As yet another school day ended at Furnikan High School, a tall boy in worn, dust-covered clothing with a black with a yellow bandana around his head and carrying a large backpack with an umbrella strapped across the top stood in the entrance gazing into the schoolyard as exiting students flowed about him. Could it be? Have I finally caught up with that coward? he wondered, eyes scanning the crowd. There! A familiar black-haired, pigtailed boy had left the school and was running in his direction with a cute black-haired girl in pursuit. Perfect.
Nabiki smiled as she stepped through the open front doors of the school building. The day had been pretty good, better than in some time. While Nodoka hadn’t been able to dispel the curse on Kasumi last evening, she had been able to verify that there was one — deeply buried, but there, demonic in origin. Nodoka had speculated that the curse couldn’t be dispelled unless both halves of the curse were present. Beyond that, Nabiki had been able to finally share her worries with a sympathetic ear and would have some backup if things didn’t go well Saturday night, as well as perhaps some leads on who had attacked her the previous week. And she was finally beginning to learn how to mute the impact of the emotions constantly assaulting her, especially at school. All told, things were looking up.
She watched Ranma and Akane break away from her at a run, pigtail and long flowing hair blowing back. Ranma had decided Akane wasn’t fast enough when it came to distance running, and so to start having her race him home. Akane, on the other hand, had been jogging for years as part of her self-imposed training regimen, and was determined to prove she could match her sensei in at least one area. Unfortunately, if Ranma had decided she needed to get faster it meant he already was, so she was going to be sorely disappointed — especially since he’d decided to mix in improving her ability to jump. That’s going to make the atmosphere a little uncomfortable at home, the middle Tendo thought with a grimace. Ah, well, as long as she’s getting better —
“Ah!” Nabiki suppressed a shout as a sudden wave of virulent anger mixed with frustration and — was that relief? — smashed into her. She fought the urge to grab at her head, wincing as she swept her eyes across the schoolyard. Where had it come from — ?
Her vision was drawn to her laughing fiancé jumping over the heads of his classmates, and her eyes widened even as she jolted forward into a run with a warning shout at the sight of another boy leaping out of nowhere, even higher than Ranma had, umbrella poised to thrust. Even as Nabiki shouted Ranma twisted to avoid the downthrust point, then the two boys disappeared into the crowd of teenagers and the crowd seemed to jolt back in all directions as what sounded like an explosion jolted her ears.
Frantically pushing through the crowd, Nabiki gasped in relief at the sight of Ranma flipping to land beside Akane on the lip of a new crater. “You haven’t changed, Ranma,” the strange boy kneeling in the center of the crater said, “you’re still good at running away.”
Ranma stared at the strangely familiar face of the boy in the center of the crater, as his student and fiancée stepped up on each side. “So, Ranma, anyone you know?” Nabiki asked. Ranma glanced at her in concern — she seemed a little pale and was staring wide-eyed at the crater the stranger’s attack had made — then back at the boy.
“Yeah, sure, he’s ... he’s ... uh ...”
“Don’t strain your brain remembering, Ranma,” Akane said with a smirk from his other side.
“Just tell me one thing, Ranma,” broke in the newcomer, voice rising to a shout. “Why did you run from our fight!?”
“Fight? What fight — wait, I remember now, yer Hibiki Ryoga, from my last school! I waited three days at the appointed place.”
“Yes, and when I arrived on the fourth day you’d already run away!” Ryoga retorted angrily.
Ranma shrugged. “Uh, Ryoga, why did it take ya four days to reach an empty lot only five hundred yards from yer house down a straight street?”
Ryoga purpled in rage as he heard the amazed murmurs of the crowd around them. “Bad sense of direction?” ... “Very bad.” ... “Very bad, indeed.” Yanking his umbrella up from where it was imbedded in the ground, he charged, swinging, as he shouted, “Well, we finish this fight now!”
Ranma jumped straight up and simultaneously kicked to each side, knocking Nabiki out of the way, his other foot hitting only empty air — Akane had already dropped below the threat and was rolling to the side. “Hey, watch it, you could hurt somebody!” he shouted, even as he glanced over — Nabiki was getting up from where she’d knocked another student over, good. As he landed, he glanced to the other side — Akane was rolling to her feet, great, she was remembering her lessons.
“I intend to hurt someone, stand and fight like a man!” Ryoga yelled back, flipping open the umbrella and preparing to throw it.
“I meant — okay, fine. Ya want a fight, ya got one — right now, in the school stadium, before somebody else gets hurt.”
Ryoga paused, then nodded. “You’re on!” he growled, and started to walk toward the school gates.
“Uh, Ryoga,” Ranma called out, then pointed toward the other side of the school. “The stadium’s that way.”
Ryoga stared levelly at his nemesis, ignoring his faint blush. “Right.”
In the middle of the school stadium, the two boys faced off as those school students that had been present for Ryoga’s arrival sat on the grass of the inclines surrounding the playing field and used for seating for the spectators. More students were filtering in, mostly called on cellphones by friends already present.
“Ya kow, Ryoga, you’ve gone ta a lot of trouble for a school rivalry,” Ranma said quietly. “This is silly. What d’ya say we just put on a sparring exhibition fer our audience and call it good?”
Ryoga growled. “Not a chance, Ranma. Because of you, I’ve seen hell! No way I’m gonna let ya get away with it.”
Ranma sighed. I can’t believe I’m trying to get out of a challenge — Nabiki must be rubbing off on me. “All right, let’s get this over with,” he said, falling into his loose, relaxed ready stance.
