Fighting Blind

Ranma 1/2 and the gang are from the fertile imagination of Rumiko 
Takahashi. Please don't sue me. I'm poor, etc, etc

<" ">: Chinese language
<>: Thoughts

                           Chapter 3
                        Blind Man's Bluff

     A small group was making its way toward the gates of a high 
school in the district of Nerima. The group consisted of an extremely 
aged woman, three young girls and a teenage boy. The aged woman, 
who happened to be hopping on a staff that was three times her 
height, addressed the group as they made their way to Furinkan 
High.
     "Now I want you all to be on your best behavior while we are here. 
You have all earned the right to be here and given the opportunity to 
learn about the outside world. I will not tolerate any blood feuds or 
vendettas, save for challenges. The council had decided that any 
matter pertaining to our Amazon Laws would be interpreted at MY 
discretion. Since I am the highest authority of our tribe in Japan, I will 
have the final word on it. Is that understood?"
     <"Yes Elder Cologne."> The group responded.
     "Oh, and I would prefer if you would all speak Japanese, since we 
will be living here." Cologne gestured to Ranma. "Do not hesitate to 
ask Ranma or me about things you do not understand."
     "Great-grandmother?"
     "Yes, Shampoo?"
     The purple-haired girl pointed to the school uniform she was 
wearing. "Do we have to wear these clothes? Shampoo feels that it 
does not suit an Amazon." Lilac and Perfume nodded. Ranma tugged 
at the collar of his dark blue outfit. 
     Cologne nodded. Shampoo's Japanese had gotten much better 
since Ranma had started tutoring her. She still had a habit of referring 
to herself in the third person, but her sentence structure was not as 
broken. "Yes child. I'm afraid that your regular clothes are a bit too 
revealing for such a place."
     "Ranma never minded what I wore." Shampoo protested lightly 
with smile.
     Cologne snorted in amusement. "In Ranma's case, he wouldn't 
object to you in your birthday suit!"
     The group snickered a bit at the private joke then continued on. 
As they came to the front gates, they were a bit surprised to see a 
mob of school boys begin to gather at the front of the main building. 
Normally, this wouldn't be an unusual sight. What was unusual was 
the fact that nearly all of them were brandishing various sports 
equipment, practice weapons or some other kind of blunt or sharp 
objects. Many of the boys belonged to the numerous sports teams or 
martial arts clubs. As the crowd grew, the Amazons stopped at the 
front gate to watch the spectacle.
     In Ranma's case however, he was already assessing the situation 
with his enhanced senses. Cologne noted this and asked, "What is it 
Ranma?"
     Ranma did not answer for a long moment as he took in every bit of 
information his physical and metaphysical senses were collecting. 
Finally, he responded. "Hmmm. I count about forty boys. Judging 
from their emotions, they're expecting to ambush someone. Either that 
or they intend to hit someone head on. Lots of them are breathing 
hard and are out of shape. The amount of ki energies I'm feeling is 
relatively low, almost nonexistent in just about everyone in that 
crowd. I think that the entire lot has very little to no skill in the martial 
arts. Except maybe for four of them near the back of the group."
     Cologne looked over the rear of the mob and noted that two boys 
were dressed in white gi outfits, signifying that they were from the 
karate club. The other one was dressed in the practice outfit of the 
kendo club, complete with body pads and facemask. The last one was 
wearing the garb of a sumo wrestler. She could also sense that they 
had slightly higher ki levels than the rest. "Very good Ranma. What 
else can you sense?"
     "Whoops! My mistake! Make that five boys. There's one who's 
hiding behind a tree forty paces from the right side of the front of 
the main building. He's got the highest skill level of the lot. I sense 
arrogance and unbelievable confidence. Judging by his ki level 
however, he wouldn't be able to beat a trained thirteen-year old in the 
village. Heck, I would say that even Ling Ling and Lung Lung could 
beat him."
