Chapter 3: Of Bokkens and Oni, Part 1

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and its characters and settings belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. Dragonball is owned by Akira Toriyama and Toei Animation.

"Excuse me," a soft alto voice asked.

A passerby stopped walking and turning in the direction of the voice. Spying a figure bundled in a dusty, tattered cloak, the man responded. "Are you talking to me?"

"Yes," the apparently female owner of the voice replied. "Where am I?"

"You're in Nerima." He was surprised by the female's reaction, who was hopping up and down, striking her fist into the air in triumph.

"At last, I made it! Point me to Furinkan High School!"

"Furinkan? It's that way." He pointed southeast. "To get there, just—"

"Thank you!" The figure focused all of her attention in the direction being pointed to, then leapt into the air. The wind billowed out her cloak, and the figure was beginning to sail off into the direction she was shown seconds ago.

The man's eyes widened. He couldn't believe it! The girl was actually flying! He began to gibber, "I-impossible!" over and and over, unable to comprehend what he just saw. Understandably, he passed out from his shock. Another passerby, who had happened to have seen the previous events, glanced down at the prone form. "Must be new around here," he noted as he continued to walk on.

"School?" Ranma asked, a little perplexed.

Nabiki gave him a sardonic smirk. "Yes, Ranma. School. Since you're going to be staying here for some time, it's best that you attend school and get an education," she said calmly, then she crossed her arms over the white blouse of her school uniform. "Besides, I will not let my older sister marry a bum off the streets."

"Hey now—!" He quickly bit his lip before he spoke on. "But I have no school supplies."

The middle daughter held out an extra bag. "All ready for you."

He sighed. "..and besides, I thought that maybe today, me and Kasumi could, you know, spend some time… getting to know each other better."

Soun and Genma popped up behind him, waving little flags and throwing party streamers.

"Our families will be joined soon!"

"Yes, my baby's going to get married!! I'm so happy!"

"Oyaji…." Ranma turned around, leveling a glare at the two older men that could have flash-frozen a flame.

Genma stopped celebrating immediately and clapped a hand over his friend's mouth. "Eh, hehehehehe… you go on about what you were doing, my son. Don't mind us, of course." Then they left the room; or rather, Genma scampered out, dragging his old friend behind him.

Ranma sighed, putting the palm of his hand against his forehead. "I swear…."

Nabiki interrupted. "There will be time enough for you and Kasumi to have 'quality time'." She smirked as Ranma looked confused at the little joke she made. It sometimes paid to have a friend that was fanatical about using catch phrases from violent American movies. "I'll tell you later. Right now, we have school. Wait for Akane to get downstairs; she'll show you the way."

He looked up, playing his own smirk upon his lips. "Dumping me off on cutie, eh? Why can't I just follow you?"

"Because I have business to take care of before school starts. Ta-ta for now." Nabiki coolly walked out of the front door.

A few moments later, Akane came down the stairs. "Nabiki, let's—"

"Hey, cutie!" He turned another smirk upon her, which froze her dead in her tracks. "Haven't seen you all morning. Feelin' better?"

Her hands involuntarily clenched into fists. "Don't. Call. Me. That." Her voice was tightly controlled, her eyes staring daggers at him.

He tsked at her. "Cutie, cutie, cutie…."

She growled, unleashing a punch at Ranma.

He deflected the strike and flipped over her, just enough to clear her head. His hands became a blur, lashing out at her unprotected head over and over. Akane's eyes flew open as she felt the wind rushing against her neck, panic replacing logic. In the blink of an eye, the assault was over, and she dully realized that not only was she still conscious, she was also standing.

"What… did… you… do… to… me…?" she growled out, slowly turning to face him with each word. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

"Well, to beat me, you're going to have to _be_ me, so I decided to help get you started on your merry way."

"You did what?" She really didn't like the implication he was making.

Right then, Kasumi walked to the room carrying two bento boxes. "Nabiki, Akane, here are your— Akane!"

Akane blinked as Kasumi stopped to examine her youngest sister. "Oh my, Akane. It looks so cute on you!" She smiled at last. "Whatever inspired you to do it?"

"Huh?" she asked intelligently. Ranma smirked before her.

"Your new hairstyle. Is it in honor of my fiancé?" A slight blush played across the bridge of Ranma's nose as Kasumi referred to him as "her" fiancé.

Akane, ever so carefully, reached behind her head and felt for her hair. Her fingers made contact with… a braid? Horror etched her face, as she felt each segment. Six segments total formed the thick braid. Disbelieving, she threw her hair over her shoulder to see for herself.

