Chapter 4

Previously

For the next 10 minutes, the sound of snickers was the only thing disturbing the somewhat quiet morning. That was until the group of four started to see the gate of Furinkan High. As they drew closer, Akane would start muttering something about boys, getting progressively angrier as they reached closer, until she burst out into a sprint yelling "I HATE BOYS!". Worried for Akane, the married duo turned first to each other, and then to the gate, before rushing to get to the youngest Tendo. As they passed the gate, their eyes widened and their thoughts could be summed up with one convenient phrase.

"WHAT THE HELL!"

Chaos! As far as the eyes can see! At least that was the prevailing opinion for the Musk duo. A cacophony of sounds battered the ears as a veritable smorgasbord of abused bodies suffered further trampling, all in Akane's attempts to finish off her unrelenting opponents. Of course the sight was well known around Furinkan high. So much so that there was even a betting ring set up, one run by Nabiki of all people. Of course no one bet on whether or not Akane would lose. That was just setting yourself up for failure. Furthermore Akane's wrath, should she ever find out, would be terrifying. Instead, people betted on the time taken before an event would end the fight, be it the ringing of the school bell; the final knock out blow delivered by a furious Akane; or even the unlikely event of a teacher interfering. Of course the last one was unlikely given that the principal of this 'fine' establishment is the father of the resident lunatic that started what was now dubbed as the 'Hentai Horde'.

Quickly moving out of shock, Xianghua immediately moved to help the fighting girl, only to be held back by Ranma's iron grip. Assuming that he was simply in shock, she tried to snap him out of it, only to recognize that rather than stare uncomprehendingly at the scene, her husband was actually observing the entire fight and evaluating it. Desperate to act, she immediately tried to move his arm away only for Ranma to nod against her action. This was the last straw for Xianghua who, in her attempt to help Akane, slapped Ranma so as to make him let go. Or at least that was how it was supposed to go. Unfortunately, Ranma was far more skilled than she was and negligently caught her hand by the wrist before sending a disappointed look at herself. Saddened, yet unrelenting, she looked him in the eye and asking him something that would change her opinion of Akane's skills forever. "Why?"

Hearing the question, Ranma merely looked back to the fight before answering. "Because it would be an insult if you were to help her.". This caught both Xianghua and Nabiki off guard, Xianghua because she was still shocked that Ranma wouldn't help a girl in need immediately, and Nabiki since she had presumed Ranma to be somewhat dense despite his cultured appearance. Maybe it was due to the fact that he's a jock … from a remote village … that emphasizes martial arts of all things. Regardless, I shouldn't make that mistake again. Seeing their confusion, or surprise in Nabiki's case, Ranma elaborated. "Look closely at her opponents. Tell me what you see."

With an open mind, she immediately began to observe the opponents before coming up to an interesting, yet not thoroughly unexpected result given how Ranma was unwilling to help. "They're weak. Really weak at least compared to Akane!" she commented. Now this threw Nabiki for a loop. Some of the people fighting Akane were black belts in their respective martial arts. Others were trained in some rough sports ranging from ice hockey to American football. Surely they were not weak. "Whilst some are skilled, a few probably even being black belts in a martial art, it is clear that they are not true martial artists let alone warriors." Ranma expanded on the unasked question.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Nabiki, getting more confused. Akane is just a blue belt so how could a black belt be weaker than her. She always assumed that the boys were simply holding back, not wanting to be the guy who had to beat up a girl to date them. Is Akane really that good? And for that matter, how could a practitioner of a martial art not a martial artist? "Think about it like this. A martial artist practices a martial art so that they can protect themselves. It is all well and good if you get a black belt because this tells you that you have the necessary skills to protect yourself. However how do you know if you can actually apply them? Most people who study martial arts nowadays are looking for a workout or extra credit like these guys over here. As such, they fail to develop the necessary fighting instincts to truly become fearsome martial artists. However those who train seriously in the art start to recognize how their body reacts to certain techniques, how to improve their output in others and so on. There is only so much a textbook can teach you as they are generic. Akane knows this and has trained using this philosophy. The others have not. As such, whilst Akane may only appear to be show skills at purple belt level max, she is capable of applying those skills much better than her opponents. This is what makes her the stronger fighter."

