[Quick note: Notes are interspersed at the end of each or scene. They'll be removed in the 'final product'. This fic was previously known as 'Hell on Earth' - I'd appreciate it if anyone who archived that reclaims the disk space it was kept on.]
Disclaimer: All hail Takahashi-sama, who created this setting. I hope she doen't mind my using her characters...
The End of the Rope
Prologue (Unfinished)
Saotome Nodoka looked at his dejected-looking son, and his shamefaced father, and wondered at the cause of their expressions. Ranma's hair had changed color, that much she could see, but surely that wasn't so much to be worked up about? Sure, red hair would stich out, but...
"Dearest, I've failed in my promise," Genma began, his voice clearly conveying that tears were not far away. Either Genma had gotten much better at faking, or there were something seriously wrong here.
"Which promise?" Nodoka asked in puzzlement. There had been a lot of promised made and broken over the course of their marriage, none of them serious enough to warrant this kind of behaviour, katana-waving or not. Could he have been unfaithful?"
"I've failed to keep my boy safe from harm," Genma wailed, causing Nodoka's heart to freeze in her chest, "...and now he turns into a daughter!"
And Saotome Nodoka knew no more for a good long while.
[Suggested filler? This prologue feels way too short, but the rest of what I've written doesn't feel like prologue material]
Chapter 1
A vision of cool, clear morning sky greeted Saotome Ranma as he opened the blinds of his bedroom window. Not that the rest of the view was anything spectacular - second floor bedrooms in the middle of a city aren't naturally conducive to such. But at least the sky was nice, and Ranma decided to take a few moments to enjoy it while it lasted. His reverie was broken by a clattering noise from the kitchen, followed by his mother's voice.
"Ranma dear, it's time to wake up! You don't want to miss your first day at school!"
'Oh yeay. School. Whoop dee do.' Ranma's nascent good mood fizzled abruptly, and with good reason - the combination of his Jusenkyo curse and martial arts skill had gotten him kicked out of more schools than he could count on one hand. Most recently, he'd been expelled after threatening to inflict grivous bodily harm on one of the stupider and more obnoxious perverts in his class. It had been well-deserved - even the teachers loathed the guy. If the kid had been anyone else other than the son of the chairman of the scool board, he would have gotten away with it, but...
At least the two-week enforced break had been nice - he'd gotten to kick the stuffing out of his old man for six more hours a day, while his mother pulled the strings to get him into a new school. Anyway, that was the past, and it was the present which needed more attention now.
"Yeah, mom! Is the furo free?"
Judging from the way he'd woken up, the old man hadn't quite recovered from either Ranma's or his own recreation - no telling which, or if it was a combination. He _should_ be fairly sore still after yesterday's match - the roughest of the whole break - and on top of that, he'd gone out with an old friend in the evening. Anyway, the respite was nice.
Not really waiting for an answer to his own question, Ranma headed for the bathroom. It _was_ empty, and Ranma took his time - the mindnumbingly cold washwater was actually pleasant when one was prepared for it, and the sensations it created on his, or _hers_, for the moment, skin were very nice. The soak in the hot furo water was pleasant in another fashion, easing the aching muscles in Ranma's neck and back. Finally, he rinsed off again with cold water. Ordinarily, he would have just used the western style shower which had been installed for his benefit a few years ago, when it became painfully apparent that there were times when the application of hot water to Ranma was not a good idea. But today was special, and his mom had insisted.
Ranma made his way back to his own room, using the tap to switch back to his birth form en route. Since he hadn't registered for classes yet, he didn't have a uniform, so he was theoretically free to choose what he wanted, within reason. On the other hand, he'd had a 'dicussion' with his mother about it last night - which meant that Ranma would wear what _she_ chose. At least her choice wasn't too far off from his own. Opening the male half of the wardrobe, he pulled out a pair of lightweight black drawstring pants - one of the few garments that were totally acceptable to him in both forms, because of the difference in build - a black tee, and a white shirt. If he'd had it his way, he'd have used the red silk shirt hed gotten on the last trip, but as his mother had pointed out, it was better to try to remain inconspicous for as long as possible.
