I do not own High School DxD nor do I own Ranma. The main character ins the first is too perverted even if becomes stronger later, and the main character in the second isn't perverted enough, if you catch my meaning.
This story is something I work on when I don't have time to really get into the deeper worlds of my main stories. As such, none of the chapters for this story will come close to the size of the chapters for those works. If you take this story as seriously as you take Wild Wolf let alone A Third Path, then I feel sorry for you.
This will also be the last time this story is updated for a while. I've really been struggling muse wise with this story, not so much the plot but the character interactions, which I feel is just as important. Couple this with the fact it's not as important as the two stories already mentioned, and the fact my free time is shrinking badly due to RL, and you get a story I'll update when and if I wish. Sorry to all its fans, but that is just the way it is. I also have posted a lot of story ideas on my profile, if anyone is looking for ideas of a story and just having trouble coming up with a starting premise. Otherwise I am afraid all those story ideas are going to languish in the bottomless depths of my imagination.
Now on with the show.
Chapter 3 A Tale of Two Redheads
That night after the others had turned in early, Ranma stayed up, trying to think of a prank to get back at the redheaded devil girl. Unfortunately when it came to pranks Ranma wasn't very good at them. Unlike verbally teasing someone/driving his opponents insane, it hadn't been a skill he cultivated, i.e. one that had a martial arts purpose.
He kept coming back to the old trick of ordering up a lot of food and charging it all to her name, but he didn't know where she lived, a problem with most of the plans he thought up. There has to be some way to get back at her, dammit I really did not want to have go back to school!
Ranma got up from where he had been laying on the floor with a small blanket over him, having refused all others so that his mom, Asia, Kasumi and Saeko could have the few they had at present. His mom was sharing a futon with Asia, while Kasumi and Saeko each had their own. Saeko had offered to share hers, a comment that made Nodoka grin at her son but he had hastily waved that off. Until Kasumi, Ranma or Nodoka got paid, they would have to do without much in the way of furniture outside the kitchen.
Ranma moved through the house to the kitchen, getting a glass of water while he continued to think. Staring into the water he began to grin evilly, and then he laughed quietly, yet maniacally. He quickly ran back to where he had folded his clothing, pulling them on and slipping silently out of the house. He had a lot to do before school tomorrow.
OOOOOOO
On the other side of town Rias, sleeping naked as usual, shivered a little pulling the blanket tighter around her. Even in her sleep she felt like someone had just walked over her grave.
OOOOOOO
The next day at the Saotome household everyone else looked askance at Ranma who was chuckling to himself much like a villain from a Bond movie despite still looking very tired from what must've been an uncomfortable sleep. "I'm going to go out and buy another futon today." Nodoka said firmly. "I can come up with the money for that at least. Sleeping on the floor has obviously addled your sleep out of all proportion, no son of mine should be chuckling like bad eighties villain."
"Don't get a futon mom." Ranma said shaking his head with a final chuckle. "It wasn't that bad sleeping on the floor, though if you want, get a sofa instead. That has two uses after all rather than just one. But I slept fine once I got to sleep. I was just… a little busy last night."
He laughed again a dark and evil laugh which actually made Asia back away from him a little while Saeko simply smirked. "Someone has been up to something I believe? Do you wish to share with the class?"
"Nah, I think it'll be more fun ta see your reactions once we get to school. Ohh, by the way mom, here." Ranma reached into a pocket and pulled out a large handful of yen bills, handing it over to his mother. "Here ya go, ya can put that toward few necessities, like the sofa I mentioned. Consider it a housewarming gift from this city's upstanding citizens." Again Ranma laughed, shaking his head.
Nodoka shook her head, wondering exactly what kind of trouble Ranma could get into on his own without his father around, but decided to let it lie for now. She was afraid the answer would be quite a lot, but at least she knew Ranma would never stoop to stealing. Not money at least, food on the other hand was fair game, but supposing otherwise from the son of Genma-the-bottomless-void would be expecting too much.
Ranma went on. "But thanks to you mom, I'll have to head over to the police station ta tell them I'm still gonna be in school, which'll cut into the hours they can call on me for. Hopefully we can work something out there. I was serious when I said I wanted to help bring in some money for the house, and they already told me of a few things about why they were willing to hire a martial artist. Given what they said, I definitely think they need one on their payroll."
Looking at her son's stubborn expression Nodoka sighed, but inside felt proud of him wanting to pitch in like that. "If so you should probably leave soon, my son."
Ranma nodded, and gulped down the last of his rice bowl then headed out the door. As he left, Saeko looked over at Kasumi. "Kasumi, do you want me to drop you off at work?"
Kasumi shook her head. "I don't think that's necessary."
"I'll walk you to work Kasumi." Nodoka said smiling faintly. "I need to start searching for a job myself after all. I think I can get a job at a local martial arts dojo easily enough. With you and me earning money, Ranma won't have to spend too much time on the police payroll, and hopefully finish high school. I was serious the other day when I said I didn't want him to be like his father. I want my son to graduate high school."
The other three younger girls nodded agreement with that sentiment, though Saeko, much like Ranma, wasn't certain what she wanted to do with her life going forward, but a high school diploma would certainly help her options, something Ranma didn't seem to understand. Yet so would working for the police, she thought sardonically. Maybe I should look into getting a job with them as well.
OOOOOOO
In the end, his nominal superiors didn't have any issue with Ranma's official hours on call being cut back. They also were happy to have an officer (that was stretching a point) at the school, which operated more on its own then the other schools in the district. It wasn't as if that was a bad thing really, but it concerned them given the VIPs learning there.
Ranma was even back in time to meet up with Asia and Saeko before heading the school via the rooftops.
When they arrived they were once again greeted by the surprised and freaked out reactions from the crowd. Still, Saeko had explained their skills away relatively easily enough, and eventually the students would get used to it and a lot more. Ranma knew it, she had run into the same thing previously though of course he hadn't been the first oddity in Nerima.
"Look it's the Sword Princess! Did you see her practicing against the kendo team! God that was incredible!" one girl yelled.
"I still say there's no way someone should be able to jump and run along rooftops like that. It's got to all be done with mirrors and … um… other stuff." Said one girl, trailing off uncertainly when the logistics of something like that hit her.
"I wonder why the hunk's here again," one girl murmured to another, actually not shouting it aloud thankfully. "You don't suppose he's going to be going to school here too? That would be so cool, he's almost as good looking as the pinre, but with a wild boy aura about him!"
"Who cares!" a boy with glasses nearby did shout, staring at Saeko's chest. "All I know is that those are the most perfectly bouncing boobies I've ever seen. So firm, with just the right amount of jiggeee!"
