Ranma Half Moon 2: Phrase White - Chapter 1 - The Power of Gravitation - Part 1

The gentle evening breeze blows through the trees of the park. Two impressively handsome young men with long hair sit under a tree towards the top of a hill.

"I don't know why we can't go on being a cover band."

"Kunochi, Kunochi, Kunochi. Phrase White has been around for nine months now. We can't keep going just doing Weiss and Lucifer covers."

"Zoiki, it's good that you're so passionate about the band. But, it wasn't formed to be a huge commercial success."

"True, but some commercial success would open some doors for us and make it easier to do what we have to do."

Kunochi sighs. "You have a point. So, why don't you tell me some of those lyrics you've been working on?"

Zoiki blushes bright red. "You really want to see them? I'm so happy." Zoiki pulls some papers out of his pocket but is so nervous that he drops one of them, which is taken away by a gust of wind.

"No!" Zoiki chases after the paper, which tumbles down the hill.

Zoiki stops abruptly when he sees a ruggedly good-looking guy doing a headstand. The boy is reading the paper with his lyrics. "What are you doing with that?"

The boy flips to his feet. "Is this yours?" The boy offers Zoiki the paper.

Zoiki takes it. "Thank you. My heart and soul are imprinted on this page through ink more permanently than if I had written it in blood. Feel honored, for you have been peeking at the lyrics from master composer Zoiki."

The boy bows. "So, you're Zoiki? My name is Saotome Ranma."

"Ranma? You must feel blessed."

"I feel blessed by a lot of things, primarily by my being a martial artist. However, even though I am not a music or literature critic, even I can tell that your lyrics suck."

Zoiki's jaw drops to the ground.

"Sorry, I can't stick around, but I have more training to do. Bye-bye." Ranma runs off, his braided pony tail fluttering behind him, almost faster than Zoiki's eyes can follow.

Kunochi approaches Zoiki. "I saw that whole thing. He's a rude one, isn't he?"

Zoiki starts crying. "That stupid jock! How dare that peasant sit in judgment of me?"

Kunochi chuckles. "Zoiki, you know that we're not really ..."

"Shut up. Live it."

"Sorry."

"I'm so flustered now."

"Can I see?"

Zoiki hands the paper to Kunochi.

"Hum. Well, I don't know. I will have to wait to hear how these words play against the chords we come up with. Maybe Jadero can breathe life into these words?"

"Meanie! Is that the best you can do after that weird boy with the unfashionable braided ponytail pulled the heart out of my chest and stomped on it?"

"I'm not a lyricist. Let's wait until there's some music behind it. As for your heart, you can stay over at my apartment tonight."

Zoiki cuddles up to Kunochi. "I'm sure that you will make things better."

...

Police Chief Santa notices Zoiki finally coming down the stairs to the sparsely furnished basement of Nephuyu's foster parents. "About time you got here."

"Sorry, I lost track of time."

"I have some good news. You boys have your first road trip."

"As the band?"

"No, Zoiki. As Phrase White. A simple snatch mission. Our target has a thing for teenage pretty boys. We know he regularly goes to a club where pretty boys are common. We just need to lure him into a van. No one there will notice or even want to know."

Zoiki raises his hand. "I might not be a good person for the bait. I would surely stand out even in a club full of pretty boys."

Jadero and Kunochi slap Zoiki on the back of his head.

"Now, let's go."

Zoiki walks into the club. I knew that I would be the prettiest one here. I don't know how I will fend off all the other wolves to get to my victim. Zoiki walks across the dance floor.

Suddenly, a boy with a braided black pony tail jumps in front of him. "You know, your lyrics really suck."

Zoiki sits up, suddenly wide awake and breathing hard.

"What's wrong? Nightmares again? You knew those missions were going to be intense."

"Worse. I dreamed of Saotome Ranma."

Kunochi giggles.

Zoiki play slaps him. "Meanie. Well, Jadero might not be much of a man, but he can be useful for some things."

"Good, now let's go back to sleep."

...

Saotome Ranma enters the gates of his Junior High School.

Some of his friends run up to him. "Ranma, Ranma, big trouble!"

"What's up?"

"You were mentioned on a radio show."

Ranma laughs. "I thought you were going to say that Ryoga wanted to challenge me to another fight."

Ranma's friend's nod, looking concerned. "But, this isn't just any radio show. This is a radio show from Ouran, the school that can afford to put out radio shows that have higher ratings than commercial stations."

"Sorry, I don't follow radio much."

"Well, you'll want to follow this. One of their hottest DJ's said that his friend Zoiki was announcing a challenge to fight Saotome Ranma. Isn't that crazy? You're just a Junior High School kid. Maybe there's some older guy named Saotome Ranma?"

"We're graduating next week. Zoiki. Hum. Oh, I know who the DJ is talking about. I told this Zoiki what I thought about his lyrics. Now he wants to fight me? I must have told him what he didn't want to hear."

"So, it was you Jadero was talking about?"

"Apparently. But, no matter. A challenge is a challenge and I will meet all challenges. So the DJ is Jadero?"

Ranma's friend's nod.

"I'll have to visit this high school after classes."

...

Ranma arrives at the gate of Ouran High School. Good thing my last class of the day was boring and could be easily skipped. Ranma sees several high school students walking about. "Excuse me, do you know where I can find Jadero?"

The student looks at Ranma's Junior High School uniform. "You must not be from around here. Everyone knows that the F4 are in the cafeteria of the student union holding court."

"F4? Well, if that means that Jadero is there, then I will go there. Where is this student union? My name is Saotome Ranma and this Jadero person called me out on the radi..o." Ranma looks around puzzled as all the students who had been mulling about have vanished.

To Be Continued!