Intent on finishing off his morning preparations, Ranma untied the 'string' he habitually tied his hair with (another 'souvrenir' from China), and quickly brushed it out, retying the string again as soon as he could manage. The fifty or so strokes it took were a good speed drill, and it was easy to measure how fast he was by looking at how much hair he had to cut off afterwards. Today it was about an inch - not his best, but a lot better than when he first started. His personal grooming done, Ranma went down to the kitchen to grab something to eat. At his destination, Ranma found that the old man had finally gotten himself out of bed, from the look of it not of his own volition.
"Good morning, Pop!" Ranma started with a mischievous grin, causing Genma to cringe. "The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and why, I do believe they're starting construction of that new mall today! Isn't it wonderful?"
For every word out of Ranma's mouth, his father cringed harder. When he came to the word "construction", he was almost blubbering, his mind filled with visions of horrendously loud construction _equipment_ - jackhammers, piledrivers, diamond-edged circular saws etc, all in addition to the tribe of hammer-wielding dwarves which seemed to have moved into his skull sometime during the night. Not that this could in any way be connected with the amount of Sake he'd consumed, not at all.
"Ranma dear, it's not nice to torture your father like that," came Nodoka's voice from just outside the kitchen. Ranma smiled, knowing full well what would come next. "That's _my_ privilege," she continued from the doorway. His smile growing ever larger, Ranma answered her.
"Good morning, Mom! What happened to 'share, and share alike? Can't let you have _all_ the fun, right?" Nodoka looked at him with mock sternness, then at Genma, with the real thing this time, and back again, her expression melting into a smile.
"I suppose not." The usual hangover punishment over with, she continued. "You ready for your new school, Ranma?" The reminder took away some of Ranma's good cheer.
"Yeah. I went over there yesterday, to get a hang of the route. Looks kind like a nice place." 'However long that lasts', Ranma's thoughts continued darkly.
Ranma scarfed down his breakfast, earning him a frown from his mother, got his freshly packed bento, and made his excuses. With a silent prayer to the Kami, he then started off for his first day at his brand new school - Fuurinkan...
[Last scene of segment needs work - description of the kitchen? Ideas for darkening the tone just a tad?]
***
Swearing softly to herself, a sodden and now-female Ranma tightened the drawstrings at her waist and ankles. The cause of her ire had nothing to do with being female - ten years under the curse had rather thoroughly desensitized her to that - but it had everything to do with the curse. Ranma abhored getting wet - being wet meant he changed, and changing in public in her experience usually meant alienation.
"'A martial artist's life is fraught with peril', he says. Feh!". Quietly venting his displeasure with the whole situation, and the man indirectly responsible for getting him into it, Ranma continued on his way. Ahead, hecould see two other girls, both wearing the Furinkan girl's uniform, so she knew that she was at least on the right track. Both girls were fairly tall - an inch taller than her female form, and two short of her male height. Probably sisters or best friends, since they seemed to be having a mild argument. Suddenly, one of the pair raced ahead, yelling something that wasn't quite intelligible at this distance.
'Oh well, better see what this was about.' When Ranma reached the school gates, it was all over. The yard was littered with groaning boys, some having been smashed or flung into the trees and walls. The girl that had raced ahead stood in front of the main doors, staring daggers at a tall kid in kendo garb that was declaiming something in a loud, but not loud enough, voice. Something about dating. Whatever it was, the girl very obviously didn't like it, because she countered by punching the guy's lights out, and stormed inside. 'What a wierd place. I'm gonna fit right in...'
Ranma made her way across the school yard, figuring she'd ask one of the less brutally injured boys where the principal's office lay. Reaching the stairs, she leaned down to rouse the kendoist.
"Hey there. You wouldn't know the way to the principal's office, by any chance?" she greeted him, hoping for a quick answer. No such luck, as the only thing she got when his eyes focused was drool on her sleeve. Sighing, she drew her fist back and returned him to la la land, since it seemed to be where he belonged.
'Figures I'd try to ask the school pervert for directions. Hope they're not _all_ this way, or this'll be a _long_ year...I'd better go find the office myself.' Dismissing the though as wishful thinking, she made her way inside to the map on the inside wall.
