A/N: So I just realized I switched from third person to first back to third with absolutely no warning. I was pretty bad back then, because I didn't even put some quotes in quotation marks. Wow. Anyway, I'll try to fix that. Enjoy this new chapter!
Chapter 2: School (1st person)
"Fine."
"Fine?"
"Fine." It was the next day, and they were telling me I had to go to school. As soon as I agreed, they started questioning me. "They" being my idiot father.
"What do you mean, 'fine'?" my dad asked. An idiot, as always.
"If I have to go to school, I'll go." I was eating breakfast and I was getting annoyed with him. I guess I should also tell you what happened last night, before I forget.
After I'd poured the water on my head, the reactions were various. Kasumi exclaimed an, "Oh my", Nabiki's jaw dropped, and Akane just stared at me. I just stood there, not daring to move. Soun and my dad weren't paying attention. Too busy staring and crying at each other. Akane was the first one to speak.
"So you were telling the truth?"
"Uh, yeah," I said, fully expecting her to blow up in my face, calling me a freak and/or a pervert. She surprised me, though, by doing something completely different.
"You're a pretty nice person." Obviously Nabiki had expected the same thing to happen, because her jaw dropped even further. There was obviously a story behind that. And knowing my luck, I'd run into it very soon.
"What?" I said. "You're not going to call me a freak or a pervert?"
"Why should I? You told me about it instead of hiding it. That already makes you trustworthy. And you could have used that curse as an excuse to peek on me in the bath, but instead, you told me, knowing that I might hate you afterwards. That makes you a nice person."
"Thanks," I said, grateful to still have a friend, even with the curse. After that, we took baths, ate dinner and went to bed, my dad trying to get us married immediately after dinner. I think I did a good job of 'convincing' him to drop it. I asked Kasumi to threaten him with no food if he rushed it. Worked like a charm. Back to the matter at hand. I was sitting at the table, getting a lecture about how I need to get an education. Funny how Dad says that now, when before he said it distracts from the art. I'm not complaining either way.
I've been hiding it pretty well, but I'm actually pretty smart and I read a lot of fictional books. I usually just wait until he's drunk and sneak off. I've also got a few books I've collected over the years hidden away in my pack for entertainment.
As soon as my dad finished his "Speech of Wisdom", I finished my food, thanked Kasumi, grabbed my new schoolbag from Dad, went upstairs and put my favorite book in it, and headed out for school with Akane.
-000000000000-
"Why are you walking up there?"
"Hmm?" We were walking to school, Akane on the sidewalk, me on the fence next to it, reading my book. "Mostly just habit," I said and jumped down. "My dad had me do that all the time for 'balance training' while he tried to knock me off." As soon as I finished talking, I was splashed with cold water by an old lady washing off her driveway. Surprisingly, neither my book, nor Akane got wet from that. "At least my book didn't get wet," I said, mostly to myself.
"There's a place nearby where you can get some hot water to change back," Akane said. "You wouldn't want to have to explain the curse the first day, would you?"
"I might just say I'm my own sister. Unless someone SEES me change, I'm not going to tell anyone about it. But they ARE expecting a male Ranma Saotome, so I guess I might just follow you today," I said, putting my book back in my bag. It might not get so lucky next time.
"You mean to say you don't really mind the curse?"
"No, not really. The part about being a water magnet kind of sucks, but other than that, it's not too bad. At least I stay HUMAN, unlike my idiot of a father." And so we walked a little out of our way to get hot water from the local clinic. The doctor wasn't in, so I stayed outside, while Akane went in for some water. I'd just gotten my book out to read again, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked behind me to see a dude with a skeleton behind me. He'd touched me with the skeleton's hand. When I made no reaction, other than to stare at him, he introduced himself.
"My name is doctor Tofu Ono. I run this clinic here. This is my skeleton, Betty." He said all of this with a smile. All the while, the only thought running through my head was, 'Who names a plastic skeleton model?' After a minute of us just standing there, not saying anything, he said something more. "Aren't you going to introduce yourself?" I thought for a moment. If I was going to use the "sister" alias, I should come up with a different name.