     Cologne then turned her gaze to where Ranma had indicated and 
sure enough, there was someone hiding behind the tree. The boy 
appeared to be about seventeen or eighteen and was dressed in 
samurai garb. He held a wooden bokken in one hand and a red rose in 
the other. She then gauged the boy's fighting potential and had to 
agree with Ranma's assessment.
     Ranma then turned his head toward two approaching figures that 
were running toward the gates. He noted the increase in hormone 
activity in the mob of boys and decided that this was what they were 
waiting for. "Step back everybody. This is going to be messy."
     As the Amazons watched in disbelief, the drama unfolded itself. 
To the newcomers, they were confused at the spectacle. To Akane 
Tendo however, it was just merely part of the same old routine.
     "Akane Tendo! I love you!" WHAM!
     "Please go out with me!" POW!
     "This is for you!" CRASH!
     "Akane!" WHAP!
     "Let me" CLONG!
     The youngest daughter of Soun Tendo blasted through her 
would-be suitors like a rhino on a rampage. The boys would only get 
one or two seconds to attack her before they were beaten into the 
pavement. As the battle raged, Ranma made a few sideline comments 
to Cologne as his senses gauged her fighting ability.
     "Judging by the way she's exerting herself, she's relying more on 
brute strength than skill. I can feel her anger from here and it's making 
her sloppy." A big bruiser suddenly grabbed Akane from behind, but 
she gave him an uppercut to the jaw to get him to release her. "She 
left herself wide open for that one. Her defense is lousy." A tennis 
player swung his racket at her head. Akane barely managed to duck it 
and retaliate with a roundhouse kick. "Reflexes need work. Her 
reaction time is too slow." Akane then sidestepped the sumo wrestler 
and tripped him up. She then dodged several more attempts to beat 
her by members of the volleyball team. "Hmmm, the only reason why 
she's holding out is because those guys aren't attacking as a group. 
They're all getting in each other's way."
    "Be that it may, this does not concern us Ranma." Cologne replied 
as she began leading her group toward the school. "Now come along. 
I need to speak with the registration office and it wouldn't do for the 
four of you to be late on your first day of class."
     It was at this time that Akane beat off the last of her unwanted 
admirers. She stood amid a landscape of bruised and battered 
adolescents. As she wiped her brow, she said angrily to her sister 
Nabiki, who happened to be standing nearby, holding Akane's 
bookbag. "I wish that these jerks would just lay off!"
     "I thought by now that you'd be used to this kind of thing sis." 
Nabiki commented as she handed Akane back her bag. She noticed a 
small group heading toward them. "Well, looks like we got some new 
faces here."
     Nabiki took in the group with her usual, calculating look. The three 
young girls were all dressed in the school uniforms for Furinkan 
High's female students. One girl had long purple hair and had a 
couple buns near the top of her head. The second girl had dark hair 
that was tied in a loose ponytail that went down to her waist. The 
third girl had red hair that was done up in an elaborate braid that was 
as long as the first girl's ponytail. The end of her hair was tied in a 
bright gold ribbon. At the front of the group, was an aged woman, 
only about two feet in height and was hopping along on a long, 
gnarled, wooden staff.
     Nabiki noted that the three girls were quite beautiful and emanated 
an aura of intensity. Many of the boys who were sprawled on the 
ground became entranced by their looks. That is, those who could 
get their swollen eyes to open. However, what really caught her 
attention was the lone male member of the group. Nabiki wasn't the 
only one though. The handsome stranger who had just arrived also 
captivated the numerous female students who had been watching 
Akane beat up the daily mob.
     Living under the care of Jasmine had caused Ranma to grow up 
into a very attractive male. The problems of malnutrition and poor 
health care under Genma were nonexistent, thanks to his adopted 
mother's skills as a healer. Ranma was tall and his clothes seemed to 
mold over the lean, muscular frame that his master Koga had spent 
eight years in refining. The school uniform did little to hide the 
definition of his muscles, especially in his chest, arms, legs and rear. 
