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Disclaimer: Yeah, I wrote this. No, most of the characters aren't mine. In fact, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi, without whom, Ranma and all his friends wouldn't have seen the light of day. And the world would have been a much poorer place. All Hail Takahashi-sensei!
Another disclaimer: This is a continuation of Chris Jones' "Curse of Silence", which can be found at:Chris' FanFics.
More odd bits:
"..." = vocal speech
'...' = signed speech
{...} = somebody's thinkin'C&C is most appreciated and even groveled for.
************************************************ Ten years ago, in the Ranma Universe, Mrs. Tendo died, leaving Soun to care for his three daughters alone. In this universe, a slight change happened.
Ten years ago, Mrs. Tendo died in a terrible car accident that also left little Akane horribly scarred and without a voice. Which begs the question: "What other changes trickled down though the Ranmaverse?"
***********************************************
Akane rushed past Ranma and lightly bapped him on the head with her tablet. He looked down at her as she bounced around him.
'Hurry up! You're making us late! You have to get registered before class!' Akane scribbled haphazardly before she ran on.
"School?! I ain't going to school! I don't even have supplies!" he protested.
Genma threw an empty schoolbag at Ranma.
"Well then, Son, you'll just have to pick some up when you get registered, right?"
"What? Hey! I don't have any money for supplies, Pops! You think they're just gonna hand 'em to me for free?" Ranma hit his father with the satchel just as Nabiki interrupted.
"Here. You can have some from my stock of supplies. I'll bill you for them later. Now you better get going before Akane has a fit. She really hates to be late. Ta-ta!" Nabiki left for school before Akane ran by again.
Clutching her satchel and two bento boxes, Akane grabbed her tablet and Ranma, dragging him through the house at breakneck speed.
"Hey! Waitaminute! I can walk by myself, y'know!" Ranma sputtered. Akane dropped him at the door and slipped her shoes on. She scribbled while he put on his.
'I don't want to be late for class! We have a lot of paperwork to get through first.'
"We'll get there just fine, okay? I just don't really see why I gotta go to school and all," he grumbled as they walked down the sidewalk.
Akane handed him her tablet just before he jumped up onto the fence.
'You're going to school because I don't want an uneducated idiot for a fiancé,' she wrote.
He looked down to say something and saw her gawking back at him. She gestured her hand at the fence and up to him.
"Uh, why am I walking on the fence?" he guessed at her question. Akane nodded. "Pops says it's good balance practice. He doesn't want me getting soft, so I gotta be doin' stuff like this all the time."
Akane started to gesture again slowly, but then she suddenly looked frustrated and waved frantically at the writing board Ranma was still holding.
"Huh? Oh yeah, heh, sorry 'bout that," he said, handing the board back as he jumped down to walk next to her.
'I'd like to try that sometime, when we're not in a hurry.'
Ranma looked at her and smiled. "Yeah, it wouldn't be such a good idea with you wearin' a dress and all. Folks'd see up yer skirt," he turned his head and blushed.
Akane raised an eyebrow and quickly scribbled.
'Well, I could always wear my gym shorts underneath,'
"Yeah, that could work, but ya might wanna change yer shoes, too. I mean, I think mebbe yer gym shoes would be better to start with than yer dress shoes."
Akane nodded.
Ranma was fending off his bout of blushing. {I can't believe Pops don't like her, just 'cause she ain't got a voice.} He snuck a quick peek at Akane. {And nice too. I hope...}
**Splash!**
"Damn." Ranma looked at the little old lady watering down her pavestones. Akane had a hand over her mouth in shock. "Well, so much for getting to school on time today. I'm gonna go back home and take a bath."
Akane shook her head and grabbed her arm, pulling Ranma along with her.
"What? I ain't goin' to school as a girl!" Akane shook her head again and pointed to a clinic further down the block. When they arrived, Akane handed her the tablet once again.
'Dr. Toufu is a friend of the family. We can get hot water here any time we need it. Wait here.' Ranma nodded, leaned against the wall and waited for Akane to return with hot water.
{What a way to start my first day of school. I don't even have any decent school supplies. Not that Pops would ever cough up the money for them. And how am I gonna explain this curse? Mebbe I should just go back...}
"Pardon Me!"
Ranma jumped straight up and landed on the top of the wall as the skeletal hand touched her shoulder. {What the hell?? I never even heard him comin' up behind me!}
Dr. Toufu smiled as Ranma climbed back down the wall.
"I'm sorry about that. I'm Dr. Toufu and this is Betty-chan, my skeleton. I didn't mean to scare you. Are you waiting for someone?"
"Uh, uh, yeah, I'm here with..." Ranma started to say as Akane came around the corner with a kettle.
"Oh, hello, Akane. Is she a new friend of yours?"
'Yes, Dr. Toufu,' Akane signed slowly, handing Ranma the kettle. 'His name is Ranma, and he has a little problem with cold water.'
Dr. Toufu raised his eyebrows as he watched Ranma pour the warm water over herself and change from female to male. {This...this is incredible! I'd never have believed it if I didn't see it for myself! I wonder if Ranma would let me examine this phenomenon later on...}
"Uh, I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry 'bout this."
Ranma watched in fascination as Akane's hands danced in front of her, her fingers twisting and fanning in delicate gestures. Dr. Toufu nodded and put his hands on their shoulders.
"Well, you two better get going then. It's been very nice meeting you Ranma. I'd like to spend more time chatting with you, but Akane says you're both in a hurry this morning. Have a nice day at school."
(I'm sure Akane will be bringing him by again, given the kinds of trouble that usually follows her around,} Dr. Toufu thought sadly as he went back into the clinic.
