[story � hkp] 8/19/1997, revision 4/19/1998

2
A Reasonable Deal

    Soun Tendo looked thoughtful.  "A very interesting story, Saotome," he
admitted to the bald man sitting across from him.  "And it does explain
your transformations."
    Genma Saotome chuckled slightly.  "I'm glad you enjoyed it," he stated
with a certain amount of irony in his voice.  "But, anyway, do you remember
the reason I was coming here in the first place?"
    Soun grunted.  "That I do, and," he added with a grin, "I'm not about
to back out of it because of a little accident in China."  He stood up,
pulling Ranma to his feet.  "Ranma," he said slowly, "did your father ever
tell you about an engagement?"
    "Sure," Ranma responded with a grin.  "I'm engaged to Ucchan."  He
grinned at the brown haired girl, Ukyou, who smiled back at him.  
    "W-what?"  Soun stammered, glowering at Ranma, then at Genma.
"Saotome, explain the meaning of this...this nonsense!"
    "What nonsense?"  Ukyou demanded, folding her arms underneath her
breasts.  She gazed at Soun levelly.  "Me and Ran-chan are engaged.  Is
there a problem with that?"
    "Yes," Soun said, irritated.  "He's marrying one of my three daughters,
and carrying on the Tendo Dojo.  That was our deal, anyway."  He glared
daggers at Genma, who looked back at him calmly.
    "Calm youself, Tendo," Genma stated, sighing.  "Yes, I did agree to
have Ranma marry one of the Tendo girls.  But that was long ago," he added,
scowling, "and I took it merely as a joke.  We were drinking at the time,
anyway."
    Soun looked at him blankly.  "So why did you return here, if not for
the marriage?"
    Genma held up his right hand for silence.  "I'm not finished yet.  My
son has been engaged to Ukyou here," he patted Ukyou on the shoulder, who
was looking suspiciously at him, "for many years now.  Since he was roughly
five years of age, I believe, maybe six.  I have come back to let the boy
choose for himself."
    "No."  Soun shook his head.  "My honor demands that Ranma marry one of
my little girls and carry on the Dojo."
    "And the Kuonji family honor rests on Ranma marrying Ukyou.  I made a
mistake, and I've got the guts to admit it," he grunted, sighing again.
"But it needs a resolution, and I see no other way than to let the boy
choose for himself."
    "Now wait a minute here," Akane, who had been sitting silent,
protested.  "Who says any of us three even -want- to marry this Ranma?"
She glared at Ranma, who looked back at her innocently.  "Who would want to
marry a pervert that turns into a girl, anyway?"
    While the insult was aimed at Ranma, Tarou scowled and took it
personally.  "Well, do you think that even Ranma would lower himself to
marry a girl like you, Akane Tendo?  You're more like a man than a woman
yourself."  Ranma looked slightly nervous at the degrading remark, but
glanced thankfully at Tarou anyway, to which he snorted and ignored.
    Akane growled softly to herself.  "What did you say?"  She demanded,
glaring at Tarou, who smirked back at her.  
    "I said, you're more like a man than a woman, little miss Tendo," Tarou
stated, chuckling nastily to himself.  "Hardly a harsher remark than you
aimed at us."
    "Why you...!"  Akane lost her temper and threw a punch at Tarou.  He
scowled as he caught her fist and began to squeeze, and Akane's eyes
widened with pain.
    Genma grabbed Tarou's arm and forced him to let go of Akane.  "That's
enough, boy," he said firmly.  "You've given your point."  He looked
sharply at Akane.  "And sit down, please, and do not hurl insults at my
pupils.  If anything, insult me; I brought them to Jusenkyo."
    Akane looked as if she was about to say something, but mumbled darkly
to herself and sat down, glowering at everyone.
    "That's better," Genma approved, also sitting back down into a
comfortable crosslegged position.  "Now back to this engagement thing.
Ranma," he said slowly, looking intently at his ponytailed son.  "You now
have a choice to make.  You can marry any of these three young Tendo
sisters, or you can marry Ukyou.  Your choice."  With that, he took his
eyes off Ranma and let him make the decision on his own.
    "Erm..."  Ranma stuttered, trying to buy time.  "Do I have to...decide
right now?"
    "Yes."  Soun glared flatly at him.
    Ranma ran a hand through his thick black hair, obviously not wanting to
make the decision.  He looked closely at all the young women.  None of them
were unattractive, but he didn't really want to be engaged to anyone, not
yet.  He glanced over at Ukyou, who had an unreadable expression on her
face.  
    He sighed.  He and Ukyou had never been more than friends, though
sometimes his father would make jesting comments to suggest otherwise.
Ukyou, he could tell, thought of him the same way - as her childhood
friend, nothing more.  He didn't really -want- anything more, in all
honesty.  She wasn't ugly; far from it, she was one of the cuter girls he
had seen, but she was...Ukyou.  Not someone he wanted to eventually marry.
He looked over at Ryoga, who was looking forlornly off into space, his eyes
with their typical far-off expression in them.
    What does she see in him, anyway?  Ranma wondered absently.
    During their long years on the road together, Ranma and Ukyou had never
developed any kind of romantic relationship.  Ryoga and Ukyou, however, had
hit it off great from almost the very start; he found Ukyou stunningly
beautiful, Ranma knew, and Ukyou clearly thought that Ryoga was a sweet
guy, so they had gotten closer and closer during the long travels in the
wilderness of China.  She probably thinks he's handsome, too, Ranma
supposed, being unable to really tell what she was thinking.
    "Well?"  Genma was getting impatient.
    Kasumi coughed slightly.  "Akane would seem the wisest choice," she
stated in an expressionless voice.  
    Nabiki grinned.  "Couldn't agree more."
    Akane gaped at her two sisters in amazement.  "M-me?"  She stuttered,
glaring.  "Why would -I- be?"
    "Well, you hate boys, don't you?"  Kasumi inquired with an altogether
too sweet smile.  "Well, you're in luck, Akane.  Ranma's half-girl."
