Ace Sanchez (email: jsa@fl.net.au | www: http://jsa.users.fl.net.au/) (Standard disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and its associated characters created by Rumiko Takahashi. I'm not trying to make a profit. Really, I'm not!) ______________________ Blonde 1/2 ______________________ Part 4 "Enter Ryoga, Eternally Lost Or The Other Four Letter Word?" A bell was ringing loudly, the noise and excitement a sharp contrast to the usual tranquillity of the small desert village. People running in the streets were screaming in fear as they fled from a seemingly unstoppable wild boar. The huge animal was smashing through stalls and carts as if they were only cardboard boxes. One of the frightened villagers suddenly noticed a young man directly in the boar's path. On his muscular shoulders he carried a heavy looking travel pack while a red bamboo umbrella was clutched in his right hand. He had a completely blank expression on his emotionless face. The sunlight reflected off his glassy eyes in an eerie manner. What was weird, though, was the constant stream of blood that leaked from his nose, down his chin and on to his clothing. In fact, his yellow shirt was mostly red, the back of it dripping blood on to the dusty ground. It left a long crimson trail behind him, as far as the eye could see. "You there! Are you stupid or something?" the concerned villager screamed desperately at the young man. "Run!" The traveler, however, did not seem to hear him. He continued to walk directly toward the cloud of dust and danger that was approaching him very rapidly now. Blood dripped intermittently to add to the long trail he was making. "You idiot!" another villager shouted, also noticing him. This one was a woman. She threw a rock at the young man to gain his attention. The hard piece of stone shattered as it broke upon the stranger's head. However it didn't seem to achieve the required response. The man walked forward, zombie-like, ignoring it. The first villager began throwing rocks at him too. Soon a whole crowd of helpful people were throwing a steady rain of granite at the foolish young man. Despite this, he continued to step closer and closer to his apparent death. "Oh forget him!" the woman said, turning around to run away. The boar was much too close now. "He is deaf and blind! We cannot save him!" As one, the villagers stopped their hail of rocks and fled, abandoning the unfortunate stranger to his early demise. The wild boar suddenly stopped, a few yards in front of the young man. It sniffed the air, scenting the sweet smell of blood. It seemed to grin, as only a boar could, through its razor sharp tusks. It then resumed its charge towards the stranger, licking its chops and grunting. Suddenly, a strangled moan seemed to come out of the young man's dry lips. His glassy eyes rolled back into their sockets leaving only the whites exposed. He toppled forwards just as the boar leaped to gore him in the throat. Unfortunately for the wild animal, it missed its mark. Instead, the boy's forehead impacted with the top of its skull as he fell over. There was an audible crack, then a grunt of pain that was cut off in mid-squeal. The villagers hiding behind several buildings grew puzzled at the sudden silence. They carefully peered around to find the young man lying facedown atop the still body of the boar. They hesitantly approached the two unmoving figures, moving an inch at a time. "Careful! Boars are notoriously hard to kill! It could still be alive," one of them warned. When it became apparent that neither one of the still bodies would soon move, and that a fairly large puddle of blood was beginning to form underneath them, they inched closer. They stopped when they were only a couple of feet away. They stood there a while, staring down at them. One of the men grew bold and leaned forward to study the two bodies closer. "Is he dead?" The man straightened as he stood up. "No, he seems only to have passed out from blood-loss." "What about the boar?" "It is dead. Something seems to have crushed its skull. It looks like the damned creature was instantly killed. Whatever hit it, it was damn hard." Another villager poked at an umbrella that was lying near them on the ground. It was so heavy it refused to budge. "The boy must have hit it with this before passing out." A woman indicated the huge amount of blood that was collecting in the small depression underneath the two bodies. "I'll say! Look at all the blood that came out of the poor thing!" "No, that's not the boar's blood." The first villager pointed at the young man's still-gushing nose. "It's the boy's." A pained sigh came out of the young man's lips. They all turned to look at him. His eyes slowly opened in confusion revealing dark brown irises. "You deserve a reward, young man! We will heal your nasal hemorrhage, but tell us what it is that you would desire." The young man slowly sat up on the dead boar's body. He unwrapped a yellow and black bandanna from his head and placed it over his nose to keep the blood from gushing out. "That's okay." His voice came out muted due to the pressure on his nose. As his mouth opened and closed, the villagers could see that he had overly developed canine teeth. "I think it's only my nose-bleed again. You can answer my question though." He took out a dirty and blood stained map. "W-where is the g- I mean, where is Furinkan High?" The woman villager took the map from his hand and looked at it. She was careful not to touch the bloody parts. "Kami! But this map shows nothing in this area. It looks more like Tokyo." She handed it back to the young man, who took it and placed it back into his pocket. Another villager shouted, "But that's five hundred miles north of here!" "Very