Saotome Ranma woke up with a small start. He looked around his room in the
Tendo Dojo. <Hmm.... Pop's asleep, snoring again, as usual. I wish he'd
stop sleeping as that big furball...> Ranma thought to himself as he
peered around looking for what had woken him up. Usually, this meant
Nabiki had been takin' pictures, or the old letch had been doing something
weird in his room, but there was no sign of either.
He padded downstairs, where he found Kasumi in the kitchen preparing
breakfast. Akane was already off on her morning run, and Nabiki, bleary
eyed in pajamas, sat at the table, toothbrush jutting out of her mouth
at an odd angle. <just a normal Tendo home morning>, Ranma thought.
<Nothing unusual here, except I'm up...> He sat down not too near Nabiki
and began to watch what she was watching, but Ranma soon lost interest.
CNN Japan wasn't his thing, and even though it was japanese, half of
everything on it was in english anyways. He snuck a glance at her face,
which was colored by large grey bags under her eyes- She looked like she
hadn't slept in
_days_.
It was then that Ranma saw it.
His school bag.
his first school year at Furinkan was over, and he was starting his
second. It was the first real day of class after the "incident" involving
himself and Gosunkugi Hikaru, Nabiki, Ukyou and Akane. Pinapple Nazi was
sure to be back, as well as the 'Dustbuster of Battle Auras', Miss Hinako.
<This last year had more interest in it than any man should have to deal
with> Ranma thought ruefully. His mind chased an errant memory of a
pissed off Chinese monk spouting off about him living in interesting times.
He had thought it was a nice thing to say for a pissed off guy, but in a
rare moment of intellectualism, Ranma understood the curse.
Interesting got boring, real fast.
Despite his being up so early, Ranma still managed to be late for class
that morning, with Akane as usual. Eerily, not a damn thing went wrong
all morning- He and Akane didn't fight, Nabiki didn't scam (Well, not
him anyways, Happosai didn't make an impromptu appearance, and Soun or
Pop didn't make some weird scene either. Even more disturbing was that
after all that calm, no previously forgotten martial artist with a year
old (Or two) vendetta against Ranma had appeared. <Well, the school day
does have 8 hours... Ryoga caught up with me after school....>
But still, something seemed wrong.
It was. Terribly wrong.
=====================================
Speed-Chan and Mako-Chan present;
The Usual Delinquents
Chapter One: Too Many Nuts in the
Party Mix
=====================================
Ranma cruised up to the school gates, only to see an assembly going on
on the front lawn where last year, Kuno would have been waiting to
'challenge' him every day.
"Aloha, good little Keikis.So good to be a seein' yous back heah at the
Big Kahuna's School. Especially you, Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo. Watt
good keikis you both is!"
The Hawaiian Headmaster himself, the target Of Saotome Ranma's little
assaults over the past three days, was standing on a platform, addressing
the crowd. Miss Hinako was by his side, holding four coins between her
fingers-she was ready for trouble. The headmaster's trademark shears were
sitting on his podium, rattling slightly as he enthusiastically pounded
the pulpit as he addressed the crowd.
Ranma barely hid a grimace. This was going to be a disaster.
"I be's here to announce to you dat this year, some of Furinkan High's
best students gonna be takin a lil' trip!" continued the patriarch of
the Kuno line.
Ranma turned to Akane. "To the pineapple hair trimmer, no doubt."
"I don't know, Ranma. He seems awfully generous and happy. Maybe he's
actually doing something good this time. He can't possibly keep his job
if all he ever does is stalk poor student's hair" Akane reasoned aloud.
Ranma made a face like a 5 year old biting a lemon. "Whatever, Akane.
I'm just sayin, I don't trust him."
"I be's sendin 20 lucky Furinkan students to study in Seattle, America.
And todays I be announcing them! I be sending only our bestest and
brightest lil keiki's to this wonderful school in America!" the
principal of Nerima's strangest school exclaimed gleefully.
"Then why did he say he was happy to see us, Akane?"
"Well, I get pretty good grades. Maybe I'm going!" Akane said aloud.
"Hah. Whatever." Ranma quipped.
"Are you saying I'm not smart enough?" Akane fumed.
"Yeah, that's what I'm sayin. Anybody dumb enough to walk back in the
kitchen after all you've done to our poor world ain't goin to America
because they're smart." the pigtailed boy snapped back.
"From Da senior Class, I be sendin Kuno Tatewaki, Mizuhara Keisuke..."
"Kuno? No way he gets good enough grades. I smell a rat" supplied one
girl near the group.
"Yeah, you're right, Ranma. I think I'm beginning to see the light."
Akane grumbled.
"Ranchan!" Ukyou exclaimed as she made her way over. "I was beginning
to think I'd never find you"
"Tendo Nabiki, Moroboshi...." the principal contined.
