“School,” repeated Ranma, dully.
“Of course, Dear, school,” Delia Ketchum echoed. “You, know, the place of learning you love, oh, so well. No malingering now, Ash! If you’re fit to be up and about, you’re fit enough to go back to school.”
“Yeah, but…” he protested, and began counting the days on his fingers. How long had he been out?
“Butt me no buts, young man,” Delia retorted. “Have you forgotten that a Magic User must attend extra classes before school starts?”
“Uh, yeah, Mom,” Ranma replied with a bit of embarrassment and some relief. “It kinda slipped my mind.” Ah, so he wasn’t missing days from his calendar, he was just forgetting things. That was a relief, wasn’t it?
“You were hoping it slipped mine, more likely,” Delia accused with a smirk. “No such luck, Ash. Get moving. You’re not too late, so I’ll make waffles to start you on your way. But hurry!”
Ranma burst out of the house with a piece of half eaten waffle in his mouth, book bag slung over his shoulder, and an unhappy cheetah cub slung under his arm. Hypre wailed her displeasure then, and finally, burrowed into his chest and vanished. Ranma felt the claw pricks as she possessed him were a needless touch.
‘Stupid spirit cat, making me late,’ he grumbled as he dashed down the street and chewed his burnt waffle. Part of him was tempted to try channeling a little of her speed, but the side-effect dissuaded him.
That lasted until he noted how slowly his little legs were carrying him, and how quickly he was tiring. All of one block. Just one! It wasn’t anything unusual, but the past life memories of roof hopping crammed into his head highlighted the difference, and made him impatient.
Surely, he figured, just a little boost would not hurt. Just a little, just a touch, just… not too much.
There was a flash, a blur, and Ranma was … gone, … leaving a dust trail behind him.
‘Oh, yeah!’ Ranma exhaulted. He’d missed the sense of freedom as Ash; he’d been pretty much confined by his body. Running wasn’t quite the same as roof hopping, but there was the same feeling air rushing through his hair and the exhilaration of passing everyone by, leaving them in his dust. He was racing down the street, just having fun.
He wondered how much faster he could go. He was making pretty good speed, but he felt that could have goon faster a lifetime ago. But he was only channeling a small amount of speed magic and he knew he could go much faster. However, glimpses in shop windows as he raced passed dissuaded him from tapping more power. His body was a short and scrawny and male as ever, but his spiked hair had turned golden blond.
‘So much,’ Ranma thought as he tried to turn down the juice, ‘for using spirit animals to keep my morphic field from mutating.’
Then he remembered. Right, he was late for class. So, left, he turned and dashed towards the school.
‘Gee. I wonder what kind of classes I have to take?’ Ranma though as he slowed down to walked into the school. ‘You know, in all the excitement to become a magic user, you’d think I would have researched this better… but, no… So. Where do I go now?’
(Posted Thu, 12 Jul 2007 01:51)
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