well. Forgive me for intruding." The young man walked off, tightly clutching the bandanna to his nose. The crowd of villagers stared at his departing back. "Now that one is really lost," one of them said, shaking his head. "Indeed. He's walking south." ~*~*~*~ The sun was shining through the early morning fog indicating that it would probably be a fine day in Nerima, Tokyo. Of course this usually meant nothing with the district's current weather patterns. The most puzzling aspect was that Nerima's weather had been fairly ordinary only a week ago. Outside the Tendo household, in the backyard, a very attractive girl with the face and body of an angel was sitting down on her knees in front of a makeshift campfire. Her blond hair, loosely tied in a pigtail at the back of her head, flapped a bit in the morning breeze. A steel bucket filled with water was suspended above the hot flames of the small fire. The girl was gently blowing on the flames to make it burn even hotter in the cold morning. Her open hands were waving the smoke away from her face. Another girl stepped out of the back door. She had long, black hair, tied in the back with a yellow ribbon. She was wearing jogging clothes. "Ranma, is that you?" the girl asked curiously, walking closer. "What are you doing up so early?" Ranma leaned back, hugging her long slender legs with her arms. "What does it look like I'm doing, Akane?" she said in annoyance. "I woke up in girl form again, so I'm heating up some water so I can change back." Akane frowned at her. "Then why go to all this trouble? We do have hot water, you know?" "Yeah? Well then, where is this mythical hot water I keep hearing about? Whenever I take a bath or use a tap, only cold ever comes out." Ranma smiled as the water in the bucket began to bubble, then frowned as she thought about Akane's meddling older sister. "And who knows where Nabiki's hidden the kettle this time?" "Stop being so paranoid! We're not trying to conspire to keep you in that perverted form you like so much." Akane jogged off. "Well, see you later and clean up the mess when you're done at least," she called out behind her, not looking back. "Of course, Akane! I don't want to burn the house down either!" Ranma looked at her departing back for a moment before realizing that the water was done. With a cry of joy she picked up the bucket and upended the hot liquid over her head. She, now he, felt the familiar change come over his body as it reverted to normal. Not so much as felt anything physically, but the sense of having a bigger body and the growing tightness of his singlet and boxer shorts. He heard something hiss in his hand, then shouted in pain as he threw away the hot metal bucket. Looking at it angrily, he grumbled something about stupid curses and hot water. Ranma stood up and stretched, enjoying the strain of the muscles of his true form. Lately he'd been staying as a girl too much. Well, never again! he vowed silently. He walked over to the now-empty bucket resting on it's side and picked it up. Then he walked over to the koi pond to fill it up with cold water so he could put out the fire. Carefully stepping over the slick rocks lining the small pool, he leaned over to scoop some up. "Oh Ranmaaaa!" Kasumi's cheerful voice called out from within the house. "Please come and get your clothes." "Coming!" Ranma replied, looking backwards. Suddenly he slipped on a patch of moss. Desperately, he tried to regain his balance, throwing the bucket up and waving his arms around. After a desperate second of panicked struggling he managed to stabilize himself. "Feh! It'll take more than slick stones to make the heir to the Saotome school of Anything Goes martial arts lose his balance!" The bucket, landing facedown over his head and blinding him, proved it. ~*~*~*~ Inside the laundry room, a thoroughly wet and dripping blonde was standing. She was looking in a very confused manner at the taller woman with long, brown hair. "What?" Ranma asked, incredulous. In one of her slender hands was a tiny red shirt that seemed small enough for a child. In the other she held a pair of black trousers of about equal size. Kasumi looked at the overly attractive young girl with an apologetic expression on her kind face. "I'm very sorry, Ranma, but all your clothes seem to have been ruined." She placed the basket of wet clean clothing she was holding on a nearby stool and turned around to take more from the washing machine. "I just don't understand it. I was very careful not to use hot water but they seemed to have shrunk in the wash anyway." Ranma lowered herself to her knees on the ground in shock. "B-but, but, I thought we didn't even have hot water around here?" She began rooting through another basket of the dried clothes but only succeeded in finding more shrunken clothing. "Ranma, of course we have hot water here," Kasumi said gently, a little puzzled. Ranma grimaced as she came up with another one of her shirts, this one blue. It seemed even smaller than the other ones. "Then how come whenever I go to use it, there's never any? I turn on the hot water tap and brrrr, only cold comes out." She threw the shirt back into the basket in disgust. "And I still can't figure out the reason why I always wake up in the morning in this dumb form." Kasumi turned to give her a pitying glance. "I just don't understand it either," she replied, shrugging her right shoulder to loosen the long brown pony tail she wore. "I feel so bad about this, Ranma. Please promise me, you'll go shopping with me for more clothes after school?" She lifted up another of Ranma's shirts by its tiny sleeves from the washing machine and sighed sadly. The blond girl sitting on the floor of the laundry perked up a bit. "Really? Of