{Huh? Akane said...?} "Hey, Akane! Wait up! What was that thing you just did with your hands?" Ranma chased after her.
Akane pulled out her tablet and wrote again.
'It's called sign language. It's how deaf and mute people talk without having to write all the time.'
Ranma thought on it for a minute. "So you can talk with your hands?"
Akane nodded.
"And Dr. Toufu, he can read your hands when you do that? Wow, that's pretty cool. I can see how that would be useful, being a doctor and all. He's a martial artist, isn't he?"
Akane nodded again.
"Heh, I could tell, I didn't even feel it when he snuck up on me with that skeleton of his."
Akane made a sound that could have been quiet laughter. She got a faraway look in her eyes, then wrote for a bit.
'He does that a lot. I think he does it for practice. He's very nice though. He used to patch up all my cuts and scrapes when I was little.'
"And he don't anymore?" Ranma asked and returned the tablet. Akane wiped it off and scribbled quickly.
'I don't get hurt as much anymore. At least, not so bad that I need to go see a doctor.'
Ranma smiled. "Yeah, I know what ya mean. Now I get to go to the doctor's office when I turn into a girl. 'Hey, Doc? I've turned into a girl again. Ya got any hot water?'"
Akane made another quiet giggling noise. {Kami-sama! I wish all boys were as nice as he is. I'll bet it's his curse that makes him not be a pervert. Gah! Listen to me! Yuka and Sayuri would have a fit if they knew I was thinking these thoughts about a boy! Still... He's much nicer than the other boys. At least he isn't a pervert!} She smiled and gave Ranma a sidelong glance before they turned the corner towards Furinkan High.
{Wow,} Ranma thought. {I didn't know her laughter would sound so...strange. But it's not really as freaky as I thought it'd be.} He thought about the scar running across her neck and shivered. {I guess it's not so bad, really.}
Akane looked ahead and shuddered as she saw the crowd collecting near the gates. Her arms stiffened and her fists clenched. Ranma, still watching her, noticed the sudden change.
"What's the matter?" He looked ahead as he heard her teeth grind. Akane's eyes darkened with violent emotion as she slowed down to a forced stiff-legged pace. "Hey, what's going on? Is there some kinda problem I should know about? Can I help?"
Akane shook her head and kept her eyes low, not wanting to make any kind of eye contact with the mob of boys at the gate.
{Damn. She's really upset! And there's a lot of heavy vibes being put out up there. I wonder what's going on? A fight maybe? But she's upset about it....} Ranma went on the defensive, his fighting and survival senses kicking into high gear. He took in everything around him and noted the movements of everyone in the courtyard. Ranma stepped a little closer to Akane and kept pace with her to the gates. {Don't worry Akane, I'm right here, I won't let anything happen to ya.}
"Hey, Akane," he whispered, "let's keep close. I don't wanna get lost in that mob and try to find the office without ya."
Akane looked up at him suddenly with wide eyes. He was struck by the fear and anger he saw in them. She blinked, clearing her thoughts, and gave him a wan smile and nodded.
{Ranma's a really good fighter, but I can't let him get involved in this mess. He's right, though. We should just get straight to the office. We don't have time for this right now and I don't want to have to try to explain it all to him now. I've got to get through this quickly and get him out of here.}
"Akane, I have a bad feeling about this."
Akane grabbed Ranma's arm and quickened her pace, trying to drag him through the gauntlet at the gates. The taunts and hazing began almost immediately. Ranma was shoved back as a dozen boys converged on Akane, groping and grabbing at her, making profane suggestions and gestures, eventually shoving her back and forth between them in a perverse game of Hot Potato. Ranma's temper flared and he broke up the ring with a few quick shoves as he rescued Akane from the mob.
"What the hell is going on here, Akane? I've seen you fight, why didn't you just mop up the floor with these guys?"
"Because fighting ain't allowed here, pus-for-brains! Now let go of the freak and go back to Mommy before you get hurt!" A Rude Boy spat at Ranma before turning his attention back to Akane.
Akane shook with anger, grabbed Ranma's arm before he could respond and tried to drag him off to the office once more before their trip was interrupted again.
"You know what you have to do to get them to stop this, Akane." A tall, well-dressed young man stepped out from behind a tree. He leaned back against it with his hands placed in the pockets of his neatly pressed trousers. "You can put a stop to all of this, if you wanted to. I don't see why you persist in playing these stupid, childish games."
"Who's the fruit?" Ranma whispered. Akane wrote quickly and furiously, barely keeping it legible.
'Upperclassman Tatewaki Kuno. Ego That Walks Like a Man. Reality-Impaired.'
"Lemme get rid of these guys, Akane. They'll never bug you again." Ranma started cracking his knuckles.
Akane shook her head furiously and pulled at his arms.
"But..."
"And who is this trash who thinks he can just come up and talk to you without my permission?" Kuno sneered, pointing at Ranma.
"Me?" Ranma pointed to himself. "I'm..." He looked at Akane, who was shaking her head vigorously. "I'm staying at the Tendo Dojo. Akane's father and my old man are old friends. And..." Ranma said, scooping up Akane, "we are late for some important business." Ranma leapt over the crowd and ran into the building with Akane in his arms. Once inside, he set her down. She promptly bopped him on the head with her tablet.
"Ow! Whadja do that for? I was tryin' to help you out y'know! And what's with this deal about not fightin' those jerks anyway? You coulda taken 'em all without breakin' a sweat." Ranma scampered after Akane as she stormed down the hallway. She tossed him the writing tablet.
'There's a new rule here: No fighting. At all. Any fighting is grounds for immediate suspension. I don't want that on my record. You can't afford it either. You've already missed too much school as it is. It's all my fault, really. Sorry.'
