It was a sight few in Nerima could recall seeing, a couple, obviously in love, slowly walking down the street, hand in hand, without a care or concern in the world. Those that they passed could swear they could feel the love radiating off of them. That the couple was Ranma Saotome and Nabiki Tendo caused a bit of stir, but only for a short while. Until those that saw them recalled the stories that had been going around and the 'news' that Akane Tendo had, unintentional been spreading all of yesterday.
Upon entering Furinkan High School, many students stopped what they were doing and just stared at Ranma and Nabiki. A hush fell over the student body, followed by a collective sigh of every girl wishing, for the first time ever, that she was Nabiki Tendo.
"What is this?!?" screamed Tatewaki Kuno. Posing with his bokken held high, he continued, "What madness is this? The vile, evil sorcerer returns?!?!? After I, the righteous Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, had vanquished him to the lowest depths of Hell that spawned him? Does not the very Heavens themselves smile upon the might that is the undefeated Blue Thunder? It is the Duty of all the Just to vanish such sorcerers back to the very Hells whence he came!"
Nabiki waited several moments for Kuno to finish, but he just continued on with his monologue, with no sign of stopping soon. To the amazement of all the students, Nabiki stretched out her hand towards Kuno, she muttered a few phrases that none could catch, and her hand began to glow. In a overly sweet, loud voice, she interuptted Kuno with, "Oh, Kuno-baby..."
Kun stopped his monologue, looked contemptuous at her, and demanded, "You know I hate that, Nabiki Tendo! What could you possible what that is more important then vanishing the evil sorcerer Saotome?"
Nabiki smirked, and stated, "Why two things, Kuno-baby! First, it's Nabiki Saotome, and two, you have no clue what true sorcery is... But you know what? I'm going to give you a free demonstration."
Nabiki's hand bursted into flame and she stated calmly, "Fireball."
So saying, a fireball came out of her finger that was pointed at Kuno, and struck him in the chest. Kuno, covered completely in flames, was thrown through the air back several meters. A scent of burnt hair and clothing could be smelled around the area.
Smirking at the fallen idiot, Nabiki giggled and proclaimed, "And that's what true sorcery is, you baka."
Ranma sighed and said, "Nabiki, put it out."
She pouted, but waved her hand over Kuno's body, and the flames died out immediately. Moving a bit closer, she stuck a finger into the air, moved it in a circular pattern. Above Kuno's body water vapor appeared twirling around, and forming into a rain-cloud, which rained over him, removing all the ash and dirt from his body.
Looking down upon Kuno, Nabiki giggled and remarked, "I see that you are definitely over-compensating for your inadequacy, Kuno-baby. But then I knew you had the brains of a five-year old, but I didn't think you had the equipment of one too..."
Ranma and several others grimaced at the mental picture that statement made. In a slightly pained voice, he mentioned, "Nabiki... Too much information."
Nabiki just smirked, feeling vindicated after having to put up with Tatewaki Kuno for so many years.
"Nabiki," Ranma stated, "take Kuno to the Nurse's Office."
"But," she protested.
"Now," Ranma replied in a voice with a touch of amusement in it.
She pouted, sighed, and made a few hand gestures. Kuno's naked, hairless body floated a meter off the ground, and floated head-first behind Nabiki as she walked into the school, towards the Nurse's Office. For those that had not figured out by what she had meant by equipment before could now, clearly see what she meant. Kuno's head, accidently/on purpose, would hit various doors, lockers and such as they went through the building.
Once in the Nurse's Office, she sighed and put Kuno into a bed that had been prepared especially for him since he was such a regular visitor. It was in the furthest corner of the room, away from everyone else, behind a dividing-screen as to separate the bed, and Kuno, from the rest of the room. The dividing-screen, which depicted a lovely scene of Mount Fuji in the morning, had been donated to the Nurse's Office by the Furinkan High School student body in thanks for the Nurse's services. Unlike most such dividing-screens, this one was a bit thicker which allowed it to serve as a semi-sound barrier as well.
