Author's note: This is yet another "Yet Another Alternate History" fic series, this one base on the premise that anyone with the curse of Jusenkyo actually *becomes* the creature or being they are in their cursed forms. What happened in part one: Ranma and Genma arrived on the Tendo's doorstep in their cursed forms: Genma, a big dumb panda that likes to sleep, and Ranma, a sweet and shy teenage girl. Eventually their curses are revealed, but not before Akane accidentally saw Ranma naked in the bath. (Enough review, now get on with it!) "All rights to Ranma 1/2 and its characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. My use is intended solely for the purpose of fan entertainment, and no profit is to be derived from this story's posting to the Internet or any other medium. If it becomes the case where this story's existence violates copyright, the story is to be deleted, destroyed, or removed from all sources unless permission from RT is given." ====================================================================== Ranma 1/2 : Half and half Part 2: "School is no place for perverts!" ====================================================================== It was a cool morning, but not so cold as to force Akane to wear more than a shirt and shorts on her morning jog. She ran quickly through the streets of the neighborhood, saying hello to everyone out as early as she was. Soon enough she turned the corner toward home, and entered the gate to the yard. She quickly turned back and ran out when faced with what could only be loosely called a sparring session. "What's *your* problem, old man? Didn't sleep enough last night? Nyaah!" Ranma leapt away from his father's attacks, jumping around the tree the pool, the covered walkway to the dojo, all the while evading Genma's attacks. "Stay still, boy! I'll teach you some manners! You - hmph! - you should respect your elders!" "Why, you need me to take it easy on you, old man? Ha ha ha!" Ranma dodged a sweeping kick from his father by jumping up, then bouncing off his father's head to the other side of the pond. Seeing an opportunity, Genma used a nearby pot to splash Ranma as he landed, now unable to avoid the water. "Aah!" she cried, "That's cold, father!" "So! A true martial artist doesn't fear the elements, only his own nature. Now to finish you!" With that, Genma leapt to the attack, jumping right at a shivering Ranma-chan who simply stood like a deer caught in the headlights. Akane saw the attack coming and knew Ranma-chan wouldn't be able to move in time, so she ran forward and sent Genma flying onto the veranda. Ignoring the now fallen man, Akane tended to the shaking girl. "Ranma! Are you alright?" Ranma still shivered and shook her head no as Akane led her back into the house. "Akane! Ranma and I are not finished. I won't let him cower out of a training session like that." "Mr. Saotome, let's just get Ranma changed and warm, then you can continue, okay?" Akane knew Genma had no intention of waiting had she not been there, nor was Ranma in any condition to fight right now. Since it was getting on towards time for school, this seemed to her like a good time to end the sparring session. "Come in, everyone, breakfast," called Kasumi. Everyone sat around the table for the first proper meal together with both families. Kasumi sat with her father, their backs to the kitchen, Nabiki to the left of them, Akane and a still wet Ranma-chan opposite, and Genma alone to the right. "So, Ranma, are you looking forward to your first day of school in Nerima?" "School, Kasumi?" said Ranma-chan, swallowing quickly. "Must I?" "Of course, Ranma, it's not like you don't need it," added Akane. "But I haven't gone in a while..." she said meekly, tailing off. "All the more reason to go, Ranma dear" Kasumi smiled to her. Ranma-chan looked back at Kasumi, and felt Akane gave her an encourging hand on the elbow. "Don't worry, Ranma, we'll be in the same class, so we can help each other." "Okay." Ranma said quietly, finally smiling and finishing off her rice. Soun sat with a smile on his face, happy to see the two got along as fiancees; Nabiki sat quietly, considering the value of the situation and whether she could make a profit; Genma just sat, eating his breakfast with an intensity that almost broke the bowl he held in his hand. ***** "Aw, jeez, Akane, they're not gonna make me wear a uniform, are they? It's bad enough I don't have a choice about going," whined Ranma as they walked to the school, "I mean, what good is school anyway? I'm a martial artist." "Well, if you want to go to college, Ranma, you don't really have a choice. I don't know about you, but I don't plan on just being some man's housewife." The two walked alongside the canal, headed toward the school with plenty of time to spare. "Yeah, right, Akane, like anybody wo-" <*SPLASH*> "Oh no," Ranma-chan said