"Did you hear that, Akane? Your older sister is going to america!"
Sayuri said cheerily to Akane.
"I know, she'll be so happy." Akane said, suddenly cheerful to anyone
who was
_not_ Ranma.
"And from da Junior Class, I be sendin... Gosunkugi, Hikaru. Tendo, Akane.
Mizuhara, Mio..." rambled the demented Pineapple Freak.
Akane lighted up in joy, and slugged Ranma in the gut without detracting
from her bright face or demeanor. "You see? I told you I'd make it. I'm a
good student, Unlike some people I know who never listen in class and who
are always making me late to school!"
"Don't worry, Akane, now Ranma can make me late to school every morning!
Isn't that right, Ranma?" Ukyou jibed, grabbing Ranma's arm for emphasis.
Akane started to fume, and Ranma searched desperately for an excuse to
break his arm free of Ukyou's grip... He didn't have to search long.
"Kuonji, Ukyou..." continued the Principal.
"Oh goodness! to think that all my hard work, a single student struggling
to survive on her own against tremendous odds would be recognized as
accomplished after so long! it's about time, don't you think so, Ranchan?"
Ukyou said, clasping her hands together. Her eyes were wide and shone
brightly, full of stars.
Ranma seized his moment, breaking his arm free and patting Ukyou on the
back.
"About time, sure. That trip to America will do you good. Have a good time,
Ucchan." Ranma said in congratulations.
Ukyou looked pensive, just as principle Kuno paused for breath before
announcing
the last name. <Oh no! With me gone, Ranma-honey will be left all alone with
that deranged gymnast and Shampoo!! What a disaster!> Images of Ranma's
unfortunately
weak moral fiber being put to the test by these two hussies without her to
defend
her claim as the true fiancee flashed though Ukyou's distressed mind.
"And little keiki Saotome Ranma." finished the Principal, the sun glinting
off his
unnaturally white smile.
Suddenly, a scantily clad Chinese girl bearing aphrodisiac laden Ramen
evaporated
from Ukyou's mind like dew on a sunny morning. <I'm going to be alone with
Ran-chan!
In America!! In that city where Meg Ryan ended up with Tom Hanks!!!>
Ranma's face brightened up in sheer joy, ignoring Ukyou's impromptu party
for herself
behind him. "Ha. Look who's smart now, Miss goody does her homework? Looks
like I'm
just as smart as you now! SO there!"
"Fix." the short haired girl stated simply in reply.
"Yep. Fix." The okonomiyaki chef agreed, coming back to herself.
"You guys are just jealous that I'm as good at school as you are without
spending
any time on it." Ranma yelled, his gloat obvious.
"Fix" replied the student body as a whole.
"NO IT AIN'T!" Ranma screamed back at them.
"Definetely a fix" replied the student body.
"No IT _AIN'T!_" Ranma screamed back.
"Fix" replied the mass together. "Resistance is futile"
Ranma sensed his uphill battle, and in a rare show of discretion, gave up
and muttered
his disagreements to himself.
---
Ranma walked home from school in a wonderful mood. Of course, his first day
of intensive
english had been awfully hard, but soon, he was going to be far away from
many of his
ife's problems. Sure, Nabiki, Kuno, Ukyou and Akane were coming along, but
he'd be
leaving behind part time homicidal maniac and even worse, part time housecat
fiancees
with evil old troll/super martial artist grandmothers and directionally
challenged
kosher diet subsisting legendary grudge packing martial artists. Not to
mention a
certain part time homicidal , food additive obsessed
_non_ chinese fiancee.
And a
meddlesome father and would be stepfather, one of whom turns into a
_Snoring_ endangered
species photo opportunity at every splash of cold water. Not to
_mention_ a
certain
troglodyte, Undergarment thieving, midget pervert of the first order who was
obsessed
with groping him... for whom a cold shower only made his perversion worse,
not better.
America was going to be sweet. Ranma was looking forward to a little peace
and quiet.
It just wasn't in the cards, that's all.
---
"no, Ranma. that letter makes a sound like a.... Growling cat" Akane said,
evil glint in her eye.
"rrrrrr....." Ranma replied, looking about fearfully.
"Yeah!" Akane said brightly, face lighting up. "Just like that"
"Just shut up, All right?"
"Sure, Ranma. Whatever you say"
---
The week passed rather eventfully, but Ranma was able to gloss over the
usual hi-jinks
because of his mounting anticipation. Suffice it to say that Genma and Soun
made an
attempt and a half to get Akane and Ranma married before they left, Happosai
stepped
up his groping in order to "Build up a reserve till you get back, you snot
nosed punk",
all the while Ranma kept pouring hot water on Ryoga and booting him out of
the house
whilst Ryoga got lost and accidentally took Ranma's backpack instead of his
own, which
Ranma thought he did on purpose (Ranma couldn't find Ryoga's backpack).