The School Nurse saw Nabiki, sighed, and said in a hopeful voice, "I don't suppose..."
Nabiki sadly shook her head.
Asami Hasimoto, Furinkan School Nurse, sighed, moved behind the dividing-screen, and quickly, yet professional, examined Kuno's body as a nurse should. Anyone watching her would see she was very reluctant do so and was bit more uncaring in her examination then she would be for anyone else.
With a smirk, Nabiki told the Nurse, "He should be out of it until Lunch period, Hasimoto-san."
Asami raised an eyebrow in surprise and commented, "Oh?"
Nabiki just grinned and nodded.
Asami smiled in relief and quickly left Kuno's side. She wrote Nabiki a note, and sent her on her way. After Nabiki left, she poured herself a tea, and relaxed, enjoying the unusual silence, ignoring Kuno completely.
Nabiki sashayed to her home-room, handed the note that excused her lateness and took her seat with a smile on her face.
Class went on as usual when Kuno was not there, meaning, some actual learning took place without any useless interruptions that Kuno usually caused.
The Teacher asked the class a question and seeing no one had raised their hands to answer, she called on Nabiki with, "Miss Tendo."
Nabiki smirked and remarked, "Haven't read your memos today, have you, Teach?"
Puzzled he replied, "Why no I haven't... but..."
Saving him the trouble, she responded, "Because if you did, you would have see the filing of my marriage certificate. It's Mrs Saotome, now, Teach."
His eyes blinked, uncomprehending, and a silence fell over the class. Several near-by girls started to slowly, not as stealthfully as they thought, moved their desks away from her. Wanting to get through the day, he simply said, "Very well, Mrs Saotome-san, if you would, what is the answer?"
With that, the class continued.
The Teacher sighed, and stated, "You're late. Hall, buckets, now. Miss Tendo. Mister Sao--"
"Hey," Ranma said, "I'm here on time, Teach."
She looked up and blinked. Surprisedly, in the doorway was only Akane Tendo, Ranma Saotome was actually sitting in his seat with rest of the students. To recover, she simply stated, "Miss Tendo, you know the drill."
The class heard Akane's growl, but she did as she was told.
The Teacher started the class, the first topic of the day was Mathematics. She, rhetorically, since no one in the class ever truly spoke up, asked the class what the answer was to the problem on the board, and, heard a voice say, "Sixty-nine."
She blinked, checked the answer book, and whispered, "Correct." She looked to the source of the voice and took a step back when she noted that it was Ranma Saotome that had answered.
The rest of the class looked owlishly at him. Those near-by moved their desks as far away from him as they could. One of the girls in the class actually started to cry, mutter about the end of the world, and dying as a virgin. Several of her neighbors moved away from her.
Ranma blinked and questioned, "What?"
"Mister Saotome, please, come up to the board and show the class how you arrived at that answer," the Teacher asked.
Ranma shrugged, walked up to the board, and took the chalk. As he worked through the problem, he started, "So you have five martial artists wanting to build a house..."
Fifteen minutes later, Ranma finished with, "So it takes sixty-nine nails, each, to build the house. And it took us only a day to do it, too."
The Teacher blinked and the class sighed in relief. Martial Arts, of course, Ranma knew it. It was related to Martial Arts, even if it was Martial Arts House Construction, Ranma had done it.
After Ranma sat back down, Akane was allowed back in, she noted the looks of curiosity and interest everyone was giving Ranma, and she growled some more.
For the rest of the morning session, Ranma answered many of the questions asked of the class, and relating all of the questions, no matter how far off the subject it was, to Martial Arts.
Akane seeing the attention and admired looks shot at Ranma, just continued to growl throughout the morning. Ukyou Kuonji smiled at Ranma, enjoying the stories of his life and seeing him participate in class, for once.
When the lunch bell sounded, everyone was surprised when Ranma did not jump out the window, but casual walked out the classroom door. They watched him walk down the hallway, and blinked when he was joined by a smiling Nabiki. Ukyou started to growl like Akane when Nabiki took Ranma's hand as they walked outside together. Gossip about the morning incident with Kuno and the day was circulated quickly. With each new incident, Akane and Ukyou got angrier and angrier.