The boy and his two fellows ducked away in terror as Saeko went for her bokken. They shared one look before running away through the crowd of students.
Ranma shook his head, irritated while Saeko simply smiled. "They do seem to like making up nicknames for people, I wonder what yours will be?"
"Long as it's not pervert or freak I don't care." Ranma said shrugging he smirked evilly as he noticed out of the corner of his eye Rias and someone else arriving. The girl's aura wasn't quite like Rias or like the fallen angels he had seen, but he couldn't get a readout of what it could possibly be before it disappeared under the collective aura of the rest of the crowd, but it was similar enough to tell him she might be another devil, so he marked her out as a possible threat/irritant.
Rias too noticed him standing there and moving towards the main building with Saeko and Asia, with a small smirk of triumph on her face. That faded a moment later as her friend nudged her. "Something seems to be going on." Akeno murmured into her king's ear. "You're getting some strange looks, not like the normal attention we get, something different."
The Gremory heir looked around at that, noticing that while a lot of girls were still reacting as normal to her and Akeno's presence there were a lot of odd glances intermixed with them, and the boys were all looking at her either in shock or, speculation? Something like that at any rate. She cocked her head, using her heightened senses to listen to one group of people which seemed to be talking about someone called the Scarlet Avenger.
She moved over to that conversation, causing the two sophomore girls who had been talking to pause and stared hard at something in their hands, then up at her, their faces confused and worried. "Excuse me, can I ask what you're looking at?" she said pleasantly.
"Oh Rias-sama!" one of them said. "Um, well…"
Akeno and Rias looked at the picture the younger girl was holding with wide eyes. It certainly looked like Rias, same red hair, same gorgeous body. The clothing looked almost like that a ninja would wear, including the addition of a mask that covered her eyes. If you discounted the fact she would never be caught dead in that sort of clothing (at least not in public) it certainly looked look a great deal like Rias. The only problem was, she was standing over the unconscious bodies of a few gangster types posing with one foot raised on their bodies, the fingers of one hand held up in a V.
"U, Um, there are a lot of rumors about the Scarlet Avenger appearing and saving a young boy from being mugged downtown last night." The sophomore girl who held the picture said, torn between elation at talking to the Two Great Ladies and embarrassment from the topic. "Um, she posed for this picture afterward, and said her name was the Scarlet Avenger."
"Ara-ara-ara," Akeno laughed, bringing one hand up to cover her mouth delicately, even as her eyes locked on Rias, a wicked light in them. "I didn't know you moonlighted as a ninja, Rias-san."
"I don't Akeno. I was fast asleep the entire night!" As Akeno well knew, since Rias had gotten into the habit of sleepwalking into Akeno's room at their house to use her as a body pillow.
Still Akeno wasn't about to miss the opportunity to poke fun at her king. "Ara, I don't know Rias-san, this certainly looks like you. If not you, then who could it be?"
"I don't know, some random cosplayer who just looks a lot like me by chance I would guess." Rias shrugged, fighting against a feeling of foreboding that filled her. She thanked the two younger girls then led the way inside, certain that this was just some weird coincidence.
Later that morning, Ranma stood in front of his new classmates. He wasn't in the same class as Saeko or the target of last night's pranks, mores the pity. They were in 3-A, the class with the highest scorers in it. Ranma was knowledgeable enough about English to get by and could actually speak it and Chinese well enough to get into that class. But his writing and math skills were barely passable as a senior, along with his science scores, though that last one hadn't entirely been his fault, or the fault of the numerous interruptions that plagued his time in Furinkan. Science teachers didn't last very long in Furinkan, they usually went crazy after a few days thanks to trying to figure out how marital artists could do what they did, or worse, the magic of the various cursed individuals. This had alas forced him into 3-E.
He stepped forward as the teacher finished introducing him. "Yo, I'm Ranma Saotome, a martial artist who practices Anything Goes, a family style I suppose ya could say. I ain't been in school much my life, because I was on a training trip since I was a toddler, but I hope to do well enough here to get by. I might miss some classes here, cause I'm also working at the same time, my mom cleared it with the principal already."
There were some murmurs at that, but most of the girls, and there wasn't even one other guy in this class, had something else on their minds. "Where do you hide the wires on those morning entrances of yours?" A girl at the back of the class asked.
"I don't use wires or special effects or anything like that, just skill, like Saeko probably told ya yesterday. I'm a martial artist, I learned how ta roofhop when I was twelve. It ain't gonna be the most surprisin' thing you'll see if I stay here long."
That caused even more murmurs, but another girl changed the subject, asking, "So, are you and Saeko-sama dating?"
Ranma blushed but answered gamely. "Er, that's private, y'know." That response both fueled the school's rumor mill and gave many girls there the hope that maybe the new hotty was up for grabs. More than a few wondered if he would be easier to capture than the resident prince.
The marital artist in question didn't know any of this, he had much more important things on his mind. This was why, moments after sitting down at the back of the class, Ranma promptly fell asleep, ignoring everything else around him.
OOOOOOO
Unfortunately for Rias' good humor, this was the first of many rumors to reach their ears, each one more ludicrous and astonishing than the last, and all of them tied to Rias in some fashion. After the 'Scarlet Avenger' came the news that some boys out at a late night movie on the other side of town had seen Rias doing a dine-and-dash, with Rias' name left behind at an all-you-can-eat restaurant on the north side of town.
There were several different permutations of that, but it got worse with the next rumor. This one placed Rias in the small red light district of Kaou. A streetwalker answering to the name of Rias had been seen luring in clients there.
In actuality, these 'clients' were mugged. Ranma figured they were guilty of something since 'she' had advertised herself as a 17 year old girl. Thus Ranma felt no hesitation in relieving them of their ready cash after giving them a nice concussion to maybe, just maybe show them that opportuning young girls was wrong.
This story was the worst since Rias had to keep on telling everyone who approached her, of which there were dozens every time class let out, that she had nothing to do with the redhead in the rumors, with Akeno's laughter in the background getting louder each time. Thankfully no one really thought she had become a street walker so she wasn't asked for a price list or anything like that, but it was still irritating.
All in all, by the time lunch came around, Rias was at the end of her rope. While keeping a harried yet poised air about her, inside Rias was frothing mad. She also knew exactly who to blame for this.
As soon as the bell rang, Ranma was out the window, causing a few gasps of shock from his classmates. He landed lightly, ignoring the gasps of shock and exclamations of surprise from behind him along with the myriad 'oh he's so dreamy', shuddering a little as he continued on.