course, Kasumi! You're the greatest!" Kasumi beamed at her happily, then continued to unload the washing machine. Ranma looked down at the basket of dried clothes one last time. Suddenly, she smiled as she spotted something. Reaching into the basket, she pulled out another shirt. "Hey, this one isn't shrunk so much!" Ranma said happily. She stood up and ripped off the singlet she was wearing to try it on. She desperately squeezed into the black shirt. Grunting and holding her breath in, she then began fastening the little wooden ties to close the shirt up. She cursed out loud, earning a disapproving look from Kasumi, when she accidentally pinched one of her breasts. But finally she got it on. It was a tight fit, and she could hardly breathe, but she could wear it! Kasumi looked at her with an odd expression on her face. "Oh my. I don't think it would be such a good idea to wear that to school, Ranma," she said shaking her head sternly. "Why not?" Soun stepped into the room. "Kasumi! When are you going to start break-" He took one look at the overly tight shirt emphasizing Ranma's firm bust and started giggling wildly. He ran forward to try to glomp her, but Ranma leaned backwards and launched him overhead and out the open door with her foot. A second later, a splash was heard, followed by sounds of someone crying loudly. "I see what you mean." She stood up and untied the fastenings before squeezing out of the tight shirt. She put her singlet back on. "It probably wouldn't have fit if I was in guy form anyway. I don't suppose you have any clothes a guy could wear, Kasumi?" At her blank stare, Ranma shrugged. "No, I thought not." ~*~*~*~ "Oh come on, Akane! Don't you have a guy's shirt or pants in there?" Ranma tried to step into her room, but Akane blocked the blond girl from entering by stepping in her way. "No, I do not! If you paid attention to what I usually wear, you'd know!" Ranma tried to step the other way, but Akane anticipated her and moved sideways to prevent her from entering. "What? You mean that yellow gi? But a tomboy like you must have some proper guy's clothes!" Ranma shouted in annoyance. Akane's eyes narrowed, the dark irises beginning to turn a distinct red hue. She picked up a handy blunt object and hefted it in her hands. "What did you say?" Ranma backed away in panic as Akane approached her silently with the Brittanica encyclopedia. "A-Akane, t-that just slipped out! Honest! You're not really a tomboy ... y-you're like ... Kasumi! Yeah, like Kasumi!" She silently prayed to the spirits that they wouldn't strike her dead after such a massive lie. Akane continued to stalk forwards. "Laying on the flattery's not going to work, Ranma-" But as she looked at Ranma's big blue eye's start to glisten moisture within that panic-stricken, exquisite face, her legs, strangely, began to slow. It was like she was walking in thick mud. A feeling of confusion hit her as a sweet, sickening sensation arose within the pit of her stomach. It just felt so wrong to get angry at someone who looked like 'that'. She stopped moving and lowered the massive book. "Oh, Ranma! I'm so sorry for losing my temper like that! Will you ever forgive me?" Where did that come from? The words just ripped right out of her mouth! Ranma blinked, confused for a second. Then she smiled, a dimple making itself known on her cheek. She stepped back off the wall that her back was pressed tightly against. "T-That's okay, Akane, I know you didn't mean it," she said in her soft, sensual and melodic voice. "Now just go back into your room and we'll forget the whole thing, okay?" Fight it Akane! Fight it! Akane's mind screamed at her. But it was no use. She felt her legs turn her body around mechanically, and walk herself back to her room. Her arms moved woodenly to shut the door. Ranma grinned, relieved. "Phew! Worked like a charm!" The door suddenly opened and a book came flying out to bounce off her head. "I heard that!" ~*~*~*~ "Come on Pop! Don't you have any other clothes besides that old brown gi you always wear?" Genma looked at his son who was disgracefully a girl at the moment. He frowned. "Brown? You colourblind, boy? This is a white gi!" Ranma leaned forward and stroked the gi he was wearing with her finger. She studied the long white streak that she made. "You're right, it is white," she said, wiping the brown grime off her fingertip with a tissue. "Forget I asked you anything." "I've got some spare underwear you can borrow if you want." Ranma shuddered. ~*~*~*~ "Mr. Tendo, do you have any clothes I could borrow for school today?" "Waaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!" "Ah, forget it." Ranma turned to walk back into the house, carefully stepping over the pond rocks. ~*~*~*~ "Nabiki! I'm desperate! I'm so, so, so very, very, very sorry for getting you into trouble with Kuno!" Nabiki was lying down on her stomach on her bed. She was resting her face in her palms, elbows braced on the mattress. Not because it was her preferred position, but because her bottom still felt like it was on fire. She gave the boy-turned-beautiful-girl a malicious grin. "Really now." Her voice was sarcastic. "And just what is it that you want my dear Ranma-chan?" "Don't call me that - I mean, err, you can call me that if you want. But do you have any clothes that a guy could wear to school? All my clothes were ruined in the wash." And just how did that happen? Nabiki chuckled to herself as she remembered sneaking into the laundry after Kasumi had left yesterday. It was a simple matter to switch the washing machine's 'super hot-wash' on. She felt quite proud of herself actually, since it was the first time she had ever even touched one of those things. Although, she had to be careful to