Happy Birthday Greenicedragon1789. Hope you enjoy this.
Chapter Four
Morning in the Tendo house usually consisted of Kasumi making breakfast, Soun reading the newspaper, Nabiki still in pajamas looking like the living dead until she got some coffee in her, and Akane getting a three minute jog in before eating. Today was no exception, but there was a new element added in.
The wake-up spar of Ranma and Genma Saotome, which was in full swing.
The Tendo's who were noticing it for the first time didn't show much physical reaction to it. Soun kept reading his paper, not the least bit surprised that his old friend was still active in the arts. You don't go on a training trip if you aren't active after all. Kasumi kept making breakfast as if nothing was different, though she did keep an ear open in case someone got injured. Nabiki covered her ears to drown out the noise, cursing them for giving her what felt like a nonalcoholic hangover.
Akane however, still in her jogging outfit consisting of a yellow tank top and red shorts, looked at the two and smiled warmly, glad to see Ranma act the way she remembered him. She kept her eyes on how he moved, how he jumped, and how he would occasionally look her way once he noticed she was watching.
'He's so magnificent.' She told herself, admiring what she barely let herself appreciate before. She then looked up at the sky, noticing an overcase of clouds along with the slight mist that had been around when she jogged. 'Looks like we might have rain this morning. Hope Ranma can avoid it. He really should get an umbrella like Ryoga did.'
"Mr. Saotome, Ranma, breakfast." Kasumi called out to them both, when Ranma was standing atop a rock and Genma was on the other side of the koi pond.
"Let's stop for breakfast." Genma said. However, he jumped into the air for one last move, and Ranma countered with a jump as well, them colliding above the water. Genma appeared to have the upper hand here and knocked his son down into the koi pond. "You're too easily distracted boy." He criticized as he landed then laughed a bit triumphantly.
As soon as Ranma got out in human female form, she got behind him almost too quickly to follow and kicked him in. "Oh yeah?"
"Do we have any hot water ready?" Nabiki asked.
"Not yet. In the meantime Mr. Saotome will have to settle for this." Kasumi said before pulling out a bucket of oats for the now-mule. Everyone wondered where she got that so quickly, but no one asked.
Genma as a mule and Ranma as a girl sat down with the Tendo's trying to enjoy breakfast together for the first time. Akane had a hard time keeping her eyes on her food and her fiancee at the same time. It got even harder once Ranma was dry enough to turn himself back into a male. She didn't care at all about when Genma was given water to turn back to normal.
"Don't forget boy you have to go to school now." Genma told his son once he was human.
Already aware of this, Ranma just nodded but didn't look happy about it. 'I wonder what trouble Akane wants me to help her out with. She said it was one guy harassing her, and I'm guessing he can put up a good fight if she needs help.'
Akane had neglected to inform Ranma much about Kuno and the Hentai Horde. She did it because she knew they were something he could easily deal with without being warned. Besides, it'd give them something to talk about later.
After breakfast Nabiki was the first to get dressed and head out. But before she left, she gave her younger sister a confused look. Akane in return gave her a firm one. 'Remember what I said last night Nabiki, no telling anyone anything for money on this. This is about us, not you.'
It didn't take much longer for Akane and Ranma to get ready and head towards school, going down Akane's normal path. She smiled to see him walk atop the fence like she remembered.
"So, what do we tell everyone?" Ranma asked.
"Well, we could just tell everyone we're engaged and get it over with. Or we could hide it and wait for someone to find out and tell the whole school."
"How long do you think that would take?" Ranma offhandedly asked.
"In my dream, before we finished our first class together half the school heard thanks to my sister."
"She a gossip?" The pigtailed boy questioned.
"Not exactly. Gossips do it for free. She's more of an information merchant, someone that charges for you to hear from her or to stay silent." The youngest Tendo clarified.
Ranma jumped off the fence and landed beside her. "So... wouldn't that make her a gossip prostitute?"
Akane stopped in her tracks, her expression blank, and Ranma worried he had offended her. But after a moment she grinned and giggled. "Cruel, but damn that's a good analogy." She then started walking again and he picked up the pace again.
"Tell me about this guy that's been bothering you." Ranma told her.
"He's... watch out!" Akane said.
Too late. Ranma was hit by a splash of water from the old ladle lady, who acted like she wasn't even aware she hit someone let alone triggered a sex change in that someone.
"Great. Just great." Ranma groaned, trying to wring some of the water off her clothes. Then she turned around. "I better go get a bath."
"There's no time for that." Akane said.
Ranma stopped and faced her. "You think I want to start my first day as a girl?"
Akane reached into her bag and pulled out a small towel she remembered to stash away. "But if you get dry, you won't need hot water to change back right?"
Ranma nodded and accepted the towel, drying off as quickly as she could as they kept walking. "So... about that guy you say is bugging ya?"
"Oh yeah. He's an upperclassman in Nabiki's class. Some time ago he got it into his head that he had the right to dictate my love life and made a scene about it. He gathered up almost all the men in school and told them the only way he'd allow anyone to date me was if they beat me in combat."