Ranma, reading the tablet and not looking where he was going, plowed into a door.
"Ow! Hey, Akane! Whadda you mean it's all your fault? I mean, it'd be self-defense, right? It's not like those guys can't fight, can they?"
Akane sighed and her shoulders slumped. She took back her tablet and wrote some more as they entered the office.
'I'll tell you about it during lunch. It's a loooong story. Let's just get you registered for now, okay?'
"Uh, okay. Sure." Ranma fidgeted as he waited for the huge pile of forms he knew his old man 'neglected' to fill out.
************************************************ "Nakamatsu!"
"Yes, Kuno-Sempai?"
"Get me Nabiki Tendo. I want to know more about that peasant who is staying at the Tendo Dojo. He is a little... too familiar with Akane. I'd like to see that ended. Immediately."
"Yes, Kuno-Sempai."
************************************************ "Just take your time, Saotome-kun. This paperwork should have been filled out prior to your coming to school, but since you're here now, you might as well fill them out properly and legibly." Ranma grunted something unintelligible and nodded his head. The secretary, Mrs. Fujihara was very patient with him and she seemed to get along well enough with Akane.
"Your clothing, however, will have to change. You are required to wear a uniform at this school." She paused as Ranma looked up at her and then looked back down at what he was wearing. He cringed at the thought of suddenly changing into a girl while wearing a boy's uniform.
"Well, I uh, kinda outgrew the last uniform I had, and Oyaji hasn't bothered to buy me any new clothes since we went to China. It was kinda like pullin' teeth even then just to get what I got to wear now." Ranma blushed and put a hand behind his head, remembering how his father had 'procured' Ranma's last school uniform. {There's no way in hell I'm gonna tell him I need uniforms! I ain't wearin' stolen clothes to school again!}
"Well, we do have some used uniforms that we can give you for now. Stand up and let me see if I can find something in your size."
Ranma stood up and Mrs. Fujihara looked him over before running off to a back room. He flopped back into the chair and went back to filling in thousands of blank lines. Akane had taken some of the forms and copied the important information off of sheets he had already finished, leaving Ranma just a few bits on each page to finish. Akane poked him in the arm and wrote a message.
'You didn't fill in your mother's name and address.'
Ranma hesitated.
"I... I don't remember my mother. I don't even know her name." He whispered. "I can barely remember her face."
'I'm sorry. Did...' Akane doodled for a second. 'Did she die?'
"No. At least, I don't think so. I've been on the road training with Pops since I was six years old. She might still be alive somewhere. Pops don't talk about her."
'Maybe we can look for her after school sometime now that you've settled down for a while.' Akane smiled and gently pushed the last of the paperwork in front of him.
"That would be great!" Ranma smiled at her. "I'd like to see my mother again. Even if she was dead, I'd like to know. You know what I mean?"
Akane smiled sadly and nodded.
Mrs. Fujihara returned with a large pile of clothing in her arms.
"I pulled a few different sizes, just in case. You look like you're about ready for a large growth spurt, and it would be inconvenient to outgrow a uniform a few weeks after getting it, neh?" Akane hid her smile behind her hand and Ranma just smirked openly.
"Yeah, Pops had a few choice words about my last growth spurt. He was gonna let me run around in just my boxers until I stopped growin'." He grinned.
"Here. There's a small bathroom in the back you can use."
"Thank you." Ranma took the pile and Akane grabbed up the rest of the paperwork and followed him to the back of the office. "Hey, you're not gonna come in here and watch me dress, are ya?"
Akane smacked him with the pile of papers, wrote, then handed him her writing tablet.
'Idiot! No, I'm going to sit here and finish filling out your paperwork legibly so we can get to class before lunchtime! Your handwriting is horrible!'
"Oh." Ranma cringed. "Okay, I, uh, I s'pose I'll just try this stuff on and see what fits."
Several minutes later, Ranma peeked out the door and waved over to Akane.
"Psst! Hey, Akane! C'mere a minute!"
Akane met him at the door and gestured inquisitively.
"I think this one fits pretty good and there's room to grow, but..."
Akane waved her hand for him to continue.
Ranma leaned closer and whispered.
"What if I get hit with cold water? I'll be swimmin' in these things! My girl form is a lot smaller, and my pants'd end up on the floor! There's nothin' to tie 'em up with!"
Akane's eyes got wide then scrunched nearly closed as she thought about it for a bit. She ran off and returned with Mrs. Fujihara. The secretary looked Ranma over and liked what she saw.
"Well, you cleaned up very nicely. That uniform looks very good on you. Akane seems to think there's a problem, although I can't see why."
"I, uh, I need a belt or something, in case my pants fall down."
Mrs. Fujihara tugged at Ranma's waistband and checked it for fit. It was a little loose, but in no immediate danger of slipping any lower than his hips.
"Well, yes, they are a little big, but I don't think your pants are in any danger of slipping off. I can see if we have any belts, but I'll tell you now that most of them are in pretty sorry shape."
"I'd appreciate that." Ranma bowed and waited for her to return.
"I hope I don't have to find out just how really big this uniform is gonna be, Akane. I don't want everyone thinkin' I'm some kinda pervert or nothin'," he grumbled quietly.
'Maybe we should let her know about your curse. She might be able to help getting you a uniform waiver or something,' Akane wrote back.
"I can't go around tellin' everyone I got a curse!" he hissed. "Then they'd really think I was a freak!"
Akane put her hand on his arm and wrote again.
'I don't think you're a freak. Just a poor guy that ended up with an idiot for a father,' she smiled at him.
Ranma smiled back at Akane as she took back her tablet.
"Ya got that right."
Mrs. Fujihara returned with a few well-worn belts, all too small save for one that could have been owned by a Sumo wrestler.