Shampoo was
left out of the loop, and Mousse, well, Mousse figured it out, but in yet
another moment
of unconventional wisdom, merely said "Good luck" to what he hoped would
soon be only
his former rival. That moment of wisdom, of course, was after his moment of
very
conventional blind rage and cries of "Saotome Ranma, you COWARD" and a truly
immense beating.
And so the week came to an end. After 7 days of intensive language training,
the various
Furinkan students had assembled at the airport, where they would be shipped
off to American
host homes, where at least one family member spoke Japanese. As an intensive
learning class,
the trip still needed a Japanese English teacher. And get one they did.
"Hihi Students! there aren't any bad delinquents out there, are there?"
Ninomiya Hinako asked
her assembled class. She meditated upon draining Saotome Ranma, who seemed
trapped in some
little gloomy world of his own upon seeing her, but decided against it.
Principal Kuno was there too, strumming his ukelele. Kuno Tatewaki was
making overtures to
Akane, Nabiki was collecting bets about on-air fights, and Ranma was talking
to Ukyou.
Suddenly, Kuno turned from his dearest and most attentive love's
affectionate uppercuts,
and turned his attention to the ukelele strumming madman, whose normally
maniacal smile
had grown so wide it took up all of his face. He could hardly open his eyes,
he was
smiling so wide.
"Hold, I say thee! Vile headmaster who does double as the father of myself
and my truly
villainous sister, Tell me this- Is this not another of your insidious plots
to lead away
Furinkan's mightiest Champion, Kuno Tatewaki, The Blue Thunder (Lighting
crackles) of
Furinkan high so that you mightst institute a devious hair cutting policy in
my conspicuous
absence?"
"Tacchi, How you be sain' dat to yo Own Fadda?" Replied the principal.
"I can't believe I didn't think of it before!" Exclaimed one student.
Nabiki stood in shock and horror <Kuno figured it out before me... I must be
slipping...>
She rubbed her tired eyes nervously.
"Yeah, it did seem a little too convenient... not to mention Ranma made it
on.. I knew there
was a fix in here somewhere!" replied another student.
"Ranma, what are we going to do?" Asked Akane. "We can't just leave the
other students to
him! We've got to do something!"
"I agree. Like beat the idea out of him!" Ranma cried, jumping into action.
Unfortunately for righteousness, Miss Hinako was watching, and reconsidered
her earlier
grant of clemency.
"Happo Five Yen Satsu!" cried Miss Hinako.
*Plop* Went Ranma, falling to the floor like a soggy raisin.
Principal Kuno, seiving the moment, reached behind his back and pulled out a
gian Ukelele,
which he dropped to the floor. With a mighty push, he shoved the remaining
students as well
as Ranma's semi conscious body into the loading ramp.
"Ho ho ho. Be seein you keiki's at the end o' your school yeah!" shouted the
headmaster over
the top of his giant Ukelele. Miss Hinako walked to the end of the Ukelele,
and with the
headmaster's help, moved it just enough for her to stride in.
There could have been an escape, but there were three boys at the opening,
and they were...
a little... preoccupied... at the time.
"Oh my god... I can feel miss Hinako's..."
"Happo no yen coin return!" cried a sultry voice, and the tube was filled
with a bright flash
of light- and screams.
--------
Three Days Earlier.....
"Excuse me, can you point me to Furinkan High school?" asked Hibiki Ryoga.
The man appeared to be a police officer.
"Furinkan high school? that's Japanese, right?" asked the cop. He understood
Japanese a bit.
That was nice, although Ryoga's english was probably good enough for this
conversation
anyways.
Switching to english, Ryoga answered with a simple "Yes"
"Are you Japanese?"
"Well, yeah. Where is it?"
"It's 3000 miles away from here. Where are your parents, boy?"
"Ummm... I don't really know."
"Uh-huh. Are you here with a school or something?"
"No, I don't go to school." Ryoga replied. "Look, can I go?"
"Son, I think you better come with me"
--------
The "Please fasten seat belts" light went out above Tendo Nabiki's head. She
wasn't
interested in sitting with the rest of the students, so she hopped up into
the aisle
and moved until she found a flight attendant.
"Excuse me" Nabiki asked.
"Yes?" replied the flight attendant chirpily. Nabiki was not one to miss the
artificial smile.
"Look. There's a whole row full of violent martial artists back there."
"Martial ARTISTS!" the flight attendant almost screamed. "I thought you were
students!"
"We are. but some of them back there are also martial artists."
