[8:11 AM]
Ranma really didn't want to go to school while he was in the middle of saving the world. Maybe he could reason with the officer.
His first move was to put his hand behind his head. His second was to grin sheepishly at the officer. “Uh, I don't go to this school.”
What? It was the truth.
The smile remained on the truant officer's face. “What school do you attend then? I'll give you a ride since it's late.”
“Somewhere close to here,” the pigtailed boy evasively said.
The forced smile on the truant officer's face ticked. “Where?”
“...” His mouth opened and closed without a word leaving his lips. What could he say? Ranma suddenly pointed behind the truant officer and shouted, “Hey, some students are escaping.”
It wasn't just a stall tactic, there really were some students escaping the school yard. 3 of them, sneaking out while the truant officer was distracted. They immediately lost their cool and tried to dash away when he pointed...
Unfortunately, the idiot in front of him wasn't turning around.
“Where?” the officer repeated with narrowed eyes. The smile was straining now.
What the heck! Saving the world was serious business! Why couldn't this guy understand?! Thick people, the world was full of 'em. It was then that Ranma realized that he needed an escape plan.
He swiftly bent down and grabbed Orion around the midsection. “Look, a talking cat.” He called out, holding up the cat before he brought his mouth to the cat's ear. “Say something,” he whispered.
Orion stubbornly struggled and Ranma quickly squeezed the gray tomcat, like a plush toy, to keep him from escaping. “Say something,” he whispered once again.
“Meow,” Orion finally gasped out as he struggled to get air into his lungs.
Ranma suddenly flipped the cat around so that the two were facing each other. “You did that on purpose,” he accused.
Orion said and did nothing. But that cat smirk said volumes.
At about this time, the smile finally dropped from the officer's face. “Okay kid, fun's over. Let's go.” he said as he stepped forward menacingly.
Ranma took a few steps back before he paused. No, he couldn't run away. Not like this. His manliness would be called into question. For one brief instant, Ranma wondered whether he should throw the cat at the officer. Maybe the good for nothing would be useful and provide a distraction by scratching up the officer's face.
He decided to punch the wall instead, to scare the officer in place. It wasn't like he was scared or anything, but the gray cat was smarter than his pops.
...
...Okay, that was a bad comparison.
But there was something about the gray cat that screamed, 'screw with me and die.' Again, not that he was scared or anything, but he thought that the feline would have a better chance of pulling off an evil plan. He swiftly springboarded off of a large sign standing opposite the school.
The truant officer finally recovered from his surprise. “Hey! Stop!” he shouted as the giant billboard hid the fleeing student from view. He quickly unclipped his walkie talkie from his belt.
“We have a student fleeing from Maneki High School in a South-East direction. Requesting backup.” he looked at the damage to the wall. “We might need heavy equipment to bring him down.” He lowered the radio and chased after the runner.
The radio cackled for just a moment before a “What?!” came through loudly and clearly.
[8:32 AM]
As traffic lightened from the morning rush, cars were able to pass swiftly under the fairly large pedestrian bridge that allowed walkers to cross the extremely busy street without waiting for a traffic light.
Ranma briefly glanced around the noisy atmosphere before he gave the man behind him an annoyed look. “Yeah yeah,” he grumbled before he stuffed one hand into his pockets and shuffled up a set of concrete stairs. He was jostled several times as he traveled up one side of the heavily populated incline.
That idiot that was chasing him had been persistent. But it looks like he had finally lost him.
“Watch out,” a low voice suddenly warned.
Orion needn't have bothered, Ranma had already heard the clanks a few minutes ago. He thought it was construction, but when he reached the top of the stairs, he saw them, a trio of large bulky metal astronaut suits standing at the other side of the pedestrian bridge. It seemed like they were waiting for someone.
The everyday people gave the oversized suits a wide berth as they calmly passed by and went about their daily business.
“Are they looking for me?”
There was no reply. But he didn't have time to repeat his question, when two more clanks had him whirling around to see what was arriving from the rear. Another two bulky astronaut suits stood at the foot of the stairs that he had just left.
The loud tinny of a loudspeaker filled the air. “Surrender now truant, or we will detain you by force.”
One of the metal astronauts from the group of three took that as the signal to start stomping up the stairs. The bridge shook slightly with every step, telling Ranma just how heavy those tin cans could be.
The two exits to the bridge had been blocked off, and it looked like one of them was coming for him. For most normal students, there would be no escape.
But Ranma wasn't normal.
Again, he thought about throwing the cat, this time so that he could blend into the remaining crowd and sneak past. It had to be the cat's fault that they were able to track him.
A set of claws raking his skin made him reconsider.
As the bulky suit approached his spot, Ranma suddenly grinned. “Feh. Piece of cake. We'll lose these guys in no time.”
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(Posted Tue, 20 Nov 2007 04:23)
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