He saw Asia and her friends coming out of the building, and waved at his surrogate little sister who waved back and moved in his direction with her friends trailing behind. Ranma looked around, he saw a perfect tree and motioned them over to it while Ranma went ahead of them. He jumped up easily into the branches before making himself comfortable there.
"Hello Ranma," Asia said happily looking up at him. "How was your first day?"
Ranma groaned expressively, shaking his head. "I still don't understand why my mom wanted me to go back to school, it's not like I can stay awake in the classes anyway."
"Education is very important Ranma." Asia replied, taking out the bento that Nodoka had made for her, smiling happily. Asia liked school, and she was certain that without the pressures he had felt back in Nerima Ranma would start to like it as well eventually.
Ranma shrugged, not willing to tell Asia that he didn't really see a point to most of the stuff they had to learn in school. It wasn't that he didn't realize there was stuff beyond the martial arts, it was just that none of it interested him at all. He knew for a fact he wasn't going to go on to college. Like he told his mom Ranma didn't want to be like his father and not graduate high school, yet he couldn't say that the idea of an education appealed to him or would help him toward his goals, which at this point were simply become the best martial artist he could and use his skills to help others.
He looked up from his own bento second later as a rustle in the branches above him caught his attention. Ranma looked up through the foliage to see Koneko sitting on a higher branch looking down at him. He shuddered a little, wondering why the heck the little girl gave him bad vibes. It almost felt like being around a Furry-Demon-From-Hell but not quite, but there was nothing physical about her that was threatening all. Oh, she was a lot stronger for her size and age then she looked, Ranma could see that easily enough. Her aura too was almost like that of a demon, but not quite, and even if she was a demon, it wasn't like he was going to judge her just by that.
For her part, Koneko was ecstatic seeing 'Sunbeam-Boy', as she had taken to think of Ranma in her head, in school. She thought down next to him on the branch, ignoring the half of your dictation that sounded from below as Asia caught sight of her. "Hello senpai," she said in her monotone voice, staring at Ranma.
"I ain't big on titles Koneko, just call me Ranma 'kay?" Ranma said then backed away reflexively as the girl came closer, her balance and the way she moved reminding him all the more of a furry devil. His back hit the trunk of the tree and he held up his bento in self-defense. "Y-ya want some?"
Koneko paused then looked into the bento and nodded eagerly, seeing there was a mame-daifuku there. She reached out with a quick hand and snapped it out of the bento, then sat there happily munching on it.
Below them Asia huffed irritably as she glared up at the other girl, who pretended not to notice. "Ranma," she said sweetly, belying the glint in her eyes. "Why don't you come down here and join us?"
Ranma did so, jumping down to sit between Asia and one of her friends, causing Asia to shoot a smug grin up at Koneko. Koneko scowled a little wondering why Sunbeam-Boy didn't like being around her. She jumped down too, moving to sit right in front of Ranma on the grass. Asia scowled scooting closer to Ranma, which caused Koneko in turn to scoot a little closer in turn, making Ranma flinch back a little again.
Whether this battle of position would've gone on or not would remain unanswered for the day. At that moment the doors to the school opened to reveal Rias stomping out towards them. Her face was smiling pleasantly, but her demonic aura was on display for anyone who could feel it. Indeed, it was taking all of Rias' considerable self-control not to break from her character as one of the Two Great Ladies of the school and rush towards Ranma with intent to kill. Or at least maim him a little.
Behind her at a more sedate pace came Akeno and Saeko. They had followed Rias to Ranma's classroom, even though Saeko knew that he would not be there. This was a good floor show for her to mess with, and the rumors Ranma had started about Rias using his female form were simply hilarious, even if he hadn't warned her what he was going to do, or even why.
Asia's friends looked on in awe as one of the Two Great Ladies stalked towards them, subtly moving out of the way between her and the source of her ire. Koneko did not, normally she would have moved for her king, but being near Ranma was too much like laying down in a bright sunbeam for her to fight her nekomata instincts.
While internally grinning evilly as he finished his bento, Ranma seemingly ignored Rias' approach. He looked up however as when her shadow fell on him looking up with a cheeky smile on his face. "Hey Rias, what's up?"
Asia's friends both blanched at his irreverence. Several other small groups that were sitting on the grass around them, who had been attempting to look as if they weren't listening in, growled as well. A few even made to stand up and go over to give Ranma a piece of their mind at how disrespectful he was being to Gremory-sama.
He could hear Rias' teeth grinding a little but when Rias spoke her voice came out almost pleasantly. "Ranma-san, you wouldn't happen to know why there are so many odd and unusual rumors about me today, would you?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Ranma said virtuously, though the glint in his eyes gave that the lie. "What rumors?"
"You know very well what rumors." Rias replied repressively, pulling on all her considerable self-control not to simply reach down and squeeze until Ranma revealed where she could find his redheaded ally. "Perhaps the name Scarlet Avenger means something to you? Or performing a dine-and-dash at several all-you-can-eat restaurants?"
"Doesn't ring a bell." Ranma stood up, putting away his bento into his small weapons space pocket. "Sorry I can't help ya, Rias."
"You will tell me what you know you little…" Rias growled, her self-control finally snapping only to blink as Ranma tapped her forehead lightly.
"Tag, yer it." He laughed, then jumped away into the trees racing through the small woodland area that made up part of the school grounds.
Rias steamed there for a moment then like a teakettle going off then raced after him with a scream, only remembering at the last instant to stay on the ground like a normal person rather than fly after him. "Get back here you!"
Behind her, Akeno nearly fell over laughing so hard her side hurt. "Oh my, Ranma really does know how to get under her skin doesn't he? Ara ara, I wonder what his secret is?" Around them even more murmurs spread among the populace wondering why one of the Great Ladies was chasing after Ranma. Looking around, Akeno sighed, knowing she'd have to do damage control for a bit.
"I actually think it's part of his martial arts school." Saeko said musingly. "His various rivals I've heard about all seem to have had the same reaction to him a time or two, so I'm actually almost positive that it is cultivated in some manner."
That caused Akeno to giggle again. A small huff or irritation caught her attention and he looked over at Koneko who had made the noise, though there was no hint in her face as to that fact. She idly wondered what was going on there, and how Koneko had met Ranma at all, since the young nekomata wasn't the most outgoing individual.
Thanks to last night being one of the nights where Rias' favorite anime shows aired, they hadn't talked about the newcomers just yet, so the fact that Koneko met Ranma the day before hadn't come out. Looking up at the Queen Koneko sighed internally and nodded her head slightly indicating that they could talk later.
Akeno nodded at that then looked around for Kiba, only then remembering that Kiba had been assigned to watch the pervert trio today. Rias was still uncertain which of them was the one giving off an aura of a Sacred Gear, and hoped to find out quickly, before Sona did.