The house shook from the sudden auditory explosion. Seconds later, Akane burst out of the front door, tears coursing down her cheeks, the newly born pigtail flapping wildly behind her.

Ranma winced as he poked a finger into his ear to rid himself of the nonstop ringing sounds within his head. "Jeez. What was that all about?" he inquired after the youngest sibling's sudden departure. "It's just hair," he added to himself.

"I don't know, really." Kasumi didn't hear his last statement and therefore did not comment on it. She stepped outside of the door, looking at the dust cloud slowly settling back to the ground. Then she remembered the bento boxes she still carried in her hands. "Oh my. She forgot her lunch."

He lightly smacked his forehead. "She's s'posed to show me the way to school, too!"

She turned to him. "You don't know the way?"

"No." He shrugged. "Oh, well, since I don't know where the school is, I guess I can't go today." However, the smile on his face betrayed the anguish he was expressing for missing school.

"Well, I can show you the way."

The smile fell off his face. "What…?"

Kasumi smiled at Ranma. "Just give me a minute to change, and I'll show you how to get to school. It wouldn't be fair for you to fall behind in your education."

"But—"

"You'll probably need a lunch as well."

"Er, yeah, but—"

"Don't worry, Ranma; I'll be back in a few minutes."

He held up a hand, trying to draw attention to himself. "But I—"

Kasumi swept into the kitchen without another word, leaving Ranma alone in the hall. He sighed, putting his forehead into the palm of his hand. "Man, just when things were looking up. She has a cute sway when she walks, though. She also has a nice…."

He blinked very hard as his cheeks lit up hotly. "Now where did that thought come from?"

Blurry vision is never a good thing, Akane knew, especially when running at nearly full tilt, but at the moment, she didn't care. She was both angry with that insensitive macho jerk Ranma and anguished at what he had done to her hair. Her lovely sable hair, the hair that she had been growing for _years_ to be longer than her oldest sister's. She had finally succeeded a month ago. Now she could get the attention of her heart's one true desire — Ono Tofu-sensei.

A real man, unlike all of those stupid _boys_ at her school. Kind, warm, sensitive… handsome…. Her cheeks tinted rose at that thought. And he was in reach, too. Just as soon as she could finally get him to notice _her_ as a woman and drag away all of his affections from her main obstacle — her own sister, Kasumi.

Well, her oldest sister was engaged to that scumbag of an insensitive jerk, Ranma, so that should help her own cause, even if she hated that idiot's guts twice over. Mangling her hair like that!

"Akane! Where's Ranma?"

Her thoughts broken, Akane tried to stop running and turn around. Unfortunately, she didn't notice part of the sidewalk was raised up; blurry vision made sure of that. Expectedly and unavoidably, the toe of her shoe caught the slab and refused to let go, which had the inevitable effect of sending the rest of her crashing down on her face. Hard.

It was official. Akane was beyond embarrassed now. Losing to a _boy_ last night was bad enough. Being beaten within less than three seconds by Nabiki's watch, and within an inch of her life, as attested by her assortment of hurts and bruises, was grounds for "I'm never going to live this one down." Having the same boy screw over her hair so brazenly was another big embarrassment. Now this?

"I should have stayed home today."

"Probably. But then what would your fan club do without you?" Nabiki said, a smirk creasing one corner of her face at a sharp angle.

Pushing off the ground, she responded. "They can all go to hell, far as I'm concerned. Kunou-sempai can lead the way!"

"My, aren't we a bit touchy this morning? So, where is Ranma?"

Her voice was almost tangible with acid. "Who cares about that stupid jerk?"

"Mmm… That would most likely explain your new hairstyle."

Akane growled. "Shut up, Nabiki." She stood up, then faltered a little, one eye wincing its indication of pain.

"You won't be in much shape to handle your fan club if you're hurt, you know."

Determination lit her afire. "I'm fine." She put weight on her injured leg, trying her best to ignore the pain shooting up from her kneecap.

"Uh-huh. And I'm the Prime Minister of Japan." Shrugging a little, Nabiki slipped an arm around Akane's back. "Come along, let's get you to Tofu-sensei's clinic and have your knee checked out. If he has any brains, Ranma will have gotten help from Kasumi and will pass by here."

"What's with everyone's infatuation with that jerk?!" Akane snapped angrily. "Father I can understand. Kasumi I can understand. But you, Nabiki? Usually you would be exploiting him by now. What gives?"

The middle Tendo daughter regarded the youngest one calmly for a moment. "He made Kasumi laugh," came her simple reply.

She stared dumbly at her older sister, then snorted derisively. "What does that have to do with anything? She laughs all the time."

"Name one time."