"Oh no. We normally put martial artists in cages in the cargo area! " she
said.
continuing in a whisper- "They destroy the planes, you see."
"Oh, I see. Listen, I'll tell you what. I'll say what I can to keep them
quiet, and
let you know which are which, if you'll upgrade me to first class."
The stewardess bit her lip and regarded Nabiki. "First class is pretty
full... but
I'll see what I can do."
Nabiki smiled, and made her way back to camp chaos.
Kuno Tatewaki sat in his window seat, contemplating the wing. * Verily, it
doth have
both the strength of Tendo Akane and the free flowing grace of the beauteous
pig-tailed
girl...* he thought to himself. *Of course, it does not love me as well as
they..." he
thought, priding himself on his good looks and suave ways with women. he
looked once
again upon the graceful wing...
on the wing, he saw a small shriveled form playing with the flaps.
"AHHH!" he said, getting up and going to the aisle, and bumping into Tendo
Nabiki.
"Ah. Kuno Baby. Just who I wanted to talk to."
"Nabiki, please remove yourself from my way. I must tell the captain of this
aircraft
that there is a demon defiling it!"
Nabiki slapped her head. OF course this would happen to her.
"Look, Kuno-baby. Just sit down. You didn't see any gremlin or whatever."
"B-but"
"Look, I need you to keep quiet. That sorcerer Saotome is going to use a
spell that
requires a noble warrior's spirit to be enraged. Just stay calm, and he
won't be able
to keep you apart from the pig-tailed girl."
"Pig-tailed girl?.... But she is back in Japan! Oh, how I miss her beauty,
her
vivacious..." he was cut off by Nabiki.
"Oh, Kuno-Baby, like she could just let a catch like you run out of town
like that.
She's following you, and it won't be long before you see her again." Nabiki
said, an
_evil_ grin spreading across her face.
"Ah, truly, she loves me well. Her feelings must have the strength of a
raging hurricane,
an erupting Volcano, when she contemplates my heroic features. Truly, she
loves me well."
"I'd say you're right about the feelings part, Kuno baby. Just remember to
keep quiet,
or you won't see your pig-tailed girl ever again."
"You have my word, Tendo Nabiki."
"Good."
Nabiki looked away from Kuno over to the middle row- Ranma was unconscious.
She didn't
have to worry about that. Now she could just go up to first class, and get
some rest.
*God, I haven't slept since that dance fiasco... I bet that's why we're here
in the
first place* she said with a yawn, rubbing her eyes. She felt the puffy
bags, and
knew she must not look her best.
She strolled up into first class, and found the stewardess.
"We found you a seat, miss. This young lady was reserving it for her
privacy, but has
agreed to allow you to be seated."
Nabiki shrugged her way through a thank-you to the stewardess, and sat down
lightly in
the chair.
"Hi there. I'm Rei" said the girl next to her.
Nabiki turned and looked the girl up and down- she was slender, and tall.
She was in
good shape, and pretty, not in a cute sort of way, like her sister Akane,
but in a sultry
sort of way, a debutante sort of way.
"hi." Nabiki said back simply.
"What are you going to america for?" the girl asked- her tone carried a
genuine interest.
"What do you care?"
"I don't care, really. But it also might be interesting, and I live for the
interesting."
replied the girl, ruffling her shoulder length blue hair. Light blue- like
if you stirred
Akane and Shampoo's hair together in a vat.
"My life is already way too interesting." Nabiki replied.
"So tell me about it then. if you don't like the interesting, I could tell
you about my
life."
Nabiki sighed. "All right. I'm on this plane because I was involved in a
plot, along with
a few... associates of mine, to prevent our madman principal from shaving
the student
body's heads."
"WhoA!" Rei replied. "That IS interesting. How'd you do it?"
"We stole his coconuts. He's got this Hawaiian fetish..."
"Fetish? Gross. a friend of mine had a boyfriend who crossdressed."
"that sounds familiar. Well, not really.... yeah, really." Nabiki replied, a
smile
creeping on her face.
"So, he's got a coconut fetish, and you steal his nuts," Rei and Nabiki both
let a little
snicker escape- "and now you're on a plane to America? How's that work?"
"Well, that was right at the start of the school year. Pineapple Nazi had to
be there for
the opening of the school. But he'd just been back from America, where he'd
opened up an
exchange program.."
Rei nodded, transfixed by the girl's
_interesting_ story.
"Okay, so.. you're an exchange student? how's that work as punishment?"
"I don't know yet. You see, I figured out that we were being punished only a
few minutes
ago... and that means it hasn't, and won't even occur to anyone else. The
nut is
apparently more cunning than I thought."
"Okay... punishment?"
"Oh, yeah. I don't know if it's punishment, so much, as getting the major
threats out
of the way. He's probably shaving heads back at good ol' furinkan right
now."