"Akane is also better trained physically than the others so she is stronger than the rest. These compound and thus improve Akane's standing when fighting against such opponents." quipped Xianghua.

"What you have to understand Nabiki is that in a fight between two masters, it is usually very difficult to bring up some elaborate technique that could defeat an opponent in one move, such as how the masters in movies fight. Instead, real masters rarely have to use anything more advanced than a few basic strikes and blocks. The more advanced moves can only really be used between two masters of equal standing where the higher skill level gives an advantage. And even then it is only when one of the fighters makes a large enough opening to exploit this. Otherwise, it is almost always the basics which are used in a fight.". (This is actually true. I practiced martial arts and was told this by my teacher who was fourth dan.) With Ranma having said his piece, Nabiki decided to confirm what herself and Xianghua were thinking.

"So is that why you refused to fight? Because you think Akane is more than capable of winning?"

"Yes. It would be an insult to Akane if I went and helped her in a fight that she could win hands down.". Ranma turned to face the battle again only to see that Akane's opponents were all on the floor in pain. Seeing that the fight was over, Xianghua moved forward in an attempt to congratulate the slightly winded Tendo. However before she could get to her, she was startled by a projectile appearing out of nowhere at a frightening speed and heading towards Akane. However she needn't have worried since Akane easily caught it, only to reveal a carefully trimmed rose, the kind often used by wedding florists.

"But earthlier happy as the rose distilled than that which withering on the virgin thorn grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness.". Just then, an older boy walked out from behind the tree. His appearance was strange. He was young, no older than 18 by Ranma's best guess, yet he held an air, which suggested nobility. However given what he knew of Japan, the current emperor had yet to have a son. This indicated arrogance, possibly due to daimyo or samurai roots. His face appeared to be made up slightly, suggesting vanity, yet his calloused hands also suggested hard work. He was dressed in clothes reminiscent of that worn by kendo practitioner. In fact, now that he looked at it carefully, Ranma realised it was indeed a kendo uniform. The uwagi and hakama combination was unmistakable to Ranma, who had learnt the art of the sword from Thyme, the Musk weapons master. Unlike most of the Musk, who honoured their defeated opponents by killing them, Thyme honoured those he defeated by learning their art in the way that they learnt it themselves. He would follow the same etiquette when teaching this, as a way to further honour their art. Sure enough, a quick look told him that he was carrying a weapon on his person.

His movements belied an easy grace borne of hour upon hour of diligent katas, suggesting him to be a competent opponent. However from a glance, Ranma could already tell that this boy's diligence in Kendo would be his downfall. Whilst graceful, his movements were slightly clipped, instead of free flowing; evidence of a lack of overall combat experience or training outside of Kendo. This restricted the boy greatly, preventing him from truly taking advantage of any physical gifts he may have against an opponent such as himself or Akane. However against ordinary martial artists, this would be an unnoticeable weakness.

"These weaklings, such a boorish lot truly. They fought for the privilege of your company Akane, if they could manage to defeat you, that is. What fools these mortals be." The boy stated. Whilst this was happening, Xianghua couldn't help but eep slightly as she recognised the irritating boy they met just yesterday when asking for directions. Hearing this, Ranma examined the boy carefully, only to recognize the boy and moved to cover her from sight.

"Oh Kuno excuse me!". Akane attempted to run around the now named Kuno, desperately hoping that she would be able to avoid yet another fight, especially given that class was about to start in less than 5 minutes. This was for naught as Kuno carried on, unheeding of Akane's request.

"Although she be little, she is fierce."

As he raised his weapon, which Ranma recognised as a shinai, he delivered his challenge. "Whilst thou spar with me?". At this, the entire school burst out into whispered bets. The musk duo silently noted that rather than choosing the winner, they were actually betting on times. A quick glance at Kuno told Ranma that the boy held back against women, something that irritated him beyond belief (Whilst Kuno is older than Ranma by one year, Kuno is not a warrior, just a kendoist albeit a good one. As such, Ranma doesn't see Kuno as an adult but as a child playing make believe.). Seeing that a fight between these two may spiral out of control, Ranma walked forward, gently interspacing himself between Kuno and Akane with the intention of stopping any further fights. "Now now, nothing needs to escalate now does it?" he waved his hands in an attempt to placate them "does it Akane?". The whole school immediately stopped, turned to scrutinize Ranma, before immediately gossiping much louder about the seemingly new student and his relationship with the bluenette. Seeing an unknown man in front of Akane, Kuno immediately opened his eyes, before boring them into Ranma. "You there! Aren't you being awfully familiar with Akane?"