"Sure! It was… no… back when…" She tapped her chin. "No, not that time, either… Aha! What about the time when she went to Tofu-sensei's clinic and he first started dancing with his skeleton, huh? What about that?"

"I remember that time. Believe me, she wasn't laughing. In fact, she was kind of afraid of the good doctor after he turned a patient into a human pretzel."

"Oh." Akane knew better than to challenge Nabiki's memory; it was better than an elephant's, and sharper, too. Still, she wasn't convinced, judging from the frown pulling at one corner of her mouth.

Nabiki knew that frown, too. "Tell me, Akane, how does she laugh?"

She furrowed her brows in deep thought. She gave up shortly, grumbling a bit. "All right, Nabiki, you're right, okay? He can make Kasumi laugh, so he's special. He's still a big jerk!" With a huff, she hobbled off to the good doctor's office.

Nabiki shook her head. "Honestly, little sister." Shrugging a little, she followed Akane down the sidewalk.

Ranma sighed. The day was not going as well as it should have. For starters, he was going off to attend school, his least favorite thing to do with his time. It bored him so much, he would be likely to doze off in class before half an hour had elapsed. Secondly, he was practically railroaded into the idea by Nabiki, and if there was any one thing that he hated, it was being forced to do something. Not surprisingly, he hadn't been bossed around very much since he acquired his curse; in fact, Genma had been calling him "son" instead of just "boy" since a day after their dip in Jusenkyou's cold waters. It was strangely exhilarating the first time he had been addressed that way, and he unwittingly beamed at his father.

However, those thoughts didn't disturb the young man unduly. That particular honor went for himself. More importantly, how he had been behaving as of late. He didn't understand it. One moment he was exuding power, control of his destiny, and all encompassing confidence in every facet of his life. Then next moment, he felt so… like his old self. Was it because of the curse? It would explain a lot, but the curses affect the body, not the mind. Right?

"Ranma?"

He slipped back into the present time, and turned his head to face his fiancée. "Yeah, Kasumi?"

"Tell me, why are you walking on top of that fence?"

"Hm?" He glanced down to his feet. Sure enough, they were busy moving his body atop of a fence. "Oh, it's just practice for keeping my balance. I've been doing this ever since I was a kid." He took a few steps more, then somersaulted from his perch to the pavement, landing perfectly and lightly on his feet before her. "It's almost second nature."

"My. You are very good."

He grinned at her. "Thanks. Pop didn't pull any punches when he was training me, unlike—"

He was suddenly splashed directly in the face with some cold water. Saiyajin-Ranma spat out a mouthful of water, turning an annoyed eye at its source. An old woman, ladle and bucket in hand, was splashing the sidewalk.

"…."

"Ranma, what's wrong? Didn't you see her there?"

"No, I didn't." He squirted the last of the excess water out between his lips. His eyes never left the woman or her bucket. "If there's anything annoying about my curse, it's being a water magnet. A real blind spot." Abruptly, Saiyajin-Ranma disregarded her and turned his attention back to Kasumi. "So anyway, didn't your pop show you stuff like that?"

Kasumi blinked for a second. "Stuff like what?"

"You know, balancing on fences and other things?"

"Well… Father did show us how to balance…"

"But not like this, ne?"

"…No… Not like that."

He grinned, then, clapping his hands together. "Wanna learn?"

She looked up at him. "Wha—AAH!" The next thing Kasumi was aware of, the ground was falling out from underneath her. She squeezed her eyes shut, afraid to look anywhere else.

"You can relax now," came the deep voice belonging to Ranma's cursed form.

Slowly, Kasumi's eyes peeled open. Immediately, she knew something was amiss. Everything seemed so much shorter than she last remembered. "W-where am I?"

"Atop of the fence."

"I'm what?!" She froze almost immediately. Standing on top of a ten foot fence was more than enough to elicit such a reaction. "W-w-what am I d-d-doing up h-h-here?!"

"Just relax, Kasumi. I gotcha." He emphasized the point by squeezing her waist. "We're gonna learn how to balance."

"Ranma-kun, please get me down!"

"Oh, c'mon…."

She felt a draft, and a second later, horror dawned on her. A blush darkly burned across her cheeks. "I'm wearing a dress! Someone might see—!!"

"If some guy tries to take a peek, he'll wish he hadn't when I'm done with him."

Kasumi involuntarily shrank back from the edge of malice in his voice, which only added to her fright. "Please, get me down…."

Saiyajin-Ranma could have sworn he saw tears beginning to form in her eyes. He sighed. "All right." He swept her up into his arms. Automatically, she snapped hers around his neck tightly.

"Not so tight, okay?"

She loosened her death grip a little. "I'm sorry."