"Oh, so he's eliminating the competition through bribery, eh?"
"I somehow doubt this trip is going to be all fun, though..."
"Relax. It'll be interesting."
"That's what I'm afraid of!" Nabiki said.
"Why? If it ain't life threatening, let it slide, I say."
"That's easy for you to say. I get lethal doses of interest every day."
"Well, look at me. I'm an echange student, like you. This might be the most
interesting
thing that has ever happened to me. I watch too much T.V., I read romance
novels and
a lot of manga- boys and girls'. I want to take part in interest, be
interesting.
Like you. I want to travel the world, meet exciting people, and do amazing
things.
I want adventure- and I think I'm going to get some of it. I'll be a female
Indiana
Jones- dashing, sexy and ultra-cool."
"You certainly are interesting. you have a weird outlook on life. I'm
actually not
interesting." Nabiki said with a smile.
"It keeps me out of trouble. Mostly."
"Does it make you happy, being the boring core of an interesting life?" Rei
asked,
her tone earnest- she wasn't calling Nabiki "Boring", so much as
"Comparatively
uninteresting."
"Yeah."
"I'm glad for you." Rei responded.
Rei stood up, and removed her backpack from the overhead compartment.
Rei looked down at Nabiki with a grin on her face, and jerked her head
towards the
aisle.
The captain, a handsome man in his late twenties/early thirties, was coming
down
the aisle, making pleasantries.
Rei walked up to the captain, and bumped into him, squeezing by his side on
her way
to the bathroom. Nabiki saw Rei's hand go where she imagined Rei's mother
would not
be proud seeing it go. The pilot twitched noticeably.
Meanwhile...
Kuno looked out on the wing again. at first he saw nothing, but then his
eyes, keen
as the finest hunter's, glimpsed tiny hands at work, sullying the wing of
the great
mechanical bird, this thing of rare beauty which carried him aloft.
Kuno did what any man would do at this point.
He pushed the service call button.
#beep#
the stewardess made her way down the aisle, recongizing the boy as one of
Nabiki's
"Bewares".
"How may I help you?"
"There is an Oni on the wing! can you not do something?"
the stewardess looked out the window.
"I'm sorry sir, I don't see anything. Can I get anything for you? Tylenol,
Ibuprofen,
Aspirin, Xanax? I recommend the Xanax"
"No woman! there is an oni on the wing!"
"I'm sorry sir. Why don't you just relax..."
"Fine! when we are torn asunder in the raging Atlantic, I will not be to
blame! Curse
that Saotome... this must be one of his plots to ensnare my fierce warrior's
spirit so
that he may vex both Akane Tendo and the pgiatiled girl! Alas, I cannot
refrain. Saotome,
I will smite thee, and save both Tendo Akane and the pigtailed girl!" cried
the kendo
artist, jumping up from his seat and brushing the stewardess aside.
"We're over the Pacific, Sir..." she said weakly as she stumbled out of the
enraged youth's way.
--------
One Day Ago....
"Look here, boy. Until we find out where your parents are, we're going to
have you stay
with a family here in town."
"Look, I told you already. I can take care of myself. Just point me towards
Furinkan High
School and I'll be just fine."
Hibiki Ryoga looked at the officer.
"Look, son, I already told you. I can't just let a foreign minor go
wandering off. It's
against the law for you to be here like this anyways!"
Ryoga gulped a little bit. The law? he didn't want to mess with the law.
He'd read that
it had long arms.
the cop smiled a little bit when the boy bought it- the poor kid. Abandoned
on foreign
soil like that by his parents. The boy just kept denying the obvious- that
his parents
had gotten rid of him. Lousy parents. They hadn't even declared him missing.
It was like
they expected this to happen. His continuing insistence that he was just
lost was his
own little way of blaming himself. Alan, the officer, was sure that he would
calm down
and be happy if he would just see what life with a loving family was like-
and he knew
just the family. Always willing to host foster children, and doubly
fortuitous because
of the language problem, Gren Yoshikawa and his wife were the perfect
solution. In a week,
the kid wouldn't want to go- and then they'd deal with the Japanese
authorites about the
adoption.
--------
America
SeaTac international airport wasn't nearly as big as the bustling hub the
students had
flown out of, Tokyo international, but nonetheless it was large and
impressive. Plenty
of glass, cool insides, even cooler than the comfortable plane. It was
September, and it
had still been pretty warm in Nerima when they had left. All these
observations flowed
away like a daydream as Saotome Ranma faced the task ahead of him. He'd left
behind a sea
of problems, but a very large lake had followed him here, and was no doubt
going to try
and make him not notice the difference.
And right now, the blue waters of that misfortune looked like a 12 year old
girl in a
yellow dress.
