Some might say my story began when my pop made that contract with mom, and I began my training. Some might say it started at Jusenkyo, and my life changed direction forever. Others would say it started when I fought pop through the Nerima streets over the Tendo engagement, or perhaps my arrival at the dojo itself.
No. That's not quite right. It began a little earlier than that for me. From your perspective, sure. It starts with a girl and a panda fighting in the street. But from my point of view, it started about a year before Jusenkyo ever happened. It started in middle school.
Me and pop had decided to settle in this one area, just outside the Furinkan district. Tomobiki, I think. It was a nice enough place, if you kept half an eye out for the odd sign of trouble and knew how to dodge it. I hear the high school was the place to avoid a couple of years before I arrived in the area, but that's another story altogether.
It began the day I started at the school. The teacher did the typical introduction, I stood at the front of the class and gave an introduction. "Good morning," I'd said. "My name is Ranma Saotome, and my primary interest is martial arts. My p- father and I are staying in the area for a few months before moving on in our training journey."
I'd been to many schools by this point, and introduced myself many times over the years. But right now, these students were all staring at me as if they could scarcely believe I was really there. It was a little bit creepy, but I didn't read too much into it. What did it matter, really. Probably just a case of "pick on the new kid." Well, if they tried that, they would quickly learn just how that went down whenever it was tried before.
I moved to an empty seat at the back, and the class collectively turned to watch me. I looked at the kid in front of me as I sat down, dead in the eyes. "What?" I asked.
"That's it!" he cried, throwing his hands up in the air as background chatter excitedly filled the air. "I must be dreaming! This explains why that Kimiko chick confessed to me on the way to school! No way would she be interested in a loser like me! Hahahaha! Someone pinch me or something so I can wake-"
The teacher hurled a piece of chalk at him. "Well, if you're dreaming, surely you won't mind standing out in the corridor! Any more interruptions?" There were not. "Very well then. Let's get on with class."
School was what school always is. Boring, repetitive and dull. Some of you probably think I typically sleep through class, but that's just not true. I'm no model student, but I just plain don't do that. The point is, odd looks from my fellow classmates aside, it was a pretty ordinary school day. Right up until gym.
So there we were, getting changed into our gym clothes. Shorts, shirts, nothing special. I whipped off my school shirt, and as I was reaching for the gym clothes... someone splashed me. With freezing cold water. I looked around the room, trying to place the jerk responsible, but it was just some clumsy kid with a bucket. What he was doing with the bucket, I couldn't figure out. But what I did know, was there was some suppressed laughter coming from the others in the locker room.
"You okay?" I asked while helping him up. He nodded in agreement before nervously putting the bucket down in the corner of the room. Guess he figured I'd hurt him a bit in retaliation or something.
One of the other boys spoke up then. Big lout. The kind that thinks he has a sense of humour, but is really as smart as a rock. You see one of them in every school. Anyway, he said something like "Was that cold enough for you, mister girly man?"
I didn't know how to respond to that. So I ignored him. He wasn't worth my time or energy. If he wants to start something physical, I'll end it. But not before then. Not getting into trouble on my first day. Not for this.
"You know," he went on. Continuing to speak was one of two mistakes he would make over the next few minutes. "It's great that you're so good at impressions, really. Heck, we're all impressed, aren't we?" He was walking towards me now. I could feel his battle aura. He was looking to assert dominance. "But there's no way you're really any kind of martial artist, pal. No matter what sort of shape you're in. This, for example, is what a punch is like!"
And then his fist hit the locker behind me. I casually pulled up my shorts, and examined his hand. "Well, nothing seems to be broken. You might want to sit out gym just to be sure." And then I left. He didn't bother me after that, and things settled down to something closer to normal school life.
But then, there came a fateful meeting. On that day, I would be forced to go face to face with someone that would appear in my life constantly from that day onwards. A force of nature, a friend, an enemy...
"Class, today we have a new student joining us. His name is Ryoga Hibiki."