"Seriously?" Ranma asked, now dry enough to turn himself back into a male.
Akane nodded. "Yeah, and thanks to that dumbass every morning half the school ambushes me trying to overwhelm me. Then after I beat them Kuno himself, that's his name by the way, Tatewaki Kuno, he shows up trying to fight me and says win or lose one of us will date the other."
"How often has he won?" Ranma asked as they passed by Tofu's clinic.
Akane glanced at it, remembering the original events. 'No reason to stop by now since we don't need hot water.' Then she turned back to the pigtailed young man. "Actually, none. And the group now dubbed the Hentai Horde haven't been able to beat me yet either. At first I thought I was the strongest martial artist in town because I never lost, but lately I'm thinking they're all just letting me win."
"Guys do tend to let up a lot when fighting a girl." Ranma commented. "But if they aren't trying to win, then why are they still doing this?"
Having never asked that before, Akane tried to come up with an answer. "I... I have no idea. In my dream they never said exactly why they went along with Kuno. They just stopped after seeing you and me get along, realizing their way wasn't working. Kuno was the only one who insisted on remaining the same and kept trying to come between us. He even pursued your girl form too."
"What?" Ranma looked downright revolted.
Akane nodded. "Yeah. No matter how many times we tried to make it clear to him you were a guy, he couldn't see it. Amazing, he would accuse you of using magic left and right to control girls, yet the idea you used magic to become a girl was completely and utterly foreign to him."
"Sounds like an idiot."
Akane smirked. "Calling him an idiot is an insult to idiots everywhere. But I suppose I don't know what else to call him."
At that moment the gates to Furinkan High came into view, and Akane took a deep breath. 'Let's just get this over with.' "Ranma, could you please stay out of this just this once? I need to test my skills after being confused by that vision."
He looked a bit reluctant, but the young Saotome agreed to her request.
On cue, a mass amount of teenage boys wearing various sports apparel darted forward towards her. More than one of them were even brandishing club-appropriate weapons such as hockey sticks, bokkens, and epees. They shouted off a lot of declarations of love, but with so many talking at once it was hard to make sense of any of them. Nabiki watched from the window of her classroom and Ranma watched with great difficulty while sitting on the wall around the schoolgrounds.
Akane trusted her body to know what it was doing, since as far as it was concerned this was still recent activity. She punched, she kicked, she dodged, she jumped, she combined these moves, all moving like she was born to move this way.
'She sure knows what she's doing.' Ranma thought, impressed by her ability to handle so many opponents at once, even though he could tell that the majority of them were indeed holding back. And those that weren't, didn't seem to be skilled enough here.
Nabiki and two of her classmates watched this too, Nabiki interested in seeing what Ranma would do. 'He's just sitting there watching. Either he's not interested in helping her, or she asked him to stay out of it. But at least he's not showboating or being violent here.'
The fight ended pretty quickly, and Akane was the only one standing. 'Good, I still got it.' She almost didn't sense the rose being flung at her, but by reflex alone she managed to catch it. 'Oh great.' She mentally groaned, her face reflecting her irritation. 'Here he comes, right on cue.'
The he in question then strolled up to her from behind a tree, walking as if he owned the place. "The toll of the bell at the top of the temple of Gion, shows us the transience of all." Akane looked annoyed, and Ranma looked more than a bit confused. "And the color of the blossoms on the trees demonstrates that all which prospers, must someday decline."
'This is the guy?' Ranma asked himself, seeing a guy with brown hair, closed eyes, blue haori and black hakama and wielding a bokken, speaking poetically.
"Such a boorish lot, truly." He continued, eyes still closed. "Evidently each of them thought to date with you. On the dawn of the day they defeated you, that is. They should learn their limitations." As he spoke the clouds got thicker and darker and Akane tensed up, ready to hit him for never taking a hint in her dream about her or Ranma.
"I'm not interested in them or you." Akane stated. She tried to get around, but he lifted his bokken, making her stop.
"Well then, Akane tendo," With her still, he positioned his bokken so it was pointing forward, not to his right side. "Will you spar with me?"
Ranma jumped to land by his fiancee's side. "So this is the head idiot?"
"Yeah, it's him. Be on your guard. He may let up on me but he shows no mercy to men."
Kuno finally opened his eyes, revealing them to be a dull blue color, and looked firmly at Ranma, as if dissecting him. "You there." He pointed his bokken to Ranma. "Aren't you being awfully familiar with Akane?"
"Not as familiar as she is with me." Ranma commented quietly.
"Enough insolence. I demand to know who you are."
Ranma perked a bit. "Well I'm-"
"Wait, is it not the custom to give one's own name first?" Kuno cut in, surprising Ranma.
Akane leaned closer. "Try not to listen here. It's the definition of nonsense."
Kuno obviously didn't hear that. "Fine. Then mine I shall give. Listen carefully for I will say this only once."