keep a look out if Ranma ever needed to change back to normal. Then she would have to disable the supply pipes from the water heater again. Switching off the whole heater off was risky, as she found out when Kasumi almost caught her. This method was a whole lot easier. Nabiki was careful, though, to switch the taps back on when Ranma gave up on it. Outwardly, she assumed a stern expression on her face. "And why should I help a vengeful girl like you?" "I said I was sorry! What more do you want me to do?" Nabiki told her. "But that, that's disgusting! I won't do it!" Ranma said, blushing. Nabiki raised her brows suggestively and waited. After a pregnant pause, Ranma expelled a breath out loudly. "Fine! I'll do it then! But I'm only doing this for the clothes. Where are they?" Nabiki held out her hand. "Wait! Shake on it. I don't want you bumming out." Ranma narrowed her eyes. "I don't break my word, Nabiki." But she leaned over and shook her hand anyway. "Now where's the clothes?" she repeated. Nabiki slowly slid off the bed feet first, wincing in pain. She hobbled over to her wardrobe taking small steps as Ranma followed eagerly. Nabiki opened it and grabbed something by the hanger and handed it to her. Ranma's eyes widened. "There you are, my dear Ranma-chan. It's a spare one I grew out of." "B-but this is the Furinkan girl's uniform!" Ranma said in disgust, holding the blue dress with an outstretched arm, as far as she could get it away from her. "You welshed on our deal!" Nabiki folded her arms. "I did no such thing," she said in a no-nonsense voice. "A guy could wear that. He just wouldn't want to." Ranma looked at her, her eyes beginning to brim with moisture. She smiled hopefully with the sweetest look on her face, any diabetic in proximity would probably fall over dead. Nabiki panicked, and stepped backwards in fear. "Hey! Stop that!" She shook her head in fright. Ranma waited. She could be patient. Well, only when she knew she was going to win eventually. "Okay, I give up! Here!" She threw something at Ranma's feet. It was a pair of Furinkan boys shoes. The blond girl looked at them in disbelief. "That's really the best you can do?!" Ranma extended her arm back, ready to throw the clothes out of the window. "But I wanted some guys clothes so that I can finally end this girl farce and attend school as a boy! I am not wearing a girl's dress!" Nabiki let out a relieved breath once Ranma's look turned away from her. A second later and she might have disgraced herself and given in. "Then what are you going to wear to school? There is an assembly today and it's compulsory to attend so you can't skip out. And I know that I was your last option." She grinned. "How did you know that?" Ranma asked suspiciously, lowering her arm. Was Nabiki spying on her? "Seriously, would you have come to me first?" Nabiki giggled and snorted at the same time. Ranma furiously stomped out of the room, but unusually, closed the door gently. A second later, the door opened and she came back in. "I forgot the shoes, alright?" she said in exasperation. She grabbed the shoes off the floor and marched back out, this time not forgetting to slam the door. Nabiki shook her head forebodingly. "Oh, Ranma, I can almost pity you." She laughed evilly as she went to sit down. "Ha ha ha ha ha! - Ow! Damn that Kuno-baka!" ~*~*~*~ Genma took one look at Ranma and blanched, turning away immediately, fighting for control. "Boy, you are not wearing that," he said in his most solemn voice. "Have you no shame? Ranma, you break your father's heart!" Ranma bopped him on the head with the heel of her palm. "If it wasn't for your stupid idea to go to Jusenkyo in the first place, I wouldn't be in this mess!" She picked him up and viciously drop-kicked her father out the door and into the pond. No mean feat since he was taller than her when she was in girl form. Akane walked into the room. "So Ranma, did you find any clothes to wear - Kami!" she shouted. "What in the heck are you wearing?!" She stared disbelievingly at the blond haired girl. She was actually wearing the Furinkan girls dress! Akane always knew that Ranma was more attractive than what was good for her, but seeing her in actual female atire was overwhelming to say the least. What was even worse was that the uniform seemed a couple of sizes too small for her. Instead of a decent dress, it had been transformed into an almost indecent, short skirt. Ranma's long legs, shapely and slender, were visible up until just above her graceful knees. Voluptuous curves were held tightly within the blue bodice and white undershirt which accentuated her slim, perfect body. The thin material that stretched across her ample chest, though concealing an actual view, left Ranma's abundant attributes with little to the imagination. All in all, the 'uniform' did nothing much but advertise a perfectly proportioned body which probably existed nowhere else but in one's moist, erotic dreams. Akane blushed and grew red at the perverse thought. Was the room getting a little warm? "Look, I tried to find something different! I swear! I wanted some guys clothing so that I can finally come to school in my proper form. But no one had any!" She grimaced, combing her hair back with her fingers. "At least Nabiki had -some- clothing for me." The blood heating Akane's face began to make her feel dizzy. As a result she didn't even hear what Ranma just said in her defense as she focused on one thing. "Y-You aren't even wearing a bra! You're a pervert girl, as well as a pervert guy!" "Hey! I draw the line at wearing a bra! I'm a guy, damn it and no one better forget it. Even if I do look like this." She smirked at Akanes red face. "Besides, what are you so worried about anyway? Afraid