"S'all right." He hopped off of the fence, landing back on street level. "Here ya go," he said, letting her feet touch the ground.

She stepped back shakily, letting her nerves settle and her racing heart to slow down. "Th-thank you, Ranma-kun."

"No problem. And just call me Ranma." He drew her firmly against his chest, which caused the eldest Tendo daughter to gasp in surprise. His face came in closer to hers, the smile resting on his face spoke of something more than just simple friendliness. "After all, we are engaged, ne?"

Kasumi felt very nervous, being so close to him. She tried to push herself away from him, but she couldn't budge. "R-ranma, you're going to be late for school."

"Who cares?" His face inched closer to hers.

She almost whispered, feeling a strange tug upon her being. "I-I do."

"You do?" He seemed somewhat surprised.

"Yes."

"Really?"

She smiled a little, if a bit nervously. "Yes. I want you to succeed in your education."

Saiyajin-Ranma straightened a bit, his jaw set as he ran the past few moments through his head. After a pause, he looked back down at Kasumi. "Okay. Let's go." He let go of her and turned back towards the direction they were heading.

Now it was Kasumi's turn to be surprised. That was all it took? Now she felt a bit disappointed he didn't put up more resistance. She shook her head then. "What am I thinking about?" she asked under her breath.

That was when she noticed the tail waving at her from beneath the hem of Ranma's red Chinese shirt.

"Ranma-k—" She cut herself off a little abruptly. "Ranma?"

He looked over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

"Aren't you going to change back?"

"What for? I like this form."

"Well, that may be so, but you certainly can't go around looking like that."

He turned around fully and crossed his arms over his chest. "And why not?"

She took an involuntary step back. "Ah, well, what if someone tries to pull your tail while in classes?"

He shuddered at the mere thought. Genma pulled his tail once by accident. It took him close to an hour to recover from the intense pain. "M-maybe you got a point. I'll just run back home and—"

"There isn't any time left; school will start soon. Come on, we can get some hot water at Tofu-sensei's clinic."

"Ooookay. If you insist. Lead the way."

"Minor abrasions here; just need to clean up that one. Mmm…."

Tofu-sensei examined Akane's injured knee. She blushed slightly, wondering to herself if her skirt was accidentally riding up, flashing the light blue panties she put on that morning to the good doctor. Then she blushed more for even thinking such a thought. "Pervert," she chided herself under her breath.

He didn't look up from his examination. "What was that, Akane?"

Her face grew hot pink. "Ah… I… I-I said 'That hurt!' Yes, that's what I said." She laughed a bit uneasily.

"Well, I hadn't touched it yet, so you must have banged it harder than you thought."

"Ah… M-maybe." She pray to every god that the doctor didn't look up any time soon. Her face was burning in embarrassment, and she felt especially foolish for voicing her thoughts.

"Don't worry. It's not broken." Tofu started to look up at Akane, to her horror. Suddenly, a clattering sound caught both of their attention.

They tilted their heads to see Nabiki picking up a silver tray. She turned a slightly embarrassed smile to the doctor and patient. "Sorry about that. Accidentally knocked this off the counter." She waved a hand underneath a chair. "I think a needle went sliding that way."

Sighing a little, Tofu replied, "It's all right. Accidents do happen. Excuse me for a moment, Akane." He turned from Nabiki and reached underneath the chair the fetch the fallen needle.

Akane sighed in relief as her face cooled. Lucky thing Nabiki had knocked that tray off by accident.

"You owe me two now," came the hot whisper into her ear.

Akane blinked twice, then sighed. Okay, so there was no such thing as a coincidence when Nabiki was concerned.

Tofu replaced the needle on the tray, then went to back to work. Pressing his index finger upon two specific places around her kneecap, Tofu looked up. "How does that feel?"

Akane straightened her leg experimentally, then stood on her own two feet. "It feels better, Tofu-sensei. Thank you."

"It was no trouble. Just be more careful when you're running, okay?"

Her cheeks dusted pink. "Y-yes."

"Oh, and about your hair—"

Fear crawled beneath Akane's skin at the mention of its twisted existence. All of that time spent growing her hair, maintaining it, wasted.

"—it looks very nice on you. In fact, it makes you look pretty cute."

Akane's eyes widened. "R-r-r-r-really…??"

"Yes, indeed."

A goofy, idiotic grin crept on her face. "Th-th-thank you, Tofu-sensei." Maybe Ranma wasn't such a jerk after all.

Just then, the clinic doors opened. Nabiki leaned back to glance inside of the waiting room and caught sight of Kasumi with a taller Ranma in tow. She eeped and quickly headed them off before they got within earshot of Tofu. "Hey there, Sis. What brings you around here?"