As if summoned by that thought, a familiar voice spoke up from behind Akeno and she turned to see the class president Sona Sitri coming towards them. "Busujima-san, I understand from the kendo club captain that you are going to be taking over her position? Could you stop by later today to fill out the paperwork for that?"
Saeko nodded, then smirked. "I will be happy to do so, but since Ranma is now a student of the school, does that mean you will allow the use of the gym for a spar?"
At that moment Sona wondered why a shiver went down her spine, and the thought that her 'normal' existence at this school might well be ending soon. She shook it off but nodded, not smirking at all at her friend's queen as she did so. "That will be fine, yes…"
The smirk she got in turn did nothing for Sona's peace of mind.
OOOOOOO
A little deeper in the woods, the perverted trio looked up in shock. "D-did I just see Rias-sama…"
"Ma-masaka…" Issei laughed, the sound a little forced to Mahotama's question. "N-no way she can't be like those martial arts weirdos."
"Yeah, but, there have been a lot of rumors today about her…." The loli-lover paled as his friends turned to him, their eyes rather scary.
"My Rias-sama is as pure as the driven snow!" Issei shouted raising an angry fist. "How dare you listen to that drivel!" A minor fight broke out among the trio at that point, making them forget the odd sight of Rias chasing Ranma through the treetops shouting at him.
OOOOOOO
Ranma laughed as he dodged another blow from Rias, even as they both jumped from one tree to another. She had quickly caught up to him, surprising Ranma slightly with her mobility and overall speed, but when it came to hand-to-hand she was a rank amateur. Even Akane had better form then her, and somewhat better physical strength as well.
"Oh come on Rias!" He laughed. "You can do better than that, don't take so long to recover from every punch and try ta use kicks in between jumps!" He dodged under Rias' next punch, tapping her side with a finger before moving past her, using her leg as a springboard to flip himself backwards and away in an entirely new direction. "Yer still it!"
Rias chased after them, throwing out blows as quickly as she could trying to catch him. She had initially tried to simply catch him, when that hadn't worked she had decided to simply knock him down and demand answers once she had him on the ground. That wasn't working anywhere near as well as she had hoped either. "Stand still and take your beating like a man!"
"I still don't know what you're so mad about!" Ranma laughed again. "Although, and this is just a guess, but if someone played pranks on you last night, maybe it was because in their mind you deserved it? For, oh I don't know, helping the guy she just met randomly get into school when he explicitly said he didn't want to go?"
Rias paused at that, frowning heavily at Ranma but also thinking about what he said as she jumped down to the ground. At that moment he rushed in shouting "Opening!" And before she knew it his fingers were working over her ribs, tickling her unmercifully. "Attack of the thousand ticklers!"
She gasped burst out into uncontrollable laughter, trying ineffectually to slap Ranma's hands away but he was too quick and too strong, and soon she fell to the ground in a giggling heap.
Ranma let up as Rias collapsed, kneeling next to her with a smirk still on his face. That was a lot of fun! He had started using attacks like that against Saeko in their less serious spars since she had joined him and Asia, simply because the younger girl refused to heal Saeko after their spars, telling them it only encouraged them in a bad way. Saeko was so ticklish even a single poke to her ribs could take her off her game, so it actually worked just as well.
After a few minutes Rias recovered and looked up at him. She noted gratefully that they were near the Occult Research Club's building, an area of the school where most people didn't go, thanks both because of the rundown nature of the building and a reflective field Rias had put around it. This was a good thing considering the humiliation she had just been subjected too, as it would both make Ranma enemies among the student population and really put a hole in her image as one of the Great Ladies of Kuoh. Which I've probably done already when I chased after Ranma so manically before. I hope Akeno is up to doing damage control… oh who am I kidding, I can only hope that she doesn't add fuel to the fire somehow.
With that thought Rias sighed, pushing her red hair out of her face. "All right, I suppose I'll apologize for that, but you can't say that your mother didn't appreciate it. Education is important after all."
Ranma looked down at Rias' sweaty face, her red hair plastered to her forehead and side of her face from her unusual exertion, her chest heaving from the aftereffects of his tickle attack, and it was only then that he realized how attractive Rias really was. Her long red hair was set off against her healthy pink skin, her aquamarine eyes were striking and figure were amazing, even to Ranma, whose female form was similarly built. He could also smell a bit of her perfume, an alluring scent or flowers mixed with her sweat.
Damn hormones, more trouble than they're worth! He flushed a little backing away slightly, but answered gamely. "That'd be true if I knew what I wanted to do with my life going forward." He sighed, looking away for a moment. "The Art is all I've got Rias." he said softly, not certain why he was saying this to her, but after the hell he had put her through today with the rumormongering he supposed he owed her a bit of an explanation for why he was so irritated. "Other than protectin' Asia from anyone who comes after her, followin' the code of the martial artist and maybe see the world a bit, I really don't know what I want to do with my life." He shrugged. "That's it. I don't have a goal that education'll help me towards. I don't really wanta settle down and teach, I don't want ta become a scientist or anythin', any job I really want I could get now, without an education, because of the skills I've sweat and bled for."
"Protect Asia?" Rias said, moving to sit against a nearby tree. Ranma squatted next to her companionably. Rias cocked her head at him pushing her hair sweaty back again out of her eyes, irritated at how sweaty she was after that brief exertion. Keeping up with Ranma was like trying to catch a Jack-in-the-Box on LSD. "So you are aware of what she has inside of her?" She asked obliquely.
"Yeah I know Asia-chan's got one of those Sacred Gear things inside her, even have seen it in action. And like I said the time we met in the park, I also know you're a devil." Ranma smirked at her. "I know you're dying to ask so I'll simply say that I can read a person's aura, and a Devil's is a lot different from humans for a Fallen Angel's." Ranma watched as her eyebrows went up, before reaching into fold space and pulling out a small towel for her. That and an emergency bottle of water were things he always kept on him.
Rias took it gratefully, toweling her face. After she finished, she looked up at him with a expression of polite inquiry on her face, though inside she was dying with curiosity. "You've run into Fallen Angels as well?" What the hell is up with this human!
"Yep, they tried to take Asia with them when right after we first met, I beat 'em up and she's been traveling with me since." Ranma shook his head in amusement. "Was pretty easy, that asshole didn't take me seriously, right up until I caved his chest in for him."