quietly. "I'm doomed, I can't go to school like this. Akane, you go on ahead, I'll go home and change." "Don't worry, Ranma, there's somewhere nearby we can get hot water. Come on!" Akane began to run ahead, and Ranma-chan, not wanting to be stranded or forced to walk to school, followed. Soon enough they came to a clinic, the sign saying "Dr. Ono Tofu, chiropractor and GP." Akane still led the way inside, nearly dragging Ranma-chan along with her. "Wait here, Ranma, I'll go get you some hot water," called Akane. Ranma waited there just inside the door, hands folded together and standing quietly as she looked around. "Pardon me!" called a voice, and Ranma-chan turned to see who it was. She screamed in horror at the sight of a skeleton waving hello, her fear preventing her from noticing the man standing behind the bones. Ranma had jumped onto the door out of fear and near tears, which the man quickly noticed. "Oh, I'm sorry miss, I didn't mean to scare you, that was just meant as joke," he said, helping her down from the door. "Hi, I'm Dr. Tofu. Is there anything I can help you with?" "We-e-ll," said Ranma-chan, still shivering from the shock as much as the cold water, "I'm just waiting for a friend to bring some...hot...water." Ranma looked up at the smiling man who was gently holding her hand; his warm face made her smile too. Akane returned shortly with a kettle, ready to help Ranma get back to normal. "Here you go, Ranma, one pot of wa- oh, hello Dr. Tofu!" Akane said, a slight blush crossing her face. "How are you today?" "I'm fine, Akane, how are you, no new injuries, I hope?" "N-no sir," she stammered, first looking at the ground, then looking up into his face. "So, what's the hot water for, Akane?" "Ah - oh! Ranma, my new friend, has a bit of a problem..." ***** The two left the clinic in a hurry after a brief explanation and great surprise of the doctor. Ranma and Akane ran through the streets towards the school, hoping they could make it in time to beat the bell. "So he's the family doctor, huh?" Ranma said. "Yes, he always makes it better whenever I get hurt." "You like him, huh?" "Sure, he's a great doctor, Ranma?" Akane said. "You know what I mean Akane, you're...'sweet' on him," Ranma grinned. "Wh-what are you talking about??!" "Come on, Akane, I saw the way you were looking at him. I don't have much experience chasing girls, but even I can tell you've got a thing for him." "Oh really? You seemed to be drooling a bit yourself," she said with a smirk, causing Ranma to nearly lose his balance. He jumped down to the road, running beside her and his face bright red. "Hey! I was in my girl form!" Ranma was clearly flustered at her comments, saying "I'm not a pervert, you know! There's no *way* I like guys!" "Well, neither do I!" she replied, sticking her tongue out at him. "HUH? What are you talking about, Akane?" "You'll find out soon enough, Ranma..." she said with a grim face as she outdistanced him. Ranma looked on in surprise as Akane ran on ahead; as she neared the gates of the school in front of him, a waiting throng of teenage boys gathered inside the school grounds. As Akane entered the yard, she waded into the group, throwing punches and kicks in all directions, gradually one and two at a time putting all the boys down for the count. Ranma jumped to the top of the wall to watch the melee. He was debating whether to jumped in and help his new friend, but she was doing quite well without him. In watching the fight, Ranma was surprised at how good she was, a natural, if a little slow. He couldn't help but smile as he jumped down from the fence to stand beside her. "Hey, Akane, you're real popular with the guys, aren't you?" smirked Ranma. "Popular is not the word, Ranma. They all want to date me." "Date you? They act more like a gang." Before Akane could respond to Ranma, a voice arose, carried on the wind from amongst a stand of trees; deep, older and in a poetic manner, it spoke: "None is so fortunate as I to witness the strength and beauty of one such as thee, but to be the one true love of a lady so fair as thee, Akane Tendo." "Oh, no," Akane said quietly, her face falling into her hand. "What's goin' on, Akane? Fight ain't over yet?" From behind the trees a teenage boy appeared wearing a hakuma and carrying a wooden sword. He strode out onto the path to where Akane stood, a look of further dismay on her face. "I can see by your expression that you welcome my presence, my love. I, too, await the coming battle and the chance to shower you with my affection once I defea-" "Akane, who is this blowhard?" Ranma's interruption didnot go down well with this new boy. The tip of the bokken was quickly pointing toward Ranma in a threatening gesture and he spoke. "Who are you to speak to the your betters in such a tone? Methinks it would be prudent to teach you two lessons, one for your disrespect