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Yang

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Yang is fast, hard, solid, focused, hot, dry, or aggressive. Yang is associated with fire, sky, the sun, masculinity and the day.

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"School. Seriously Old Man," Ranma said, sighing and running a hand through his hair in frustration. "You may be irresponsible, but I'm not. I've been enrolled in a distance school for years! With all the travelling we do, it was the only way I could learn the things all the other kids knew."

"You're going to Akane's school, and that's that!" Genma said firmly, shoving a school bag into Ranma's hands.

Ranma sighed, but figured it wouldn't do to argue the point. He'd go, maybe get to walk Akane to school, and get everything sorted out at the office.

"Don't act like you know me when we get to school grounds, okay?" Akane said as she and Ranma jogged to school.

"Why?" Ranma asked, surprised. They'd been getting along, why wouldn't she want to admit to knowing him at school?

"For your safety," Akane said. "Just stay back when we get to the gate, and I'll explain later."

"Akane! Date with me!" a horde of boys cried, appearing as they reached the school grounds.

Ranma stumbled when he heard that. They were attacking Akane, and they wanted to go out with her? He may not have been the brightest guy around, but even to him that sounded stupid. Who the heck came up with that? Surely not Akane – she'd said made it clear yesterday that she didn't like losing, and most especially to boys.

Ranma growled as one last guy stepped out – after a crowd of them had fallen. There was no way, no way he was letting Akane deal with this on her own ever again. He was going to walk her to school, and then he was going to help her beat up all of these idiots so that she didn't have to worry so much about being on time to class. He hopped down from the wall he'd been watching the fight from, not caring as he stepped on people on his way to Akane.

"Tomorrow, I'm helping," he said firmly, a hint of a growl in his voice.

Akane turned from Kuno to Ranma, surprised. "It's my fight Ranma, I'm used to it," she said.

"It's harassment," Ranma countered lowly.

"Why are you being so familiar with Akane?" Kuno demanded, breaking in.

"I told you not to act familiar," Akane mumbled. "He's a guest at my house," she said, more clearly, for Kuno to hear.

"You dare to hound the precious Akane! I will not stand for it! Name yourself and face me!" Kuno declared. "Ah, but I forget, it is manners to give your own name first. Very well. I am the rising new star of the kendo world, my strength is beyond measure! I am the captain of Furinkan High School Kendo Club! My voice alone can silence a crying child! I a junior in Class E. My peers call me... The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High! Kuno Tatewaki. Age seventeen."

Ranma rolled his eyes and took his bag off his shoulders. "Akane, you go to class. I wouldn't want you to be late," he said, tossing his bag back to the wall. "I am Saotome Ranma of the School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. I accept your challenge."

The fight didn't last long. It was only ten minutes before Kuno was sitting in his classroom, staring at his reflection in a borrowed mirror, furious to see that Ranma had somehow written 'Bufoon' on his forehead with his bare finger. Nabiki, whose mirror he was using, thought it looked like a bruise. Ranma, on the other hand, had quickly sorted out the papers with the secretary in the office and was wandering the streets looking for a job – just something to keep him busy until it was time to go and pick up Akane from school.

"You're looking for a job?" asked the old man who ran the grocery shop, surprised.

"Shouldn't you be in school young man?" his wife said, also blinking in disbelief.

Ranma smiled. "I have a home-schooling course, which I do by distance. I can study in the afternoon. I just want something to keep me busy between dropping my girl off at school and going to pick her up at the end of the day – maybe make it so I can afford to get her a nice treat now and then," he explained.

The old lady chuckled. "Fair enough," she said, smiling.

"Well, we're getting frail, but the shop has a lot of heavy lifting to do, as well as a few things that have to be put away a fair bit higher up than either of us can reach any more," the old man said.

"You're hired," the old woman cut in, smiling.

Ranma grinned, and they set him to work out the back immediately.

At twenty to three, the old couple waved him over and gave him his money for the day's work.

"What you've managed to get done today would have taken us a week," the old man said with a chuckle. "You come back tomorrow Ranma. We may not have work for you, but one of our friends will, I assure you."

"With how you work, you'll be helping out a lot of us old shop keepers," the old woman said, smiling gratefully, then sighed. "Oh, I feel a little younger already, just from seeing the shop like this and not aching from the work it took to get this way."

