Here is the latest instalment of:
Tales of the Wanderer
Book 3: Nerima Wandering
Chapter 5: Storm Warnings
Ranma � and Maison Ikkoku are both property of Rumiko
Takahashi, and the several publishing companies she has sold
the rights too as well.
Books 1 and 2 can be found at:
Rangerhq.50megs.com
Sofaspud.Org, and
Fanfiction.net
Comments and criticism welcome, E-mail me at starrngr@aol.com;
Pointless flames will be ignored.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Tales of the Wanderer: Book Three: "Nerima Wandering"
Chapter 5: "Storm Warnings"
Submitted for your consideration: A seemingly normal high
school on the outskirts of Tokyo, Japan. Looking closer, you
notice something is wrong; although it is a school day, the
yard is empty of its usual crowd of students socializing
before class. They can sense the growing unease you have not;
because, as you are about to find out, they are unwitting
residents of... the Furinkan Zone.
No, the Furinkan High schoolyard was not a safe place to
socialize this morning, the grapevine informing new arrivals
that for some reason 'Typhoon Gajin' was on the warpath.
Kuno, for example, had already received detention after having
been caught waiting inside the main gate in his kendo garb;
accused of planning on challenging one or both of his true
loves. What wasn't known was why; none of the students could
have known that Muck was suffering from a particularly intense
hangover. As always, it had seemed like a good idea at the
time...
* * * * * * * *
"Then I get hit with this hammer, from out of nowhere!"
Muck told Akemi, who was sitting next to him at the bar proper
of the Cha Cha Maru. From the slight slurring of his speech,
it was clear that he'd been there for a while. "And that's
what brings me here." Master tut-tuted in commiseration with
Muck's story as he placed a fresh drink in front of him. As
he did, Master's eyes suddenly focused beyond them, then
gestured to Akemi.
"Customers, dear. Time to earn your pay again." Akemi
stuck her tounge out at Master, but her smile indicated no
malice in the act, then slipped off the barstool and headed to
greet the new arrivals.
"I think she likes you," Muck stated, causing Master to
blink at the seeming non-sequitur.
"Maybe," Master replied after a long second. "She seemed
interested, right after Yusaku and Kyoko got engaged; but I
think it was because she'd been after him herself at the
time." Master sighed before continuing, "I wanted to be
certain that she liked me for who I am, not because she was
looking for comfort after losing to Kyoko..."
"And you waited to long," Muck concluded for him. Master
nodded in silent agreement, turning his attention to the two
new arrivals who had seated themselves next to Muck at the
bar. Muck gave them a quick once over, then froze, the ice-
water sensation once again flushing the warmth of the liquor
from his system.
Slowly, he gave them a confirming glance. Tall, black
hair, droopy moustache, Brown Gi; expression bordering on
hysterical tears... yup, definitely Soun Tendo. The shorter,
pudgy guy in a while gi and head-scarf on the other side of
Soun could only be Genma Saotome. Muck immediately clamped
down on his hind-brains suggestion to run away as fast as he
could... if for no other reason than he didn't want to draw
attention to himself. He was able to quell the initial wave
of panic, the one that wanted him to run for the hills as fast
as possible, by reminding himself that they really were mostly
harmless. They also tended to talk a lot, so all he had to do
was sit there and encourage them, and he'd have the perfect
alibi for knowing what he already knew! The way they were all
but dislocating their arms to pat themselves on the back gave
him the perfect way into the conversation, too...
Catching Master's eye, he gestured to the pair sitting
next to him, indicating that he'd buy their next bottle of
Sake. Which allowed Muck to explain that it was to
congratulate them over their children's engagement; which, as
expected, allowed him into the conversation. And into the
round of Toasts they were proposing to each other's
brilliance; after which it started to getting rather drunk
out...
Which left him feeling rather... delicate this morning,
what with the very photons that illuminated the day bouncing
off his skull like drumsticks on a snare. Which was why he'd
summarily given Kuno detention after catching the senior
lurking just inside the front gates. He supposed it was
possible that the boy really wasn't laying in wait for Ranma
and Akane... but he didn't think that was the case. Thinking
hurt this morning, even after the asprin had kicked in; best
to do as little of that as possible until after the hangover
was over...
* * * * * * * *
Ranma closed his eyes and let the warmth of the late
spring sun wash over him. He'd never expected that schoolwork
could be as demanding as the Art, in its own way, but it was.