His hair was also done up in a loose ponytail that went down to 
midback. The special herbal shampoo that he used made his hair 
luxuriant and silky. His unseeing eyes still reflected that unique 
shade of blue, which resembled twin pools of liquid sapphire. His 
face was well defined and contained sharp, angular lines that made 
him appear far older and wiser than his actual age. He walked with a 
casual grace that bespoke of a gentle nature, yet also one of 
confidence and power. There was no doubt in Nabiki's mind or the 
minds of the other girls. Ranma was a hunk.
     Just as the group came to where Akane was standing, a small 
object came darting toward her. She deftly caught it, then frowned 
when she saw it was a rose. The group also stopped when they saw 
the boy that Ranma had detected earlier step out from his hiding 
place.
     "Truly a boorish lot, these cretins who dare thought they could 
win thy hand Akane Tendo."
     Akane let off a depressed and disgusted sigh. "Kuno, I don't have 
time for this! I'm going to be late!" Akane then tried to step around 
the kendoist, but is stopped when Kuno holds out his bokken in 
front of her.
     "Wouldst thou not spar with me, my love? Must I once again 
prove my worthiness to you? Should we not show all these peasants 
that I am the only one worthy to receive thy favors? Very well, if you 
can defeat me, then I will allow you to date with" It was then that 
he noticed Shampoo, Perfume and Lilac. "Hold! What loveliness do 
mine eyes see today? Ah! The gods have seen fit to reward the great 
and noble Kuno with not one, but four goddesses this day! What are 
thy names beauteous ones? I would know them so that I may shower 
you with the glory that is my myself!"
     By now, the Amazons were getting a little more than annoyed at 
the nonsense that this pompous kendoist was spouting out. The fact 
that he was making overtures toward them only irritated them even 
more. They already had their sights set on Ranma and in their minds; 
this wannabe samurai couldn't compare to the blind martial artist. 
They all gave him a look of disgust and ignored him completely as 
they started toward the main school building.
     Kuno of course, was too dense to see that he was being given the 
cold shoulder. He promptly put himself in front of the group and 
spread his arms. "Will you not give thy names to the greatness that 
you see before you? Perhaps an introduction is in order? Yes! It is 
proper to give one's own name first!" He then puffed out his chest 
and began his introduction. "I am the undefeated captain of this 
school's kendo club! The rising new star of the high school fencing 
world! My name alone strikes fear in those who hear of it! My peers 
call me the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!" At this time, he raised 
his bokken to the heavens and a bolt of lightning crackled in the 
distance. He then finished his introduction. "Tatewaki Kuno, age 
seventeen."
     <Hmpf! What a showoff!> Cologne thought.
     Behind the so-called Blue Thunder, crowds of students were 
watching out the second and third floor windows of the school. As 
soon as Kuno had finished his introduction, they began to gossip 
among themselves.
     "Blue Thunder? That's a new one."
     "Yeah. Last week he was calling himself the Shooting Star."
     "Who are those three babes?"
     "Forget those girls. I want to know who that hunk is!"
     "He's dreamy!"
     Ranma sighed as he was also a bit put out by Kuno. To him, 
Kuno's mouth hurt him even worse, due to his enhanced hearing. 
Sensing the displeasure in his companions and in Akane, he decided 
to speak for all of them. Motioning for the others to step back, he 
came forward and addressed the insane kendoist. "Listen up. It's kind 
of obvious that my cousin and her friends aren't interested. This girl 
here doesn't want you either." Ranma gestured to Akane.
     "Hey! I can speak for myself!" Akane retorted angrily. <Just who 
does this stupid boy think he is?>
     Ranma shrugged. "In any case, my friends and I are new here and 
we really don't want to be late, so if you'll just step aside"
     Unfortunately for Ranma, Kuno was about as blind, (no pun 
intended) to the truth as Mousse was. He of course denied all 
overwhelming evidence. "You there! How may a common peasant 
such as yourself, presume to know the feelings of a fair maiden when 
she is in the glorious presence of one such as I? I will not stand for 
this insinuation that I, Tatewaki Kuno am not the greatest gift that 
the gods could bestow on the lovely Akane Tendo! Could it be that 
you wish to woo her yourself?"