As Nabiki walked towards Ranma's classroom, one of the braver girls came over and asked if it was all true.
Puzzled, she inquired, "Is what all true?"
Blushing, she asked, "Is Kuno-san's equipment really so small? Are you actually married to Ranma-sama? Is he any good in bed? Are you witch?"
Grinning, Nabiki answered, "Yep. Yep. Oooh... definitely. Actually, I'm a sorceress... have no need for wands or such things."
Blushing more, she continued in a rushed voice, "HowbigisRanma'sequipment?
Smirking, she said, "Let's just say that his parents named him well... And more importantly, he knows how to use it... and as talented in bed as he is Martial Arts."
With that, Nabiki walked away.
The girl took on a goldfish look, recovered slightly, fanned herself, and whispered, "Oh my." And turned back to the group of girls off in the distance, to share what she had learned.
Ranma saw the girls blushing and pointing at him. It was nothing new, so he just shrugged and hooked up with Nabiki, who took his hand in his as they walked out of the school. They headed for a shaded spot away from most of the students. There, Ranma sat down, and Nabiki sat in his lap. Caressing her softly, Ranma whispered into her ear, "That was a bit much, what you did to Kuno, my dorei-chan."
Nabiki shivered at Ranma's gentle, knowing touch and at his words, and replied, "This one is sorry, my Nushi-sama. After all this time..."
Placing a gentle finger on Nabiki's lips, silencing her, he added, "Be as all that may, you still have to be careful, Na-chan. If you fully lose control, here...."
Nabiki kissed his finger, and her eyes communicated that she understood the danger and the love behind Ranma's words and actions.
Ranma reached behind her into her subspace pocket, and pulled out two bento lunch boxes that she had made that morning. He noted that both boxes were marked with a stallion and fluttering clouds. His was also noticeable larger of the two. With his ki, he opened both, noting that his, not only had larger portions, but higher quality of food within it, all his favorites. He smiled and kissed her, softly, with love and affection. She melted against his strong body. Using a pair of chopsticks, he slowly fed her from his bento box. Nabiki had tried to refuse the food she had meant for him, but a look from him, had her agreeing quickly.
Nabiki, in Ranma's lap and leaning against him, was happy and content. At peace with the world and wishing they could stay like this forever.
Their peace was interuptted by "Villain! Evil Sorcerer! Enemy of Women!"
Nabiki looked up and noticed Kuno working his way over to them. She sighed, took in Ranma's frustrated look at the interruption, and frowned at Kuno. Although, still a bit away and clearly unwilling to leave them alone, she sat up a bit, made as if she was drawing a bow, and said, "Freeze Arrow."
A dark blue bow made from energy appeared in her outreached hand, and a pale, light blue arrow of ice appeared in her other hand. She released the ice-arrow, which flew true and struck Kuno in the chest, even though he tried to deflect it with his bokken. But the bokken had no effect upon the ice-arrow. When the ice-arrow struck him, it seem to melt into him, and a frost appeared all over his body.
Nabiki frowned and muttered, "I missed."
"Nabiki," Ranma warned.
"It was a very low-powered spell," Nabiki replied quickly. She sighed, and waved her hand. The frost disappeared from Kuno's body as quickly as it came. With a hand gesture, Kuno's body disappeared.
At Ranma's inquiring look, she stated with an annoyed voice, "Sent the baka back to the Nurse's Office... with a note to check him for frostbite. Happy?"
Ranma's reply was a deep kiss, that made her forget everything.
Nabiki still had a smile on her face as she changed for gym class. Even with everything she had been through, gym class was still her least favorite class. Absent-mindedly, her subconscious mind noted the giggling at her classmates gave her for her goofy grin on her face. Once in her center, her features flowed into a neutral expression, and she joined her classmates in their line up for class.
"Miss Tendo," Gym Instructor Reiko Yonai stated loudly, "You know the school rules."
Nabiki blinked and absent-mindedly corrected her, "It's Mrs Saotome." Curious, she asked, "What rule?"