"What are you?" Rias asked shaking her head but looking at him with wide eyes. "You're human, but you can fight Fallen Angels, you know I'm a devil but you don't seem to hold that against me which I'm thankful for but how, I mean… I've never run into humans who…"
"I'm a martial artist." Ranma said simply, his smirk once more in place. "I have been training my whole life, and I am easily the best in my generation." He discounted Herb from that list, since minus the lizard boy's nearly bottomless well of ki, the two were evenly matched and Ranma had more tricks (dirty ones anyway) and actual experience then the Musk prince. "You can look up my files or something I guess. I bet the government has some stuff on me, or you can just look for rumors about Nerima. That'll give you a clue about the life I've led to get this good, and fallen angels and that stuff weren't the first time I've seen magic."
Rias finished toweling off her face, and moved down to her chest smiling slightly as Ranma flushed and looked away as her chest bounced under her ministrations for a moment. He wasn't a pervert or anything about it, but it was obvious he found her desirable, which she was rather amused by. "I'll do that, but how much do you know about the three factions? And why are you so trusting of me if you know I'm a devil?"
"You may be a devil but your aura tells me you're a good person. A person's actions and thoughts impact the way there aura looks ta my senses." Ranma replied simply, not able to describe it any better than that. "Your aura might've started out dark but it's not as dark as it could be, it's been effected by the good things you've done, as well as your general kindness."
Under Ranma's earnest appraisal Rias, who was only rarely bothered by anything embarrassing, blushed slightly.
Ranma went on, not at all noticing how cute that blush made the redhead. "As for the Angels and Devils thing, I know there's a conflict between the two of them, I know the church is full of hypocrites, and I know..." He now stared down at her sternly. "That I will defend Asia-chan from anyone trying to use her."
He didn't share the fact that Kasumi might have a Sacred Gear as well. But since Rias had already mentioned it, he didn't see the point of hiding the fact that Asia had one. "I've already done that with fallen Angels and with Devils, one asshole and his peerage tried ta take Asia away back in Nerima, and we had to put them all down."
Rias sighed unhappily. While she hadn't used any of her devil given powers in her chase of him, it was clear that Ranma had held back as well, and if he had already taken out a devil and his peerage, that showed he was skilled enough to make her worry about offending him. Not when such a move could weaken herself and her own at any rate, and when there was no real point to it.
She was still going to try and convince him however, and test both him and Saeko as well to see how good the two of them really were. "I can understand the desire to protect your friends, it's something that drives me as well. But have you considered the fact that if you allied with a devil such as myself you would gain a massive power up?" She cursed as her voice had a slight hopeful quaver to it.
Ranma shook his head. "I understand where you're coming from, and…." he said, his words now coming out more seriously reaching out a poking her forehead. "I can tell that's something bothering that brain of yers, yer a little too eager ta get me ta join ya. That sigh was too deep to come from having a missed opportunity of recruiting Asia or even an awesome dude like me."
"It's no one's business but my own." Rias said faintly, looking away from him but now letting her worry show clearly. For some reason this boy could read her like a book.
She didn't know that this was because when Rias let her mask as one of the great ladies drop her body language was actually a little similar to Ranma's own in female form. This gave him a somewhat unfair advantage in reading her, as did Saeko's aiding Ranma in expanding his ability to read his opponents to analyzing other people's body language outside of combat.
"Well whatever," Ranma said shrugging and reaching out with a hand to help her to her feet. "Just remember I'm around, and helpin' out is what friends are for."
"You consider me a friend?" Rias asked one eyebrow raised in surprise, though her surprise was tinged with happiness shown in a smile that warmed her face.
Ranma smirked. "Sure, we started by teasing one another, then fighting one another, that's how most of my friendships start."
"Well then in the spirit of friendship, I don't suppose I could convince you to let me see that redheaded friend of yours, and smack her about a bit?" Rias shook her head. "The dine-and-dash rumors, as well as the idea of being a superhero I could take, but that one rumor about me being a street walker down in the red light district was a bit much."
Ranma frowned then nodded. "I suppose that makes sense, and yeah, I guess ya do deserve more of an explanation there. Just remember, I did say that Angels and Devils weren't the first time I saw magic." Besides showing Rias how he had started all the rumors about her, Ranma also wanted to see Rias' reaction to his curse. It had become a sort of litmus test of late, though Ranma actually didn't know what that phrase meant, for his friends.
The redheaded devil watched as Ranma reached into his ki pocket, wondering how he was powering that. She knew it was a spell of some sort, after all Akeno and herself had similar enlarged holding spaces in their uniforms, but a human doing it was beyond her ken. Rias watched as he pulled out a bottle of water then for some reason poured it over his head.
Her eyes widened in shock when suddenly Ranma's body began to change, and a second later where before there had stood a good-looking dark-haired boy there stood a red-haired girl. She was short, more than a foot shorter than Ranma's original body, a few inches shorter than Rias' own. Her eyes were blue, not like Rias' own, a problem Ranma had solved by getting some colored contacts (which had been a bitch to put in). Ranma's hair had also become noticeably longer, though it was still tied in the pigtail, no several inches longer. Unbound it might reach her shoulders.
All in all, Rias could see that the redhead in front of her could easily pass for Rias herself with only a little work. Of course, that really wasn't what she was thinking right now. It took a moment for her brain to reboot, and when it did, she shouted "What! How?"
"You ever heard here of a place called Jusenkyou?" Ranma asked, shrugging her shoulders. So far Rias hadn't run away screaming, slapped her, called her pervert, or fainted, which were all good signs in his opinion. "It's got these springs, where if ya fall in yer body will then change ta the form of whatever or whoever drowned there. Bizarre ass place."
"I… think I read about it in a history lesson once," Rias said dubiously, thinking hard. A shape change spell like what she had just seen usually took a good bit of power, but she had only felt the barest whisper of magic, nowhere near enough to produce the effect. "Um… some kind of no go zone I think, too much magical spells had gone off there or something during the Great War, can't remember why or how, just that no one of the three factions are allowed to go anywhere near there."
As she spoke, one of Rias' hands reached forward without any communication from her brain to grope Ranma's chest. She breathed a sigh of relief when she felt that they weren't quite as big as her own, that would've been rather humiliating. Even while that thought percolated through her brain, her hand continued to caress the other redhead's chest.
Ranma moaned a little as Rias expertly fondled her breast, but she smacked Rias' hand away quickly with one hand while covering her chest with the other. "Hands off the merchandise, unless you're willing to reciprocate…" Ranma paused then flushed as she registered what she had said. Dammit why did I say that, stupid hormones! On the other hand, Ranma had been overjoyed to see no difference in how he/she viewed men in his female form after Asia had unblocked his pressure points. His preferences in that direction hadn't changed at all.
Rias giggled at the other redhead's expression, amused at how flustered the aquatranssexual was. "The person who started up that red light district rumor shouldn't have any qualms about getting felt up."