    "Me?  Marry that pervert?  Never!"  Akane gazed angrily at Ranma, who
scowled back.
    "Who's a pervert?"  Ranma demanded, folding his arms across his chest
contemptously.  
    Akane advanced on him, her fist clenched.  "You saw me in the nude, you
letch," she said flatly in an accusing tone of voice.
    "Now hold on a second!"  Ranma sighed, rolling his eyes.  "I was
just...um...sparring...when you walked in!  It's not like I wanted to see
you or nothing."  He snorted derisively.  "Why would I want to do something
like that?  Not like you got much to look at."
    Akane gnashed her teeth.  "W-what did you say?"  She demanded, fuming.  
    Ranma snorted again.  "You ain't got nothing on me, Akane.  You walked
in on me, not the other way around."
    "It's different when a girl looks at a boy!"  Akane proclaimed, glaring
daggers at Ranma.  "Pervert!  Peeping tom!"
    Tarou laughed and made a offhand remark in Chinese that had something
to do with Akane and the Nannichuan.  Ranma only understood the words
'Akane' and 'Nannichuan,' which meant 'Spring of Drowned Man,' but Ryoga,
who spoke fluent Chinese, burst out laughing.
    Akane scowled.  "What's so funny?"
    Soun slammed his fist against the table.  "That is -enough-!"  He
shouted, growling slightly.  "All of you, sit down and shut your mouths,
now."  He comprehensive glower at everyone, all of which swallowed slightly
and did as he asked.  "Akane and Ranma, you two are now engaged, do you
understand?  And as for the rest of you..."  He smiled an evil little smile
that would have done Tarou proud.  "You're all staying here until you fix
my house, -and- you're all paying rent."
    Tarou began to protest.  "But-"
    "Quiet, homewrecker," Soun snapped, glaring at Tarou.
    Ranma coughed.  "Er...you said I had a choice, right?"  He looked
around, and Genma confirmed this with a nod, receiving another glare from
Soun in the process.  "The problem is that I...well, I don't want to marry
Ukyou -or- any of the sisters here."  He cast an apologetic glance at
Kasumi and Nabiki, who looked vastly relieved.  Ranma wasn't sure to be
happy or insulted.
    Genma frowned.  "You don't want to marry Ukyou?"  He seemed surprised,
but he tried to hide it.  "You've never mentioned this before, Ranma."
    Ranma laughed nervously at put a hand behind his head.  "Well...er...it
never really made a difference before.  It's just that...well, I don't want
to marry Ukyou, and she's...got somebody..."  He glanced meaningfully at
Ryoga, who had the good grace to look embarrased.
    Genma burst out laughing.  "Ryoga?"  He asked, grinning fully at the
flustered Ryoga.  He patted him on the back.  "And Ukyou?  And here I never
even noticed."  He, surprisingly, didn't look upset at all as he looked
back to Ranma, wiping his mirth from his face.  "In that case, you're
honorbound to marry one of the Tendo sisters, my boy.  Problem resolved."
    "But you said you took it has a joke," Ranma responded, cocking an
eyebrow.  
    Genma shrugged.  "I did.  Tendo apparently took it seriously, though,"
he glanced over to the scowling Soun, "and now that I think about it, it's
not really a bad idea.  Quite a good one, actually."
    Ranma looked annoyed.  "But I don't want to marry anyone," he protested.
    Tarou smirked.  "Ranma, what he's saying is that you don't have a choice."
    "Yes I do," Ranma growled, giving Tarou an ominous stare.  "I can marry
Ukyou if I want, remember?"
    It was Genma's turn to look annoyed.  "Ranma," he addressed his son
exasperatedly, "you just said that Ukyou and Ryoga were...involved."
    Ukyou blushed.  "He was saying that Ryoga liked me, I think," she said
shyly.  "That doesn't mean I like him."  She edged closer to Ranma, leaning
against him.  "Actually, I think I know who I like..."  She snuggled up to
Ranma, who looked amazed, not to mention completely red in the face.
    Ranma sat there, gaping and completely missing the subtle wink she gave
Ryoga.  Thankfully, no one but Ryoga noticed it.  Ranma was completely
confused, and looked down at Ukyou.  "Er...Ukyou...I never knew..." he
stammered, groping about for the right words.  
    Ryoga punched Ranma in the face.  "What Ranma -means- to say is that
he's madly in love with Ukyou and the two of them want to get married
without further delay.  Right, Ranma?"  He cast Ranma a fang-toothed grin,
who was now somewhat dazed from Ryoga's punch.  And, in his infinite
perception, failed to notice that they were supposed to be trying to trick
the Tendos.
    "B-b-b-b-but, I...er..."  Ranma was babbling.  "Y-y-you see, I...uh..."
 And then he did something that people do when their brains get overloaded.
    He fainted.
    
    The following day, Genma informed the group that they would be starting
school.
    "We are going to be staying awhile," he stated matter-of-factly,
walking down the hall with Ranma, who was looking more unhappy by the minute.
    Nabiki grinned over at them from the door.  "It's the same school me
and Akane go to.  See you there!"  She smirked and walked out the door.
    Akane walked in.  "Nabiki - wait!  I'll go with you."
    Nabiki's laugh could be heard from outside.  "You should walk with
-Ranma- to school, Akane.  He's your fiance, after all."  
    Ranma gave an unhappy grunt, looking over at Akane.  He looked her over
carefully, sighing to himself.  Fiance.  He definitely didn't want this
hot-tempered, table-swinging girl as his fiance.  She was definitely
pretty, though, he noted, smirking inwardly.  Almost as pretty as Ukyou.
But...he just didn't see this 'Akane' girl in that manner.  It was the same
situation he and Ukyou were in - engaged, but with no apparent feelings for
one another.