"Kikuko," I said, saying the first name that came to mind. At that moment, Akane came back around the corner, carrying a kettle of hot water.
"Ranma, I-..." she said, coming around the clinic's sign. "Oh! Doctor Tofu!" she exclaimed, bowing and depositing the kettle on my head.
"Ah, Akane! No new injuries, I hope?" Akane blushed and got a small smile on her face.
"Of course not." I took the water ketyle from my head and went off out of sight to change. 'Interesting,' I thought to myself.
-000000000000-
"You really freak me out doing that." I looked up from my book. We were running to school late because Akane took longer than she needed to at the clinic. Sheesh.
"When I do what?," I asked her.
"When you read and run and don't seem to ever stray when running next to me."
"Oh, that. That's just me. Don't know how, but I can do that without trying." Akane just seemed to shrug and we kept on running. As we neared the school, I heard Akane mumbling something.
"I hate boys..." She kept saying it louder and louder. When it was at it's loudest, Akane charged into the swarm of boys in the gate of the high school. I conveniently didn't see them, being too absorbed in my book. As Akane tore into the crowd with a practiced ease, I just calmly walked past the downed bodies, still reading my book. I heard a new voice, but ignored it, thinking it had nothing to do with me... Untill my book was torn to shreds in front of my face. I just stared at the flying pages, my face completely expressionless. Then, I turned to the idiot responsible.
He was obviously a kendo freak, wearing a light blue hakama while wielding his bokken in a fighting stance. I vaguely remember him saying something about walking to school with a "fierce tigress". Huh.
"You owe me a new book," I told him. He blinked at me. I just kept staring at him.
He started sweating.
I kept staring, not even blinking.
"V-very well, then. I, Tatewaki Kuno, shall bring you sufficient recompence for my deed tomorrow. Is this agreeable?" I could tell he was scared, shivering as if it were the dead of winter. Good, he should be.
"It is," I said, and walked off into the school building, leaving behind what were obviously very shocked stares. I got to class on time, while everyone else(including the teachers) were five minutes late.
-000000000000-
"Th-this is S-Saotome Ranma, who j-just got back from Ch-China. R-Ranma, would you like to t-tell us about yourself?" This teacher wasn't afraid of me. In fact, I found out later that he had a stuttering problem.
"No," was my reply.
"Umm, okay th-then, ha-have a seat b-by Ak-kane over there. Akane, would you r-raise your h-hand please?" She did, and I went to sit to her right. Nobody got up to question me, as I had thought they would. That suited me just fine. A few minutes later, though, Kuno came into the room, yelling.
"I shall not allow your engagement to Akane!" While everyone looked at me and Akane, I just gave Kuno the same stare from that morning. I saw that Akane was blushing out of the corner of my eye and heard her failed attempts at denial, but I didn't let this bother me. I got up. Kuno flinched.
I started walking towards him. He kept backing up. Soon enough, he got traped on a wall.
"Who told you that?" I asked in a voice completely devoid of emotion. Inwardly, I was laughing like crazy.
"Uh, um, you see, well I, uh, could have perhaps, gotten the uh, wrong information?" he said, squeaking slightly at the end.
"Then go tell whoever gave you that information that I do NOT like people getting in my business."
"Y-yes, I'll do that," he said, running off down the hallway. He tripped once, fell down and looked back. He quickly got back up and scrambled off down the corner. I walked back to my seat.
"Aren't you going to continue the lesson?" I asked the teacher in a slightly less emotionless voice.
"Uh, y-yes, I'll get r-right on it!" I could tell that this time, he was afraid.
A/N: Had to get this out there. Seriously. So, hope you liked, there are no more chapters coming out yet as I have a computer now. That isn't connected to the internet. Wrote this on my phone, read and review, and I'll see you in the next one, either as Omnitroid1 or omnitroid.