"Well, you can always buy one after school. I think your trousers will hold until then," she smiled.
Ranma and Akane looked at each other nervously and fidgeted. Their nervous glances did not go unnoticed.
"Is there something you two aren't telling me?" Mrs. Fujihara was one of the nicest, most understanding people working at Furinkan High. She was also one of the toughest. Not much escaped her notice. If anyone ever asked who was in charge of Furinkan High, they would be pointed to the principal's office. If anyone asked who actually ran the school, they would be directed to Mrs. Fujihara. There wasn't a bit of red tape nor any crisis she couldn't deal with.
Until now.
Ranma's shoulders slumped as he let out a sigh.
"You might as well find out about this now. Akane, can you get..." Akane waved him off as she made a beeline for the coffeepot on the other side of the office. When she returned with a styrofoam cup of steaming hot water, Ranma recited the tale (much abbreviated, of course) of how he got cursed.
Mrs. Fujihara peered down at the two through her bifocals with an incredulous look.
"And what has this fantasy tale have to do with your uniform?"
Ranma scooted back into the small bathroom and turned on the cold water. Akane handed him a spare cup and moved in to cut off any other viewers from seeing what was going on in the bathroom.
"I'm tellin' ya this 'cause it's a problem I got and I don't know how to deal with it yet." With that, he upended the cup over his head. Ranma's tall male form shivered, twitched and suddenly shrunk down to a small, albeit well-proportioned female form. Ranma found herself holding up her pants to keep them from visiting her ankles. Akane handed Ranma the other cup of water. "Ya see? I really do have this curse. And I turn back into myself when I get doused with warm water," she said with a quiet feminine voice. She dumped the hot water over her head and the transformation reversed itself. With a twitch, Ranma was tall, dark and male once again.
Mrs. Fujihara blinked, blinked again, then put her hand to her chin and blinked a third time. {This is odd, even for Nerima!}
"So, are you really a boy or a girl?"
"I'm a guy!" Ranma all but yelled. He quickly composed himself and tried to wipe some of the excess water off of his shirt. "I'm a guy." He quietly reiterated. "I got thrown into the 'Spring of Drowned Girl' and now whenever I get hit with cold water, I turn into a girl. I hate it, and I'm not a freak!" he growled menacingly.
"I'm not calling you a freak, young man. I just need to know how to register you for your classes. You can't just go running into the boys' locker room if you're really a girl, you know. And what about your extra-curricular classes, hmm? Some are boys-only and others are girls-only." She let him soak in the information before continuing. Akane looked down at the floor, remembering what happened the last time someone tried to cross the line of gender-based courses. "Well, since you are adamantly a boy, and I presume your birth certificate and other school records will back this up?" she paused and Ranma nodded vigorously. "Then you will be enrolled as a boy and your curriculum will reflect as such. I don't want to hear any reports of you trying to sneak into the girls' locker room in your girl form, though. Are we clear on that?" Ranma nodded again while looking very relieved. "Now, about this belt problem..."
A few modifications later they had a respectable belt cut from the huge one, and added extra holes for Ranma to tighten when he was a girl.
Mrs. Fujihara made a few notes in Ranma's records and began filling out a couple of tardy passes for them to get into their next class, as well as Ranma's locker assignments and class schedule.
"I'm going to put you in the same class as Akane-kun, since you two seem to know each other well enough. I want you to let me know if there are any problems with any of your instructors regarding your unique...condition. As for the other students, you will have to deal with their antics on your own. I trust Akane-kun has told you about the "No Fighting" rule here at Furinkan?"
Ranma looked at Akane then nodded.
"Yeah, she gave me a quick run-down on it as we come in through the gates."
Mrs. Fujihara nodded in understanding.
"Very well. Akane-kun, I expect you to show Ranma-kun around and instruct him on all the rules and regulations here at Furinkan. You will have to share books until we can find some extra for Ranma-kun to use. Ranma-kun, you will have to get a gym uniform as well, but I think you can get away with using your everyday clothes today. The coach is rather generous with talented students," She winked at him, knowing full well from his build that he was most likely a gifted athlete.
{Whoa! How did she know that gym's my best class?}
"Well, you two should get off to your class now. I'll call you in if there is anything else we need," Mrs. Fujihara finished.
Ranma and Akane gathered up the small pile of uniforms, their bento and their satchels and made their way to class. Ranma showed Akane the slip of paper with his locker assignment, and she pointed it out when they got close to it.
"Damn. I forgot about gettin' school slippers," Ranma cursed as he shoved everything into the cubicle. Akane shrugged and pointed to his well-worn Chinese slippers.
"You think I can get by with wearin' these today?" Akane nodded her reply. Ranma shrugged as he fidgeted in his school uniform, the shirt feeling a bit stuffy. {At least I don't have to wear the jacket,} he thought.
Akane pointed out their homeroom and nodded to Ranma.
He nodded as Akane softly knocked on the door, waited a moment, then stepped into their classroom. The teacher reached out for their tardy notes. After reading them, he nodded and stood up.
"Class, we have a new student today, his name is Ranma Saotome, and he has just returned from China. Let's all make him welcome here at Furinkan High. Saotome, there is a seat in the back next to Miss Tendo. You may sit there." Ranma nodded and wove his way through the faces of swooning girls and angry guys to get to the back of the room. He collapsed gratefully into his chair.
{Man, I've never had anyone look at me like that! I felt like a side of beef! And what's with the guys in this class anyways? They looked like they were gonna fry me on the spot!} Ranma mused on his new situation while the teacher droned on for another twenty minutes. His daydream of last nights' pleasant conversation with Akane was interrupted when he noticed that a note had materialized on his desk. It was in Akane's neat handwriting.