"All right students, this way! Be good all of you!" she said chirpily.
Akane on one side, Ukyou on the other, Nabiki straight behind. Kuno was on a
luggage cart
that Nabiki had snagged from somewhere and was idly pulling along besides
her. Several
of the girls were giggling about something, and the guys were trying not to
look too
touristy, and failing
_miserably_. They gathered outside the gate, and
waited in little
clusters- well, one big cluster, essentially centered around Akane, what
with the Ranma
fan club missing save one. One, who of course, was glomping Ranma. Who, of
course, was
getting chewed out by Akane. Who was of course, being harassed by Kuno.
Nabiki sat idly
by, and took a look about to see if she could see Rei. She didn't, and went
back to
watching the fray. She could hardly pull her eyes away.
*I'm glad I'm not in there* Nabiki said to herself.
she sighed one last time before everybody's little disaster was interrupted.
Several Americans, in nice clothes, were gathering in a little group near
the students,
and Nabiki assumed from the way they were looking at the students, they must
be the
host families.
One man, near the front, popped open a briefcase, and began to remove cards
from it.
*Name Cards*, Nabiki thought. *That avoids language problems.*
He moved around the crowd, calling out american names and handing cards to
couples,
who then held them. One woman held up two cards- Kuonji Ukyou and Tendo
Akane. Nabiki
could hardly keep from laughing out loud at the poor woman's fate. Of
course, it could
be worse- she could get Ranma- like this woman over there- she looked kind
of like
what Nabiki imagined Kasumi would look like after she had a few kids- nice,
radiating
sweetness and still a beautiful woman. She had the card up for Gosunkugi
Hikaru, too.
That was alright. Other than a few candles setting off a fire alarm or two,
he was damn
harmless.
an nice looking older woman held up a sign with Nabiki's name on it. Nabiki
walked over,
and introduced herself in her pained but practiced english...
---------------
Ranma watched as the people held their signs up, with people's names on
them.
Ranma saw Akane^�s name. ^�Hey Akane, there we are. Over there.^� he said, and
unthinkingly,
grabbed her hand and brought her through the crowd of students moving
forward.
^�You must be Tendo Akane^� said the woman, a nice looking redhead with wavy
hair in her
early thirties. ^�I^�m Jackie Morris, pleased to meet you.^� she said, sticking
out her
hand. Akane shook it- the woman had a strong grip, although she was
obviously no
martial artist.
^�So, uh, where are we going?^� Ranma asked.
^�Is this your boyfriend?^� Jackie asked Akane.
Akane looked stunned, then confused, then she uttered in halting english-
^�That not-smart
girl toucher? No.^�
Jackie shrugged. ^�Well, he isn^�t staying at our house.^�
^�What?^� the two of them cried in japanese.
^�Nanoo nanoo?^� replied Jackie, a puzzled look on her face.
Ranma spun around in reply to a tap on his shoulder.
^�Ano...are you Ranma Saotome?^� asked a very pretty older japanese woman- 40,
Ranma
guessed.
Ranma had paid extra special attention to this part of class. ^�Yeah, I^�m
Ranma
Saotome of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts.^� he said smugly.
She just smiled. ^�I^�m Sylvie, and I^�ll be your host mother^�
Ranma chased an errant thought.
Akane's host mother spoke up. ^�Hiya, Sylvie^� Jackie said.(in english)
^�Hello, Jackie-san^� Sylvie replied.
Ranma looked at Akane. He wasn^�t going to be under the same roof as her.
That
thought brought a strange feeling
to him, that he wasn^�t ready to admit to himself. His chest felt a little
constricted, he was taking short, slow breaths,
and he was looking right at her.
^�Well, I guess I^�ll see you tomorrow, Ranma^�
^�No escaping the inevitable, is there?^� Ranma said. No matter how hard he
tried,
he couldn^�t even kind of stop himself.
^�JERK!^� Akane shouted as she whacked him upside the head.
The group piled out of the airport after having grabbed their luggage from
the
claim. Ranma ended up carrying Ukyou's
and Akane's in addition to his own, but was startled not to recieve sympathy
from
any of his fellow students. <Hmph.... some friends they are> Ranma thought
to himself.
Suddenly, they were outside, and as those of you who live in the northwest
corner
of the map know, it was raining. onna-Ranma sighed the sigh of one who had
the world's
weight to bear...
"Ah, my beloved pig tailed goddess! Ah, your love has caused you to do the
unseemly,
and stow away on our plane just to bring thyself closer to my glorious
presence! Ah,
truly I am blessed to have two great such loves!"
Kuno had recovered. He swung himself off of the luggage cart, landing on the
ground
in a spot Nabiki had uncannily vacated mere seconds ago, and launched
himself at
onna-Ranma. Ranma turned just in time to catch a class IV glomp.