"Hey!" Ranma said pointing at her angrily now, backing away. "I didn't let any of those pervs touch me. The moment they came near me I led them into an alleyway and knocked them the hell out okay!" Ranma sighed and reached into a pocket pulling out a wad of cash similar to the one he/she gave to his/her mother that morning. This was the remaining half of the money she had taken from her victims the evening before but she figured Rias did have a point about that joke having gone too far. "Here's half the money I took from 'em. The other half I gave to my mom. Movin' here and purchasing a house plus the first months utilities has kind of wiped out our cash reserve."
The other redhead looked down at the money and then gently pushed it back towards Ranma, smirking faintly. "Keep it. After all you're the one that earned it. But that has to be one of the more interesting ways of raising cash I've ever heard of."
Ranma shrugged her shoulders. "Meh, I used to do it all the time when I was on the road with my old man. Back then we'd used the 'little lost waif' for this trick, so we'd get groups o' yaks or whatever to come after me and then jack them up. After I got this body it got a lot easier. Though, I will say that I kinda had nightmares a few times about what would've happened if I wasn't a martial artist."
Rias smiled even wider at that, linking her arm around the other redhead's and leading the way back through the woods, this time staying on solid ground rather than leaping through the tree tops. The idea of a man understanding what it was like to be a woman appealed to her somewhat, especially given her issues with Rizer. "Why on earth did you go to a cursed this place like that anyway?"
"Because my father's an idiot." Ranma said simply, before going into greater detail as the two of them walked through the woods back to the school. By the end of the walk Ranma had given Rias a basic overview of Genma and how he had screwed up Ranma's life, but that left quite a lot of more to tell, which Rias could see easily enough. She responded by telling him some about the Gremory clan, and what they were known for, the fact that her older brother was a Maou, and they all cared deeply for their peerage, treating them as family. Neither hinted about the trouble with fiancés they both had in the past or now.
When they neared the school they stopped right out of sight from the cluster of occupied school buildings. Rias watched as Ranma pulled out another bottle of water, and began to heat it somehow with his ki as he called it. She wondered idly what connection there was between this life energy and magic, as well as what if any similarity to youkai chakra there was. Rias resolved to get Koneko to spar with Ranma at the earliest opportunity. "By the way, how did you get out of your classroom before we could catch you?"
"I jumped out the window." Ranma shrugged, not seeing the issue with that statement. She finished heating the water and poured it over herself, becoming male once more.
Rias shook her head, though also smiled faintly. "You're going to have to stop doing that you know, I have no idea what it was like in this Nerima place you came from, but the people around here aren't used to that kind of thing."
"They'll get used to it eventually. Given enough time the strange and weird becomes the everyday pretty quickly. Trust me, jumping around like that is the least impressive then that you're gonna see if I stay here, and that ain't even countin' if my rivals and other… issues don't show up."
She cocked her head then nodded, remembering what Saeko had said the day before about a martial artists skill being proportional to the amount of craziness they ran into. "You'll still have problems with Sona-san, she's the class president." Rias paused weighing the matter then sighed faintly. "Seeing as you probably will figure this out on your own quickly, I will say that Sona is also a devil, a high-class one like myself. We're both heirs to a pillar clan and somewhat loosely allied with one another. Like myself, Sona won't go after anyone who won't willingly join her, but Sona is a stickler for rules, and she likes normalcy."
"She's gonna hate me then," Ranma replied with a laugh. "There is nothing normal about me. It's only a matter of time before the chaos starts, even if ya don't count the fact that cold water is drawn ta me. We, that is all of us with curses, think its just part of the 'magic' of Jusenkyou." Ranma finished wringing out his hair while in the distance bell signaling the end of the long lunch break began to toll. Both of them sped up quickly, then separated with a last wave.
Ranma ignored Rias' advice about toning it down simply racing towards the main school building. He leapt upwards and through the open window of his classroom, hanging onto the windowsill for a moment before slipping inside.
Rias saw this as she entered the building at a far more sedate pace, while subtly checking to make certain nothing in her appearance hinted at her earlier exertions. Shaking her head Rias laughed quietly, wondering how Sona was going to respond to Ranma.
Another part was wondering how to continue to push him and Saeko to see how good the two humans really were. Rias was not naturally duplicitous, though she could use such methods when she had to, but she was becoming more and more worried about Rizer, and when he would try to force things between them. Right now, Rias knew she had only one chance to get out of wedding the Phenex heir, since he wasn't as arrogant as Sona's former fiancé as to bet their marriage on a chess game like that worthy had. No, Rias would have to challenge him in a Rating Game, and that was an area in which Rizer held every advantage against her. I have to find some advantage before he tries anything, any advantage at all will do, and if I have to… use my new friend, well I'll just have to apologize afterward.
OOOOOOO
The rest of the day passed uneventfully, primarily because the Pervert Trio were more concerned about figuring out if there rumors about Rias were true then with messing with the new pretty boy again like they had before school started. That plus the fact the terror Ranma caused in them before turning the trio over to the kendo team stayed with them enough to keep them away from Ranma, and luckily as a senior he didn't have any classes with them.
When the last class of the day ended Ranma went in search of Saeko, ignoring the crowd with ease, both its mutters and giggles. He smirked however when he heard all the rumors about how Rias had chased him, wondering how his new friend was dealing with that. Just 'cause were friends don't mean I can't mess with her after all. That oh-so 'perfect' Great Lady image of hers irritates me fer some reason.
He actually found Saeko with Rias talking quietly and nodding her head. Evidently Rias was sharing with Saeko what Ranma had shared with her, with Saeko adding her own information to it, and turning down Rias' offer. Rias finally shook the other girl's hand shrugging philosophically. She looked over at Ranma with a smile on her face before moving to join her friend Akeno as she left the classroom.
Ranma smirked at her and gave her a two fingered salute before turning to Saeko. "So, did ya get permission for us to use the gym for a spar? If not, I found a few clearings in the woods we could use when Rias was chasin' me."
Saeko smiled, her eyes lighting with eagerness and more than eagerness, one hand reaching for her bag which held her bokken. "I did indeed. Oh, Rias-san told me what you two talked about, though I had already suspected that Sona was a devil. She had one of her peerage test me yesterday, so it was an easy connection to make when I saw the same girl with her earlier today. Sona will probably want to have words with you later, but for now, we have more important things to do."
Ranma nodded smiling at her eagerness. One thing he really liked about Saeko was that she took The Art seriously, and was always looking for opportunities to train. Without another word the two martial artists turned and made their way through the building toward the gym via the covered walkway that connected the two buildings. Their walk garnered some looks of interest from the girls and very few boys around them, and word quickly spread.
