would you?"
Makie nodded. "That's right! Class 3-A Student #16 here!" She bent down in preparation for another jump, but before she could even stand back up a faint growl rumbled from her stomach. "Oh no, don't start growling now, stomach! I don't even know what I'm gonna eat!"
Yuuna sweated. "Hey Makie-chan, I think I saw a couple of restaurants back down the street. Wanna check 'em out?"
"Hey, wait a sec!" Akane shouted. "My sister should be finished with dinner soon. You guys want to come?"
Yuuna shook her hand. "Aw, Akane-chan, you don't really have to do that."
"But I insist! Consider it gratitude for helping get rid of Happosai. Besides, I'd like to know a little bit more about Negi, since he rushed out last time."
Asakura nodded. "Hm, I don't see any big problem about that. Free food, after all. Hasegawa-san, you mind?"
"I honestly don't care right now. If you girls want to go, then fine. I don't mind being alone."
Asakura wrapped her arm around Chisame's neck. "Oh c'mon, Hasegawa. Can't expect to be by yourself all the time, right? After all, we are friends now."
Chisame tried staring into Asakura's closed eyes, but gave up and sighed. "You're really going with that, aren't you? Fine, I'll come." A slight agitated grunt rang from Chisame's throat.
"If you guys are willing to go, then I'm willing too!" Yuuna swung her arm around Makie's. "Akane-chan, lead the way!"
X~~~X~~~X~~~X~~~X
Silence and serenity filled the air of the Tendo Dojo. In the backyard was Ranma, who was occupying his time with a kata. Every couple of seconds the silence was disturbed by the sound of air pressure blasting from Ranma's hands and feet.
Today just had to be one of those days, Ranma thought as he threw another punch. Shampoo and Mousse refusing to leave me alone, Kodachi ambushing me, my curse activating in front of Kuno again…I just can't catch a break sometimes. And then the old lech pops outta nowhere! If those girls hadn't trampled all over me I would've had my foot right up his-
A slight rumble interrupted. Ranma stopped and grasped his stomach. Well, at least there's one good thing I can hope for today.
"I'm home! And I brought guests!"Ranma went inside to see Akane and her new troupe of friends turn the corner.
"Akane? Is that you?" Kasumi entered the room. "Ah, it is! Who are your friends?"
Akane pointed each of them out. "This is Yuuna, Makie, Chisame, and Asakura. I ran into them in town. They said they're Negi-kun's students."
"Negi-kun's students? How wonderful!" Her eyes sharpened at some realization, which made her turn and hurry back to the kitchen. "Oh my, I don't think I've made enough food for guests! Forgive me!"
"That's okay, Kasumi. I'm sure it's fine."
Ranma walked over to the group. "So you guys know the kid, huh? Been a long time since I last saw him. By the way, while we're doing intros, the name's Ranma Saotome."
"Nice to meet you, Ranm-" Yuuna was about to bow, but suddenly stopped herself halfway. Her body didn't move as her head slowly twitched it's way upwards. "W-wait, did y-you s-say…Saotome?"
"S-SAOTOME?" Makie shouted.
Kazumi and Chisame both stared silently at Ranma. He was taken aback, feeling their stares, but as he composed himself a slight chuckle escaped his lips.
"Hehehe…Hahaha!" Ranma bellowed, his head flinging upwards to the ceiling. "Well how about that, Akane? Looks like the Saotome name is finally spreadin' around! Soon everyone in Tokyo's gonna know just how awesome of a martial artist I am!"
Akane stared at him, her eyes burning with anger. "Well I hope that big ego of yours is satisfied!" She headed towards the stairs, stamping her feet.
"Wait, Akane-san!" Kazumi called, stopping Akane halfway up. "No need to run away! I have no clue what this egotist is talking about! None of us do! Right, girls?" The rest of the girls all gave short nods.
"Oh? Then how do you recognize Ranma?"
"We don't. It's the last name we know." As Akane slowly came back down the stairs, Kazumi turned her attention back to Ranma. "Say, Ranma-san, you wouldn't happen to know anybody named Haruna, do you?"
Ranma put his hands by his hips, tapping his foot as he tried to think. "No, can't say I have. Why?"
"One of our classmates is Haruna Saotome. Sure it ain't a sister or cousin or something?"
"He does kinda look like her." Makie added. "I mean, his hair's the same color."
"If it's family, then I have no clue. For most of my life the only family I had was Pops. Mom only showed up a couple of months ago. Didn't even think I had any more family than that."
"Aw, that's so sad!" Makie cried. "How could you not know more of your own family?"
"Yeah," Yuuna added, "what could you've been possibly doing that it was only you and your dad for so long?"