you might reveal your secret fantasies? Do you like this bod, Akane?" She lifted her arms and placed her hands behind her head, striking a pose. She flashed long, dark-brown eyelashes sensually at her before closing her eyes and looking like a professional model. "W-what?!" Akane spluttered, her eyes widening. More blood rushed to her face. The room was definitely getting too warm. She couldn't decide whether to be angry, embarrassed, or just plain mortified. "I, I, I, ... arghhhhhhhhhhh!" she screamed, running forward maniacally. Ranma opened her eyes and realized she had gone a bit over the top. "A-Akane, I'm sorry! I was just joking!" The red-faced, dark-haired girl continued to move forward like a berserker. "Eeep! Time for school!" She picked up her backpack hurriedly and slipped it on as she ran into the hall. However, she was not fast enough. Akane's heavy bag, full of books, impacted her on the back of the head sending her flying out the front door. Akane sighed, still blushing, as she picked up her bag and walked through the hall and back into the room. She waved some air into her hot face. Her eldest sister stepped inside with a tray of food. "Breakfast is ready!" Kasumi called out. Looking around the room, empty save for Akane, she grew puzzled. "Where is everyone?" Nabiki walked in also, dressed in her school uniform. "Looks like Ranma's already left and if you look out that window, that's where Daddy and Mr. Saotome is." Kasumi and Akane looked outside and sure enough, there was a drowned looking panda floating on the surface of the pond. Their father was also in the water, standing waist deep and still weeping. ~*~*~*~ Cows were grazing on the green grass somewhere in Hokkaido. The same young man with the yellow and black bandanna was walking through. He was still walking zombie-like, with a glassy look in his eyes. A man carrying two buckets of milk ran up to him. "You there! You are polluting my field!" He pointed to the long trail of blood behind the young man. It was all smeared with messy red clots, ruining the grass. "Hey! I was talking to you!" The boy was walking away from him! The farmer dropped his buckets and followed quickly. He slapped the young man's face. "Ouch! That felt like slapping rock!" he shouted, holding his hand in pain. It worked though, as the stranger seemed to come out of his stupor. He took off one of his many bandannas and held it to his nose. "W-Where is Furinkan High school?" He took out a map and offered it to the farmer. The farmer grumbled, and took the map. He wiped his bloody palm on the back of the piece of paper, then studied it. "Well, if that's Tokyo on the map, it's five hundred miles south of here." ~*~*~*~ "Oh man, that violent tomboy! Can't even take a little teasing," the blond girl in the blue dress was muttering. She rubbed the back of her head with one hand while the other held on to the strap of her backpack. She was walking on the fence, pointedly ignoring the couple of guys staring at her legs. At the moment there were only those two lust-stricken boys walking on the ground, following her, so she couldn't be bothered dissuading them physically yet. Actually they were very lucky they hadn't tried to glomp her yet. It was especially fortunate it was earlier than usual or there would have been a lot more people following her. Her stomach grumbled cutely. "And I haven't even had breakfast yet!" she wailed miserably. Although she probably did deserve it, saying such outrageous things to Akane like that. But who would've known she'd react so strongly to it? She sighed as she lowered her arms, placing them behind her back. Looking up at the azure sky as she walked atop the fence, she was thankful at least, that it was a fine day. Although, it didn't much matter now, since she couldn't turn back into a guy anyway. Not since she had to wear this dumb dress. She frowned as she remembered what Nabiki had weaseled her way into getting her to do. No, she would not even think about it yet. It would just make her more depressed. She looked down at her dress, eyes narrowing as she inspected it fully. Earlier, she hadn't gotten a chance to check herself out properly in the mirror because of her father interrupting, and then Akane. Now that she got a good look at herself, she had to admit that their reactions were exactly what she would have expected. She had never worn a dress before, always preferring to wear guy's clothing even when she was in female form. This uniform made her look different, even more like a girl. She had never felt that she was truly female before, but wearing this, it was impossible not to. She did not feel the same. Although the tight, constricting bodice squeezing her breasts didn't help one bit. This was ridiculous! Boys were -not- supposed to have breasts! "E-Excuse me, Miss Ranma?" Ranma refused to look at the boys following her. "Don't call me 'Miss'. Hey wait a minute!" She looked down at them. "You know me?" Come to think of it, they were in the navy blue, boys uniform of Furinkan High. And the Band-Aids on their faces did indicate they were in that group that foolishly tried to camp outside the Tendo house. Before she had taught them a lesson as her 'alter-ego' Ryoga Hibiki. She was still congratulating herself on that ingenious idea. Except it didn't seem to work exactly to her satisfaction. Having a tough boyfriend was supposed to 'persuade' them not to bother her. Actually, looking at the boy's school uniform was beginning to give her a wicked idea ... "I-I'm Hiroshi, and this is Daisuke." He indicated his friend who had a bit darker brown hair than he himself had. "We overheard you about missing breakfast, so on the way, w-we bought you some f-food." He hurriedly grabbed a bowl