toward me and one for your unwelcome advances toward Akane Tendo." "True love? Kuno, get a clue, I want nothing to do with you!" "Stand aside, my dear, I shall quickly dispatch this cretin so that we may be alone," Kuno said, pushing Akane behind himself as if to protect her. "I am Tatewaki Kuno, the rising young star of the fencing world, the bright light of the martial arts world. My enemies tremble at the very mention of my name. I am known throughout Japan as the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!" Clouds that were lighter that morning were now dark and threatening; just as Kuno finished his speech, a lightning strike came from the sky and struck down a few miles away in Nerima. "Yeah, well I'm Ranma Saotome of the Anything-Goes-School-Of -" <*klunk*> "I've had enough! Ranma, hurry or you'll be late for class!" Akane shouted to him as she ran for the school doors. At first Ranma just stood there, looking at Kuno's prone form with the clear mark of a mallet on his head, but quickly followed Akane as soon as he realized that rain was beginning to fall. "Akane, you didn't have to interfere, you know, I could've taken him," Ranma said as he caught her; he was grateful that at least he hadn't felt more than a few drops of rain. "I didn't do it for you, Ranma, I don't want to be late! The teacher makes you spend the rest of the half day holding water buckets, something *I* don't like doing, though I don't know about you." The two barely made it into class as the bell rang, receiving a dirty look from the teacher, but they took their seats without incident. From Akane's seat she could see out the window to the front gate and saw that Kuno had recovered or been helped up; whichever it was, Akane hoped that it was the end of Kuno for that day. ***** Even though he arrived in the classroom a full half hour late, Tatewaki sat in his seat without a reprimand from his teacher. Nabiki, who had seen the events of the morning's battle, wrote a quick note and passed it to her classmate, her mind swirling with possibilities. "I see your technique needs a little work, Kuno-baby. Wasn't quite your usual performance outside today." "Undoubtedly someone working for that cowardly cur struck me from behind; an honorable warrior such as I would have no need for assassins or conspirators." "Actually, Kuno-baby, it was Akane that hit you." "Akane, you say? Then mayhaps in her exuberance and joy at seeing me as her champion, her affections took the better of me." "Whatever you say. Oh, as for Ranma, here's the scoop on him: His Daddy and mine are old friends. They'll be staying at the dojo; our fathers decided he's going to marry Akane." Kuno's reply was not written this time; no amount of ink could have expressed his dismay at hearing this. "HE'S HER...FIANCEE?!?!! NO!!! NOT RANMA!" In his fury and shock Tatewaki had stood and spoken his displeasure so loud that the class simply stopped until the teacher spoke. "Kuno! Go stand in the hall!" A piece of chalk flew and caught Kuno squarely on the forehead, quickly garnering his attention. "Yes, sir." Kuno said quietly. ***** Akane was shaking her head, wondering what she had gotten herself into, becoming friends with a baka like Ranma. It was not even 10:00AM on his first day and Ranma was already standing in the hall holding buckets. "What a dolt. Falling asleep in class," she fumed. Out in the hall, Ranma stood quietly, holding the buckets in different positions, trying to turn the punishment into a martial arts training session; certainly, avoiding the cold water helped his contentration. Ranma stood on his head with both buckets balanced on the soles of his feet, when from down the hall he saw the figure of Tatewaki Kuno carrying buckets of his own. Always prepared for any threat, Ranma was quickly upright and ready to face Kuno. "Ranma Saotome, I curse the day you were born! How dare you think you can be an interloper and come between me and my beloved Akane Tendo! I cannot tolerate the thought of you being her fiance!" Ranma wore a look of panic, trying to signal Kuno to shush himself, but it was too late. The door to Ranma's class was open, students looking out and yelling their surprise at this news. Ranma could only imagine what was happening to Akane inside. Kuno flung one of his pails at Ranma which was redirected back at him; Kuno promptly cut it into halves as Ranma jumped overhead and landed further down the hall. "This is no place to fight, Kuno. If you want a fight, follow me," said Ranma, now running down the school halls. "That I shall," exclaimed Kuno with no hesitation in his voice. As the two ran down the hall Ranma's fellow classmate followed, including a flustered Akane being pestered by her friends. Ranma soon came upon an open window and decided it was a good enough place to get outside. "Here's a nice shortcut," he said jumping