'Ranma, get out your paper and pencils and pay attention! We can't spar after school if you're sitting in detention!
-Akane'Ranma sat up and, stuffing the note into his satchel, dragged out a pencil and notebook Nabiki had given him. Sold to him, really. {Man, now I have to get a job, just so I can pay back Nabiki for all the school stuff I'm gonna need. I don't wanna know how much books are gonna cost!} He looked at Akane and smiled.
"Mr. Saotome! Is there something particularly interesting about Miss Tendo that you'd like to share with the rest of the class? Or would you rather just continue staring at her?" Ranma jumped up out of his seat, standing ramrod straight.
"Uh, no, Sir, I mean, we, uh, we gotta share our books, that's all! I don't have any books yet..." Ranma sputtered out.
"Ah, I see where that would be a problem. Very well then, Mr. Saotome, I trust you will be getting your own books soon, then?"
"Uh, Yeah! As soon as I can."
"Good. You may sit back down," {Poor kid must have gone to an all-boys' school before coming to Furinkan. Has all the classic trauma signs...} The teacher shook his head and went back to the problem on the board.
Ranma collapsed back into his chair again, beet-red with embarrassment. Akane was just as red, but smiled back at him anyway. She scooted her desk a little closer to his and offered her book. She waved off some of the quiet snickers and stares.
Two girls sitting near Akane simply looked bug-eyed at Akane sharing her books with Ranma. A boy! This was definitely prime gossip material, and Akane had been holding out on them! Yuka and Sayuri nodded to each other and prepared to pounce as soon as the bell rang signaling the end of the class.
********************************** "Nabiki, Nabiki, Nabiki. Whatever shall I do with that sister of yours?" Tatewaki Kuno spoke quietly as Nabiki stepped up to speak with him.
"Your lackey said you needed something, Kuno?"
"I do not have 'lackeys', Nabiki. And the only thing I need is for your little sister to stop playing her little games."
"Her little games? Oh, you mean the 'I don't want to date you or mess with your lackeys' game? Or the game that 'I can beat you at any of your little games and make you look worse than you already are' game?" Nabiki smirked an ice-cold grin. Tatewaki Kuno did not impress nor intimidate Nabiki Tendo, and they both knew it.
But he still tried.
"Nabiki," he leaned in closer, growling. "Your sister arrived today with someone. Someone I did not give permission to go near her, let alone speak to her. You do know what the penalty is for breaking those rules, don't you?"
"Of course. It's standard fare around here. You're gonna scare the poor slob into wetting himself and make him beg for your forgiveness, then he'll leave Akane alone and never associate with her again except to bring her messages from you," Nabiki recited with a half yawn. "Really, Kuno. It's all been done before. Although I don't think it'll work at all this time." She smiled enigmatically.
"Really. And you know who this peasant is? Where he is from? His parents? If he is even worthy of being in the same town as Akane?"
"Of course I do. And you know I do, otherwise, you wouldn't have called me here to waste good breathing air."
"Then why haven't I been told already?"
"Because it's none of your business," Nabiki said coolly, examining her fingernails.
Kuno glared for a moment, then continued.
"You are the most difficult bitch I've ever had to deal with."
"Why, thank you!" Nabiki smiled a disgustingly sweet smile and batted her eyes.
"And you will tell me what I want to know. Or..."
"Or what? You'll sic your dogs on me? You'll beat me into a pulp? You'll scare me so bad I'll have nightmares for a week? I don't think so. It hasn't worked yet, and I doubt it'll work anytime soon."
"What do you want, then?"
"You know what I want, Kuno-baby. Make it real, and you'll get what you deserve."
There was a long pause before Kuno replied.
"I don't think so. Tell me what I want to know and get out."
Nabiki smirked again, then went back to polishing her nails.
"Fine. His name is Ranma Saotome. His daddy and my daddy are old friends. You could say they went to school together. They're staying at the Tendo Dojo as our guests for the time being while Ranma continues his education." With that, Nabiki turned and left the room.
"Wait! That's it? That's all? He's staying at your dojo and you know nothing more about him?"
"You get what you pay for, Kuno-baby!" Nabiki's laugh rang out through the hall.
************************************************
Ten minutes later, Ranma was beginning to think that maybe math wasn't quite as hard as he originally thought. Then again, he never had a pretty girl sit quietly beside him and slowly go over each problem with him, complete with little diagrams and notes on how she got to each sloution.
{Hell, some of these problems even make sense!} Ranma started the next problem with a little prodding from Akane.
Fate, on the other hand, decided Ranma had had enough fun for the day and the class bell rang just as he was getting a handle on the basics of geometry. Both Akane and Ranma found themselves being forcibly dragged, chairs and desks included, apart from each other and surround by small mobs.
"Akane! Are you crazy..." Yuka started.
"Or just suicidal?!" Sayuri finished. "He is sooo gorgeous! How did you get him to walk with you with Kuno around? Are you dating him?"
"Does he even know his life is on the line here? Where did you meet him? Is he rich?" Yuka was bouncing on her toes with excitement.
Akane, for her part, blushed deeply and waved at her two gossip-sisters in embarrassment.
"OOooOOO! Lookit her! She's blushing!" Sayuri squealed. "It must be something juicy! C'mon, Akane! Spill!" Both girls leaned in closer as Akane started writing on her tablet.
Ranma found himself in the middle of hostile territory, for the most part. He recognised a few of the faces from the crowd that harassed Akane at the gate that morning. Looking through the menacing crowd he saw Akane quietly chatting with only a couple of excited girls. The rest of the class had left for lunch. Akane caught his eye and waved her bento at him and pointed to the door. He opened his mouth to respond, but someone behind him had taken exception to being ignored. Ranma felt a sudden painful yank on his pigtail and his head lurched backwards.
