The resemblance was strong but the differences were disturbing. If this was indeed Ranma, he was very much changed. His blue eyes, which used to be so warm and friendly, were hard and cold, like ice. His dark red hair hung over his face. It was cut very short, instead of stretching near to his shoulders in a pigtail. He was much taller than the Ranma she remembered. She suspected that if he stood next to Tatewaki Kuno, she wouldn’t be able to see any difference in their heights; where the Ranma she’d known gave up at least half a foot in height to the kendoist. He was wider and sturdier than the Ranma she’d known as well. She wondered if it was because of a different martial arts style or simply genetics. She suspected both.
The clothes, too, were changed. Gone were the red silk Chinese shirts, black workout pants, and black slippers; in their place was a thick white shirt, a heavy black and purple jacket, heavy military-style camouflage patterned pants, and black work boots.
Where the old Ranma had a near-perpetual grin; this boy wore a look of sheer indifference. If this was Ranma, he wasn’t like the Ranma she’d known.
And as she saw the teacher acknowledge him, she realized another difference: the Ranma she knew was in Akane’s grade level, not hers!
The teacher turned to the class. “We have two new students today, class; if they would introduce themselves?” She turned to them.
Nabiki’s fiancé went first. He turned to the board and wrote a series of familiar kanji. They were the same characters she guessed. He turned back to the class and bowed, a smile on his face. “I’m Ranma Saotome of the Saotome School of Indiscriminate Grappling. Nice to meet you.”
Nabiki found herself perplexed when the other boy turned to him with a frown, and then turned to the board. As she suspected, it was Ranma, but where the Ranma she wished away wrote characters that could be read as “wild horse”, this one used “wild demon”. Another difference, she thought. The last name was unfamiliar: Yagami. It had no meaning for her.
She saw Ranma Yagami turn towards the class. He didn’t bow. Instead he began speaking. “I’m Ranma Yagami and I don’t like you. So if you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave me alone.”
Nabiki cringed badly. Definitely not like the Ranma she knew.
The teacher recovered rather quickly from her shiver. “Well, we have several empty seats. Mr. Saotome, you can sit next to Nabiki Tendou; and Mr. Yagami, you can take any of the empty seats in the back. Both of you will have the proper uniform tomorrow, I hope.”
Ranma Yagami snorted.
The teacher frowned. “It is against school policy not to wear a uniform, Mr. Yagami.”
The teen just snorted again. “Whatever.” He looked away from the teacher, as if dismissing the conversation entirely.
The teacher’s frown deepened, but she made no comment on it. She then sighed. “If you all will take out your linear algebra textbooks, we’ll begin on page seven.”
The class complied. Nabiki worked in silence on the problem set. Occasionally the teacher called on other students to solve equations on the board, but otherwise the period passed quickly. Two more periods passed and it was soon lunchtime. Nabiki went to the infirmary; Akane had been more vicious than normal this morning, but she believed he’d be awake by now.
She decided she’d charge him double today. If he was foolish enough to challenge Akane despite her obviously being in a worse mood than ever, his wallet could answer for his grievous error in judgment. He could afford it.
Ten minutes later she left the infirmary several thousand yen richer, and wearing her usual cold smirk. She mused to herself about a line in a foreign film she’d seen a year or so ago, and decided she had a version that fit her better.
She decided to try it aloud. “I love the smell of money in the morning. It smells like...victory.” She walked to her usual table outside. To her surprise, it was already occupied; on one side sat the boy to whom she was engaged, and on another sat the one she needed to investigate.
The boys seemed to be having a discussion; she caught what must be the tail end of it as she walked up.
“Yeah, well, you never beat me before, Saotome. Never even came close in fact. Unless you got at least five times better, you’d still get burned.” Yagami shook his head dismissively.
Nabiki’s fiancé winced. “I have gotten better, you know. And enough with the flames.” Under his breath he added, “Lunatic”.
Yagami shook his head again. “Not good enough. And I’ll talk about the flames whenever I want.” He paused. “Oh, and I resent that remark. I’m not a lunatic.”
Nabiki decided to speak up. Turning to her fiancé, she asked, “You know each other?”
Her fiancé nodded. “Junior high, couple years back. Yagami, this is Nabiki Tendou. Nabiki, this is Ranma Yagami. Cheers.” He picked up his bento and began emptying it.
Nabiki smiled at Yagami. “It’s good to meet you.”
Yagami just grunted, and kept eating. After a while, he said “If you really want to fight, Saotome, we’ll fight. Today, tomorrow, whenever.” He grinned evilly. “I’ll kick your ass anytime you choose.”
Her fiancé stiffened, but it passed after a few seconds. The three lapsed into silence. When the lunch bell rang they headed back to class.
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(Posted Tue, 17 Feb 2004 22:48)
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