    And if his initial guesses were right, he would definitely do some
serious work to make sure that he didn't develop feelings for the tomboyish
Tendo girl.  Caring about her would be like trusting a vampire to give you
a neck massage:  you would end up on the losing end, no matter what.
    Akane's gaze was unreadable at first, and then she took on an irritated
look.  "Well, hurry up," she sneered, starting to walk towards the door.
"Or I'll just go alone."
    "Maybe I'm not ready to go yet," he retorted, getting annoyed with this
girl's attitude.  Yup, Ranma thought sourly.  Definitely like trusting a
vampire to give you a neck rub.  
    Genma threw Ranma's backpack over to him, which he caught, looking
suspiciously at it.  "You're ready, boy," Genma stated, shoving Ranma and
Akane out the door together.
    On the other end of the hallway, Tarou stood, watching the events
unfold with a disinterested gaze.  For his own part, he was -very- grateful
that he wasn't Genma's son.  
    Well, he thought, sighing as he shouldered his pack.  Time to go.

    Ryoga and Ukyou were already on their way to school.  Ukyou was dressed
in her regular - but newly-washed - outfit, which consisted of a red silken
Chinese shirt that opened down the front, loose black trousers tied at the
ankles, and soft black shoes.  Her hair was tied back into a loose ponytail
with one of Ryoga's orange-and-black bandannas.  Of course, she still had
her quarterstaff strapped over her shoulder.  There was no way she was
going anywhere without it.
    Ukyou always became annoyed when she thought about her clothing.  It
wasn't that she didn't like the style; as a matter of fact, she had dressed
like this since...well, ever since she had left her valley home so many
years ago with Ranma and Genma.  She didn't like the fact that she couldn't
dress in clothes that really fit her, because while her male cursed form
wasn't a great deal larger - in fact, it was rather short for a full-grown
man - it was large enough so that she had to wear baggy clothing or risk
looking like a complete idiot come contact with cold water.
    Yes, without a doubt, Ukyou hated her curse.
    "I still don't see why we have to go to school," Ryoga was grumbling,
striding along easily on top of the fence to the right of Ukyou.  His
initial opinion was that walking on a fence would make him look like an
idiot, but when Ukyou pointed out that he couldn't get lost while moving
along on a one-way fence, Ryoga had reluctantly agreed.  Besides that, it
was good balance practice.
    Ukyou glared at him.  "It's because we need an education, Ryo-chan,"
she stated patiently.
    Ryoga grunted.  "But won't we kind of stand out without uniforms?"
    "Yeah."  Ukyou shrugged.  "I don't know about you, but I -like-
standing out from the crowd."
    Ryoga wasn't sure what to say to that, so he fell silent, concentrating
on keeping his balance as he walked along.  He was dressed in his usual
clothing - yellow, long-sleeved tunic that opened over his right breast,
dark green trousers bound up tightly at the calves, and a orange and black
bandanna tied around his head.  He had a large traveling pack on his back,
complete with a tent and had his large red bamboo umbrella strapped to it.  
    He looked up, surprised.  They had reached the school gates - and Ryoga
hadn't gotten lost once!
    Maybe the fence thing wasn't such a bad idea after all.
    As they entered through the school gates, Ukyou narrowed her thin
brows.  "Say, Ryo-chan, does something seem kind of -wrong- here to you?"
    Ryoga shrugged, looking around.  It was what he expected a school to
look like.  The front lawn was covered with socializing students...no,
wait.  They didn't seem to be socializing; it was more of a nervous
chatter.  Ryoga heard the name 'Akane' mentioned several times.  Apparenly,
so did Ukyou.
    "They look like they're lined up for a fight," she observed, cocking an
eyebrow.  "And I heard the name of that crazy Akane girl from last night a
couple times, too."
    "What could a single person have done to make..."  Ryoga looked over
the crowd, and made a quick count.  "...about fifty people this mad?  They
look like they want to kill somebody."  He looked more closely at the
assembled group.  "No, on second thought, they look more like..."  He
frowned.  They had odd, dreamy looks on their faces.  As if they were madly
in love.
    Before Ryoga could piece together his thoughts, there was assorted
shouting from the crowd.  Ryoga looked alarmed, glancing behind him.  What
was...?  All he saw were Ranma and Akane walking through the gates, glaring
at each other.
    Such a beautiful relationship, Ryoga noted, smirking.
    "Akane Tendo is here!"  
    The collective shout ran through the huge battalion of students like a
wave, and in a flash, the whole group was charging straight at Ryoga and
Ukyou.  Ryoga listened in amazement as he heard various shouts of, "Akane,
I love you!"
    "Akane," another boy, dressed in wrestler's garb, from the crowd
shouted in a pleading voice, "please say you'll go out with me!"  
    There were assorted declarations of love from the charging mob, and
Ryoga noticed, a little too late, that he was directly in their path.
"Er..."  he stammered as the head students in the group trampled over him.
At the rude treatment, something snapped in him - either a rib or his
temper, more likely the latter - and he snarled in rage, clambering back to
his feet.
    "How dare you!"  He bellowed, snatching his umbrella out of its
baldric.  The collective student body stopped on hearing his bellow.  Ryoga
had a deep, almost lyrical voice, and it became -very- loud when he was
angry.  And this time, he looked particularly furious.  
    Those rude idiots would have trampled me to death without even caring,
he thought to himself, using the furious thoughts to amplify his rage.
    "Please," a calm voice came out from behind a large, majestic oak tree.
 "There is no need for this."  A tall young man stepped out from the
shadows, smiling slightly.  He was extremely handsome, with a neatly combed
head of brown hair and cool brown eyes.  Dressed in a kendo outfit, minus
the armor, the effect gave him a decidedly arrogant appearance.
    "No need for this?"  Ryoga replied, forcing his voice to calm.  Ukyou
looked at him nervously - she knew the signs when Ryoga was about to
berserk.  "No need for this?"  Ryoga repeated, raising his voice and
staring at the noble-appearing young man with a wild, angry gaze.  