"Look here, you asshole! I asked you how you knew Akane. Don't you know that she's 'Off-Limits'? You gotta go through the proper channels and pay the right people to be allowed to talk with Akane. And live." The rude boy hissing in Ranma's ear had the sound of Ranma's teeth grinding as his only warning.
{Nofightinginschool...nofightinginschool...nofightinginschool...} marched through Ranma's head as he slowly straightened his neck and stood up to face the mob.
Akane's eyes grew to the size of saucers when Ranma's hair was pulled. The teacher returned to the room to retrieve a forgotten folder in time to watch the scene unfold. He hoped and prayed the new kid wouldn't try anything. He really didn't want to see the young man suspended after a half day in the new school.
Ranma slowly and deliberately reached behind his head to grab the offending hand that was, incredibly, still trying to yank his head back down. Two fingers around a wrist, a twist and a yelp of pain dropped Hissing Boy to his knees. Ranma still held onto his wrist, turning it just a little more while trying to keep a lid on his temper.
"Is there a problem here?" Mr. Fukizawa asked, knowing something was happening and hoping it wouldn't escalate.
Ranma looked up and gave him a goofy smile.
"No, Sensei. This guy here just got his hand caught between the desk and chair. I think he hurt his hand tryin' to get it out, though. Ya wanna come take a look?" With a last twitch, a tiny snap and another yelp let Ranma know that the wrist was sprained and he let go. Mr. Fukizawa nodded and helped the unfortunate lad to the nurses' station, glad that the new kid was able to hold his own without causing a scene.
"C'mon, Akane, let's get some lunch." Akane nodded and they walked out of the room, side by side. Yuka and Sayuri scampered after them, holding back just enough to give the couple their privacy, but hoping to catch any little bit of conversation that they might overhear.
Hiroshi and Daisuke watched the entire scene with quiet, morbid fascination. The new kid could hold his own, and he was talking to and maybe even dating Akane Tendo. And he was even in their classroom. Which meant that Kuno would be expecting a full report from them immediately, if not sooner. That is, if they wanted to keep their girlfriends safe and sound. They looked at each other and sighed.
"Well, let's catch up with the girls. Maybe they got something out of Akane that we can tell Kuno that he'll be happy with," Hiroshi suggested.
"Kuno? Happy? Akane is seeing another guy, who doesn't have the good sense to be running in terror. No he's not gonna be happy, no matter what we tell him." Daisuke shook his head sadly as he retrieved his bento and wandered out to the lunch hall.
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Ranma and Akane sat under a tree for a quiet lunch. Akane pulled on Ranma's sleeve and gestured, giving him a serious look.
"Uh, am I okay?" he guessed. Akane nodded. He smiled and Akane's face lit up as she gave him a nod with a hand gesture that imitated the one he had used earlier on the hand that offended his pigtail.
"Yeah, just a simple, basic move. I was tryin' not to get thrown out for fightin', like ya said," he mumbled through a mouthful of chicken stir-fry. "I guess it really paid off to not lose my temper and clock the guy."
Akane nodded and scribbled on her template.
'That's how it's been for me, too. I've got a rotten temper, and knocking the idiots through the wall used to work for me until this stupid rule was made.' Ranma's eyes boggled. 'Now I have to keep in check all the time.'
Ranma nodded in agreement. {This is gonna be a tough school if I can't take out those idiots with my fists. Which reminds me...}
"So, what's with this 'No Fighting' rule? And why is it yer fault anyway?"
Akane stopped chewing and nearly choked. {Damn. I was hoping he'd forgot about that.} She swallowed, sighed, and started writing.
'Well, the short version is that Kuno is obsessed with me. When I got here last year, I wanted to join the Kendo club...'
"Why would ya want to do that? It's a pretty lame martial art, if ya ask me," Ranma interrupted.
Akane smacked him in the arm. She erased and scribbled furiously.
'I didn't ask you, and I didn't ask Kuno and that's probably what got me into this situation, okay?' She took back her tablet and resumed her story.
'Anyway, I'm good at Kendo...'
"You're better at Kempo, though. It's a better martial art and..."
**Thwack!**
Akane nearly cracked her tablet hitting his head.
"Ow! Why'd ya do that? I was just complementin' ya!"
She stared him down as she erased her board once again and degenerated into Sloppy Writing.
'I thought you wanted to know why there's a No Fighting Rule?'
Ranma nodded as he rubbed the lump on his head. Akane cleared the board and wrote neatly again.
'As I was saying, I tried to join the Kendo club last year, but Kuno wouldn't let me because he didn't think that it was appropriate for girls to be fighting, even if it's just sparring. It didn't matter how good I was, I still wasn't allowed to join. They wouldn't even let me show them how good I was.' She sighed sadly while Ranma finished reading. He returned the tablet to Akane and she wrote out the next part of her tale.
'So, the next week, I showed up at tryouts in full gear, so they couldn't see who I was. I passed with flying colours. Kuno even took me on, "Just for fun".' Akane paused for Ranma to finish reading so she could clear the board and continue.
'He challenged me all right. He went full out and tried to seriously hurt me. I'm not sure why, but you'd think the president of the Kendo Club would have more restraint then that. He was crazy. He won, barely, but that's because he had the better technique. I have more endurance and I simply outlasted him. It was nearly a draw. He is very good... But, when I took off my mask...' Akane stopped writing when her hands began to tremble. Ranma took the board and cleared it for her between bites of lunch.