The eldest Tendo daughter was a little surprised to find her in the clinic. "Hello, Nabiki. I just brought Ranma here to get him hot water before school starts. Did something bad happen to you?"

"No, Akane just banged her knee pretty hard this morning."

Saiyajin-Ranma smirked. "Is that all? Well, if cutie couldn't stand up to a serious fight, then why should I be surprised she can't take a little pain?"

As if on cue, Akane stepped into the waiting room, her ears perked up and her eyes leveling a glare against Ranma, who simply let it wash over him like water off a duck's back. Then her eyes widened, having caught sight of Kasumi, and felt the presence of Tofu behind her. Panicking, she spun around and tried to obscure his vision, but it was too late.

"K-K-Kasumi…." His glasses fogged up and he began laughing like an idiot. He addressed Saiyajin-Ranma, whose warning senses were going off insanely. "What brings you here on such a lovely day? Oh, my, you've certainly grown since I last saw you. I see you styled your hair like Akane's too." He took hold of Saiyajin-Ranma's arm as he rambled on.

The next thing anyone else knew, Tofu was flat on his back, dazed from the sudden impact. Saiyajin-Ranma irritatedly rubbed his arm from where the good doctor absently tried to tie his arm into a knot, then knelt down before his face. "Look, doc, I ain't Kasumi. I'm Ranma, Kasumi's fiancé. Got it?"

Tofu blinked awake on that and shot straight up, startling everyone except young man. "F-f-fiancé?!"

He folded his arms across his chest. "Yeah, 'fi-fi-fiancé.' Got a problem with that, doc?"

Frantically, Tofu's eyes darted to the other occupants of the room. Kasumi has a blush riding across the bridge of her nose, but was smiling softly. Nabiki had her arms folded beneath her bosom, wearing a pleased expression. Akane was looking hopeful, her hands clasped together in front of her.

Inwardly he sighed, then replied to the question. "N-no… I don't have a problem with it, Ranma." He smiled again, though it was forced. "Well, you look to be a fine young man. How did you two become… engaged?"

Saiyajin-Ranma gave Tofu the shorthand version of the first night. When he finished explaining, Tofu was leaning against a wall, a drop of sweat rolling down from his temple. "S-so, she… agreed to the… engagement?"

"Yup." He looked at the doctor carefully. "Why do you seem nervous?"

Tofu blinked, then laughed aloud, if a bit nervously. "Oh, i-it… it's no reason, really. I… I was a little concerned about K-Kasumi ever finding someone el… out there, excuse me, for her. She… She's such a sweet woman, with a lot to offer to the l-lucky boy wh-who gets her."

"Oh. For a moment, I thought you liked her and would try to win her away from me." He yelped suddenly as hot water was unceremoniously dumped onto his head. He glared at Nabiki, who was holding an empty kettle. "Hot, not boilin'!"

Before she could respond, Ranma was slapped on the back by a deliriously laughing Tofu. "Oh, don't be silly! Why would I even think of getting in the way of Kasumi's happiness?"

"Well," Ranma started, rubbing the spot on his back when he was slapped. "I guess I'm just bein' paranoid, or somethin'."

"Well, now that we have that out of the way, I think we better get going before we're late for school," Nabiki said as she headed out of the front door.

"Oh, my, she's right! We better get going, Ranma."

Ranma shrugged nonchalantly. "All right, Kasumi."

"Good-bye, Tofu-sensei."

"See ya later, doc." He spared a glance behind him. Kasumi's cheeks were still flushed as she followed him out of the clinic.

Akane smiled warmly at Tofu, who was still laughing slightly. "Good-bye, Tofu-sensei. I'll try to be more careful where I'm running."

"Yes, you do that, Akane." He weakly waved good-bye to them all. No sooner than when they were all gone did Tofu bash his head against the wall several times. He sighed, then berated himself. "And then I had to go ahead and slap him on the back! What a fool I am."

Akane, Nabiki, Kasumi and Ranma made their way toward Furinkan High School. The middle Tendo daughter gave her older sister a sidelong glance as she walked just behind Ranma, who made his home upon the chainlink fence. Stepping away from Akane, who was more absorbed in her own world of joy than she was paying attention to outside distraction, Nabiki craned her head so that her lips were near Kasumi's ear. "So, what brings you all this way, Sis? It's not like you still have to show Ranma the way to school since you two found us."

"Well, I have to do some shopping for dinner. Since the market is only a little ways from Furinkan High School, I would like to complete showing Ranma the way to school."

"Is that all you want to do, Sis?"

"Yes, Nabiki." If Kasumi was aware of what her younger sister was plotting, she showed no sign of awareness.