    Before Ryoga could say more, the kendoist cut him off.  "Yes, there is
no need."  He smiled condenscendingly at the fanged boy.  "This is
something of an...assembled event.  For the right to date Akane Tendo.  If
you interfere..." he flourished a long wooden bokken.  "Well, I shall have
to bring you to justice."  His calm brown eyes flashed, and he smiled once
more, expecting Ryoga to back down or apologize.
    Ryoga laughed.  It wasn't a normal laugh - it was a low-pitched,
half-crazed laugh, almost a cackle.  The students were looking at him as if
he was insane, but Ukyou knew better.  So did Ranma, who had an
apprehensive look on his face from the other side of the schoolyard.
    "Ryo-chan," Ukyou hissed urgently, "calm down."  She had to get him
calmed down, somehow.  In his berserk state, he would undoubtedly cause a
great deal of damage that they didn't want to be responsible for.  Not on
their first day at a new school.
    Too late.  Ryoga's eyes now burned a blood-red.  Ukyou didn't know how
he went berserk, but he was nearly invincible in that state.  And
unstoppable.  And -extremely- dangerous.  "Everyone!"  She shouted, leaping
away from Ryoga.  "Get away from him!  -Now!-"  She looked urgently at the
arrogant kendoist, who merely smirked.
    The student body, seeing the kendoist not afraid, summoned up their
courage and stayed put.  Ukyou grimaced.  Well, it was their funerals.  She
looked over to Ranma, who had bounded upwards onto a nearby wall, sitting
in a cross-legged position and watching intently.  Akane was standing in
place, staring in surprise.
    Ryoga's voice rose to a scream.  "Luang-chi!"  The powerful cry tore
out from his throat, and his eyes no longer burned; they glowed.  
    Luang-chi, Ukyou thought with a grimace.  Wolf-energy.  Ryoga's last
warning cry before he entered the full berseker state.
    And then Ryoga went insane.  The kendoist merely smirked, holding his
weapon before him to counter Ryoga's barehanded charge.  He flowed forward
with graceful movements, striking the airborne Ryoga solidly on the side
with the wooden sword.  His eyes widened first with fury, then with terror
as Ryoga didn't even appear to notice the blow, ripping the bokken from the
kendoist's grasp and closing his fist, smashing the hard wood with ease.
    The kendoist, his weapon gone, was now helpless to stop Ryoga as he
charged once again.  It wasn't a normal attack; it was more like a wolf's
leap.  He desperately brought up his fist, and Ryoga gave a wild laugh that
sounded like a wolven howl, smashing the arm aside with his own with enough
force that half the schoolyard could hear the bones snap.  
    The kendoist's arrogant expression was now replaced by a look of utter
horror and pain as he staggered backwards, clutching his broken right arm
with a grimace.  Ryoga didn't stop there; he was too far gone in his
berserk state.  Ukyou knew a way to stop him, but she felt that somehow,
the kendoist was responsible for this whole stupid mess, and decided to let
Ryoga finish what he had started.
    Ryoga bared his canine fangs, letting loose a wild battle cry as he
rushed the stumbling kendoist, knocking him forcefully backwards into the
cement wall, sending him into pain-filled unconsciousness.  Ryoga laughed,
howling in victory as he turned his glowing red eyes towards the horrified
students, half of whom were paralyzed with surprise or terror.  Or both.
    No one had time to react, or even think, before Ryoga had reached the
front of the crowd in a single powerful leap and began lashing out with his
hands, clenched into clawlike fists.  The two students in the head of the
mob gasped in pain as Ryoga's quick, deadly claw-hand slashes ripped into
their flesh.  The first one fell backwards, sobbing in pain as he grasped
his torn and bleeding shoulder, and the second was thrown violently into
the large oak tree, smashing roughly against it and fell into an
unconscious state, slumping over.
    Ukyou decided that enough was enough.  "Ryo-chan!"  She called out in a
musical voice, jumping down next to him, beckoning with her hands.  Ryoga's
angry, wolflike scowl changed to an animal-like expression of happiness as
he walked over to Ukyou on his arms and legs, smiling up at her, showing
his fangs.
    Ukyou patted him on the head.  "Good boy," she acknowledged, smiling at
him as the collective crowd stared in awe.  And now, she thought, bringing
out a small flask of cool water.  To...she slapped herself on the forehead.
 The shock of transformation would bring Ryoga out of his berserk state; it
always did.  But she wasn't ready to show the whole school the curses just
yet.  "Um..."  she was at a loss.  Now what did she do?  
    Ryoga had his own ideas.  He padded over to Ukyou and licked her face,
grinning.  
    Ukyou flushed in embarassment.  "R-Ryo-chan," she grumbled, trying to
push him away.  It wasn't like they'd never kissed before, but to have
Ryoga lick her face in public was a bit much.  Kissing her in public, well
that would be...
    ...her thoughts were cut off as Ryoga jumped on her, drawing her into a
deep, long kiss.  Gossip and excited chatter ran spread like wildfire
through the students now, mixed with concern for the kendoist, who's name
was apparently Kunou, and a few students who brought the unconscious two
students, along with Kunou, inside the building.
    She gasped slightly as Ryoga finally let off the kiss.  She was stunned
and her eyes glazed over as she shoved him off of her.  When Ryoga hit the
ground, the red glow left his eyes.  He blinked, looking shaky as he stood up.
    "U-Ukyou?"  He managed to get out, standing on wobbly legs.  "I went
berserk, didn't I...?"
    The students were amazed at what happened next.  Expecting Ukyou to
slap Ryoga, perhaps, or shout at him for embarassing her in public.
Instead, she grinned happily as she jumped on Ryoga, kissing him back.  His
eyes widened, then he laughed as he returned the kiss.  
    Soon, the two of them were on the ground, their lips locked and both of
them laughing in a carefree manner.
    Tarou chose that moment to stride through the gates.  "Say," he noted
dryly, "I didn't know Ryoga and Ukyou were that public about their
affections."