Ranma smiled bashfully as he slipped the yen into his pocket. "Well, I'm glad to have been useful," he said, scratching the back of his head. "And thank you. Oh, uh, if you're going to suggest me to your friends, please mention that I genuinely cannot work around cats. I had a traumatic experience in my childhood that led to a rather embarrassingly extreme phobia."

"Oh," the old woman said, concerned. "I was thinking of telling Umi next door about you, but she's got a cat."

The old man frowned as well, apparently also disappointed.

Ranma smiled. "I don't mind if she's got one," he said. "I just need to never see it," he explained.

The couple sighed in relief. "That's alright then," they said.

Ranma's smile grew a little. "Thank you again for the job," he said.

The pair cackled a little. "Thank you for doing the work so quickly," the old man said, beaming.

"Now get along to that school and go see your girl," the old woman added.

Ranma nodded, waved, and left, taking a quick look at the other shops nearby so that he had some idea of what he could be doing in the coming days. He was relieved to see that very few of them looked like they would cause him to get wet, and headed to Furinkan High School whistling happily. It had been a good day, and his muscles were all warmed up and a little tingly from all the lifting he'd been doing today.

"Saotome Ranma!" Kuno yelled when Ranma stepped into the school gate at the end of the day, looking for Akane. "How dare you force yourself on Akane!"

Ranma blinked and grabbed the wooden sword, stopping its path a few inches away from his face. It very suddenly wasn't a good day. And hadn't he dealt with this guy already?

"What do you want now?" he asked, annoyed and scanning the crowds of students for Akane.

"I refuse to accept your relationship with Akane! It is not legitimate! I declared to the entire school on speech day that one may only date Akane if they best her in a fight!" Kuno yelled swinging his wooden sword, trying to hit Ranma.

"One: tough rocks, because you really have no say in the matter. Two: it is legitimate, her family and mine both approve, and she agreed. Three: you're a complete idiot if you think that beating Akane in a fight is going to get her to actually like you, and four!" Ranma said, who was finally bored of dodging the wildly flailing weapon, and kicked Kuno hard in the face. "You leave my fiancé alone or it will be my pleasure to fulfil my duty as her intended to pound you into the mud and break every bone in your body," Ranma finished coldly, whipping his head around the glare at the rest of the male student body as well, just to make sure that they got the message too.

He heard Akane giggle behind him.

"Aw," she fake-whined. "Does that mean I'm never gonna get to beat up on a guy again?" she asked, trying desperately to keep herself from laughing, having difficulty even keeping a straight face, as she locked eyes with Ranma.

Ranma smiled and chuckled, delicately taking her hand and linking their arms together.

"Well, if you want to beat up someone I won't mind," he said, "but if someone offends you, then they've offended me too, so they're gonna get beat up twice. Matter of honour."

Akane laughed then, and didn't try to hide it.

"You're really engaged Akane?"

Ranma looked over at a couple of girls who were just a few paces away. Akane had been standing between them before he'd tugged her close enough to link their arms together.

"Yes," Akane admitted. "It's an arranged marriage, but it's not so bad really. Ranma's very open about the things that are important after all."

"And thanks to the bozo over there, I don't need you to explain about this morning," he said. "Now, what do you say I take you out for a treat?" he offered. "You pick where we go, since I'm new in town, but I'll pay."

Akane smiled. "Can my friends come too?" she asked.

"Well, I had hoped it might be just the two of us, and I might get to know you better," he said, tugging her just a little closer and wrapping his other arm around her in a quick hug. "But," he said, releasing the close embrace with a sigh, "I suppose I can get to know you just as well with your friends around, and it would probably be to my advantage to get on their good sides as well."

Akane beamed. "Thank you Ranma."

"To the Aquarium!" declared a blonde girl happily.

Ranma's face fell and he looked at Akane, worried.

"All the water will be behind thick glass," Akane reassured him quietly. "You won't get wet, I promise."

Ranma sighed, and smiled as he shook his head at the girl. "Alright," he said. "To the Aquarium, but if we go and see a seal or dolphin show, we're sitting up the very back. You have the best view from there and are less likely to get splashed."

Akane and her two friends nodded their agreement.

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