Ranma sat in the nurse's office watching over his neo-cousin. As he watched the unconscious girl he was deep in thought. He had never seen, or even heard of the girl before a couple hours ago, yet why did he feel such a deep need to protect her? Why did he feel such a strong kinship with her?
He knew that he was here as a result of Nabiki's screw-up. He'd been swapped with a character from one of her manga, but it wasn't one he was familiar with. Judging from the girls' uniforms and his neo-cousin's lack of modesty, it appeared to be somewhat ecchi. It would have gotten him pounded by Akane had he been caught reading it.
It was confusing really. Ranma was still who he had always been. He could remember his life as Ranma Saotome, heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes as well as all the events that had shaped him. Only now he had a whole other lifetime of memories—memories belonging to the person he replaced—that seemed just as real.
The person had been better educated and more levelheaded than Ranma, and having his experiences was slowly changing Ranma's perceptions. He was already wondering why he put up with some of the crap in Nerima that he had. But the thing that really excited Ranma was that he was getting a much better understanding of all those distressing social situations that had previously so mystified him.
Suddenly, it occurred to him; Ranma Shuyu had no fiancées. Ranma felt as if a massive weight left his shoulders and he began to grin. Unless someone figured out how to bring him back, he was stuck here, and as long as he was stuck here, he could try stuff that he always wanted to do...like date girls for the fun of it. Armed with his new social understanding, he resolved to do just that. Hell, if what he suspected was the case here, he might even get laid with no strings attached.
Ranma froze and blinked. That had been an unfamiliar thought. Sure, he was interested in girls, but he had never actively thought about getting laid before. In fact, he had actively avoided thinking about such things since they would result in Very Bad Things™ happening to him.
However, there was a down side to all this. The political situation he was in the middle of was just disturbing. Ranma had never been one to be involved in school politics. He just didn't care normally. He was pleased that this Shuyu-guy also tried to avoid getting caught up in them. The idea of high school students beating each other to death reenacting events from 1800 years ago was incomprehensibly ludicrous to Ranma, but it seemed that everyone here took it very seriously.
Ranma was realistic enough to realize that he had about a snowball's chance in a blast furnace of keeping out of things, especially if Hakufu's little performance earlier was any indication. Her lack of restraint alone would probably necessitate him kicking a few asses to protect her and that would turn unwanted attention on him. Oh well, at least he liked fighting more than the one he replaced seemed to.
A small distressed moan drew his attention outward again as Hakufu stirred in her sleep.
"Saji," Gakushu rumbled as he spotted the one in question leaning against the wall.
"You're normally a lot more restrained, Gak-chan," Saji commented. "Why'd you pick a fight with that girl?"
"Heh, I was just testing her," Gakushu informed his urbane compatriot. "I thought she might be..."
"You mean the fighter that came from the West," Saji finished as Gakushu trailed off. "The one who ruled over Hwang Ho and is called the Haou."
"It is merely an old legend. I'm ware of this, but..." Gakushu trailed off again.
"But still, you're uneasy," Saji again finished Gakushu's unspoken thought with a smooth wink. "By the way, I wonder if your actions were permitted by En-chan?"
"Do whatever you'd like," Gakushu bristled as he continued on down the hall. "You're just Enjutsu's lapdog."
However, the muscular fighter didn't take more than a few steps before a sharp pain coursed through his body and his knees buckled under him. Gakushu feel to the floor, grunting in pain.
"It's affecting my knees right now," he gasped. "It can't be!"
"What's wrong, Gak-chan?" Saji asked with an amused smirk.
Suddenly, Gakushu remembered the kick the girl had hit him with.
"This is...the Naikou...Shusashou!" he breathed. "Why? How could a girl like her...?"
"Well, I guess her name, Sonsaku, really means something," Saji supplied smoothly.
"Wait! What name did you just say, Saji?" Gakushu demanded.
Saji pulled a magatama from his pocket. He was jade green and someone had written on it with a fine-tipped marker.
"Sonsaku...Hakufu...?" Gakushu read. "It can't be."
"So I guess he's come back. Ya think?" Saji smirked.
"Hakufu?"
"Hakufu?"
"Hakufu!"
Suddenly Hakufu's emerald green eyes popped open. Seeing the figure looming over her she lunged for it, throwing her arms around the person in a tight hug.
"I'm so sorry!" Hakufu wailed. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Mom! Please forgive me! I didn't mean to loose it! Please don't spank me with a ruler...or give me more lessons to take...and for god's sake don't tie me up and throw me in a dark place!"
"Hey! What are you talking about?" Ranma asked, shuddering at the mention of being tied up and thrown into dark places.
"Huh? What?" Hakufu blinked, letting go of the alarmed figure she had grabbed thinking it was her mother there to punish her. "Ranma?"
"What gives?" Ranma demanded. "How come you were down there picking a fight on your first day?"
"But...Mom told me to beat up at least thirty students on my first day in order to control the school!" Hakufu explained. "Who'd have thought it'd be game over by my fifth opponent. If I was at the arcade I could at least put in one more coin, so I feel like I'm having indigestion. No, that's not it. What was the word? Oh wait, I know! Incomplete combustion! Yeah that's the word."
"You're mom told you..." Ranma blinked. His new memories supplied him with information about his new aunt and it did seem like something the woman would do.
"Damn it!" Hakufu announced. "That dumb, grubby, headband-guy!" At first, Ranma wondered how Ryoga got here, but then he realized that Gakushu wore a headband. "I demand a rematch! If my kick won't work, I'll use my fists!"