    Ranma could only laugh as he watched Akane's eyes bug out slightly.
    
    The Assistant Principal of Furinkan High, one Masato Fujihara, leaned
back in his chair and frowned, watching the two students, a young man and a
young woman, enter his darkened office.  The office was kind of made to
look intimidating to disobedient students, with it's softly spinning fan,
single fluorescent desk-light in the corner that didn't give off adequate
light, and window with the shades pulled down.  He glanced down at the
report sheet - the young man had apparently broken Tatewaki Kunou's right
arm, slashed open another student's shoulder, and knocked out a third.
Then the young man and woman had apparently made out in front of the
school, in plain view of everyone.
    In short, these two were in need of some serious disciplinary action.
    After the two students - Fujihara supposed they were new; he had never
seen them before - had sat down, the Assistant Principal glared hard at
them.  The girl seemed slightly nervous, but the young man returned his
stare with a firm, unbending gaze.  
    Fujihara looked them over.  Neither was dressed in a school uniform.
The young woman was wearing Chinese clothing, and the young man was dressed
in what appeared to be traveling clothes.  Yes, these two would definitely
be wearing uniforms from now on.  He would see to that personally.
    "So," Fujihara grunted, showing the two students the report sheet.
"This is correct, I assume?"  Of course it was correct, but it was always
nice to find out just how honest the students were.  
    "Sir, there's a good explana-" the girl began to say, but was cut off.
    "Quiet!"  Fujihara snapped, glowering.  Stupid delinquent kids.  Trying
to talk their way out of this one, eh?  Well, I've got news for you, little
girl, he thought, smirking inwardly, it isn't going to work.  At least
those were his lines of thought before he felt what seemed to be the flat
of a sword pressed up against his windpipe.
    The young man smiled.  "We don't speak to her like that, now do we,
sir?"  Fujihara's eyes opened a little wider as he looked behind him -
apparently the young fellow had managed to get back there without him
noticing.  But how...?  His line of thought was cut off by the blade
pressed to his throat tightening.  "No, no!"  He gasped out, gurgling
slightly.  "Merely a hasty remark; it won't happen again!"
    Another smile.  "Good."  He released the blade, walking calmly back
around the desk and sitting back down as if nothing had happened.  The
Assistant Principal was looking frantically over the boy for signs of where
the sword had disappeared to - he could get the little punk in serious
trouble for posessing a weapon on school grounds.  But when he looked,
there was no sign of any kind of metal at all on the boy's soft traveling
clothing, though the young man did seem to be adjusting his black band belt
slightly.
    Speaking carefully, he slowly asked, "Girl, what are you doing with a
weapon on school property?"  He glanced meaningfully towards her long bo
staff strapped over her shoulder.
    The girl chuckled slightly.  "Oh, that.  I've been traveling lately,
you understand, and have been using it as a walking stick.  Been using it
for so long that I feel unbalanced without it on my shoulder or in my
hand."  She smiled at Fujihara, and he was about to make a harsh remark to
her, but two things stopped him.
    Firstly, her smile.  Upon closer inspection, she was remarkably pretty,
and that smile of hers could bore a way into a man's heart faster than...he
cleared that line of thought.  It just wouldn't do for him to fall in love
with one of his students.  
    The main reason for him not saying anything was a quick glance at the
young man, who was gazing at him intently.  Unlike the girl's beautiful
eyes, his eyes were dark, unpleasant, and more intense than Fujihara hoped
to see for the rest of his life.  They also had a strange wolf-like quality
to them; an almost canine look of hunger lurking in their depths.
    This guy, Fujihara thought, swallowing slightly, is scary.
    Instead of his original harsh snap, the Assistant Principal coughed and
made a much kinder tone out of his voice.  "I suppose you can keep the
stick," he agreed, looking nervously at the young man again.  "Anyway, I
assume you know why you've been called here - you need disciplining."  He
couldn't repress a frown at the young man's harsh laugh.
    "Be reasonable, Fujihara," the young man stated, smirking.  It was
rather obvious he left of the honorary '-san' title on purpose.
    Fujihara prided himself on being patient, but even he had a breaking
point.  "Reasonable?"  He demanded.  "Young man, you've injured three
students, and one of those is our kendo star.  I'll be as reasonable as I
can, but you are in deep trouble."
    The young man shrugged.  "That's not my concern," he said bluntly.
"Your idiot kendo star attacked me, and about fifty students tried to
trample me this morning.  I did what I did out of neccessity, nothing more."
    "You did far more that was neccessary," Fujihara spat out.  "And you
obviously didn't take Kunou head-on; he would have turned you into
mincemeat.  So then, you attacked him unawares.  And yet you have the nerve
to claim that -he- started it?"
    The young woman cut in, smiling winningly again.  "This arguing isn't
going to get us anywhere," she noted, sighing.  "I have a better idea.  You
claim that this 'Kunou' would have beaten Ryo-chan here in a fair fight, is
that right?"
    The kid's name is 'Ryo-chan?'  The Assistant Principal wondered,
blinking.  "Um...well, yes.  Tatewaki Kunou is the undefeated star of this
school's kendo club.  He's very good, certainly better than your friend
'Ryo-chan' here."  At this, Fujihara couldn't repress a slight sneer.
    "My name is Ryoga Hibiki," the boy stated irritatedly.  
    "And I'm Ukyou Kuonji," the young woman added in.  "So if you think
that Kunou can beat Ryo-chan - I mean Ryoga - in a fair fight, how about we
make a deal?"
    The Assistant Principal narrowed his thick brows.  "What sort of deal?"
    "First of all, what sort of trouble will we get in for this?"
    "Plenty."
    Ukyou giggled for a moment.  "I thought so.  So what do you say to
this:  organize an anything-goes fighting match between Kunou and Ryo-chan.
 If Ryo-chan wins, we don't get in trouble.  If Kunou wins, we'll accept
whatever punishment you're giving us."  