By the time they arrived they found the rest of the kendo club and a few others there to watch, including Koneko. Asia too was on hand, and smiled brightly at them both. Both martial artists ignored the crowd, moving to opposite sides of the mat. Saeko dropped her bag in the same movement drawing her bokken. In front of an audience Saeko wasn't about to take out the katana that Cologne had given her, which was a pity. She stood there, facing Ranma with the blade in a high strike stance.
One of the kendo team members asked "Sempai, aren't you going to change first?"
"Would I be able to change before a real battle?" Saeko shrugged, not taking her eyes off Ranma who simply stood there, his arms loose at his side.
There were some mutterings at Saeko's statement, which rose higher as Ranma didn't move to take up a bokken to match her, simply standing there, waiting, his arms at his side.
There was a moment of silence then suddenly Saeko charged, her blade whistling out in a straight thrust before she whirled to one side cutting down at his legs.
Ranma however had read her slight movement recognizing the straight jab as a feint. He jumped over her real blow, his own leg exploding out in a kick which she blocked reflexively with her hand, using the momentum to get some more distance, bring her blade up and back to strike him in midair.
However as any of his opponents would tell you when Ranma was in the air he was at his most dangerous. He easily blocked her slash pressing in hard with two blows aimed at her face.
Saeko desperately rolled away from the blow, bringing her bokken up between them before Ranma could capitalize, waiting until he touched down before rushing forward, her blade flickering in a complicated pattern of thrusts and small, economical slashes.
Across from her Ranma landed lightly on his toes shooting forward to match her, his hands flashing out at near Amiguriken speed. Saeko found herself forced on the defense despite her own speed and the difference between their reach. She blocked and dodged as many blows as she could, but still had to fall back in the face of Ranma's onslaught.
She suddenly struck out when she saw a brief opening to catch Ranma on the lower leg. He moved back just enough to mitigate most of the power behind it, and his hand flashed out in a cut to Saeko's neck.
Saeko however ducked underneath it, bringing her blade up and around in a strike that almost connected with Ranma's midsection, forcing him to jump backwards. Now it was her turn to press forward her blade lashing out, along with her empty hand at times as well as her legs. This was something that Ranma had shown Saeko to integrate into her style, and was where she had shown the most improvement. Saeko still preferred to use her blade, but no longer neglected using the rest of her body.
There was a lot of shocked exclamations from the crowd that were lining the gym. "How the hell are they moving that fast!" A senior girl shouted, putting into words what most of those watching were thinking.
"Nevermind that, how is he able to block those strikes with his bare hands, with the force Saeko-sama's putting into them his hands should have been mauled by this point!" A girl from the kendo club replied.
Koneko, Tsubaki and the other devils however, simply were watching with wide eyes. While a Knight in battle mode could move faster than these two, they were moving far faster than any of the other Peerage classes could. And judging by the loud smacking sounds that reverberated in the air of the gym, their blows had a lot of force behind them, not up to a Rook's level, but possibly more than a knight's.
Both fighters however ignored these distractions, even the kendo captain muttering about how this wasn't a 'regulation style match'. After all, neither of the individuals involved cared about that, all they cared about was the fight itself. Saeko was driven to become Ranma's equal, and Ranma himself was enjoying simply having someone he could spar with who wouldn't take it personally whatever the outcome. He was still holding back a lot, no Amiguriken, ki attacks or enhancements. Still, it was Saeko's form, her self-control, and more, her ability to read his movements that made the match exciting from his point of view.
The battle continued between the two for some time, with Ranma purposefully keeping his speed and strength down to just above Saeko's level the better to train her with. That didn't mean Ranma didn't take his lumps however, both of them took several good shots from the other, and he watched as Saeko smile grew as the battle went on, his own smirk widening to match it.
Ducking under one of Saeko's slashes and blocking with his forearm her follow-up punch, Ranma changed tactics. He went for her legs with a sweep kick forcing Saeko into the air. She tried to lash out, but Ranma blocked that is well.
Stuck in midair Saeko lacked the experience necessary to try to flip away, forcing her to try to keep Ranma at bay until she landed. This effort failed.
Ranma's hand flashed out grabbing her bokken as she tried to thrust at him before she could pull it back. A kick to her midriff sent Saeko flying back while her sword remained caught in his grip. Before she could recover her footing Ranma was in her face, tapping at her forehead lightly, pressing her back down onto her rear. "My win Saeko-chan!"
Saeko shuddered a little, the exaltation of the fight having filled her. She looked around at the crowd, the big, inconvenient crowd, since all she wanted to do right now was pull Ranma down with her and ravish him. But I can't do that alas, too many young impressionable girls here, including Asia-chan.
So instead Saeko settled for simply pushing to her feet and pulling Ranma into a tight hug, a mirk on her lips. "Th-that was fantastic." She said stretching herself and wincing occasionally but feeling the aftershocks of her body's reaction to a very good fight indeed.
Ranma grinned at her, leaving one arm looped over Saeko's shoulder as they moved back towards her bag. While cheers began along with dozens of shouted questions from the crowd directed at both of them, Asia walked forward looking worried. She hadn't gotten used to watching the two of them spar, and the wounds they inflicted on one another during these battles, and she thought they really were battles rather than spars, always concerned her. Giving them a once over she smiled happily to see none of their wounds were serious this time.
Both martial artists waved her away, indicating they didn't need Asia's healing powers (and didn't want her to showcase them in front of an audience) while Kiba stepped forward smiling faintly. "That was a magnificent match, I don't suppose you could take the time to spar with me could you Ranma-san?"
His tone was actually mildly condescending. He had heard Saeko had beaten Tomoe, but he hadn't seen anything in this match that couldn't be overcome by his own speed. Kiba hadn't had a real match in a while, which unfortunately had impacted his ability to correctly discern his opponent's level.
"Just Ranma," Ranma laughed, "I ain't one for formality. And sorry, I can't today, I have to get to work."
Koneko frowned, stopping in place from where she was about to demand the same thing. Maybe fighting him in person would give her an idea of why he felt so much like a sunbeam on full power.
A few times during that fight she could sense something, it wasn't anything she had seen before but it was some kind of power moving through Ranma, what it was she didn't know, though it almost looked like… Desiring to figure out this mystery with, Koneko raised her hand slightly. "Me too?"
Ranma gulped a little, not liking the idea of fighting the girl who reminded him of a furry demon at all, but seeing no way to get out of it without offending her. "Um, I guess," He said moving backwards slightly.