'He hated me. Everyone in the club hated me. You could see it on their faces. They started throwing things at me and telling me to get out, to go back to the kitchen where I belonged. I didn't belong with them. I wasn't ever going to be good enough to join their club, so stop trying. I couldn't believe it! I mean, my daddy owns a dojo! I've been training and practicing since I could walk! How could I not join a martial arts club?' Akane's shoulders slumped.
{I'm really startin' ta hate this Kuno guy,} Ranma thought as he erased Akane's writing tablet again. He patted her arm as he returned the board so she could finish the story.
'Kuno has always been pestering my family. He used to have a crush on Kasumi, many years ago. He "got over it" when she graduated and stayed at home to take care of us full-time. Then he had a crush on Nabiki, and that lasted until I pulled that stupid stunt with the Kendo Club. Now he's just been obsessing over me. He wants to "conquer" me or something stupid like that. He even tried to grab me and carry me off to his house!'
Akane stopped when her hands started shaking again. Ranma, on the other hand, had stopped eating altogether.
"You mean this idiot has been stalking you? He sounds seriously deranged, Akane! Why hasn't anyone done anything about him?" Ranma forced himself to relax before he broke his chopsticks.
'I used to beat the crap out of him. That was a great deterrent until he got his father to have the principal to put in a "No Fighting" rule at school. OF course, it applies to everyone except Kuno. And the principal can't make the rule stick outside of the school grounds. So he used to attack me on my way to school and to the bus stop. Nabiki put a stop to that this year with a few protection orders and a new police route. Kuno can't come near me, even at school since we're in different grades.'
"Okay then, what about the mob every morning?" Ranma asked. Akane wrote slowly, trying to regain some composure and some semblance of legibility.
'Kuno's lackeys. Since he can't harass me himself, he gets others to do it for him. Most of those guys are in the Kendo club. I guess I hurt their pride or something. A freaky crippled girl showed them all up a year ago and they still want their revenge, I guess.' Akane shrugged, gestured and nibbled at her lunch.
'Still, it was a lot easier when I was allowed to fight back and knock them through the wall,' she added hastily.
"Did ya really punch them through the wall?" Ranma asked dubiously.
Akane pointed to the front wall where it had been patched several times and smiled around a cheek full of riceball.
"Whoa..." Ranma whispered approvingly. "Cool. They deserved it." He smiled as he dug into his lunch. "I wish I woulda been here to see it." Akane grinned and waved for the tablet. Ranma erased and returned it. It was easy to get into the pattern of him erasing and her writing.
'Nabiki used to place bets. Mostly on how long it took for me to cream them all before I made it into the school. Some would actually bet against me. Nabiki made a lot of money off of those idiots.'
Ranma nodded. "So, all we gotta do now is come up with a away to get these boneheads off your back without beatin' them up? And what about Kuno?" Erase. Return. Write.
'Yes, and I don't know. I've been thinking on it for a few months now as it is. Nabiki's done pretty good with the restraining orders and the police watch, but I have to deal with the rest on my own.'
"No, you don't gotta deal with them on yer own, Akane. I can help. Hell, I'm supposed to be yer fiance, remember? I can't just sit around and let you take these guys on! That's my job!" {Uh-uh...} Ranma saw Akane's face darken.
'You don't think I can take care of myself? Is that it? I need some guy to protect me?' Akane's handwriting looked nearly as bad as Ranma's.
"N-no, that ain't what I said! I'm just sayin' that you don't gotta do it by yourself! I mean, what would I look like if I sat back and let my fiancee get picked on all the time and didn't do nothin' about it?"
Akane blink-blinked a second, and allowed herself to calm down when his words settled in. {Oh.} 'I'm sorry, Ranma. I guess I misunderstood.'
"That's okay, Akane." He nodded and fished around in his bento, glad he wasn't going to be wearing it. "I don't always say what I wanna say the way I wanna say it sometimes, y'know. All I had was my old man to talk to for the last 10 years, and he's no good with words at all."
Akane nodded and ate a little more of her lunch as well while she thought about the mess her life had become since the car accident that took both her voice and her mother's life. Creases formed on her forehead. {It seems that Kuno's been a pest in our lives just about as long...} she mused.
"Mmmm," Ranma hummed to himself while he ate. "You know, Kasumi makes a really good lunch! I could get used to going to school just for the lunch, you know."
Akane smiled and nodded, and wrote some more.
'Be glad I don't fix lunch. I burned down a corner of the Home-Ec room last week making a cheese sandwich. I'm not a very good cook. But I can boil water!' She smiled wanly.
"Well, not everyone can be a good cook. My old man only cooks when he has to and even then I'm the one ending up doin' most of the work." Akane nodded in agreement.
'Sounds like my Father. I don't think he knows how to cook anything other than rice and cabbage,' she wrote.
"Really? That's all my old man cooks, too! No wonder he wants me to marry Kasumi..." {Kuso! I shouldn'ta said that!} Ranma swallowed what he had in his mouth and looked sidelong at Akane. {Ohmanohman I gotta say something!}
'He really said that? Is he making your decision for you?' Akane wrote stiffly.
"Well, it was more his opinion. He's always thinkin' of his stomach over everything else. I guess it's kind of a no-brainer that he'd want Kasumi for a daughter-in-law." Ranma hoped he'd said the right thing.
Akane looked off into the distance for a bit, then shrugged. 'Makes sense. Kasumi is the Perfect Wife looking for a husband. All she does is take care of us. She never does anything for herself. It's a bit sad, I think. She should get out more.' Akane's handwriting looked a little squiggly near the end.
"Uh, don't worry about it, Akane. Bein' able to cook ain't no big deal. Not with us martial artists anyways. Hell, we can eat anything!" He pointed his chopsticks into the air for added emphasis. Akane looked at him warily and then smiled. She waved her hand at him to behave and not embarrass her.