    Fujihara tried to reason through that, but her breathtaking smile was
giving him a hard time of thinking logically.  He was really getting sick
of the two people in front of him.  "Er...um...yes, that sounds fine," he
said quickly.  He just wanted to get this stupid meeting over with.
Instead of concentrating on what she had said, he focused his thoughts on a
single line - 'Teachers and students do not have relationships together.'
    Ukyou grinned, a grin that nearly made Fujihara pass out.  "Great.  The
match can be in two weeks, on the practice field, okay?"  
    'Teachers and students do not have relationships together.'  "H-hai,"
Fujihara agreed.  "What a wonderful idea!  Two weeks.  Gotcha.  Go on, you
two.  Don't want to be late for class."
    Fujihara nearly gasped in relief when the two of them left his office.
That girl's smile was more deadly than the boy's fighting skills would ever
be, he thought with a shudder.
    Now what was it he had just agreed to do again?

    When they were out of the Assistant Principal's hearing range, Ukyou
burst out in a fit of giggling.  "That was great!"
    Ryoga grinned.  "Yup."
    Ukyou smiled at him.  "Where'd you learn to act so stern and 'I'm so
macho it hurts,' anyway?"
    At this, Ryoga laughed.  "Well, I haven't been hanging around Tarou
this long for nothing, you know.  And I think that your smiling really did
that guy in back there."
    Ukyou gave him her most winning smile.  It made Ryoga's face turn red.
"You mean this one?"  She teased, grinning.  "Anyway, I got us into a
win-win situation!  See, if you beat Kunou, we're off the hook.  If you
don't, then we're not in any more trouble than we were in to start with."
    Ryoga couldn't refrain from giving her an admiring glance.  "How did
you manage that, anyway?"
    Ukyou giggled.  "Feminine charms," she said, winking at him.  His face
turned red again.
    "Hm..."  Ryoga looked thoughtful.  "I hope I don't get in trouble for
putting my belt against that guy's throat."
    She shook her head.  "I doubt it."
    "Oh?"
    "Well, where's the knife that you used?"
    He tapped his belt absently, then a realizing grin came to his face.
"Oh yeah, you're right!  He'll never guess that my belt can get sharp like
that."
    Ukyou sighed.  "You know, I don't think -I'll- ever guess how your belt
can get sharp like that."
    "I'm just a talented guy, I guess."
    "And so modest about it, too."
    "Most modest guy in Japan."  Ryoga grinned and started to head to
class.  Ukyou grabbed his arm and steered him in the right direction with a
smile.
    Now all they had to do was work out how they were going to beat Kunou.
    
    Tarou hated his curse.
    At first, he had hated Ukyou for knocking him into the pool, but he
found, much to his disappointment and frustration, that he couldn't bring
himself to hit someone who had been one of the first people in the world to
show him kindness.  He tried to justify blaming it all on Ranma since he
already had developed a dislike for the ponytailed martial artist, but that
didn't work either, because Ranma didn't really have anything to do with
it.  He had even tried to blame it on Ryoga, but Ryoga had changed into a
wolf and bit him, and that had -hurt-.  Besides that, it wasn't Ryoga's
fault, either.
    So instead, Tarou merely hated the curse.  Especially the damned pink
hair that came with it.  When he felt bored, he sat around and seethed
anger at his curse.  All in all, it may have been a blessing in disguise -
it kept him from doing mass destruction because he had something to focus
his anger on.  Yes, a blessing in disguise, that was it.
    It must have been fate.  Whenever Tarou came close to accepting his
curse, some odd coincidence happened to make him start hating it again.  In
this case, some moron walked by him, stumbled on a loose tile in the floor,
and spilled bottled water all over him.
    Nope, the now-female Tarou thought testily, it's definitely not a
blessing in disguise.  
    "Er...sorry about that, babe," the guy who had spilled the water on her
was apologizing nervously.  Of course, calling Tarou 'babe' wasn't a smart
thing to do.
    "'Babe?'"  Tarou mimicked, raising an eyebrow.
    The fellow's face took on a slightly lecherous leer as he noticed two
things:  One, Tarou was extremely well built for a fairly short girl, and
she wasn't wearing a bra.  Two, the odd-looking dragonscale vest that she
was wearing had a low enough cut to show plenty of cleavage.  
    Tarou had put up with her curse for long enough to know the signs of
when a boy started thinking perverted thoughts, and decided to put an end
to the fellow's not-quite-holy feelings.  "Looking at something?"  She
asked, smiling sweetly.
    That brought the young man back to reality, and he gave a quick,
somewhat embarassed apology and disappeared around the corner of the
building, leaving a scowling Tarou staring after him.  
    Having the Nyanniichuan curse had done several things to Tarou's
mentality.  Most notably, it had rather thoroughly cleaned him of lecherous
thoughts.  Having a girl's body half the time would do that to you.  Tarou
shuddered, remembering the horror she had felt upon emerging from the
Nyanniichuan pool.  She had thought that she had changed into a female for
-good-.
    Her first reaction was to pound Ukyou into the ground, but just seeing
Ukyou stare in horror at his bust-less chest was better revenge than Tarou
had ever thought possible.  All their relief's had been practically
tangible when the Guide had informed them that hot water reversed the curses.
    Still, though, having the mere thought of being a female forever had
changed the way Tarou thought about girls forever.  She definitely
respected them more, if nothing else.  
    She thought back to the events of the morning, smirking to herself.
She would have thought that after Ryoga and Ukyou's performance last night
to fool the Tendo family that they wouldn't have been stupid enough to make
out in public the next day.  
    "Talk about a lack of self-control," she muttered sourly.  Of course,
Ryoga had never had much self-control.  He was hot-tempered, powerful, and
had a rather ridiculous code of honor that was far too rigid for Tarou's
tastes.  And there was that rather frightening luang-chi technique that
Ryoga had created, which was practically based upon a lack of control.  