It took Ranma a few minutes to figure out the stylized map on the wall - someone had had fun with moving the 'you are here' marker. Nice prank. She'd have to remember that one for future reference. Once she'd figured out her real position, it was quick work finding the route she was after - two floors up and round a couple of corners. Nothing major. The inside of the building reflected the outside nicely - everything in good repair, which was odd, given the rumors, nice and easy colors on the corridor walls, and the floors at least in this corridor was freshly waxed. She'd been to worse places, Ranma concluded. Which was how she found herself across a desk from the vice principal.
[Suggestions for revising the above paragraph? Specifically the last sentence. More text in this block?]
***
"So you're Saotome, huh? I was expecting a boy, not a girl," the vice-principal, a middle-aged woman in a severe business dress, suspiciously asked. Ranma sighed. 'Yet another explanation. Hope she'll take it better than the last one.'
"It's my curse. I turn into a girl when I'm splashed with cold water. Takes hot water to turn me back," Ranma started. "I've lived with it for ten years." Ranma hoped in vain that that would be the end of it.
"Preposterous, at face value, but I've seen some strange things before. Would you mind demonstrating, before I believe you?" The woman still looked somewhat suspicious.
'Damn it! Can't some people read the damned files, and *trust* them? It's all *in* there!' Sighing dejectedly, Ranma reached out for her sac.
"Sure. Let me get my Thermos." Reaching down into her bag, Ranma pulled forth an old military-issue hotflask. "I hope it's still warm enough..." she said, as she unstoppered it. "No blinking!"
Pouring the water over herself, Ranma gained three inches of height, 30 or so pounds of bone and muscle, and lost some very prominent body fat. The weight gain caused a groan, as Ranma realized he'd forgotten to loosen the drawstring at his waist first. The facial bones shifted slightly, giving the previously female face a very distinctly male aspect.
"The change itself is no big deal, to me," Ranma explained to the now slack-jawed, but recovering, vice-principal. "I've lived with this since I was a kid - I know the way everything works, no surprises. The only really bad part is the damned trigger - I keep getting splashed at the worst moments. I hate being wet."
"In other words, no use keeping it a secret." Ranma shook his head empathically.
"I've tried that. It only gets people mad when they find out. Especially the girls. On the other hand, going public invites its own kind of hell." The woman in front of him made sympathetic noises.
"I can imagine." Ranma stifled another groan, this one having nothing to do with physical discomfort. That line had been used way too often, and never with sincerity. 'No, you can't.'
"Yeah." Ranma continued, shaking his head. "Since going public is the only real option, how do we play it? I'd rather let my own class know right away, but then the rumor mill will have it all out by the end of the day."
"Are you sure that's the best idea? We could make a public announcement tomorrow morning." Ranma shook his head again.
"No, that would make the first impression a lie, and everyone would be angry at me. I can handle the rumors, and anyone trying to take advantage is in for a rude surprise," Ranma explained determinedly.
"Ah, yes. Your martial arts skills. We've got plenty of martial artists on the premises, although none quite as far ahead as you. Fifth Dan in Kempo? And Third in Aikido?" the teacher inquired.
"That's when I was last tested, two years ago. I've got a First or Dan ranking in a couple of other styles as well, as well as my family style," Ranma expounded. The teacher looked suitably impressed.
"The Musabetsu Kakuto? Actually, we've got another practitioner of that style here - and she'll be in your class, from what it looks like. Tendo Akane." At this, Ranma lit up. He'd thought the style mostly dead except for his own family.
"Really? What, my class?" Ranma mentally reviewed what he'd seen of the morning fight. "She wouldn't happen to be about this tall, with slightly bluish black hair, would she?" The vice-principal nodded. "I saw her this morning. Hmm...that explains the bruising I saw on some of the boys this morning."
After that, the discussion turned to matters more mundane, and fifteen minutes later Ranma was standing outside his new homeroom, rehearsing the greeting he'd decided on for his new classmates.
***
"Today, class, we have a new student, transferred from Kolhotz High. Say hellow to Saotome Ranma!" With more nervousness than he'd ever admit to, Ranma surveyed the classroom. There in the corner was the girl he'd seen outside, Tendo Akane. She looked slightly suspicious - well, she had that right, since the only empty desk was next to hers. Drawing a deep breath, Ranma took out his thermos and bottle, and started his explanation.
"Hello, I'm Saotome Ranma, and I've got some things to tell you before class continues. You see, ten years ago, when me and my Pop were in China, I got a curse..."