Instantly, Ryoga charged forward, thrusting over and over with his umbrella as Ranma danced back to avoid the attacks then jumped, spinning over the larger boy and landing behind him.
Snarling, Ryoga whirled, popped open his umbrella, then sent it spinning toward Ranma and charged in its wake. Ranma easily dodged the umbrella but, distracted, failed to dodge the bandana Ryoga had whipped off his forehead and wrapped around Ranma’s wrist, binding the two boys together. For the first time, the pigtailed boy struck back and the two boys rapidly exchanged strikes and blocks.
Up on the grassy incline, a tense Nabiki sat by her younger sister, her head already starting to pound from emotion overload from all the excited students around her. “This is madness,” she muttered. “What does Ranma think he’s doing?”
“Showing off, what else?” Akane responded sarcastically, eyes glued to the two below.
Nabiki shook her head. “That’s not fair, Akane,” she said reprovingly as the fight began. “You’ve been training under him for over a week now, you know better. Sure, he likes to show how good he is, but he’s no glory hound.”
“Well ... maybe,” Akane muttered, her eyes tracking the spinning umbrella for a moment as it whirled past the her and her sister, then looked back at the pair now spinning around each other below, now connected at the wrists by a yellow and black strip of cloth.
Suddenly, a student’s voice to the side caught the two sisters’ attention. “Yow, what’s with this umbrella!?” The two Tendos looked over to see a boy trying to hold the umbrella out straight — and failing miserably, unable to keep the tip from drooping to the ground.
Frowning, Akane got up and walked over. Taking the umbrella’s grip from the gasping student and straining every muscle to the utmost, she held the umbrella level at arm’s length, eyes widening at the effort it took as the memory of Ryoga effortlessly using the umbrella like a sword, throwing it spinning like a top, flashed through her mind. And even Ranma admitted that she was stronger than he was.... Dropping the odd weapon, she whirled back to face the two fighters still spinning around each other. “Sensei, get away from him, fast!” she shouted. “He has the strength of a monster!”
Suddenly, the two combatants seemed to twist around each other, and then Ranma was sitting on Ryoga’s back, the bigger boy pinned in place by his arm trapped between his legs, held in place by the bandana tying him to Ranma’s wrist. “Hey, not a problem!” Ranma called back. “Strength doesn’t matter if you can’t ... apply it?” he finished questioningly as he felt himself rising, Ryoga lifting both of their bodies up with one hand. A moment later, the crowd gasped as Ryoga actually thrust the two up into the air! For a moment the two combatants spun around each other, exchanging kicks even as they rose and fell, then it was Ranma’s turn to land on one hand even as he thrust back with both feet and sent the larger boy flying as the bandana finally tore from the strain. Leaping to his feet, Ranma leaped for where Ryoga landed, onlookers scattering away from him.
Akane dashed toward the two fighters. Nabiki rose to follow her, then froze. Even with the chaos of emotions surrounding her, overwhelming the shields she was just beginning to develop, there was someone nearby with an oddly familiar feel, someone important — then she saw the purple-haired girl not wearing a school uniform, the tight clothes she was wearing grubby from constant wear and less than efficient washing. Shampoo! What’s she doing here? She said she wasn’t after Ranma....
“Who are ya calling a girl!?” the middle Tendo heard her fiancé shout. Whirling, she watched as the two fighters bounced over the fence along the top of the grassy incline and vanished from sight. “Well!? Who are ya calling a girl!?” she heard him shout again, and suddenly a spout of water fountained into the air.
Oh, shit! The water fountain! she thought even as she ran for the exit with the other students, barely catching sight of Akane and Xian Pu bouncing directly over the fence out of the corner of her eye. Maybe I really should take up the Art again.
Ranma groaned as the water splashed over him, and her soaked clothes fell through the sudden redheaded nature spirit to the ground even as Ryoga spun around looking for his now-vanished opponent. Not again!
Ryoga was glancing wildly around, then shook his fists at the sky. “Ranma, you coward! Come back and fight!” he screamed, and Ranma saw red.
“Who you calling a coward?” she shouted back. “Come on — if ya can’t beat a guy, let’s see if ya can do any better against a ... a nature spirit!”
“What? Who? Where are you?” a now totally confused Ryoga queried, trying to find the source of the unfamiliar voice. “Show yourself!”
“Wish I could, but I can’t,” Ranma replied, shifting so that Ryoga, turning to follow her voice, was facing away from the stadium. She did her best to ignore all of the suddenly next to naked girls in the crowd streaming out of the stadium and focus on the next to naked boy in front of her. “I’m always invisible when this happens.”
“Fine, then try to hide from this!” Ryoga snarled, yanking bandana after bandana from around his forehead. He started them spinning and Ranma gasped as suddenly the bandanas seemed to glow ... and then Ryoga released them, sending spinning bandanas across an arc in her general direction. Not good! she thought, frantically spinning so that she was parallel to the ground and kicking up at the bandana passing directly over her — and nodding as her foot knocked it up and away. What I thought, I can hit it like that. And if I can hit it, it can hit me!
Suddenly, the purple-haired girl Ranma had seen haunting the Tendo residence was standing between her and Ryoga, a chúi in each hand, snarling. “What crazy Strong Boy think he doing!?” she shouted. “You maybe kill son-in-law, other people, way you throwing discs around!” Even as Ryoga gaped the strange girl — what had Nabiki said her name was? Oh yes, Shampoo — attacked.
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(Posted Sat, 03 Apr 2010 07:12)
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