"And you'll still get your ass kicked, Stupid," Ranma laughed.
"Hey! No one ever called me stupid! Not even my mom!" Hakufu protested before turning sheepish. "Er...actually, she only calls me that every day..."
"Gakushu, the guy that beat you is one of Big Four of Nanyo Academy," Ranma explained, using his new memories. "You don't have a chance against him from what I saw. And even if you did beat him, you’d only end up with the whole school after you."
"It excites me!" Hakufu retorted. "My fighting spirit is starting to burn! I'm so glad I came here! I wasn't allowed to fight where I was before so these things excite me!"
Ranma was taken aback by his cousin's enthusiasm. It was just bizarre, like she was getting turned on by the idea of fighting. It was also a bit distracting the way she was excitedly squirming around, flashing him her panties and nearly popping out of her dress. She was certainly well-built and even more generously endowed than Shampoo...Ranma consciously reminded himself that she was supposed to be his cousin.
"Hakufu," Ranma sighed.
"What now?" Hakufu asked, pausing in her excited thrashing.
"Why did you come here?" Ranma asked. "Don't you know what's going on?"
"Because my mom told me to," Hakufu shrugged. "I must absolutely obey my mom's orders, that is, if I don't wanna get killed."
"Is that all she told you?" Ranma probed. Aunt Goei sounded like a real character.
"She said...to conquer the country!" Hakufu announced.
"Great," Ranma said, face-palming. So much for staying out of things.
"What? Why're you looking so down?" Hakufu asked, getting up off the bed. "The point is, I have to fight with people that have that strange bead and become number one, right? So that's why I gotta keep fighting stronger and stronger people!"
"No, this isn't what you think it is!" Ranma snapped, removing the white magatama from his left earlobe. "This isn't just some school rivalry where everyone is fighting to find out who's the best fighter! This is... This is...more like a war. People are fighting each other to the death here. All because of these stupid beads."
"Ahhh! Where is it? I can't find it! I completely forgot about my sacred bead!" Hakufu said flying into a panic and again flashing her panties to Ranma as she flipped up her dress, searching for the missing magatama.
"You lost it?" Ranma asked.
"What am I gonna do? Mom told me to keep it on me at all times! Now she's gonna punish me again!" Hakufu wailed. Suddenly, she looked up at Ranma with big glistening green eyes and an uber-cute expression on her face. "Yours!" she exclaimed, tackling Ranma and knocking him over while he was still gaping at her spastic behavior. "Gimme yours!"
"Hey, knock it off!" Ranma protested, jerking his bead away from her grasping hands.
"Why won't you give me yours, Ranma?" she demanded, still trying to grab the bead. "Come on, give it to me! Ranma, give it to me now!"
"No! Stop it! Get off!" Ranma protested.
Suddenly the door opened.
"Hey there!" a smooth voice greeted, causing the cousins to freeze and look over.
"Special delivery," Saji announced.
"Saji?" Ranma's memory supplied as Hakufu sat up, allowing Ranma to get out from under her. He turned to Hakufu and explained who he was. "This guy is Saji Genpou. He's also one of the Big Four."
"Hah," Hakufu giggled. "He's the underwear salesman I met."
"I've got a little gift for you," Saji drawled as he tossed Hakufu her magatama.
"Hey, this is my sacred bead," Hakufu chirped, looking down into her cleavage and remembering the smooth, dark blond-haired boy groping her. Her eyes narrowed as she looked back at him. "You stole it, huh?"
"No, not at all," Saji protested. You rolled into me and almost dropped it. I was just keeping it safe for you."
Hakufu looked over at Ranma with an expression that made it clear she wasn't buying it. Ranma blinked when she looked back at Saji with a big grin.
"Really! Thanks!" she chirped happily. "Now Mom won't have to beat me! Because of you, I was almost punished very harshly by my mom. She can be so harsh!"
"Well, uh, now I feel a bit awkward..." Saji mumbled. "You should treat it better. It's proof that you're a fighter."
Ranma shot a look at Saji.
"The legendary Haou is here now," Saji said, looking at Ranma.
"And your point is?" Ranma asked.
"Well, you know me," Saji shrugged. "I'm not really big on conflict so I don't really care who she is...but, there are others out there that think differently. Watch your back, Ranma Shuyu."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ranma demanded, bristling.
"Isn't it your fate since birth to protect that girl?" Saji inquired, stepping over into Ranma's personal space.
Ranma wanted to snort and deny it. It had only been his fate since about three hours ago, but he kept his mouth shut.
"This constant acting like a mere weakling is already reaching its limit," Saji informed Ranma. "You're actually quite a skilled fighter. Am I right?"
"So you want me to quit sandbagging, huh?" Ranma snorted. "So do you wanna just hand over leadership of the school now? Or do you wanna wait until I crush every asshole that comes after my cousin? And by the way, that's not fate, or destiny. It's the fact that nobody messes with my family."
Saji backed up a step and blinked at the unexpected arrogance Ranma was hitting him with. It seemed quite uncharacteristic of the boy he thought he'd had figured out.
"Personally, I'd just as soon not get involved with a bunch of weak-minded idiots trying to kill each other, but if you jerks come after my family, all bets are off," Ranma said icily.
"Whoa, easy there," Saji backpedaled, putting his hands up. "I was just passing on a friendly warning."
"Whatever," Ranma shrugged. "Just don't mistake my contempt for weakness."
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(Posted Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:22)
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