"Ah, y'know, living on the road, training and sparring, standard martial arts stuff."
"Ooh, martial arts?" asked Asakura. "How manly."
"Yeah, it better be." Ranma pointed at himself with his thumb. "Ya girls better stand back, 'cuz you're looking at the next heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts!"
Akane, who had been glaring at Ranma since she last spoke, rubbed her head in pain. Meanwhile, Chisame, who had been leaning on the wall since she entered, was snickering.
"Heh, you've got to be kidding me."
Ranma's felt his wave of confidence distort. "And what do you think is so funny?"
"'Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts.'" Chisame repeated. "Really? You had to come up with such a stupid name like that?"
"And what's so bad with the name?"
"Oh nothing, if you want the first message you send to be 'Watch out, I'm a cheap-ass who fights dirty.'"
"'Cheap-ass'?" Ranma walked up to Chisame, and noticed the bag. "Wait, is that a gi in there?"
"N-no! Don't touch it, dammit!"
Ranma quickly snatched the gi and pranced a few steps back, holding it open by the shoulders. Chisame hands were clenched into trembling fists, a vein pulsing from her forehead.
"You're ribbing on me, yet you've got a nice gi like this? Don't tell me that's a challenge or something."
"No it is not! Just give it back already!"
"I heard 'cheap'. Someone called?" The group turned to see Nabiki, who was leaning from the door.
Akane waved. "Oh! Nabiki! What're you doing here?"
"Came down figuring dinner would be almost done, and what do I find but Akane bringing home a bunch of new friends. Nabiki Tendo, by the way." She looked at the whole group, pausing at Chisame. "My my, what do we have here?"
Chisame took a step back, her teeth still clenched. "And what do you want?"
Nabiki looked closely at Chisame's face. Slowly she reached her hand by the side of Chisame's ear and plucked her glasses off.
"H-hey! Give those back!"
"Well, if it isn't the famous Chiu. Gotta say, the glasses really aren't your style."
Chisame's hands immediately stopped shaking, falling silently to her sides. Her teeth were no longer mashing against each other as her lower jaw dropped slightly. Her eyes, once burning with fury, were now wide with shock.
"W-w-what did you just say?"
Nabiki smirked mischievously. "Oh c'mon, were you really trying to keep a disguise or something? I'm not Lois Lane, girl. I can't be fooled with a silly pair of glasses."
Nabiki handed Chisame's glasses back and walked up to Ranma Seeing the gi, she grabbed it and inspected it.
"Yours?"
"Yeah, like you actually see me wear stuff like this. It's Chiu's over there."
"HEY!" Chisame shouted, stomping her foot. "You don't have the right to call me that! None of you do!"
"Ah, sorry, what was that, Chiu?" Ranma gave Chisame a cocky smile, making her growl.
"Would you stop it, Ranma?" Akane shouted, smacking him in the head. "Sorry, Chisame, he tends to be extremely rude at times, though I can't help but ask, are you really famous?"
"You really don't know, Akane-san?" Asakura asked.
"Asakura, please, don't." At this point Chisame had given up at trying to be frustrated and had just resorted to moaning. Her body had begun to slouch, and though her glasses were still glaring it was clear that her eyes had glazed over.
"Sorry, Hasegawa, but I know you're never gonna answer, and Akane-san's awfully curious, so I'm gonna interject. Akane-san, what you're looking at here is Chiu-chan, #1 net idol of the web!"
"Net idol?" Ranma asked. "The hell is that?"
"Here, I'll show ya." Nabiki sat down at the table and opened her laptop up.
"W-wait, what the hell?" Chisame yelled. "Where did that computer come from?"
"So, Nabiki," Ranma began, ignoring Chisame's pleas, "what is this gonna cost me, exactly?"
"To see the frustration on her face," Nabiki said, grinning at Chisame, "I'll do it for free. But just this one time."
Chisame sat down. "Y'know what, I'm not even mad anymore. I'm beyond the capacity to be pissed off at this point. Go ahead, do whatever. I don't care."
"Um, Yuuna-chan?" Makie whispered. "Nabiki-san wasn't being serious about the 'free' thing, right? She wasn't going to actually make us pay money…right?"
Yuuna paused for a moment, and whispered back, "Makie-chan, with that kind of face, I honestly can't tell."
Makie gave the closest she could to whispering a small cry. "Good thing it's free, then. I don't have any money left."
"Alright, here it is." Nabiki said, turning the screen over to Ranma. "Chiu-chan's website. Go ahead and explore."