"Well yeah, but …" Ranma began.

"Well yeah but what?" Akane asked, wanting to know the reason for Ranma interfering with her fight. Whilst she was happy for the apparent attempt to quell any further fights, she couldn't help but feel a little suspicious regarding Ranma's involvement in this matter, especially since she didn't know his what his reaction was to the Hentai horde and Kuno's ridiculous challenge. After Xianghua's explanation last night, she came to the conclusion that she didn't know what to think of the Musk warrior. She may have over reacted slightly to Ranma over the past day and a bit. In her defense, she had rarely had good encounters with boys for the past three or so months since Kuno started obsessing with her, but she didn't know if Ranma was like them. Hell he was only here to fix the mess regarding the engagement. So she came to a conclusion before going to bed. Okay, it's decided. I'll see what he wants but as soon as he acts like a boy, I'll neuter the pervert. Her reminiscence was suddenly broken by Kuno, who immediately began to yell, interrupting her musings.

"Who do you think you are, insolent whelp? Tell me how you know Akane.". Kuno was fuming. This insignificant gnat was interfering with his conquest of Akane. This was unforgiveable. But a Kuno must attend the common rabble. Thus he would give his attention to this plebeian, if only to learn of his intentions.

"Well I'm …" Ranma began, only to be interrupted by Kuno.

"Wait! Is it not custom for one to give their own name first? Fine then! Mine I shall give. I am the undefeated captain of this school's kendo club; the rising new star of the high school kendo world. The sound of my voice strikes fear into the hearts of my enemies. My peers call me the 'Blue Thunder' of Furinkan high.". With this, a flash of lightning erupted, prompting Ranma to subtly reactivate his illusion so that his secret wouldn't be revealed in the event that rain would fall. "Kuno Tatewaki, age 17!".

This prompted the other students to start gossiping about Kuno introducing himself as 'Blue Thunder'. "Last I heard, he was calling himself shooting star!" one of the girls commented. With his sensitive hearing, Ranma was able to pick up on the conversation, and what he heard was not very reassuring. "It seems I'm dealing with a nut-bag. Again!" Ranma muttered, causing Akane to giggle slightly despite herself. However no one noticed as Ranma began his own introduction, one that would make him well known amongst the students of Furinkan High. "My name is Saotome Ranma." he then lifted his and in the anime peace sign, giving an eye smile. "Sup!". At this, Kuno face faulted at the incredibly succinct and somewhat mocking introduction whilst the rest of the students laughed openly at the response. Xianghua merely shook her head in amusement, knowing that Ranma did that to humiliate the fool for invading her personal space yesterday. Ranma merely continued to eye smile at the reaction, clearly unfazed by the KI being emitted from Kuno for his apparent disgrace of an introduction.

"Insignificant wretch! Thou'st dare to insult mine attempt to woo the fierce Akane by besting her?" With a cry of "Have at thee!"; Kuno pushed forward with surprising speed, bringing his sword in a downwards slash which would have bisected him had he not have jumped, landing feet first onto Kuno's head, before landing a swift double mule kick straight down. The result was Kuno's head embedding itself into the concrete sparking another round of laughter. Akane was both parts impressed and angered, impressed with Ranma's skill and angered by Kuno's. In Japan, there is a social stigma around publicly hitting a girl. Whilst most girls would be offended if hit, Akane was slightly different. Sure she would be offended if someone hit her for no reason. However she was a martial artist and she prided herself on her skills. She was able to beat people with twice the experience she held through sheer hard work, yet from what she saw, Kuno held back on her. She was barely able to trace his sword during that attack movement, and whilst she may have been able to dodge the first strike, she would not have been able to dodge the next.

Shaking these thoughts out of her mind, she turned to observe Ranma who had a look of confusion on his face. In this light, it was actually kind of cute. It reminded her of a newly born kitten looking at something interesting for the first time. Sometime during her musings, Ranma had jumped off of Kuno's head, only to begin furiously backpedalling as Kuno immediately jumped into a ferocious slash that would have cut into his neck. Unwilling to actually strike a blow on his significantly weaker opponent, Ranma merely swayed to the right to dodge Kuno's next lunge, before sliding into his guard to avoid the diagonal slash heading for him. He immediately struck the inside of the swordsman's elbow with a shiatsu technique, thus reducing his opponents combat effectiveness further.