and chopsticks from his friend. "H-here." He gulped nervously. Ranma's blue eyes widened in surprise and pleasure. Her mouth watered hungrily. She stopped walking and squatted down to grab the offered food quickly, even desperately. "Thanks a lot guys!" She stood up, embarrassed. After a slight pause, she ran off along the fence, gobbling the food down quickly as she went. No, she couldn't steal their uniforms, it wouldn't be right. It would be something her poor excuse of a father would try to do. The two friends watched the shapely figure run off for a while before she turned a corner and ran out of sight. "Holy heck! Did you see her tits when she squatted down, Daisuke? Thank the spirits for small dresses!" Hiroshi bubbled in lust, looking at his friend who was still wide-eyed. "And those legs! They go on forever! Damn, that Ranma Saotome is one fine girl! I wanna murder that Hibiki!" Drool was pouring out of Daisuke's mouth splattering the sidewalk with saliva. "Y-Yeah ... I think I'm in love too, man ... But did you see what she was wearing underneath that skirt?" Hiroshi frowned, disappointed. "Yeah, I was hoping to get a look at her panties too, but they looked like boxer shorts!" ~*~*~*~ Ranma managed to get to school about half an hour early. As a result, there weren't many students there yet, except for one severely annoying individual. "Golden One! I have punished the insufferable mercenary! Wouldst thou date with the Blue Thunder now?" Ranma leaped and kneed him in the head, sending him backwards through a tree, snapping it in two. She shouted, "How dare you attack my Nabiki!" before running into the school building. Kuno sat up with a groan and rubbed his face. He swatted some of the leaves fluttering around in the air with his free hand. "Hark! But I do believe my Golden-haired One has worn a dress this day! No doubt because she begins to warm towards me. As the light doth fall, as doth but a promise that the golden beams of her illumination may also fall for me, but in love." He grimaced. "But that evil-spawn-of-the-devil-girl must still be trying to possess her! She will be punished!" He laughed insanely. ~*~*~*~ Akane sighed as she walked to school. Was it true? Was she secretly attracted to Ranma's female body? A girl's body? But that couldn't be! She liked Doctor Tofu didn't she? She felt better after thinking of this and clung to it like a life-line. No, she was not a pervert! She was just a little bit confused because Ranma had turned her whole life upside-down. So far this fiance business had nothing much to recommend it. But she had to admit, looking at the front of the school empty of boys, that there were some advantages. None of the boys bothered her anymore, especially that weirdo, Tatewaki Kuno. Hah! Now only Ranma would have to put up with that poetry spouting moron, she thought evilly. As she walked up the pathway leading to the school's front doors, a tall girl suddenly blocked her way. More girls appeared in the background with hostile expressions on their faces. "Akane Tendo," the tall girl said ominously. She had long brown hair worn in a ponytail halfway down her back. She was dressed in flowing, green robes. Her eyes, of a like shade, were flashing angrily as she flexed a well-muscled but shapely arm. "What is it?" Akane asked, puzzled. She looked at all the girls and began to get a bad feeling about this. A strange feeling of deja vu. "So you've been hounding Ranma, ay? Our spies have informed us! As captain of this school's Lesbian-Jodo club, I demand that you stop acting so familiar to the beauteous Ranma Saotome!" the girl said angrily. Akane stepped backwards in shock. "W-what?! What are you talking about!" She didn't know Furinkan had a Lesbian-Jodo club. She didn't even know they existed! "Ah, but is it not the custom to introduce one's own self before attacking someone? Very well then, Yuriko Midorikawa is my name, aged seventeen. However, to my secret peers I am known as the 'Green River' of Furinkan High!" She pulled out a long wooden staff and brandished it threateningly. One of the girls threw a bucket of green pond scum at her feet for effect. "But he lives with us! It's not like I can avoid him!" Yuriko stiffened. "What? Lecherous Vixen! And it's she, not a disgusting he! I will teach you to live in sin with the rose of the sun that is my Golden Flower!" Yuriko shouted. "You sorceress! I will not allow it! We will not allow it! Girls, attack!" They all charged forward. Akane lowered into a battle stance and waited for them to come. ~*~*~*~ Later in classroom F, the teacher looked at the room full of students and sighed. All was back to normal, with the male students seated at their proper desks, although they all looked a bit worse for wear with numerous bandages visible on vital places on their bodies. Despite their obvious injuries, their ability to lust and ogle seemed unaffected. If anything, it did nothing but improve those abilities. The new student, Ranma Saotome was, as usual, attracting many stares. Akane Tendo sat next to the blond girl and seemed to be nursing her sore knuckles. "So, the boys have finally decided to show up. I trust you all have an excuse for being absent yesterday?" One by one, each of the boys walked over to her table at the front of the classroom and placed an envelope on it. The teacher picked up one of them and opened it. "Let's see now, Hiro Fushigura, reason for absence, 'attacked by a maniac named Ryoga Hibiki'." She picked up another one and opened it. "Hmmm, let's see, 'Ryoga Hibiki beat me up'." "Arm needed to be set because of a psycho, Ryoga Hibiki." "A monstrously large boy with dark hair named Ryoga Hibiki kicked me over a house and when I landed, I broke a rib." "Hibiki