through it into the air. "I follow, Saotome," shouted Kuno as he jumped through, but his tone changed to one of "AAAIIIGGGHHHH!!!" as he realized it was the third floor he had jumped from. Thankfully for Kuno, the school swimming pool was below. Now it was Ranma's turn to be distressed, because he realized there was cold water below him and no way to avoid it. Akane reached the window where Ranma and Kuno had jumped from and knew what was about to happen. Leaving her friends behind, still battering her with questions, she ran downstairs to find hot water. Outside, Ranma braced himself for the change, trying to think of a way to get out of this situation without his secret being revealed. Ranma broke the surface of the water, followed by Kuno less than a second later; Ranma-chan's gender change, however, caused her to panic and her lead time quickly evaporated. As she swam to the surface and to the edge, Ranma-chan was grabbed by Kuno who had sought to prevent his opponent from getting away. Kuno latched onto Ranma, expecting to battle the cur, Saotome. He was shocked to find he had touched the breasts of a girl; the girl, upon feeling Kuno's touch, stuggled and began flailing at Kuno who now let go. In his surprise at these events, Kuno merely swam to the surface to see the retreating form of a girl exit the pool in tears. It was only when he could no longer breathe did he realize he had stopped swimming and had sunk to the bottom of the pool. ***** Akane was carrying a kettle of hot water and searching the school grounds for Ranma, hoping she hadn't run far. Akane soon found her by following Ranma-chan's sobs emanating from a nearby tree. Circling the tree, Akane found Ranma-chan sitting against the trunk rubbing her eyes and sobbing heavily. Akane put down the kettle and knelt beside her friend, putting a hand on her shoulder. Ranma-chan looked up to see Akane and threw her arms around the girl. "What happened, Ranma? What did Kuno do to you?" "H-he," Ranma choked as she tried to speak, "He touched me! He molested me!" Ranma broke down again, burying her head in Akane's chest." "It's alright, Ranma, it's alright. I'll fix you up so we can go back to class." Akane held the redhead as she contemplated what to do. She soon made up her mind as she heard the voice of an approaching person. "Ah, my love, Akane! Have you seen that honorless cur, Ranma Saotome? Cowards die so many times before their deaths." Akane was fuming as she stood up from Ranma, looking at Kuno with an intense anger on her face. "Kuno, you baka! Is fighting and dating all you think about? You hurt my friend, don't you care at all about anyone feelings but your own?" "Fear not, Akane, I care greatly about you or any fair maiden. I would not stoop to such a cowardly act against anyone." "You don't get it, do you, Kuno? You *hurt* her, you touched her without permission. She didn't like it, I don't like it, nobody likes it." "Come, Akane, surely it must have been the doing of Saotome, leaving me to think it was he in the pool and leading me to an unfortunate incident." "You just don't get it, do you Kuno?" Akane thought to herself. She grabbed the kettle just as Ranma-chan had gotten hold of herself and bashed Kuno over the head with it, spilling the water all over the ground. Akane then used Kuno's bokken on him, in the process leaving him in a such a state that not even one such so inured to pain as he could withstand it. A "bloody pulp" would be an accurate term to describe Kuno when Akane had finished with him. Ranma-chan sat shaking upon seeing the violence Akane had perpetrated, only coming out of it when Akane touched Ranma-chan's elbow. "C'mon, Ranma, let's go home." Ranma was still in shock, but stood and walked with Akane who helped her stay balanced. ***** In the infirmary, Nabiki Tendo sat watching over her classmate with a look of concern, surprised at the level of injury her little sister had caused to him. The damage that covered Tatewaki Kuno's body was so bad it might have killed other men, but he seemed to be surviving; he definitely would be going to the hospital, but not for that long, which was good news for Nabiki's pocketbook. "Kuno-baby, you have got to work on your technique. I've never seen you lose this badly." Thankfully for him, Kuno was out cold and feeling no pain. As the ambulance attendants came in and took away Kuno, Nabiki sat thinking about whether there was any profit in Ranma's appearance. Just by first impressions, it didn't look likely, and that was bad for business. She needed to do something about this. ====================================================================== E N D Part 2 ====================================================================== C&C welcome at: shunsuke@mailcity.com www.fortunecity.com/victorian/university/5/index.htm www.fortunecity.com/victorian/university/5/a-fanfic.htm