However, before Nabiki could ask another question, Ranma asked, "Hey, Nabiki. What's going on up there?"

"Going on where?"

He pointed toward Furinkan's school grounds. "Up there. Looks like a mob waiting for something."

"Oh, that. That's Akane's fan club."

At the mention of that, Akane roused herself out of her daydreaming and growled. "I hate boys." She broke out into a run, streaking towards the high school's front gates. "I hate boys! I HATE BOYS!!"

Ranma blinked. Kasumi softly said, "Oh my." Nabiki whistled as she whipped out a notepad and pencil.

Shaking off his confusion, Ranma hopped down from the fence beside Kasumi. "Wanna see what's goin' on?"

Curiously, Kasumi looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"This." With that, Ranma scooped Kasumi into his arms, which elicited a yelp of surprise from her, and tore down the street after Akane, kicking up a dust cloud.

Nabiki coughed until the dust settled back upon the pavement. Then she realized something. They had all left her behind. "Hey, wait up!" she cried, taking off at a run. "I don't want to miss anything good!"

Ranma arrived on the school grounds with Kasumi's arms clutching his neck with a deathgrip. He let her feet touch the ground. "You can open your eyes now."

Hesitantly, she did so. Instantly her eye fell upon what seemed to be a hundred boys dressed in all sorts of sports uniforms, from baseball and basketball players to sumo wrestlers. There was even one dressed up like a chess piece, holding a scepter. She also realized that they were staring at her and Ranma in some confusion. Whispers were passed around.

"Aoshi, I thought you said you saw only Akane coming here."

"Yeah, Jin. She's all I saw."

"Then where the hell did these two come from?"

"I don't know!"

"Jin?"

"What?"

"Here comes Akane now, and boy does she look pissed."

"Also, she changed her hairstyle today. Pigtails!"

The group sweatdropped. How Tatsu was able to tell if a girl so much as trimmed her hair was beyond them.

"Anyway, that's good!"

"It is? But I don't wanna die!"

"Oh, hush, Katsuhito. If she's angry, then she won't be concentrating, and we can beat her."

"And what happens when someone beats Akane?"

"We can all date her!"

"Ready?" One hundred heads nodded in unison. "Let's do it!"

The horde surged to life, shouting their battle cry. "AKANE, WE LOVE YOU!!" The masses threw themselves upon their angry goddess in an attempt to beat her for a date.

Had they known just why she was angry, the boys would have never dared to disturb her for a few days. After suffering four serious embarrassments within the last twenty-four hours, Akane thought that things could not get any worse. She was wrong, as Ranma carrying Kasumi blasted past her like she was standing still. Another embarrassment.

She had had it. Her temper flared out to new heights, and she desperately needed something to release her fury upon. That was when her fan club came to greet her. For once in her life, she was never so happy to see their lecherous faces.

Five seconds and over one hundred groans of excruciating pain later, Akane took a deep breath, counted to five, then raised her hand to catch a speeding object heading towards her. She looked at the rose between her fingers, then carelessly tossed it over her shoulder. "Sempai, I'm not in the mood today. Can't you just go away?"

A tall, noble-looking boy slipped out from behind a tree. Barefoot, he was wearing a navy blue keigoki — the woven cotton top of kendo practitioners — and black hakama. The latter gave him the appearance of wearing a dress, but in fact, they were pants of ancient Japan. In his hand, he held a polished wooden bokken. He flashed Akane a smile intended to win over girls of all walks of life. To the target of his smile, however, it only made her squeamish. Unknowing — or ignoring, however an outside viewer would interpret the scene — the boy began to speak. "Alas, my fiery fair maiden, I cannot leave your presence, that which bathes me in your warmth and spirit. Those who are unworthy lie at your feet, fallen before your awesome power and beauty. One such as yourself is reserved for only he who is truly worthy, and his name is the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High—" He struck his bokken into the air, and a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder followed on cue. "—and rising star of the kendo world, Kunou Tatewaki, age seventeen."

"Blue Thunder?" Nabiki said as she made it to the gates of the high school, panting. "Last week, he was calling himself Shooting Star."

"You don't say," Ranma replied, keeping his eyes on Kunou and Akane. "I wish he'd shut up and get on with the fight."

"Well," Nabiki began, looking up to the darkening sky. "It may have to wait until after the rain."

He snorted. "Wimps."

"It is with the greatest of pleasures that—"

"Hey, True Blunder! Stop yappin' and just fight her!"

A wave of snickers rifled through the air. Kunou completely lost his composure and glared in Ranma's direction. "Insolent cur. And who, may I presume, are you, peasant? And why are you being familiar with the mercenary sister of my love?"