Prior to this, school had been more of a vacation from the
rigors of his daily training with Pops; but as the morning's
lessons had progressed, he became more aware of just how
severe his present educational shortcomings were. Even with
Akane's help, he was worried if he could keep his rash vow of
the day before. And their fathers only made the situation
worse; Pop's didn't like the idea of spending so much time on
something that wasn't directly related to the Art, while old
man Tendo had broken into tears of joy at seeing the two of
them at the same table without bickering. Fortunately Tendo
had dragged Pops off to celebrate with a drink; allowing the
two work in peace... until he'd become frustrated. The
resulting fight had pretty much ended the evening.
Still, Ranma had never failed in a task he'd set his mind
to before, and he wasn't about to start now. At least he
still had the better part of a year to work with. And it had
been nice working with Akane, at least up until the fight
started. Yes, today was a pretty good day. About the only
thing that could make it better would be...
"Ranma Saotome! I, Kouh-Li Mioh, challenge you in the
name of The Excessively Silly school of Martial Arts! Stand
and defend yourself!"
... A challenge. Ranma opened his eyes and evaluated his
opponent; then closed them again and grinned. "I'm Ranma, and
I accept your challenge. Be outside the front gates today at
three."
His challenger bristled at that. "I am not some flunky
to be put off, Saotome! I will fight you here and now and
prove that my school is superior!"
"I suggest you reconsider," Nabiki interjected into this
discussion, as she walked up to one side. "School rules
forbid fighting on campus."
"And who are you to enforce such a decision?"
"I don't," Nabiki gloated, pointing at someone behind
Kouh-Li. "He does."
Kouh-Li turned, and found himself face to face with what
could only be some sort of Onii! Emerald hard Irises were
surounded by bloodshot eyes and a floridly red complection
that seemed to almost blend into fiery red hair and moustach.
The throbbing vein on its forehead seemed to promise great
pain if its edicts were crossed; and Kouh-Li decided that it
would be best to wait, and quickly removed himself from the
Furinkan schoolyard. Ranma opened his eyes again and looked
warily at Thunders-sensei, but 'Typhoon Gaijin' merely nodded,
first to Ranma, then to Nabiki, before moving on with his
rounds of the schoolyard.
* * * * * * * *
Akane looked up at her would be Fiancee and sighed.
Nabiki and the school grapevine had been up to form, so the
whole school knew about the upcoming challenge well before
school had let out back at three. At 3:10, Ranma had met his
challenger on the field of battle, just outside the school
gates, by 3:12 it was over. Clearly, Ranma was
disappointed... as had been most of the school. For all his
bluster Kouh-Li had not been much of a challenge, his Curl-Li
maneuver had reduced the assembled student body to laughter
when they'd seen it; Ranma hadn't needed any but the most
basic techniques to claim victory. Ranma was so disappointed
that he'd even brushed her off when she suggested taking Ukyou
up on her offer of a victory okonomiyaki! That had stunned
the gathered student body even more than the easy victory,
because Ranma's apatite was just as legendary as everything
else about him...
This bothered her. She couldn't decide why it bothered
her so much either, which bothered her even more! She
couldn't even snipe at him to try and break him out of this
mood, because he just kept moping along atop that fence and
didn't seem to hear a word she said! She was ready to clobber
him with something... ANYTHING, just to get his mind out of
the rut it was in, but she doubted even that would work, so
the pair just trudged in silence on their path back to the
Tendo Dojo.
* * * * * * * *
Muck stopped just outside the door to the Cat Caf� one
last time. Truth be told, he'd rather be anywhere but here,
yet the tantalizing hints that Cologne had dropped yesterday
demanded further explanation. She clearly knew much more
about the Star Shield and it's companion Sword than he did.
He'd received them from the Mujadeen, a nomadic tribe three
fica back and almost two years ago, subjectively speaking...
which really was the only way to measure the time when you can
jump between dimensions. He'd heard their tales about it even
before he'd wound up bearing the Star Icons; how they had been
placed with the Mujadeen to keep them safe from all save the
one for whom they were meant. However, the Mujadeen were
protectors, not instructors; they had been more interested in
the who should claim the icons rather than the what could they
do, leaving him with little clue about what the Icons might
do.
And that was what had brought him back here. Given his
druthers, he'd have preferred to remain as far as possible
from the general insanity and random destructiveness that
surrounded the central players of this fractured fairy tail.
Clearly, however, a greater power dictated that this was not
to be the case; he wasn't going to find out anything until he
stopped stalling and went inside!
The inside was agreeably deserted save for the ancient
elder herself. Given how popular the caf� had been the day
before Muck could only surmise that Cologne had deliberately
arranged for it to be so; a conclusion he felt was proved when
neither Shampoo nor Mouse came out at the sound of the door-
chime. Not really surprising, he decided, since from her tone
the day before Cologne had implied that knowledge of the Icons
was a closely held Joketsuzoku secret, ergo it would be in her
best interests to keep prying ears away from this
conversation... and Cologne always had the best interests of
the Joketsuzoku in mind.