    Tarou was always amazed when she let her thoughts wander in that
direction.  Self-creation of techniques was fine, but to actually create an
attack as devastating as the luang-chi was no feat to be scorned.  Tarou,
on a normal day, was far more skilled than Ryoga was.  It took some doing
due to his somewhat ridiculous stamina levels, but she could always beat
him because of his lack of speed.  Ranma, on the other hand, was faster
than Ryoga, but weaker.
    Seeing as though Tarou was both faster and stronger than Ranma, their
differing fighting styles always allowed her easy victory against the
Saotome boy as well as Ryoga.  
    There was two exceptions to this rule, and both of them annoyed her to
no end.
    The first was Ryoga's luang-chi 'wolf spirit' or 'wolf energy' attack.
She had no idea how Ryoga managed it, but somehow he drew on the essence of
his rage until it completely overwhelmed him, giving him unbelievable
levels of speed and raw power.  While it took considerable discipline on
Ryoga's part to reach the berserker state, once he attained it, the
technique's power was rooted in a lack of self-control and inhibitions.  In
short, a berserking Ryoga was a Ryoga that was capable of nearly anything. 
    It was a particularly dangerous technique, Tarou knew, not only for the
attacked but for the attacker, because it drew on 'heavy' chi - which in
this case was anger.  Attacks based on heavy chi were generally more
damaging, but were also dangerous for the attacker's mental state.  She
wasn't sure exactly what was possible to happen, but she made a guess that
if Ryoga stayed in his luang-chi berserker state too long, his mind would
probably be destroyed.
    This had so far been prevented by the lucky chance of Ryoga's Jusenkyo
curse.  Any sort of shock to his system would bring him out of the
luang-chi state, and the shock of polymorphing into a wolf was one of the
greatest that existed.  Tarou assumed it had only been by freak chance
before Jusenkyo that Ryoga had always been able to jerk himself out of his
berserker mindstate before his mind collapsed.  Sometimes fairly minor
things seemed to do it - such as knocking his head against a tree or some
such.  The trick was to get close enough to the berserking Ryoga to jar him
without being ripped to pieces.
    The other exception was Ranma's neko-ken 'cat-fist' technique.  Tarou
had only seen Ranma execute this attack once, mainly because Ranma couldn't
simply draw on his rage to perform it - he had to surrounded by cats.
    Genma Saotome had apparently trained his son in the neko-ken technique
according to an ancient scroll; by throwing the six-year old Ranma into a
pit of starving cats while tied up with fish-sausage.  The effect of this
was whenever Ranma was surrounded by cats, he, in effect, became one.  A
very powerful one that was able to rip holes through six foot thick steel
bars with a single swipe of its paw.
    Tarou had no idea how Ranma usually came out of the neko-ken.  The
'jarring' technique used against Ryoga didn't work with Ranma, and the only
time that Tarou had seen Ranma perform it was in a backalley in Shanghai
where he had been cornered by several rabit alleycats.  He had been driven
up the wall, and had gone completely insane, and then...he had dropped to
the ground, and let loose a feline 'meow.'  While that in itself wasn't
impressive, the fact that when Ranma swiped nonchalantly at the alleycats
before him and missed, he knocked down a large cement wall and emerged
unscathed, was.  Ranma had somehow managed to get himself splashed with
cold water, though, and that had jerked him out of the neko-ken.
    There was a distant roll of thunder from outside, and when Tarou looked
out of one of the school's windows, she saw that it was beginning to pour
rain.  So much for changing back, she thought sourly.
    Yes, school was definitely starting to grate on her nerves.
    
    Akane was annoyed.
    Actually, being annoyed was a fairly typical state for her, but today
she was more annoyed than usual.  While she was kind of glad that the idiot
crowd had found someone else to pick on for the time being, she knew that
Ryoga...
    "Hey, Akane?"
    Akane glanced up at Ranma, irritated at him for interrupting her train
of thought.  It was his fault they were here, anyway, standing in the
hallways with buckets of water for being late.  How it was his fault, she
wasn't exactly sure, but it felt pretty nice to have someone to blame her
troubles on.  Actually, when she thought about it, the fact that they had
been late was -her- fault.  She had goggled a bit too long at the spectacle
that Ukyou and Ryoga had made, and coupled with her quick hunt to where
Kunou had been taken, they had would up five minutes late for class.  
    And, since Akane absolutely despised being at fault, she just blamed it
all on Ranma.  The jerk deserves it anyway, she thought with a scowl.
    "What?"  She responded testily, shifting her grip on the buckets to get
them an in easier to hold position.
    "I was wondering, what was that all about this morning?  Why did all
those people charge Ryoga like that?"
    Akane snorted.  The dolt actually thought that those boys had been
attacking -Ryoga-?  What in the world had possessed her father to engage
her to this idiot, anyway?  "They weren't," she stated shortly.
    Ranma looked at her quizically, but managed to keep his smart remark to
himself.  Instead, he merely asked, "Then what -were- they doing?"
    "They were trying to attack me, actually," Akane grumbled, shifting the
buckets of water again and rolling her shoulders slightly.  She supposed it
couldn't hurt to fill her 'fiance' in on the reasons that the crowd of boys
had been there.  "You want to know the reason, I assume?"  Ranma nodded,
and she continued.  "It happened at the beginning of the semester;
Kunou-sempai made this stupid speech.  It was basically, 'If you want to go
out with Akane, you have to beat her in combat.'  And if the boys didn't
follow this rule, Kunou would beat them up."
    Ranma barely choked down a laugh, settling for a large smirk instead.
"Come on, Akane, what's the real reason?  I don't know what you got against
me, but even I'm not gullible enough to fall for a story like that."  He
paused.  "So...do the people around here just pick on new students, or what?"
    Akane resisted the urge to slap him.  "What I told you was true," she
said bluntly, scowling.  "I definitely don't -enjoy- it, you know."
    "Oh, right," Ranma teased, grinning.  "So why not just let this Kunou
guy beat you so you can go out with him, then?"