Ryoga sent our son to the hospital. Please find this violent boy and punish him." "A bully shoved a tent pole up my .... ahem ..." The teacher fanned her suddenly hot face with her hand. "As a result, I had diarrhea and couldn't come to classes. The bully called himself, Ryoga Hibiki." Her eyes were so wide open it seemed as if they would swallow her face. She continued to read all of them out loud. Ranma stood up, angry and defensive. "Hey! They attacked me, I mean, Ryoga first! It's not his fault!" she shouted, cutting off what the teacher was saying. The teacher dropped the paper she was about to read and looked at her, eyes widening. She didn't realize it earlier but Ranma was in the girls, blue school uniform. Usually the pretty girl was wearing those boyish Chinese style shirt and trousers. The dress made the young woman seem even more feminine and attractive if that was possible. "I see you have finally heeded the school dress code, Miss Ranma Saotome." Ranma blushed and sat down. "This is only for today because I didn't have anything else," she mumbled. All the boys sighed as they looked at her red face. She was so cute! Akane just looked straight ahead at the blackboard a little annoyed at the way the boys were acting. Stupid lechers, all of them. And now she had even more problems related to Ranma. She thought it a bit ironic that she had traded boy problems for girl problems. Weird girl problems. "And who is this violent boy, Ryoga Hibiki, to you, Miss?" the teacher continued. "Hey, call me Mister-" Ranma looked down at the dress she was wearing and gulped. "I mean, that's okay, you c-can call me that now." She laughed a strained laugh. "Anyway Ryoga is my b- ... ummm my ..." Ranma's face was beet red, contrasting with her pale hair. "He's my ..." She mumbled something unintelligible. "I'm sorry? I didn't hear that Ranma." "He's my boyfriend, okay?" Ranma shouted. All the boys stood up, shocked. "Then it's true? That guy is your boyfriend?!" The whole class looked at her expectantly. Ranma's red, hot face flushed even more. She felt like steam was going to pour out of her ears any moment now. She gave a very slight nod. "Yay! Now we all got a chance to snag a boyfriend again, now that she's taken!" the girls shouted, overjoyed. All of the boys wailed pitifully. "Then we have nothing left to live for!" they shouted. There was a sudden rumble of struggling bodies rushing to the windows and opening them. The teacher lifted up a hand. "Stop!" The boys looked back, a little scared. Their sensei could be very intimidating when she wanted to be. "There will be no suicide attempts during my period!" One boy swung one of his legs back off the windowsill. "Awwwww! That's not fair, Sensei!" "What's this about a boyfriend?" Akane asked, angry, but curious. "I didn't know you could get any more perverse than you were before, but this!" Ranma waved her off, smiling nervously. "I-I'll explain later, I promise, Akane!" ~*~*~*~ A young man wearing a yellow and black headband was walking along the street. He sighed as he shifted the large travel pack on his shoulder and looked at the grimy map in his hands again. At this rate, he would never find Furinkan High school! Then his spirits lifted as he saw a group of guys sitting at a table outside a restaurant. He thought it was a bit weird that a lot of them had casts on their hands and bandages stuck to their faces. "Excuse me, but where is Furinkan High school?" They all turned and looked at him curiously. "You look familiar. Do we know you?" The young man scratched the back of his head underneath his bandanna. "I guess it's possible." He laughed a little sadly. "After all I meet so many people in my travels. My name is Ryoga Hibiki." All the boys suddenly stood up with angry looks on their faces. "Yeah, I thought I knew you!" one of them shouted. "Don't think you can disguise yourself with that stupid bandanna!" They rushed forward with hostile intent. "Get him!" they shouted and all jumped on the surprised young man. A second later, the mountain of boys suddenly exploded in all directions. They were sent flying everywhere, some through the windows of the restaurant, some into the shop across the street and some just straight up into the stratosphere. At the center of the place where the pile of boys were a second ago stood a very angry young man. "No one insults my bandanna!" the real Ryoga Hibiki shouted. ~*~*~*~ It was lunchtime and Ranma and Akane were sitting outside on a bench in the school grounds. "So you see," Ranma said with her mouth full, "I made up the name, Ryoga Hibiki, and gave it to my male side. Then I pretended to be my own boyfriend. Pretty smart, huh?" Akane twirled one of her chopsticks around her finger. "Actually, it was pretty dumb." "Hey!" Ranma looked up, a little offended. "Did it even work?" Akane asked sarcastically. She pointed to the crowd of boys trying to spy on them from behind a tree. "You're just lucky that they didn't hear what you just said with all the arguing they're doing." Ranma refused to acknowledge them. "Well ... maybe you have to wait a while before the knowledge that I'm unavailable trickles to their brains." "Seeing as they are boys, the knowledge will have to trickle the other way down to their, you-know-whats," Akane replied, using the chopsticks to pick up a piece of food and place it in her mouth. "All you've really done is drive up their sense of competition. If they think you're taken they'll just try that much harder to win you." "How do you know all this?" the blond girl asked curiously. Akane smiled ironically. "Well -I- was the most sought after girl before you showed your pretty little face in Nerima, Ranma," she said in a dry tone. Ranma's face got