*GLOMP*
Ranma shook her head. "Get offa me! How many times do I have to tell you,
I'm not
like that!^� she finished, screaming and struggling to pry Kuno off of her.
^�Oh my pig tailed goddess, thank heavens you are here.... let us never again
be
separated!^�the kendo master wailed, clutching at Ranma^�s womanly body.
<Ewww>. "that^�s it!^� Ranma yelled. With a mighty uppercut, Kuno flew into
the air,
cracking the narrow overhang over the door. with a resounding
*Flump* he hit
the
ground, only to be rolled back on the luggage cart by Nabiki.
^�Usual fee, Kuno baby^� she said, reaching for his wallet.
---
Sylvie^�s home was awfully large. They put him to rest in a room two times as
large
as the Tendo dining room. It had three beds at opposite ends of the rooms,
each with
their own nightstand and bookshelf.
^�you can sleep in the triplet's room here. Pick whichever one you like.^�
Sylvie said
with a grin, and patted Ranma on the back hard enough to scoot him into the
room. One
end of the room had the wall decorated with maps and pictures of far off
places, the
other end had models, action figures and sports cards on the wall. The third
section
had a T.V., a Playstation, as well as being decorated with movie posters.
Ranma recognized
"Man on the Moon". All had plenty of athletic trophies.
Gosunkugi looked into the room, a face of dread marked clearly. It wasn't
that he was
afraid of the room- oh no. He was in dread of the scenes between him and
Ranma that
were nightmarrishly playing in his imagination.
Ranma picked the action figures and the sports cards, and sat down on the
bed.
^�Well, Ranma-san, Hikaru-san^� Sylvie said gently in japanese. ^�We^�ll let you
go to sleep.^�
Gosunkugi picked the T.V. and sat down.
Ranma saw wisdom in that opinion, and quickly ^�hito de sacku^�.
---
Jackie brought Akane and Ukyou back to a very middle class home. It was an
American middle
class home, so it was as nice as say, Ryoga^�s, back in Japan.
^�Here is my house, hope you like it^� Jackie stated simply as she opened the
door. ^�It gets
pretty hectic around here sometimes, but we cleaned up for you.^�
Inside, the girls found a living room with two couches, a big tv, a coffee
table, a man, a
15 year old girl and a little girl, maybe 5 years old.
^�This is my husband, Jack. Jack, this is Akane, and her friend, Ukyou"
Ukyou winced slightly at being called Akane's "friend". Of course, she knew
they probably
were friends, but still, Akane was a rival. Not much of a rival, but a rival
nonetheless.
^�Pleased to meet you^� Jack said pleasantly. His voice sounded tired, and
there were bags
under his eyes.
^�Jack had to work tonight, so he wasn^�t able to come meet you at the
airport... but you^�ll
be able to talk when he^�s less tired. He^�s had a long day^� Jackie explained.
Akane struggled, but understood what Jackie was saying. ^�I understand^� she
said demurely.
Her shy side was being brought out. Ukyou's english wasn't even as good as
Akane's, so she
just nodded.
Jackie threw an arm around her shoulder. ^�Don^�t be shy. Come on. This is my
daughter Rose,
here. She^�s 15 and a half^� she said lightheartedly. Rose looked up, smiled,
and said hello
and turned back to the T.V.
^�Rose, get up here and properly introduce yourself to our guests!. Sometimes
she can be so
lazy!^� she added as
an aside to Akane.
Rose got up, and made her way around the couch as her mother got to the
^�Lazy^� part.
^�MooooM!^�
^�And that^�s my other daughter, Posie^�
^�She is very cute^� Akane said, looking at the sleeping little girl. It was
true, she was cute.
^�ano...^�
^�Yes, Akane?^� Jackie asked.
^�Your name is Jackie, and his name is Jack?^�
^�Yeah. Confusing, isn^�t it? ah, the things I put up with for love^� came
Jackie^�s world weary,
yet obviously happy reply.
^�That^�s my line, dear^� came Jack^�s reply.
Akane understood, and started to laugh.
-------
Nabiki strolled with her host Mother, Anna, into their humble home. It
wasn't as big as the
Tendo Dojo, although it was if you didn't count the actual Dojo. It was
nice, though- definetely
not up to Kasumi's cleanliness standard, but nice nonetheless.
Anna turned to Nabiki. "You'll be staying in my son's bedroom, over there."
she said, pointing to
a door at the end of the well furnished living room.
Nabiki smiled. "Thank you, Anna"
"I'm glad you call me Anna. I can't bear formality."
"Me either."
"Your english is very good."
"My vocabulary is all right, but the rest.. is okay. I worked really hard so
I wouldn't sound..."