{Good, she's smiling again,} Ranma inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Besides, The Art is pretty much all we need, right? I mean, if we're gonna be the ones running the dojo and all, we don't need to worry about too much else, right?" Ranma chased the few last grains of rice around the bottom of the bento.
Akane shook her head and wrote for a bit, stopping every so often to grab a bite to eat.
'No, we'd still need all the math for the bookkeeping and tax records and stuff. Not to mention all the basics in biology and first-aid for all injuries, the history to be able to pass on all the history of the Art and of weapons and techniques, and then there's the Phys Ed. Degree needed from college nowdays just to open up and run a respectable dojo, and the...' Akane ran out of space on her tablet as Ranma read over her shoulder. He rolled his eyes. He knew he wasn't going to get out of school any time soon with all her crazy ideas for running a dojo.
He watched her erase everything again.
"Yeah, I can see where you'd need some of that. But history? Really? And English? C'mon! And you can't tell me Home Ec. is gonna help you run a dojo."
She gestured and smiled a little.
'Well, it might keep me from burning it down.'
Ranma chuckled at the thought.
"Well, we got a year to figure this all out. We don't even have to be the ones to 'Unite the families', y'know."
Akane nodded, and started to get from her spot when she noticed the Idiot Brigade heading their way. She smacked her forehead and pulled on Ranma's sleeve at the same time.
"What? Oh, great. Didn't they get the hint already?"
{No. They never get the hint,} Akane mused. She shook her head. Akane saw Ranma drop into a relaxed pose as she glanced at the clock tower. She pointed to the clock.
"What? Lunch is almost over, I know that, Akane. Let's just see what these losers are up to..." he stopped when he saw her shaking her head. "What?"
He read.
'They're trying to make me late for my bus!'
"Bus? What bus?"
She bapped him with the tablet.
'I go to another school in the afternoon, remember? I have to catch a bus to get there. It's across town.'
"Oh yeah, that bus." The mob was positioning itself between Ranma and Akane and the front gate, daring them to cross it. "They do this every day?" he asked.
Akane nodded and grabbed book bag and bento. She started walking swiftly to the mob, a grim look of determination on her face. Ranma watched her walk across the courtyard and frowned as she was slowly stalked by the enclosing mass of perverts.
{Fuck this.} Ranma grabbed his bento and ran for Akane. Reaching her just as the circle closed in on her, he scooped her up into his arms as he did that morning and jumped over the gate. Her long hair flowed into his face as he landed, smothering him with a gentle caress scented with peaches. His thoughts were derailed from anger to something a little...nicer.
"Uh," he said as he set her down. His hand went behind his head as he started to blush. "I thought that, uh, maybe if they couldn't touch you gettin' through the gate and all..." he sputtered.
Akane blink-blinked and stared at him, then at the screaming crowd, and then back to Ranma. She realized what he had done, in front of everyone (again) looked down as she too felt the full blush hit. Then she hit him with her tablet.
"Ow! Whad'ya do that for? I was just tryin' to help..." she wrote quickly and handed him the tablet.
'And just how do you think you're going to get back to school now? They aren't going to let you in without a fight, and they won't leave until you are good and tardy. You'll be on bucket-duty for the rest of class. They're very good at this.'
Ranma looked back at the mob, then to Akane. Then he had an idea.
"Well, I guess you just got an escort to your afternoon classes then." She was about to smack him again with her satchel, but he grabbed it and started walking down the sidewalk. "It's a martial artist's duty to protect their fiancees from idiots like Kuno," he stated.
He stopped when he noticed she wasn't following him. He jogged back to a rather stunned-looking Akane. "Uh, aren't you gonna be late for your bus?" She continued staring at him and pointed in a different direction from where Ranma had wandered.
"Oh, heh, sorry. C'mon Akane, let's go catch that bus."
Akane shook herself out of the stupor and followed him. She handed him her tablet again.
'You sure you want to do this? I go to a very... different school in the afternoons. You might feel a bit out of place. And thank you.'
"I feel out of place already at Furinkan. All I need now is for them to find out about my curse. Then I'll really be a freak. And, well..." he blushed again. "You're welcome," he said softly. Akane wrote some more, keeping an eye out for obstacles in the process.
'This is a hazardous walk if Kuno is on the loose. He's not allowed near me, but I'm allowed to beat him senseless since we're not on school property anymore. It's nice to have someone to walk with, though.'
Ranma nodded as they approached the bus stop. He kept an eye out for anyone that looked like they were going to be trouble. He was good at trouble. It usually followed him everywhere he went. He just wasn't used to walking into someone else's trouble, but it felt good being able to do something about it.
Ranma grinned as they got onto the bus. He felt kind of heroic looking after Akane like this. It made him feel good inside.
{But I'm not gonna say a word to her about it, no way. She'd prob'ly pound my head in, saying she can take care of herself. She's one helluva tomboy, I'll give her that.} Ranma settled into a daydream about Tomboy Warriors punching out Hentai Hordes and smiled his way to Akane's afternoon classes.
Akane wondered what the hell made Ranma so happy.
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Ranma at Akane's afternoon classes. Is he really ready for the "Special Education" school? Is he ready for Akane's other batch of friends? Are they ready for him? And what is Kuno really up to? Do we really want to know? All this and more in the next chapter of "When You're a Stranger"!
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More Author's Notes: Why yes, this is a revision! You thought I'd just write one chapter and disappear into the shadows of Lurkerdom again? I think not. But then again, housework, family, Manic-Depression, computer crash, car repairs, DexCon3, being bitten by a poisonous spider and losing my sense of balance will make time between chapters a bit long.
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