    Annoyance flashed across her face.  "Because I don't like Kunou, that's
why.  There's someone that I..."  She stopped herself, giving a sneer
instead.  "But there's no reason you need to know, pervert."
    Ranma snorted derisively.  "Great, this again.  I thought you got this
out of your system last night."  He gave a short laugh.  "So...tell me, how
am I a pervert?"
    Akane was getting more and more angry by the moment.  How dare
this...this...boy speak to her like this?  He was just a stupid wayfarer
who was trying to get a quick date by this dumb fiance business.  He had
-nothing- on her.  Stupid jerk, she thought to herself, growling slightly
as she looked at him.  
    "Well?"  Ranma asked, grinning.
    She hefted her bucket of water.  "Ranma..."  She snarled, throwing the
bucket of water all over him, activating his curse.  She quickly delivered
a full-force punch to the redheaded girl's face, sending her sprawling into
the wall, dazed.  There...that would show the idiot to make fun of her.  He
deserved it, anyway.
    "What was that for?"  Ranma demanded angrily.  "What'd I ever do to you?"
    Akane pointedly ignored her.  Yes, punching Ranma had made her feel
quite a bit better.  And he definitely deserved it, too, she noted, rubbing
her knuckles.  
    Stupid pervert.
    
    Tarou yawned as she strode down the hallway.  Rain always made her
sleepy, and being inside a school didn't repress those feelings in the
slightest.  She looked around - it was a fairly normal hallway, with doors
evenly spaced every couple of meters or so, and there was a window at the
end of it, which showed that it was pouring rain harder than before.
    She had never been to a school before today.  Actually, she found
herself enjoying it.  It would undoubtedly get dull after the first few
days, but for now there was a certain amount of interest in exploring the
large building.  Perhaps she would even find something of value.  
    The one thing that puzzled her, though, was the bells that rang every
hour or so.  She didn't see any particular purpose in them, but they were
annoying.  And the fact that seemingly every other person in the school
insisted on staying in rooms most of the day, talking to a person at the
front of the room, puzzled her even more.  What was the purpose of sitting
around and listening?
    What was the purpose of school at all?
    The people around here were strange.  About an hour after she had
arrived, a fat, middle-aged man had approached her and demanded that she
'go to class,' whatever that meant.  He had hustled her - who was a him at
the time - into one of the numerous rooms and began admonishing her about
skipping class.  She had no idea what he meant by that, and he hadn't
clarified, so Tarou had decided he was merely confused about something, and
had promptly exited the room after the fat man left for a drink of water.
Some of the people in the room had looked at her sort of oddly for that,
but hadn't commented.
    She had planned to return to the room to see whatever it was that was
so important in there, but after she had gotten splashed that it would seem
strange if some girl was to suddenly show up in the room, so she had opted
to look around the building some more instead.
    "Hey, you!"
    Tarou turned around, raising her thin eyebrows slightly.  It was the
same fat man from before, and he didn't look pleased.  She wondered what
was troubling him.  "Yes?"  She asked, somewhat politely.  She had accepted
her curse better than Ranma had, at least to the point of using a better
semblance of manners when she was female, probably a result of the way she
had been brought up, to think that girls should always try to be polite.
She had a little trouble with it, considering that she was generally rude
to everyone, regardless of who they were, but had gotten it down pat after
a few tries.
    Came in fairly handy, actually.  It was easier to barter down prices as
a cute girl rather than a boy, she had noticed.  Just flash a few charming
smiles, and the shopkeepers often lost their bearings.  It made thievery
all-too-easy at times, though she generally was able to pay.  If she didn't
have money, though, and needed food, there was no other option.  And being
a girl certainly made it easier.
    "Have you seen some wierd guy dressed in a scale vest running around
here?"  The fat man ranted, scowling.  "He's cutting class."
    Tarou had no idea what he meant, though she had a pretty good idea that
she was referring to her male half.  She didn't feel much like revealing
her secret just yet, though.  "No," she responded.
    The fat man was looking at her suspiciously.  "Say, you're dressed
exactly like he was."
    "So?"
    He scowled slightly, then shrugged, sighing.  "Sorry about that.  Been
a rough day, you know.  Anyway, I find this jerk cutting class, and as soon
as I turn my back on him, he takes off!  Say," he noted, "what are you
doing out here, anyway?  Surely not cutting class?"
    Tarou was about to ask what that stupid term meant, then thought the
better of it.  No need to appear like she didn't know what she was doing.
"Nothing, sir," she said, smiling slightly.  "I was just looking to get
some water."  Hot water, actually, but specifying temperature had a strange
way of making people wonder what you needed it for, and for now, Tarou
wanted to remain as inconspicious as possible.
    "Water?"  The fat man blinked.  "Oh, yes, well, you'll find a water
fountain on the other side of the building."  Before Tarou could say that
she wasn't looking for the water -fountain-, the man had walked off,
mumbling to himself that he was going to 'make the stupid deliquent pay for
skipping class.'
    Tarou shrugged, wondering absently if 'cutting' and 'skipping' class
were the same thing.  Whatever she was doing, she was pretty sure she
hadn't cut or skipped over anything.  The guy was just confused, she
supposed, sighing.
    She began to walk down the hallway, now intent on getting herself some
hot water.








Rain Song
http://www.serve.com/guilds/ranma/
guilds@mail.serve.com

open hk.sig

    The slender girl, Ryako, only gave him a cute, yet somewhat wolfish,
grin.  "Aw, you're no fun, Ryoga," she said, hitting him on the shoulder
playfully.  "Here we are, so close, and you won't let me read what you're
writing?"  She snuggled up against him, smirking to herself.
    Ryoga apparently didn't notice that she was only kidding, because his
face glowed a bright red and he nervously inched away from her.  "C-close?"
 He stammered.  "I...well...you see..."   
			 			-from Ryoga 1/2, chapter 11
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