Around them the crowd, who had come forward to pester the two with questions, wondered why Koneko had asked to spar with the Pigtailed Prince, as Ranma was going to be labelled before the day was out. The white haired freshman wasn't known as a fighter or martial artist or anything, so it took many of them by surprise. A few of the lolicons in particular were angry, and vowed to hurt Ranma if he hit their goddess. The fact that none of them even had a chance of touching him was something they conveniently forgot for the moment.
With that Ranma nodded farewell to Asia, rubbing her head and gave Saeko's shoulders a squeeze before releasing her and leaving the gym at a run. He paused as he caught sight of Tsubaki Shinra, more particularly, her face and her hecto-chromatic eyes. The sight of those eyes sparked a memory from somewhere, though he couldn't tell if it was a good memory or bad one.
She too was looking at him, his features and the feeling of his energy sparking a memory in her. They stood there for a moment, staring at one another, their heads cocked to the sides, as if they were trying to figure out a puzzle. After a moment they both shook their heads and turned away, unable to figure it out.
Behind Ranma Saeko smiled faintly, stretched again and moved in the direction of the girl's bathroom. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw the Perverted Trio, who had come in sometime after the match began, straighten up at seeing where she was going, and sighed, shaking her head. It looked as if those three were going to need continual lessons in etiquette before they got the point. Right now however, she would leave their punishment in the hands of the kendo team, who were moving determinedly after them. She had a date with a shower.
OOOOOOO
"So what do you think of them?" Rias asked, as she and Akeno stood watching Ranma through the eyes of Rias' familiar which was being projected onto a wall. The ease with which the boy jumped around over rooftops was still astonishing to both of them.
Akeno pouted a little in thought. "I think they're both incredibly powerful for humans, though I think that Ranma was holding back somewhat, but I couldn't tell how much. Were you able to catch him this afternoon when you ran after him like a rabid animal?"
"No." Rias answered simply, ignoring Akeno's dig with ease. "He's too good at hand-to-hand, and he was able to easily keep up with my speed, warn Kiba of that before he tries to fight him would you?" Akeno nodded and Rias went on. "Whether that would be the case if I went all out I don't know, but I actually think so, which leads credence to what he told me about having faced Fallen Angels and devils in defense of Argento-chan. We need to look up this Nerima place, it might give us a good idea of what to expect from the two of them. We should also probably warn Sona-san that Ranma is a bit antiauthoritarian. I don't want them to be locking heads if we can help it."
"Ohh?" Akeno hummed, one eyebrow raised as her lips formed into a smirk. "Is there any particular reason why you don't want this new young man and your friend to get into a brawl?"
"Don't read into it more than there is." Rias blushed a little looking away. "I'll admit he's handsome enough, and I could see us becoming friends." She refused to share with Akeno the fact that Ranma already saw the two of them as friends, or that Rias had come to do the same in so short a time. Akeno would be absolutely brutal in her teasing if she learned that. "But that's all. I'm just not certain who would win."
Akeno looked at her in shock, and were Rias shrugged. "I think he's holding a lot, and as I said he mentioned defeating a devil and his peerage before." She related in detail what Ranma had told her about having had to protect Asia twice already, causing Akeno to frown while she wondered what the younger Italian girl's Sacred Gear was.
Still, she nodded. She knew for a fact there were humans out there that could fight up to at least medium class devils, so it wasn't exactly a stretch for Ranma to be one of those, though she was certain that if her king went all out Rias could defeat him.
Koneko and Kiba joined them, and the discussion stayed on Ranma and Saeko, with Koneko sharing with the others her own observations. Naturally she left out the feeling being near Ranma gave him, not wanting to be teased about having a 'crush'. Kiba was astonished at the warning his king laid out for him regarding his upcoming match, but Koneko merely nodded, having suspected Ranma was holding back a lot. She also felt Saeko was holding back somewhat, though nowhere near the amount Ranma was.
Kiba however took command of the meeting by stating. "I think I can narrow who among the Perverted Trio is giving off the feeling of a Sacred Gear. The perverts separated while I was watching them near the end of the lunch break, and Hyoudo Issei definitely has an odd aura, from what my own limited senses can tell. I would recommend you assign a familiar to watching him 24/7, or have Koneko maneuver to where she can smell him, no offense Koneko-san."
The nekosha pouted at the idea of smelling one of the perverts, almost afraid of what her nose would tell her about his… habits, but still nodded, willing to put up with that for her king's sake. She was also becoming slightly worried about what the power that made the Sunbeam Boy so… nice to be around could be. Those brief glimpses she had during his spar with the swordswoman…
"Hmm…" Rias murmured then nodded decisively. "I'll send one of my familiars out to trail Ranma and Saeko, see if I can discover anything more of their abilities that way. Akeno, you don't have many clients scheduled tonight, so while you're waiting to be called I'll ask you to watch the spirit feed from my familiars."
Akeno nodded. Both of their familiars could be used in surveillance and the two friends had worked out a way years ago to magically pass the ability to see through one another's familiars via a magic circle.
"While you're doing that, I'll head over to warn Sona, and the two of us will then see what we can find about this Nerima place, as well as Jusenkyou, I can't remember enough about it for my presence of mind given Ranma's curse. Koneko, other than your own contracts, I'd like you to start watching Issei. Kiba, again outside your own contacts, stand by here in case of trouble."
Koneko nodded, pouting a little and biting into her taiyaki in lieu off an answer, and with that the group broke up, with Rias summoning up her tiny bats before leaving the Occult Research Club's meeting room.
OOOOOOO
Back in Nerima, Shampoo stealthily used her cursed form to sneak out of the cat Café, looking around wariley for any traps her grandmother might've set. She hadn't found out where her husband had gone, but she had found a clue in the Tendo household the evening before. With only angry girl and the water maker there, the place was empty and easy to sneak into, despite the chaos of the kitchen and what looked like a living blob moving around in the living room.
The clue was a list of schools that Asia had applied for, left out in Kasumi's room, an area Shampoo would never have entered if it was still being occupied. As it was however, Kasumi was gone with airen, so Shampoo had felt no remorse about her little bit of burglary.
More importantly, Shampoo had found a clue to where her husband and gone. Ten minutes after leaving the cafe, Shampoo reached the hidden cache of clothing other supplies. It only took her another five minutes ot heat the water in the small cup she had with the other supplies.
Soon enough she was bounding away over the rooftops in her human form, an amazon on a mission. "Airen wait for Shampoo, me coming!"
End chapter
I will say again. There is NO CHANCE of Saeko, Asia or anyone else who joins Ranma (and Ranma himself) becoming devils or angel whatever. They are human, they will remain human, and that is it.
In the next chapter, things will heat up a bit, and Sona will have her first meeting with the chaotic nexus that is Ranma.