Fifteen minutes later he was back on the street. As
promised, Cologne had provided him a scroll of everything the
Joketsuzoku knew about the Icons... in Chinese. To gain her
help in translating and learning how to use them would require
him to help her snag Ranma for Shampoo. Since Muck knew full
well that his getting out of this fica depended on Ranma
making a choice of his own free will, this created an impasse
between himself and Cologne. Before he'd left, though, she
had passed on a warning. In her younger days, a stranger had
come to the tribe and stolen several of their ancient
treasures; she was certain that this person had been after the
Icons as well. Only the fact that they'd long been sent away
had kept the thief from stealing them.
Muck was sure the warning was meant to bring him back, to
seek her help in guarding the icons in return for his helping
her. That he'd have no other choice. On the other hand, Muck
did feel like he had a couple of secret weapons up his sleeve
that she didn't know about. FRED, certainly; his dual nature
as Star Ranger he was less certain about. Who knew just what
she could tell from an aura... or if she knew what she was
seeing in his case. Well, chasing that thought around in
circles wouldn't get him anywhere, he decided. Getting back
to Maison Ikkoku and letting FRED take a crack at translating
the scroll would be a better use of his time in the long run.
Several blocks away, the demented Happosai grand master
of the Anything Goes style, felt a strange tingle brush across
his senses. It was faint and unusual, but felt perhaps
familiar. He tried to concentrate on where he had felt it
before; which caused him to stop in the middle of the street
and allow the mob of outraged women with intent to pulverize
to catch up with him. As the women stalked away, retrieved
unmentionables in hand, he realized what it was he'd felt.
The Icons might have slipped through his fingers this time,
but he had their scent now, and it was only a matter of time
before he could get his hands on them...
* * * * * * * * *
Ranma was still on Akane's mind that evening as she
jumped out of her window; grabbing the edge of the roof and
using her momentum to swing herself into a back flip that
landed her on her feet. She hadn't been able to do that
before Ranma arrived; to be honest she wouldn't even have
considered doing it before he arrived! Unless one had enough
control over one's abilities to leap straight up there,
though, it was the fastest way to get up onto the roof.
Ranma had kept his word after they'd gotten home, but
their workout together had lasted less than five minutes
before she called it off. Ranma had clearly still been
brooding over the lack of challenge from earlier; he'd been so
distracted that she was afraid one of them would get hurt, and
the way Ranma had been moping it could have been HIM for once!
It certainly would have been nice to see Ranma get a bit of
comeuppance, but it would be even better when she was able to
do it when he was really trying. Sure, that was it, not that
she felt attracted to the dumb jerk...
Ranma didn't look to have moved since he'd leapt up to
the rooftop after she'd called off the training session; this
was Ranma, though, so she knew he had to realize she was
here... "Ranma, Dinner is ready."
"Uh huh. Go on, Akane. I'm not... GUYURK?!?!?!"
From Ranma's point of view, it was if Akane had suddenly
TELEPORTED in front of him, and was actually HOLDING him by
the front of his shirt high enough that his feet were off the
ground. She was surrounded by a bright red aura that screamed
anger and her fist was cocked and ready to deal what could be
a lethal blow as she demanded "Who are you and what have you
done to Ranma!!!"
Ranma had been so deep in thought about the farce of a
challenge from earlier that even as his brain went to shift
gears into combat mode something happened that had never
happened before... His 'clutch' burned out, leaving his brain
(and hence his mouth) spinning in neutral!
Akane, of course, took the babbling to mean that she'd
caught the imposter totally of guard. It was probably that
idiot from this afternoon, He'd obviously not done ANY
homework on his victim or he'd known that the real Ranma
Never, EVER passed up Kasumi's cooking! Her eyes narrowed and
her fist drew slightly further back... At the moment she
wanted nothing more than to pour out her anger, her hatred and
all her sorrow into this jerk with a single cleansing blast
of... "GI-FUN!"
The sound of her cry managed what the earlier shock did
not, to snap Ranma out of his confusion into full out battle
mode. Time seemed to crawl to a stand-still as Akane's chi-
swathed fist slowly moved forward while Ranma reached out and
put one hand on her wrist and the other on her opposite
shoulder, giving him the leverage he needed to twist forwards
out of her grasp and drop below the strike, throwing himself
into a tumbling forward roll as he did. The blow missed by
the slimmest of margins, the chi gathered around her fist
raising the hairs on his back as it passed. In fact, as her
fist reached full extension, the chi leapt from it and
continued on in a straight line to demolish a neighbor's
chimney! The two teens just stood there, looking across at
the results for a timeless moment. Unfortunately, said moment
was broken when Ranma's common sense failed to re-boot with
the rest of his brain, and he quiped "Gifun? Someone's been
watching to many American..."
