“Mum was a little steamed when I ‘waltzed in’ at 5:30. Apparently, she finished work early yesterday so she could take me out for a little Mother/Daughter bonding.”
Jane smirked slightly. “Nothing worse than trying to drop a bombshell on someone, only to find your victim MIA.”
Daria nodded. “I just told her I was out with friends and she dropped the subject.” She smirked up at Jane. “Oh, and the two of you are coming around for dinner tomorrow night. No excuses.”
Jane stared down at the brunette in shock before lunging for her. “Curse you, Morgendorffer!”
Ranma swayed with her violent motions. “Hey, stop that!” The irate artist complied, huffing and crossing her arms sulkily while pointedly looking away from her new amiga. The man of the group looked up as much as he was able. “Why do I have to carry you all the way to school, anyway?”
The Lane on his shoulders clicked her tongue and sighed in mock exasperation. “It wouldn’t really be appropriate to give Daria a piggyback ride while she’s wearing that skirt, so it’s my turn today.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Don’t talk back, slave! Now mush! Mush!” She started nudging him in the chest with her boots and tugging on his pigtail, urging him onwards.
“Alright already, just stop pulling on my hair!” Ranma sighed and turned to Daria. “Should I bring anything?”
“No, that won’t be necessary. You don’t have a problem with lasagne, do you?”
“…I don’t think so.” He slipped a folded sheet of paper from his pocket and unfolded it. “On a different topic, what classes do you have today? I’ve got English, P.E., Economics, then Maths. That’s not too bad.”
Jane and Daria checked their own schedules. “Hey, looks like we’re in all the same classes. Weird.”
Daria sighed. “Physical education. Joy.”
The youngest Lane leaned down and patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. Sure, the phys-ed teacher may be a psychobitch, and the jocks are a pain in the ass, but you know what they always say; whatever doesn’t kill you…“
Daria finished dryly. “Can leave you scarred and crippled for life.”
Jane made warding motions. “Whoa, whoa! Watch where you’re aiming that optimism!” She grinned cheekily. “Tell you what; tomorrow, you wear some pants, and I’ll let you ride my lackey here to school. I guarantee you’ll feel better.”
Ranma frowned up a little, then smirked evilly. *CHOMP!*
“YAAAHH! Get off, you animal! Git! Git!” Desperate to pry his teeth loose, Jane started kicking her legs and tugging on his pigtail, but all she managed to do was draw muffled laughter from her mount as he swayed down the road.
Trailing slightly behind them, Daria couldn’t stop the small smile from spreading across her face as she jogged slightly to catch up.
Dressed in a borrowed P.E. uniform, Daria smirked at the bruise and faint teeth marks still visible on Jane’s pale skin. “Interesting bruise you’ve got there.”
Jane scowled. “Bite m…Get bent, Daria.”
Ms Morris blowing her whistle sharply cut off Daria’s reply. “Alright girls, two laps around the football field, and the last five back here are giving me ten sit-ups.”
Jane grinned and Daria groaned as the girls started off. “Damn karma.”
The runner of the duo chuckled. “And if there’s any kind of justice in the Universe, Ranma is suffering for his crimes, too.”
Mack, being both a friend of the new guy and the smartest player on the team, had been assigned the task of explaining football to Ranma as they ran laps around the field. “The general goal is to get the football from one end of the field to the other, scoring points for a touchdown, carrying the ball into the end zone, or a field goal, kicking the ball over the goal posts. There are two ways to get the ball down the field; either the Quarterback, Kevin, in this case, receives the ball and either passes it along or runs it up the field, or Kevin receives it, backs up a bit, then throws it to a receiver who made it upfield. You following so far?”
“I guess.”
“The defensive linemen, the guys lined up in the middle, try to stop the ball from getting upfield, and the offensive linemen do what they can to help the ball get upfield.”
Coach Gibbs called out from the centre of the field. “MacKenzie, Saotome! Bring it in!”
As the two jogged to the rest of the guys, Mack grinned reassuringly. “Don’t worry about it, you’ll catch on quick enough.”
Ranma sighed. “Maybe.”
Gibbs looked up. “Alright everybody, we’re going to play a quick pick-up game of football. Mack, Kevin, you’ll captain the teams.”
Kevin grinned and pumped his fist in the air. “Alright!”
“You can alternate choosing players for your teams. Mack, you get first p-“
“Ranma.”
Gibbs blinked, then looked between the Asian and African-American students. “…Ok…”
Ranma shifted uncomfortably in his pads and jersey. “…I feel so stupid in this outfit.”
A scrawny redhead in a too-large uniform nodded in agreement, his helmet sliding all over his head. “Indeed. This is hardly the sport of gentlemen.”
Mack clapped his hands, drawing their attention. “Alright gentlemen, simple plan; I’ll play Quarterback, you throw me the ball, I hand it to Ranma, and Ranma runs it up the field. Any questions?”
Some of the more experienced players looked at each other dubiously before one of them raised a hand. “Has ‘Ranma’ ever played football before?”
“Probably not. Any more questions? No? Good. Everybody into position.” As the team broke out of the huddle, Mack grabbed Ranma’s arm. “Remember; no punching or kicking, just shove aside or knock down anyone that gets in the way.”
Ranma nodded. “Got it.” He moved towards the right-hand side of the field, directly across from Mack and slightly behind the runty redhead.
One of the massive players for Kevin’s team pointed at the small figure in front of Ranma and shouted. “I’m gonna crush you inta tha’ ground, Upchuck!” This proclamation drew shivers from ‘Upchuck’ and snickers from the rest of the team.
“Hike!”
Ranma’s head whipped back to the centre of the field in time to see Mack hurl the ball in his direction. He casually snatched the ball from the air and shot forward, weaved past Upchuck, and clotheslined the big-mouthed defender intending to pulp the lecherous teen. A few slippery moves later, and Ranma had a clear path to the end zone.
Gibbs blew his whistle. *WHEEEEEPP!* “Touchdown! Nice moves, Saotome!”
Mack jogged up, grinning. “See? Nothing to it!”
Ranma frowned, looking at the ball, then down the field. “That’s it?”
“Normally there’s a bit more strategy, but yeah, that’s it. Now let’s go; we’re on defence now.”
In the locker rooms, Mack frowned as he pulled on his shirt. “You sure you wont join the school team?”
Ranma finishing tying his shoelaces and stood up. “Yeah, I’m sure; it’s just not my thing. Sorry if I disappointed you.”
Mack’s shoulders slumped slightly as he nodded. “That’s alright. I guess the last thing a recovering amnesic needs is repeated blows to the head. You going to be in your usual spot at lunch?”
“I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t.”
“Great. Jodie’s been wanting to talk to you about your ‘Ki’, and she wants to see if Daria is interested in any extracurricular activities.”
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(Posted Mon, 09 May 2005 18:24)
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