Five minutes, four changes, and a tersely worded explanation of the circumstances surrounding the curse, the classroom was quiet. The Tendo girl had a strange expression, like she had to concentrate very hard to keep her scowl, and the rest of the class was busy hoisting up their fallen jaws from the bottomless pits at their feet. And then the questions started.
"What's it feel like? Does it hurt?" So far so good, these he could handle. But...
"Are you a virgin?" someone shouted, followed by a loud guffaw. 'Damn, I _knew_ there'd be a pervert in the class.' And the questions got worse. Ranma had been trying for several minutes to keep his cool, and only answer the serious ones, when the same kid, who Ranma now spotted somewhere in the back, obviously not satisfied with the hue of red Ranma currently sported on his face asked what it felt like to masturbate as a girl - which was what triggered Ranma's first manifestation of a battle aura.
[Help me out with the above, please]
"Silence!" The noise and the lightshow were quite spectacular, each in their own right, and served admirably in quieting the class down. "Who asked that?" Ranma queried in a deadly quiet voice, his aura still flaring. "Raise your hand, please."
The offender failed to comply, but flinched visibly. Ranma smiled - 'gotcha'. Walking over, he grabbed the boy by his collar, lifting him out of his chair and dangling him several inches off the ground with one hand.
"Would you like to find out?" Ranma asked in an icily calm voice. "I can turn you into a girl right here and now, free of charge. All you have to do is ask. I must warn you, though, the process is quite painful, messy, and very very permanent." The boy shook his head violently.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you." Ranma's other hand started moving towards the offender's crotch. The deathly frightened boy croaked out something that might, with a bit of imagination, be translated into a 'no', and Ranma pulled back the hand.
"I've had this curse for ten damned years. I never liked it, but if I have to be a girl some times, then a girl is what I'll be. But I won't tolerate perverts. I won't be _asking_ the next one if he wants a change of sex. Consider this your final warning." With that, Ranma dropped both boy and aura.
The silence was deafening. It lasted for almost a minute, disturbed only by the quiet wimpering of the suitably punished pervert. And then someone started to clap. Ranma whipped his head towards the source, which turned out to be the Tendo girl. Slowly, the clapping picked up around the room, as the girls expressed their approval. After a bit, a few of the boys joined in, and the now exhausted and embarrased Ranma did the only thing he could think of under the circumstances - he made a grand bow and collapsed into his chair. Smiling warmly, his deskmate reached out with her hand.
"That was some show you pulled. I'm Tendo Akane. Welcome to Furinkan nuthouse." Taking her hand in his own and giving it a light shake, Ranma managed a tired smile.
"I know. The vice-principal told me about you. Damn, that felt good." Ranma yawned widely, his body venting to recover from exhaustion.
"That aura thingy you pulled must take a lot of energy," Akane ventured. Ranma gave her a puzzled look, and mouthed 'aura?' - but then his expression brightened considerably.
"Yatta!" he exclaimed softly. Seeing Akane's own look of puxxlement, he explained. "Pop's been trying to teach me to project an aura for _ages_, but I never got it right. Turns out I needed some motiv..." The rest was lost as Ranma fell asleep with his head on the desk.
A couple of minutes later, the teacher finally had control of her class back. She hid a grin as she looked at the sleeping hero next to Akane and decided against disturbing him. He deserved a rest after dealing with that lot - she knew they weren't the most tactful of people, but some of those questions would have had any woman, part time or not, crying out for blood. Even the Tendo girl - Tendo _Akane_, the pervert basher! - had a strange expression on her face when she looked at the newcomer. Yes, let him rest.
[Tell me this isn't hideously overdone? Again, suggestions for names are appreciated, since I'm really, really bad at them. The worst case scenario being everyone's called 'hey you' or I start stealing from other anime...]
Final notes for this chapter:
Yeah, I changed the title. And the intro. And the tone. I _did_ keep quite a lot of the text I'd originally written, and even more of the situations. This is really only half of chapter one - the next half is the rest of the day, beginning with the lunch break and "Kuno, part the second" - as well as Nabiki and the rumor mill. I just wanted to get this out now...
I need some help with "girly" reactions - I know very well how guys react to a pretty girl, but I have no experience with girl talk - please?
Oh yeah - guess the name of the guy who got Ranma kicked out of the last school...
Sebastian