Reiko was a bit peeved at a student talking back to her, especially, students like Nabiki that did not take gym class or the Art seriously. In an annoyed voice, she said, "No useless jewelry in class, Mrs Saotome."
Nabiki blinked again, confused, she asked, "What jewelry?"
Annoyed, Reiko pointed at Nabiki's throat and remarked, "That jewelry, Mrs Saotome. Take off that useless piece of accessory."
Nabiki blinked again, touched her choker with affection, and asked, "You mean my choker?"
"Yes, Mrs Saotome, that," Reiko continued. "Take it off. It's against school rules."
Trying to remain calm, Nabiki remarked, "I can't."
Very annoyed, Reiko stated, "Yes, you can, you silly, vain girl. Now, do so now... It's just a useless, idiotic piece of accessory. You're holding up class."
Calmly, Nabiki stated, "My husband gave me this at our wedding. It doesn't come off. It's not useless. And it's definitely not idiotic."
"I don't care who gave it to you, remove it," Reiko demanded. "You're disrupting class... It's idiotic, useless, and serves no purpose."
Nabiki's anger was kindled at the foolish woman that called her choker, the physical manifestation of her marriage and bond to Ranma, idiotic and useless. Her anger grew as Reiko continued to berate her, her choker, and vain girls in general.
And then Reiko Yonai made the big mistake of her life, she started to berate children getting married at such a young age not understanding the responsibility and seriousness of marriage, and worse, she started to berate Nabiki's husband, Ranma.
"ENOUGH!" Windows in the gym shattered. Bleachers were reduced to splinters. The students and Reiko began to sweat in the heat that suddenly filled the gym.
Reiko and others looked up...
There, floating several meters off the ground was Nabiki, covered with flames and lightening. Her eyes shown like stars. Her hair, enlongated, ablazed, and floated as if in water. Nabiki's index finger was pointed directly at Reiko. Light and energy swirled and gathered at the finger's tip. A supernatural power could be felt filling up the gym, pressing on everyone in the gym.
Reiko was no stranger to Nerima, in fact, she was born and raised here. As was typical of all Nerimians, she, too, was a martial artist, a second dan black belt in karate, and winner of several international karate tournaments. While she believed the stories of the Nerima Wrecking Crew were exaggerated, in typical Nerima style, but she did know that there were Powers in the World. She was also an actress. An actress that had stared in several movies with supernatural themes based on legend and folklore. A few of those movies invoked things best forgotten about.
When Reiko looked up, she saw one of those Powers, the Angel of Death. She saw a power that was not from skill or talent, nor one of her world. No, this Power was otherworldly... supernatural... beyond the normal.
As a martial artist, Reiko stood her grounds, yet knew, there wasn't anything she could do but die at this Angel's hand. As she saw the finger of death pointed at her, her life flashed before her eyes, and she knew that she was paying for her sins, real and imagined. She fell to her knees, as many of the still conscious students did as well. She felt something warm run down her leg.
"Nabiki. Here. Now." a male voice commanded.
Everything seem to stop, one moment Nabiki was floating like the Angel of Death, and the very next instant, she was in the arms of a man. At least, Reiko thought it was a man, until she saw his eyes.
His eyes was like storms. His body carved from stone. Chaos had filled the gym, but He stood tall and calm. If the girl was supernatural, the Man was a Force of Nature. The Man seemed as old as Time, and as part of the World as breathing. This was something Reiko recognized, all too easily, this man was Death, himself. Come to collect his wayward Angel.
Reiko knew she was looking straight into eyes of Death, but she couldn't look away. In that moment, she realized three things: one, that she was wrong, she wasn't at the end of her martial arts learning, as a second dan black belt, but she had merely at the end of the beginning of her training, there were whole levels before her that she never knew existed yet to reach; two, that something else was running down her leg, and it could not be what it was at first, because her bladder was empty; and three, Death before her was Ranma Saotome.
Reiko licked her dry lips, and whispered in awe, "Train me."
Options:
| Previous | Index | Next |