Ranma began clicking at a couple of links. It should once again be reiterated that Ranma is not in fact completely oblivious to technology, but rather that he just never has much of a chance or need to use it. Case in point, he pretty much doesn't use computers ever, but he still knows enough about them to know how a mouse works. Even then common sense could at least tell him what it was for.
Granted, just because he knew what it was didn't mean he knew exactly what to do with that. Thankfully the Chiu-chan website has a rather basic layout, or they could've been there all day.
Ranma stared at each picture that he clicked on. "So, Chiu, you're in all of these costumes. What're you, posing?"
Chisame sighed. "Yes, yes I am. And seriously, please, don't call me Chiu."
"So, basically that means you're a pervert."
And now the vein had practically popped.
"Okay, what was that?" Chisame growled. She stood up, a fraction of her original anger now surging back.
"Well, pretty much all of these costumes are really fancy-looking swimsuits and dresses, and you got a lot of people at the bottom saying how 'cute' you are. So, y'know, pervert."
Chisame slammed her hand on the table. "Hey, I am not perverted! I do those pictures for my own personal benefit! If perverts want to come to my site, then fine! They're all customers to me!"
Ranma tilted his head. "But, giving something perverts just makes you a pervert, right?"
Chisame's raised her fist up, prompting Asakura to quickly move and hold Chisame's arms back.
"Let me go, Asakura!"
"Can't do that, Hasegawa! Don't need you causing trouble!"
"Oh, I'm not doing anything! I'm just gonna give him his just desserts!"
"WAAAHH!" A crying sound came from outside of the room, stopping everyone in their tracks.
"Ah, sounds like Daddy's home," said Nabiki. "Wonder what's up this time."
"AKANE! A~KA~NE!" Soun Tendo, proud patriarch of the Tendo family, bolted into the room and knelt down in front of Akane, crying into her shirt.
"Ah! Dad? What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
"Growr?" The attention was now back at the door. A panda was standing by the frame, holding a piece of paper in its hand.
"Panda-chan!" Makie giddily cried.
"The hell's a freaking panda doing here?" Yuuna shouted.
Neither Asakura nor Chisame was capable of making a sound.
"Hey, Pops, you're back. What's that?" Ranma walked over and grabbed the paper.
"Wait, Pops?" Yuuna asked.
"Yeah, hold on," He walked back over to the table. "Here, Akane, you read this."
Akane grabbed the paper and read.
Dear Tendo and Saotome Families,
As of this date, it is of great honor for me to inform you that your children, Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo, have been officially transferred from Furinkan High School to Mahora Academy.
I understand that this transfer has come without notice, but due to recent circumstances it has been determined that such action was necessary. This transfer is meant to be temporary, and should Ranma and Akane wish to return to Furinkan they may do so at the beginning of the next school year.
On September 9, 2003, Ranma and Akane will be expected to arrive at Mahora to receive their dorms. On September 10 they must arrive at my office before classes begin. Any questions that they may have can be addressed to me at that time.
Best regards,
Konoemon Konoe
Mahora Academy Dean
The room had gone completely silent, a lone cricket chirping in the distance.
"WHAT?"
Well, great. I promise not to take as long, and then I go and take longer. Yeah, sorry about that folks. Had to put the fic on temporary hiatus. I could give a whole laundry list of excuses as to what happened, but that's not the point. Point is, I finally got another chapter up. And one good thing about the long time is I've had a lot of time to come up with new ideas, and let's just say I've got plenty of fuel for the creative juices. Hopefully I can actually put them to use.
You might notice some differences about the other chapters. I've re-uploaded Chapters 3 and 4 with minor tweaks. In Chapter 3, I applied the style changes I made in Chapter 4 and I removed Kazumi Asakura from the last scene. I initially wanted Kazumi to already have some idea about Ranma before she arrived at Nerima, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that this chapter would work a lot better if the meeting was by complete chance. In Chapter 4, I actually found where Mahora was supposed to be located, caved in, and updated it. I'll admit that part of it was so that I didn't have to worry about it anymore, but I also did it because I found that Harajuku, Nerima, and Kawagoe are all connected through Ikebukuro Station, the second-busiest train station in the world. I have no plans to use it as a locale, but I figured I'd leave the option open.
I had a bit of a mental debate over whether to use long vowels ("ou", "oo", "uu", etc.) or not, since I've been exposed to both through the Negima and Ranma scanlations. So, I figured I'd make a blend. For Negima characters, the long vowels will be used, and for Ranma characters they will not. The exception is any character with the "-taro" suffix in their name; they will be spelled without the "ou" regardless of origin (including Kotaro Inugami). This is partially to keep consistent with Pantyhose Taro, and partially out of personal experience/preference.