hot. "So what would you recommend I do then, Akane?" "That first day at school, you saw what I was doing." "Oh, yeah I forgot," Ranma replied sheepishly. Akane looked down at her lap, suddenly blushing. "Look Ranma, about this morning, I just overreacted-" "Hi, Akane!" a voice suddenly called out, cutting her off. They turned around and spotted two girls walking up to them. Akane sighed and placed the half-empty bowl of food she was holding on to the bench and stood up. "Well, since I'm not hungry anymore, and you're still pigging out, I'll be heading off. My friends are here." One of the girls motioned for Akane to wait. "Hang on, Akane. You haven't introduced us to your new friend yet. We want to meet the girl who's taken Furinkan by storm." She smiled. Akane sighed. "Okay then, this is Ranma." Ranma stood up, still chewing something from the bowl of food she was holding. "He, I mean, she is just living with my family with his, I mean her, father." Akane indicated one of the girls. She had medium length brown hair that she wore loose. "This is Sayuri." Then she nodded to the other girl, who also had brown hair, but set in a short pony tail. "And this is Yuka, of course." Yuka giggled. "Well, to make you feel better, Ranma, we don't care about all the boys liking you." Ranma blushed as she swallowed. "We think it's pretty funny actually." Sayuri agreed. "Yeah, and it's fun how all the so-called popular girls are all worried and anxious now that they've been knocked off their throne by a newcomer." She looked at Akane worriedly. "Of course we don't mean our good friend, Akane, but those other stuck up bitc- I mean girls." Akane laughed nervously then motioned to them to get going. "Well, Ranma, since I don't feel hungry anymore, we'll just head on over to the school assembly a bit early." "Yeah, that's okay, Akane. I'll just finish my food," Ranma replied, sitting back down. "I'm still starving from this morning since Hiroshi and Daisuke didn't give me nearly enough. After all, I'm a growing boy, I mean, girl, heh heh." She lowered her chopsticks to grab another piece of food from her bowl. Sayuri and Yuka got concerned looks on their faces. "That wouldn't be two boys, one with light brown hair, the other with darker hair, but a slightly goofy expression on his face, would it?" Ranma looked up, puzzled. "Yeah, that's them. What's the big deal?" "They're two of this school's worst lechers," Yuka warned, tugging her brown ponytail worriedly. "They're second only to Kuno, so you better watch out." Ranma laughed confidently, brushing a lock of blond hair from her eyes. "Don't worry about it. I can take care of myself." ~*~*~*~ Ranma stealthily ducked behind another tree. She popped her head out and looked side to side, her blond pigtail swishing. "Phew! I finally lost them," Ranma sighed. "Geez, those boys were harder to unstick than Pop when he wants some money." She thought about yesterday when her father was trying to bleed some yen from Mr. Tendo again. He really needed a job, the old fart. She began walking to the courtyard where the assembly was being held. As she cut across the footpaths ignoring the 'Do not walk on the grass' signs, Ranma looked down at her legs moving so strangely in the dress. "Damn, I hate this skirt!" she complained. "I can't walk properly in the damn thing, I have to take these stupid little steps." Ranma began to hear the sounds of many people talking. Oh, good, she thought. The assembly must be right around this building. As she walked around the large structure to the main courtyard, she felt hot liquid wetting her hair from above. "What in the world?" 'he' now shouted, trying to look up as he turned the corner. He tilted his head sideways as he sidestepped around the building, trying to see where the water had come from. There was only an empty balcony up there. He felt an unfamiliar feeling of tightness and looked down at the dress he was wearing. It had ripped in quite a few places. "Holy heck!" he shouted loudly, as he abruptly realized that he was a guy in a -girl's- dress! It was suddenly, deathly silent. Up until a second ago it was noisy with the sounds of many people talking. He looked up, dreading what he would see. His throat constricted. He had reached the assembly. In front of him, the whole school of at least several hundred students and about all the teachers were staring at him in utter stillness. They were all assembled in front of a massive speaking platform. The air was hushed with an utter cessation of sound. Row upon row of faces, each with an expression of shock and horror, speared him with their aghast gazes. Ranma was paralyzed in dumfounded embarrassment. At that moment, the torn shoulder of his dress appallingly decided to snap and succumb to gravity for a few humiliating inches. ~*~*~*~ Nabiki looked outside the window of the chemistry lab on the third floor. She smiled as she played with a warm, but empty beaker in her hands. Leaning over, she switched the gas to the Bunsen burner off. "Ahhhh," she sighed. "Revenge and making money. The two most sweetest things in the world." Placing the beaker down on the table, she then lifted her arms up and stretched luxuriantly. "It feels so heavenly when you accomplish both at the same time ..." She sat down, then stood up again very quickly. "Damn it!" she complained. "I always forget about that," she said, rubbing her sore bottom. To Be Continued ... ---- End of Part 4. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Some notes: "Jodo" It's an actual Japanese style with a weapon called a "Jo" which is basically just a wooden staff. No, I didn't make it up ^_^. As always, C&C appreciated... Ace Sanchez (email: jsa@fl.net.au | www: http://jsa.users.fl.net.au/)