He stepped forward. "The name's Saotome Ranma, of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. I'm stayin' with the Tendos—"

"What?! You live under the same roof as my goddess?!" Kunou shouted in disbelief. Seeing her classmate seethe and the sky growing darker, Nabiki edged towards her older sister and slowly took her hand.

"Yep, the same roof that cutie sleeps under."

"Shut up, Ranma!" Akane shouted at him. "Don't call me that!"

A vein popped out on Kunou's forehead. "How dare you attempt to use trickery to seduce that which is pure for the satiation of your own dark, base desires!"

Ranma blinked. "What?"

That did it. Forgetting subtlety, Nabiki yanked Kasumi from beside Ranma and dragged her towards the school building.

"Have at thee!" The older boy sprang forward, his bokken raised high into the air.

Ranma smirked as the kendoist came racing towards him. He sidestepped the downward chop that tore through the concrete wall with the greatest of ease, then hopped over the horizontal slash that decimated a nearby tree. His actions served to enrage Kunou further, and the older boy launched more attacks. All of his strikes met empty air; Ranma bobbed and weaved around his bokken without breaking a sweat.

"Wow, he's good," Nabiki stated as she and her sisters convened within the archway of Furinkan. Anyone that could made a fool out of Kunou in the martial arts department without breathing hard had to be good.

"He has been training with Saotome-san in the wild for years, Nabiki," Kasumi said, her vision transfixed on the battle unfolding before them.

Akane didn't say anything, only sighed softly. "Come on, Nabiki, we'll be late for homeroom." She turned and trudge into the building.

Nabiki glanced first at Akane and her somber mood, then Kasumi and her fascination with the deadly game of tag raging on before her. "Hey, sis. Are you going to be all right here? It's kind of dangerous to go to the market now, especially when it's going to rain."

Kasumi smiled at her younger sister. "I'll just wait until after it stops raining before I go to the market."

Gotcha! Nabiki grinned a Cheshire Cat grin.

"Thank you for reminding me about the market. Father made mention of running low on cigarettes earlier."

Nabiki sighed. So much for that idea. "I'll see you when I get home, sis. Ta-ta for now."

She nodded. "Goodbye, Nabiki. Have a good day in school." Once her younger sister left, Kasumi turned her attention back to the battle. Kunou ranted and raved while Ranma dodged his blows with a bored look on his face. Overhead, a couple of random drops of rain fell.

"Come on, moron. I thought you'd be a good challenge for now. I'm fallin' asleep here."

"Stand still so I can smite you, fiend!"

"Ha! You couldn't—ACK!" Suddenly, his legs gave out on him, causing the pigtailed martial artist to tumble flat on his back. "What the hell?!" They stopped responding altogether. "What did you do to me?!" he cried out the his opponent.

"Ah-hah! The just and pure will always defeat dishonorable curs such as yourself. Prepare to taste my righteous fury, sorcerous fiend!!" Kunou raised his bokken high into the air, prepared to bring it down in a fell swoop.

"RANMA!!" Kasumi started towards her half-paralyzed fiancée.

Ranma looked at Kunou's triumphant stance, angry with himself. How did this weakling paralyze him without his knowing? There's no way he could have even came close to touching him! How did he distract him long enough to… Wait a sec….

"Yup." He looked at the doctor carefully. "Why do you seem nervous?"

Tofu blinked, then laughed aloud, if a bit nervously. "Oh, i-it… it's no reason, really. I… I was a little concerned about K-Kasumi ever finding someone el… out there, excuse me, for her. She… She's such a sweet woman, with a lot to offer to the l-lucky boy wh-who gets her."

"Oh. For a moment, I thought you liked her and would try to win her away from me." He yelped suddenly as hot water was unceremoniously dumped onto his head. He glared at Nabiki, who was holding an empty kettle. "Hot, not boilin'!"

Before she could respond, Ranma was slapped on the back by a deliriously laughing Tofu. "Oh, don't be silly! Why would I even think of getting in the way of Kasumi's happiness?"

The doc! He was going to kill him!

But first, he had to figure out how to beat Kunou.

Just then, lightning crashed against the dark sky as it began to rain in earnest.

"Die!" Kunou put every ounce of power behind his deathblow, grinning his confidence. It was soon wiped off of his face as Saiyajin-Ranma caught the bokken between his thumb and first two fingers. Disbelief engraved itself on his expression.

"What was that, asshole?" He sat up, still holding the bokken firmly against the oldest boy's tugging. His tail looped around Kunou's ankle and yanked it out from him when he went for another pull. The kendoist fell backwards on the slick green grass. Saiyajin-Ranma sat up on his hands and essayed his legs. Already, he could feel motor control returning to them, but not enough to fight on his feet. Instead, he would fight using his feet.