A complete idiot.
The initial reaction through the classroom was a momentarily stunned silence, until one of the students raised his hand. "This is a joke, right?"
The teacher shot him a strange look. "No, of course it's not a joke. We have a new student by the name Ryoga Hibiki. Stop sniggering, Kouta or you'll be in the corridor for the rest of the morning! Anyway, the reason I'm telling you this now instead of having him introduce himself is because of a very unfortunate detail. His family has a rare genetic disorder, that deeply affects their sense of direction. Yes, Akio?"
"No really, this is a joke, right?"
"I should think not! This poor boy has been unable to find his way anywhere for his entire life! For this reason, while on school grounds I'm afraid it will be necessary for one of the students here to guide him around school grounds, and on occasion lead him home. Do we have any volunteers?"
Nobody was going to volunteer. I could feel it. They all kept glancing back at me as if there was a ten foot ghost about to devour the classroom. I felt sorry for the new arrival, as it seemed as though he'd be left without any friends at all.
So I raised my hand, and stood up. And in that moment, I would swear that the classroom temperature dropped a few degrees in an instant. Ryoga walked into the room, and did the normal introduction. He then went for one of the few vacated seats, and after being subtly redirected by various students on the way, he got there. He was now sitting to my immediate right, and the others around us all simultaneously moved their seats away. Couldn't tell you why. He seemed nice enough, if a bit shy. No, shy isn't quite right... Depressed? I don't know.
Lunchtime rolled around, and as one we all headed out to the lunchroom. Lunchtime was a battlefield, as all the boys in the school raced for the limited supplies of bread. Today, I felt like something spicy, but by the time I arrived the lunch-lady was already calling out "Last curry bread of the day!" she threw it out just as I entered the room, and a rush of students bolted towards it. I dashed forwards, bouncing off the head of one of the students and grabbed it. Only when I landed, did I realise it was Ryoga. He asked who I was, and I figured this was a good time to introduce myself. When I did so, a strange hush fell over the room. Students from other classes were glaring at the two of us as if we were a lit stick of dynamite.
"Oh shit," one of the students nearby mumbled. The lunch-lady seemed as confused as I was, but Ryoga hadn't noticed the atmosphere yet.
I guess he was a bit sore about the bread thing, because he said "Ranma Saotome! I will never forget this offense of the curry bread!" before stalking off. He easily reached the front of the crowd, as they all looked like they were about to have heart attacks. Have you ever heard an entire room breath a sigh of relief? How about the entire student population of a school? I could have sworn that I'd heard that as I finished the bread and went out for a walk. It was a surreal sound, but one I would come to hear several times over the course of the two months I'd still be here.
I had just finished leading Ryoga home for the first time, and was on my way back to my place when another student called out to me. "Saotome! Hold on! I need to talk to you about something!" I let him catch up to me, he seemed very determined to talk about something. "Uh-listen." He got a thoughtful look for a moment, and then continued. "My pet cat had kittens recently. Would you be able to look after one of them?"
All I was thinking at the time was... Did he know? How could he know? I'd been so careful to avoid cats since arriving here! The last thing I want is anyone knowing about that particular weak point. My reaction was predictable to those that were aware of it. "Um, ha-ha, no, my p-pop is, um, I don't know-allergic! Yeah! He's allergic! Can't have cats anywhere near him or his ears explode!"
The mental imagery had obviously horrified him. Not as much as the thought of having a pet kitten did for me, but different people and all that. After a few seconds of staring in horror, he started to speak. "Listen, Saotome. I don't know how it happened, but... For all that it matters, don't go to China. Please!" He sounded desperate, and for the life of me I couldn't think why he would give such a strange warning.
Later, when I got home, I asked pop if we were planning a trip to China at some point. He got this really thoughtful look, and said "I hadn't been planning it, but it's a good idea. I'll look into it!"
I let the matter drop there. After all, what was the worst that could happen?
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(Posted Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:44)
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