Nabiki started, a thoughtful look on her face.
"You sound very educated." Anna said, smiling. "Much better than mine when
I started."
"Well, where I'm from we have this girl who always comes by to see my
sister's... umm.. Iinazuke..
it means they are going to get married..."
"Fiancee?" Anna supplied.
"Yeah. And she doesn't speak Japanese well at all, so she always sounds even
dumber than she is."
"So you don't like this girl? Why is she visiting your sister's fiancee,
anyways?"
Nabiki's eyelids dropped halfway down, forming her usual sly look. "Oh,
you'll see soon enough,
I suppose."
----
"Honey, I'm home!" Called Gren through the doorway of his home. He turned to
his guest, giving
him a smile. "This is my home. Come on in, make yourself at home."
Ryoga smiled back. This guy had been awfully nice. He hoped he could get out
of here pretty soon,
as soon as the deal with his parents was cleared up. Still, getting away
from Akane would
help him clear his head and make his focus on defeating Ranma that much
easier.
"Thank You." the lost boy replied.
He walked inside, and slid his shoes over next to a pair of worn chinese
slippers. <That's
odd...> he thought, his mind occupied elsewhere.
Gren grabbed his shoulder, and looked him in the eyes. "I mean it. Make
yourself at home.
I'll show you where you'll be staying. And you can speak japanese as much as
you need, but
since I'll be enrolling you in school tomorrow, we should definetely
practice your english."
"Hai." Ryoga replied.
"Don't get smart with me, kid." Gren said, and then laughed.
He and Ryoga walked past the entranceway, covered in pictures of Gren, and
his lovely wife.
Ryoga imagined himself with Akane in the pictures as he walked by. They
obviously had had a
large family- three children. It was interesting how
their children had turned out- One had a slender build, one had a medium
build, and the other
was almost as big as Ryoga.
"Looking at the family, eh?" asked Gren.
Ryoga shook himself out of his daydream. "Oh. Yeah. you look happy."
Gren smiled brightly. "I think we are."
They reached the hallway, and Gren pointed down the hallway. "It's that one
there- the open door."
Ryoga smiled. "Thank you." he said, and made his way down.
Since he could see his destination from his starting point, Ryoga did
_not_
get lost.
Gren made his way down to the kitchen, where he saw his wife.
"Hello, dear."
"Hello, sweetie." Gren replied.
"How was your day?" Gren's wife asked.
"Well, Alan called, and asked me to put up a runaway. He might not even be a
runaway though-
it looks like he was abandoned. He's Japanese."
"Oh. I suppose you could have told me about this?" she asked, a faint look
of displeasure
crossing her face.
"I could have, but I know what you would have said. Ever since the boys
left, it's been
too quiet."
"Well, we do have those two exchange students."
"Huh? Oh, was that today?" Gren said.
"Yes, dear. You're right though, I don't mind. They'll probably be more
comfortable having
some more Japanese kids around the house. They'll get along just fine."
----------
Meanwhile
----------
Ryoga walked through the doorway, congratulating himself for being in the
same house he
started in, and reached inside for the light. He flicked the switch up, and
the light
shone one the room.
He saw a gaunt figure, with dark circles under his eyes, sit up and take a
look at him.
"You?!" screamed Gosunkugi Hikaru, obviously frightened to be in place for
this meeting.
Ryoga's eyes shot wide open as he took in this surprise.
Ranma, as is his way, picked just this moment to sit up.
"Hey, what's all the racket? What's going on?" he said, bringing his bleary
eyes into focus... on Hibiki Ryoga.
End Chapter One
----------------------------------
Author's Notes:
Speed-Chan:
Damn. I'm finally finished. I'd love to expand the "Kuno sees the wing
gremlin" sketch, but it's fine the way it is. I'd also like to put some
focus on what Ranma was supposed to be doing on the plane, with Akane and
Ukyou, but
Makoto-Chan, my co-author, was very lazy and did nothing except help me
spice up the dialogue, and added ukyou's "Party with herself" scene, even
though I specifically asked him to write a plane scene with Ranma, Akane and
Ukyou!. Grrr...
Mako-Chan:
Why Seattle? here's why.
1: We're from the seattle area. We felt it would help to know landmarks.
2: Sleepless in Seattle ended there, and you just
_know_ that all the Ranma
girls read that.
3: Where in the civilized world does it really rain more than Nerima? on
ABC's "Whose line is it, anyways?"
the cast has started to respond to "Stick it where the sun don't shine" with
"Seattle, washington?"
We figured it would be perfect.
Next time:
Did Ranma really think the "Blue waters of his misfortune" would let him
swim away that easily? Next time in
"The Usual Delinquents"- "Stalkout!"
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