Just what Akane had been watching to much of went
unproclaimed as Akane landed a left hook that sent Ranma
straight down into the koi pond.
* * * * * * * * *
The meal which followed managed to surpass even that
first meal with the Saotome's for surreality; for once Ranma
was not shoveling food into his mouth as fast as inhumanly
possible. He consumed his food with a speed no faster than
any other person might, looking over at Akane with a gaze that
was an equal mix of surprise, pride, and admiration. Genma
took this as a sign that his son was not paying attention, but
his attempts at Ranma's food were, if anything, even less
successful than ever before. Which meant that there was
something Ranma knew that Nabiki didn't; a situation she found
less than tolerable. By exercising considerable restraint,
she managed to hold out until dinner was almost over... no
need to seem too interested, after all.
In fact, best to use an oblique approach... "I don't
suppose you have that $5000 yen I loaned you the other week?"
Ranma's reddening face and downcast expression told her
that she'd hooked him again. "Ah, er... no," he mumbled,
sinking down low before muttering;
"isupposeyouwantmetoposeagaintopayitoff."
"Well, I suppose that is possible. But, since I'm
feeling generous, I'll forgive this particular debt if you'll
just tell me what you're feeling so smug about."
"Aww, its nothing major; Akane managed a chi blast just
before dinner." The silence resulting from the collective
face fault following that pronouncement was quickly banished
by chaos as Genma and Soun began dancing together in
excitement while Kasumi and Nabiki pelted questions at Ranma.
"Geez, why is everyone making such a big deal about
this?" Ranma finally demanded, managing to break through the
hubbub. "Sure, it's great, but Akane's always been pretty
good. It was really only a matter of time. Besides, how is
it my fault that the one emotion she feels strongest is
righteous indignation?"
Causing everyone to face fault again, except for Akane
who, rather predictably, hit Ranma with a mallet...
* * * * * * * *
Ranma and Akane were coming back down the stairs with
their schoolwork when they heard the telltale sounds of their
fathers talking to a visitor. Since in the past this had
usually meant some kind of trouble for either one or both of
them, this aroused both curiosity and caution. As they
quietly made their way down the hall to the family room, the
visitor's voice became clear; causing them to look at each
other with concern. What was he doing here? In silent
agreement, they started to eavesdrop on the conversation.
"The why is easy enough, Tendo-san. I do recall
mentioning that I was a school teacher, correct?"
"Yes..."
"I don't remember if I said where, but the where is here.
Furinkan, to be specific."
"Ah! Indeed, much becomes apparent."
"Indeed, Saotome-san. Given the general level of ability
of the more... energetic of the student body, I am seeking
lessons to... improve my chances of surviving the year."
"Hrrrm. I must admit some trepidation, Thunders-san. To
be honest, teaching reminds me most painfully of my wife..."
Soun trailed off into the sort of silence that the teens knew
was a full blown hysterics attack just waiting for a trigger.
"However, I believe we might have a solution, Tendo. You
see, Thunders-san, we hope our children will take over the
dojo in time. If you don't have any objections due to their
age, I believe we can accommodate your request?"
"That would be most acceptable, Saotome-san."
Ranma and Akane exchanged a worried glance. Knowing
their fathers, this could just as easily be yet another plan
to help 'encourage' them... However, the sounds of someone
standing put that thought on hold, causing them to step out
into the doorway to avoid being caught.
"Daijobou, Thunders-sensei. We were not expecting to see
you here. Are we in some sort of trouble?" the two asked,
feigning innocence.
"No, not at all. Rather, I have come seeking lessons in
the art."
Soun's gaze cycled quickly between Thunders, Ranma, and
Akane several times before the words finally came. "Sensei?
You never mentioned our children were your students..."
"You never asked, Tendo-san."
Genma burst into laughter at that. "He has a point! We
didn't ask! Still, this won't be a problem for you?"
"Not at all, Saotome-san. In fact, one could say that my
close exposure to Ranma and Akane has given me a most...
unique appreciation of their level of skill."
With Ranma stood rooted to the spot by the sinking
feeling in his mid-section; it was Akane who seized on the one
straw that might get them out of this situation. "Father?
Shouldn't we at least determine his level of ability before
accepting him as a student?"
"Hmm, your daughter does have a point, Tendo-san.
Perhaps I should withdraw with them to the dojo?"
"Yes, yes, by all means... But I'm certain that we'll be
able to conclude this deal successfully..."
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