The observers of this battle watched, stunned into silence at the breathtakingly beautiful display that was Ranma's movement. The prince impressed even Nabiki, albeit this could be more because of the money she would definitely make from selling information about Ranma to the masses. Though she would admit that seeing his near effortless display against Kuno was quite refreshing compared to the usual shaming ceremony that would occur every morning. Honestly those boys have no taste. Do they really think violence would woo us?

Whilst this was happening, Ranma was slowly coming to the conclusion that this fight, if it could even be called that, was personal. That was surprising especially since he didn't know the person in question. Of course it could possibly be the earlier mocking but if that were the case then the fight would be less one sided. However he was clearly blinded by something. Deciding to get some answers, he immediately took a leap, landing on the top of the school fence, before crouching down to look at Kuno. "Hey man, this is getting a bit too personal for my liking. What say we bury the hatchet before someone, and by someone I mean you, gets hurt?". Say what you will about Ranma but his blunt manner could be considered a seriously double-edged sword, especially in regards to negotiation. Of course if he needed to enter negotiations, he would bring Xianghua with him. She was much better than him in these matters. Whilst I got much better, she could run metaphorical circles around me in the political field.

"Who art thou doth question mine actions? Nay who …"

"Is he translating Shakespearian English in Japanese? Who does that? Is it some new fad that came in whilst I was away?". This was aimed at Akane who was still standing in her previous location. At his question, she merely scoffed before waving her finger around her head in the universal manner used by little kids everywhere. Suddenly as if understanding the poor mans problem, Ranma blurred forward somehow procuring a cane from thin air, before handing it to the poor boy beside him. With this done, he began to pull the boy with him intending to drop him off at the quaint little loony home he saw whilst he was touring the neighbourhood. "There there sir. Don't worry. You must be afraid now that you've gotten lost. Not a problem. I'll just take you back home and tell the staff to be a bit more mindful. You know how they are with things like this."

"Eh! What are you …"

"Shush! It's all right. Pardon me for a second.". With this, Ranma turned away from the incredulous Kuno before pulling out a chunky brick, which Nabiki recognised as a cell phone, from his bag. Quickly calling an operator, he asked to be redirected. To whom, Nabiki couldn't tell, but it was clear from Kuno's reaction that the location was not to his liking. Akane who was closer couldn't believe what was happening in front of her. It seemed as if Ranma took her words a little too literally.

"Hello, is this Hathaway house? … Yes? … I have a young man here by the name of Kuno, who seems to have gotten lost. I believe he is one of your residents? I was …". Before he could finish, Kuno knocked his cell out of his hands before loudly yelling "I'M NOT CRAZY!". Ranma merely ran a hand down his face, clearing his face of the spittle that managed to fly out of the kendoist's mouth. Hearing this, Nabiki blanked for all of two seconds, before she burst into laughter, unable to believe that such a situation actually happened. Taking this as their cue, the others too began to laugh, pointing fingers at the clearly angry Kuno as they realised what must have happened.

With the laughter ringing around him, what little restraint held Kuno back was quickly let go in order to strike the annoying upstart that just wouldn't give. This led to Kuno using an illegal move, a grab onto his arm followed by a lower body strike. The sheer gall of the move caught Ranma flatfooted as he didn't expect the rigid kendoist to use something that underhanded to him. As such, he was blasted back several feet before landing in a heap, letting out a soft oof. "Foul knave! Know thy place for it is by Kami'th will that thy hast been felled by mine blade. For the great Kami hath guided me to mine quest to date the fierce tigress Akane Tendo, by defeating her in combat, as it should be.".

Slowly, Ranma pulled himself up before dusting himself off casually; almost too casually. In fact; should one have known Ranma before then, they would have thought something was off. As it was, the rest of the school could tell something had irritated the teenager. Akane shifted her attention to Ranma, only to recoil at the face he was making. In a word, it was terrifying. She had seen him blow up in anger; she had seen him laugh and joke around; but never had she seen him emitting cold rage. If before he was a kitten, now he could only be compared to a tiger, an apex cat. Or maybe even a dragon, the eternal rival to the tiger in Chinese folklore, as shown in all those Kung Fu movies she loved to watch. But why is he so angry? Could it be something Kuno did?