Pulling himself up into a partial handstand, the pigtailed martial artist pivoted on one hand, swinging himself into a double leg sweep that took out Kunou's legs from beneath him again when he tried to stand up. Continuing the motion, he proceeded to nail his downed foe with many sweeping kicks to both his head and body. With strength rapidly returning to his lower limbs, Saiyajin-Ranma pounced upon Kunou's bruised form, rolled backwards, and shot him up into the sky. Rolling onto his feet, he sprang after the Blue Thunder, and the two teenagers disappeared against the grim sky. Lightning struck a few seconds later; along with it came Ranma and Kunou. The former landed neatly just inside of the archway where Kasumi was, carrying the badly beaten and unconscious form of the latter. Unceremoniously, he dumped his load onto the ground. Shortly thereafter, the storm abated as quickly as it came.

Kasumi stepped up to Saiyajin-Ranma. "Ranma, are you all right?"

His reply caught her completely off-guard. He swept her into his arms, kissing her hotly upon her mouth. Her eyes flew wide, and her mind overloaded, then froze, right along with the rest of her body. She almost tumbled backwards when he did let go.

"I feel great, Kasumi." He smiled at her unblinking form.

"Y-yes… I think."

"Well, I guess I better get to class, then, since we're here and all."

"All… All right, R-Ranma. G-goodbye…."

He smiled once more. "Goodbye." Saiyajin-Ranma slipped inside the building.

Once out of her sight, Kasumi fell against the closest wall. "Oh my…." she breathed. She spared a glance at the comatose Kunou. Immediately, her eyes settled upon his forehead, where there were three characters impressed into its surface clearly. She read the kanji aloud. "Bakamono…" She blinked. "Stupid person?"

"I'll agree with that."

Kasumi looked up, surprised to see her younger sister leaning against the door frame.

"Oh, don't worry about him, sis. I'll take him to the infirmary."

"Nabiki, aren't you suppose to be in class now?"

"Not to worry. It's all routine. You just go on home and start dreaming about that kiss and what else Ranma can do."

She blushed darkly. "Nabiki!"

"Kidding, sis!" The grin on her face said otherwise.

After getting directions to the washroom, Saiyajin-Ranma enter and turned on the hot water tap. Even though he liked his cursed form immensely, Kasumi's reminder about his tail did worry him since it had a habit of uncurling from around his waist from time to time. He cupped his hands underneath the miniature waterfall, collecting a good amount of steaming water, then splashed his face. He looked into the mirror at himself, his old, familiar, self and smiled weakly to the reflection. His thoughts continuously bounced all over the place: fighting Kunou, thinking about what the "good" doc did to him, changing into his Saiyajin form, the adrenaline that sang in his blood as he utterly creamed the kendoist, kissing Kasumi, writing bakamono on that idiot's—

Kissing Kasumi?!

He facefaulted. "What the hell did I do that for?!"

The flying girl slowly approached a very large institution. "That must be it." Glowing crimson, she streaked to the outside gates. Upon landing, she walked up to a metal plate and read what it said. "Furinkan High School. At last Ranma, I've finally found you." She laughed softly a sinister laugh, clutching a fist. It flared red, tendrils of its ruby light crackling and spiraling around. Pointing the burning fist at a lone tree in an empty lot across from the school, she cried out, "Tenma Hitodamadan!" Her palm snapped open, sending a burning sphere tearing across open space. The ball of crimson struck its target true, and the tree exploded in incendiary fashion, scattering bits and pieces of charred wood everywhere.

"Prepare to die!"

To be continued.

Author's notes: It's good to be the Saiyajin. ^_^

I know what some people are saying. "Ranma's way too powerful!!  He'll kill anyone that isn't Cologne, Happi, or Pantyhose!!  This series is going to get lame!!"  Rest assured, that will not happen here.  In fact, Chapter four will be Saiyajin-Ranma's toughest fight to date.  Compared to what I have planned for the cursed one in later chapters, this will be considered a cakewalk.

Thanks goes to all of my prereaders, Thomas Hackwood, Harold Ancell, LarryF, and the newest one I picked up recently, Ranma Dragon.

Next on "A Twisted Fate": A character from Ranma's past has finally caught up with him, and is she ever mad!  So mad in fact, she can throw fireballs (literally)!   Just who is this mysterious firestarter, and what grudge does she have against the pigtailed Saiyajin?  Find out in Chapter 4 of, "A Twisted Fate."

Thanks for reading.

Webmaster: Larry F
Last revision: January 7, 2006