"Yeah right." Akane moaned. 'I'd scram if I wasn't so utterly convinced he'd follow us to our homeroom to finish this crap.'
"The rising new star of the high school kendo world, my strength is beyond measure. I am the captain of the Furinkan High kendo club, my voice alone can silence a crying baby, and I am in Class 2-E." He pratted on, completely oblivious to how ridiculous he sounded, and pointed his bokken towards the sky. "My peers call me the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, Tatewaki Kuno." A bit of lightning ominously flashed and he lowered his wooden sword.
Akane tried not to show her lack of patience around this fool 'Why, why why does this idiot act like this? I swear I can't take this from him a second time. I'm going to break his spine someday if we don't make him stop.'
"Did he just call himself Blue Thunder?" One of Nabiki's classmates asked.
"You heard that one before?" Another asked.
Nabiki, who simply had a flat look on her face, shook her head. "Nope. That's news to me." And coming from her that really said everything.
"Last I heard he was calling himself Shooting Star." The second classmate added.
"He can call himself whatever he wants. Doesn't mean we'll call him the same thing." Nabiki stated.
Ranma meanwhile had no idea what to think here, but he could clearly see exactly why Akane had been rejecting this guy's advances all this time. "Well, I'm... I'm a guest at her house."
"A guest?" Kuno asked, looking like the word 'guest' meant 'invader' or something of the sort. "You're staying under the same roof as Akane?" He gripped his bokken harder and sprinted forward to attack.
Ranma was surprised to see him react like this to his words, and backflipped to avoid the strike. "I'm Ranma Saotome of the Saotome school of Anything Goes martial arts." He declared in midair, then threw his bookbag to Akane who caught it. He then landed and took on a stance. "And I accept your challenge."
Akane looked up and saw it was going to rain any moment. "Wait you two." Both men looked at her. "Class is about to start. Wouldn't it be wiser to postpone your spar until a more appropriate time slot?"
Kuno smiled. "Ah, a wise idea my fair Akane. Though I know I'd win effortlessly within no time at wall, the lack of stress from a time limit would permit us a more exhilarating display of might." He then sheathed his weapon. "Saotome was it? Let us continue after the school hours. Then you shall see how strong I am."
"Umm... likewise." Ranam said.
The three then walked into the school, Ranma narrowly avoiding the rain. 'Thanks Akane.'
Genma had been watching the whole time, seeing how they got along if at all. He remained unnoticed thanks to the Umi-Senken, and even as a mule now thanks to the rain he was still unnoticed by all others. 'So far so good.' He told himself, then went back to the Tendos.
"Class, we have a new student joining us today." The homeroom teacher of Class 1-F said while Ranma stood before the room. "His name is Ranma Saotome, and it seems he's just returned from a trip to China. So let's all be sure to give him a big 'Nihao' now."
Akane almost cringed at hearing that word. Sure she got the implied joke, but the word 'Nihao' just reminded her of the Shampoo in her dreams riding the Bicycle of Death and creating more problems. 'Calm down, this Shampoo is different Akane. Don't forget that.' She told herself to squash her negativity.
No one actually said Nihao, mostly because they were wondering who this guy was if he came to school with Akane and she let him be near her so easily. The boys were a bit jealous and the girls were more than a bit curious.
Luckily this time he and Akane didn't have to stand in the hallways holding buckets of water, so they could start their school day as normal.
"What? Fi-fiancee? He's... her... fiancee?" Kuno asked, disbelieving what his greatest source of information had just told him for the price he paid her.
The rest of the class and even the teacher looked towards the two of them, out of shock from what Kuno said, and surprise he was being so dramatic even in class. Nabiki just looked bored. "Yep, my dad's friend brought over his son and Akane decided she wanted to marry him someday. I still don't understand why."
"That wretch!" Kuno shouted. He likely would have said more, but an eraser thrown at him by the teacher silenced him.
"Kuno, go stand out in the halls."
"Y-yes sir."
'I wonder when Kuno will-' Akane started to ask herself about five minutes after class started. Her thoughts were cut off by Kuno barging thru the class door, looking like he just had to hurt someone right then and there. 'Bingo.' She wearily told herself.
"Ranma Saotome I won't allow it!" He proclaimed with nonexistent authority.
Already at her limit for the delusional kendoist, Akane stood up. "Kuno, my personal life is absolutely none of your business! Get that thru your thick skull!"
"I still will not-" Kuno tried to counter, but was intercepted by Akane's teacher.
"Sir, return to your room at once or I'll put you up on report."
Kuno groaned and relented. "Yes sir." He then backed out. Kuno may have been a little out of touch with reality, but even he knew he couldn't boss around the faculty.
Akane sighed in relief. 'That was close. For now no one else knows about me and Ranma. Though apparently Nabiki didn't keep her mouth shut.'
"Akane Tendo, go stand out in the hall for your little outburst."
The youngest Tendo groaned. "Yes Sensei."
As she walked out into the hallway, only one thought crossed her mind. 'At least this way Ranma won't fall in the pool.'