If one was to look at Ranma and had said he was furious, that would be an understatement. He was apoplectic as soon as he heard the words "by defeating her in combat.". If there was one thing Ranma hated, it was forcing someone to do something they didn't want to do. He had had enough of that with his father's failed attempts to control him. This led to an extreme hatred for coercion and what Kuno was attempting was exactly that. He could clearly tell that Akane wanted nothing to do with the samurai stooge in front of him and that said stooge was attacking her in an inane, insane, and an all around unbecoming attempt to force her to cooperate. What's worse was that he was clearly delusional, after all, what normal (read: sane) person would try to beat up the girl he wanted to date?

Now one should note that Ranma is not like normal humans. He is a manslayer, gifted his title and power by the great dragon Cyril of the frozen tundra. The process augmented his body and gave him tremendously prodigal skill in the magic arts but at the cost of developing some draconic personality traits. One of these was extreme vindictiveness. When he became angry, he would use every ounce of his being to gain revenge, ultimately eradicating his opponent. Thus seeing something like this had hardened his resolve causing him to enter what Xianghua playfully dubbed as his 'Armageddon mode'.

Suddenly, he became a blur of motion, shocking Kuno and the observers. Picking Kuno up with one hand, he lifted the dazed kendoist before striking his solar plexus with his elbow; both knocking the wind out of him and knocking his senses back to him through a liberal use of pain. Through his coughing, Kuno prepared to strike, only to nearly drop his shinai and flush in terror, as a giant dragon appeared roaring behind Ranma, surrounding the silver haired teen with a most frightening aura. "You said you would date her after besting her is that correct?". Ranma's voice was barely a whisper yet it carried around in the wind, letting the entire school know it. "What would you do if you won and she refused?". Seeing Kuno not respond, Ranma's anger skyrocketed and he threw Kuno into a nearby tree with extreme force. "TELL ME!". Kuno dusted himself off, taking advantage of the unexpected ceasefire to regain his bearings. As the ceasefire extended in length, he began to regain his confidence, further bolstered by Ranma's KI being withdrawn, thus he replied in what could arguably be the stupidest way possible. " Tis paltry matters to resolve should the fierce tigress, for some unconceivable reason, choose not to bask in my stature. After all, pon mine victory, surely the fair'st maiden be most wowed. To respond to thy most unlikely of scenarios, I must say, 'to the victor goes the spoils!'.".

Silence. The only thing that greeted Kuno's statement was silence. Akane was never so upset as to be right in her assessment of the possible outcome should she have refused upon her defeat. She was desperately hoping that Kuno would be reasonable even upon victory. To hear this only reinforced her hatred of the boy. As she was preparing to run away, she was stopped by Xianghua, who only pointed to the two males still outside. The wind swept through, further reinforcing the feeling of utter dread emanating from the scene. Ranma took one step forward, before blurring out of sight. Suddenly a large gash appeared on Kuno's body, passing through his uwagi and barely penetrating into his body. In shock, Kuno fumbled with his bokken, thus leading to another strike landing, followed by another, and then another landing. In the span of 20 seconds, Kuno had received 10 large yet shallow cuts, his only saving grace being his honed reflexes through constant sparring and dodging his sister's crazy poisons.

Unable to hold himself up any longer; Kuno fell to the floor almost passing out from blood loss. However before he could revel in the sweet release of unconsciousness, he heard a response that would haunt him forever. "You have stained your blade through your dishonourable actions Kuno Tatewaki. For your crimes, you have been stripped of your ability to hold your sword. Never shall you sully the honour of others through your actions again." With this, he flicked what Akane now realised was an identical shinai to what Kuno was using. However unlike Kuno's shinai, this one was made of white oak, its tsuka wrapped with intertwined leather and silk fabric, the tsuba shaped in the shape of the Saotome family seal (which she saw on the letter sent by Ranma), and the wooden blade sharpened in one end like a real daito katana. It was truly a beautiful shinai, a ceremonial one she realised, and one sometimes given to people who are about to embark on a journey of the swordsman. The fact that Ranma could cut at all with such a blade was in itself a feat.

Just then, Ranma brought out a cell phone from his bag, once again shocking the others by his casual unveiling of one of the most expensive communication devices in the world, before calling the police to pick up Kuno. With this, he turned to the students, his face impassive yet somehow also appearing disappointed. "How long has this been going on?". Ranma's face was neutral, almost deceptively calm. However the KI leaking out from him in droves chased away any notion of him being anything less than furious. Deciding that in this case discretion was not the better part of valour, one of the girls decided to answer. "Since the st-sta-start o-o-of this-is t-t-t-term." She stuttered. Ranma turned to face her. As he looked at her face, his clear blue eyes turned to an inhuman red thus eliciting a squeak of fear from the answering girl. "So around a month and a half, is that correct?"

"Ye-e-e-es!". At this point, the girl was just about to #¢∞# herself in fear. Just as she was about to make a mess of herself, Ranma moved his intense expression away from her, she let out a sigh of relief, and turned to face the rest of the school. "So the rest of the school stood by as a person, whom I can only describe as deranged from my current observations, decided to sexually harass a fellow classmate of yours and furthermore, some of you decided to join."

A few of the students began to mutter weak denials of such a statement however their feeble resistance was crushed by his next questions. "Did any of you call the police to get them to sort the matter out?". At this, the other students shook their heads in negative whilst Akane nodded in ascent. Ranma took note of the response and filed it away for later. "Did any of you inform a teacher of this and try to get them to stop this?". Once again he was met by a wall of negatives and one lone positive in the form of Akane. "Did any of you try and tell the boys off for keeping on chasing after her?". At this, some of the students nodded yes, other than Akane. Surprisingly, they were all boys.

However; Akane would not just dismiss her reaction of boys purely on the response of this question. Though this did cause her to question just why Ranma was responding this way to a problem that was her own. In fact, other than her father, no boy put as much effort into helping her deal with Kuno at all. This was because those boys were usually either indifferent to her plight or were part of the problem itself. A select few did once try to defend Akane but that group just wished to woo her with a display of chivalry. Of course as some say, chivalry is dead, and those boys proved it when after being soundly beaten by Kuno, they joined the ignore team.

Akane's mind then turned to the teachers. It was mostly the male teachers that stepped up to help her if at all. Whilst she wanted to be mad at the women for this, she couldn't. Unfortunately, the principal was a sexist pig whose ideals would fit better in the European dark ages than 1980s Tokyo. As such, most of the female teachers at Furinkan were unwilling to interfere and risk getting fired. And get fired many teachers did, for attempting to help Akane. In fact, Kuno was subject to several suspensions. However whenever he complained to daddy, somehow the principal would immediately overturn the suspension and get the teacher responsible fired for "abusing his teaching privileges". The Tendos often suspected money having switched hands, but could never prove it.

What's worse was when Sumimura-sensei sent for the police to arrest Kuno for harassing her. The police collected witness statements and everything but after a few days the case was dropped and Sumimura-sensei was given a large fine for wasting valuable manpower. After that, the teachers didn't interfere directly, but would try there hardest to keep Akane and Kuno separate for as long as possible. Even though they couldn't end the problem, she would always respect those men for trying to help her, which led to her distinction between men and boys. Whilst she was more than amicable with men, she would forever hate boys. In fact, she often used this distinction as validation for her crush on the local chiropractor Dr Tofu.

Finally, she turned her mind back to Ranma himself. Other than the fact that one of them was engaged to Ranma, she actually had no problems towards him except for a residual dislike for him due to his status as 'boy' and her lack of knowledge towards him. She was also slightly jealous of his skill as she thought he would flaunt them arrogantly, just like Kuno. Though the fact that he was teaching Xianghua properly dismissed that assumption somewhat. Other than that, he was somewhat acceptable. In the end, none of that matters since he is just staying here until the engagement fiasco is sorted.

Akane's musings were brought to a halt as Ranma raised the next question, a question that she wondered about but never asked due to her reluctance of being perceived as weak. "Did any of you girls even have the decency to comfort her regarding this?". The response to that question was what sealed the deal for Ranma as he turned towards the sounding sirens with a face that the students of Furinkan high would say was set in stone.