     "Excuse me?"
     "So that's it! You insult my prowess as a great lover, as part of a 
dastardly plan to undermine my efforts to win Akane's heart. With 
myself out of the way, you hope to gain her affections! I will not 
stand for it! Have at thee!" With this form of logic, (if one could call it 
that) he swung his bokken at Ranma's head.
     Ranma had long sensed Kuno's attack and backflipped out of the 
way. As he landed, he tossed his bookbag to Shampoo and reached 
behind him. He withdrew a small metal cylinder that was about eight 
inches in length and one and a half inches in diameter. He held it out 
in front of him and focused his ki into it. Instantly, the metal cylinder 
made a strange sound (vreet!) and extended into a fighting staff that 
was five feet long. Ranma took a stance while twirling the weapon. 
"Now that was uncalled for Kuno! I don't know how you came to that 
stupid conclusion, but I won't stand by and let you use my head for 
target practice!" He then gripped his staff in front of him. "I'm Ranma 
Saotome, formally of the Saotome School of the Anything Goes 
Martial Arts! As a healer and warrior of the Nieuchiezu, as well as a 
representative of the Unseen Light Martial Arts, I accept your 
challenge!" 
     Akane's eyes widened as she heard this revelation. <Anything 
Goes?>
     By this time, the boys in which Akane had defeated earlier had 
picked themselves up and headed into the school. They didn't want 
to be anywhere near the battle zone. Akane however was transfixed 
by the scene and didn't move. The revelation that someone else knew 
the Anything Goes Martial Arts, plus the fact that he was facing off 
against Kuno was too unbelievable. 
     Cologne's eyes narrowed as she looked at Ranma's weapon. She 
had expected him to bring out his usual wooden Bo Staff. The fact 
that she also detected a huge amount of controlled ki being emitted 
from him when he made the metal rod elongate only furthered her 
interest. To her eyes, the staff was made out of a single piece of metal 
that somehow grew in length as if it were alive. She did not see him 
press any hidden switches, nor did she hear any telltale sounds of 
anything mechanical. Her mouth turned up slightly in a small smile as 
she thought. <Hmmm. Now that's interesting I'll have to ask Ranma 
about it after he dispatches this fool. That weapon may be another 
one of Koga's secrets.>
     Kuno smirked as he assessed his opponent. <This fool doesn't 
know that he is up against the unparalleled might of the great 
Tatewaki Kuno. This will be too easy!>
     On the second and third floor, the students leaned forward at the 
windows to get a better view of the imminent battle between the 
newcomer and the best fighter of Furinkan High. Nabiki Tendo had 
already gotten inside of the school as was busy taking down bets. 
She was giving Ranma the odds of twenty to one. Many of the girls 
who thought Ranma was attractive moaned as they saw him face off 
against Kuno. The majorities of the male student population had 
become obsessed with defeating Akane Tendo and were therefore 
ignoring the rest of the girls. The females were hoping at a chance at 
this new boy, but if he was going up against Kuno, then all hope was 
lost. Or so they thought.
     "So you assume to face off against the unmatched prowess of the 
Blue Thunder of Furinkan High? You must have grown tired of 
living!"
     "Shut up and fight Kuno! Unless you intend to bore me into 
submission!"
     "Then have at thee peasant!" Kuno charged at his adversary, his 
bokken raised high.
     Ranma's seventh sense was already giving him an image of his foe 
and he reacted accordingly. It would have been a simple matter to 
quickly knock out his opponent with pressure points, but the Unseen 
Light martial artist wanted to test out his new battle staff in combat. 
Stepping back a foot, he swung his staff in a reverse arc, then 
crouched down low. Just as Kuno's bokken began its downswing, 
Ranma moved with amazing speed and got within his defenses. One 
end of his staff came up and knocked Kuno in the chin, causing him 
to stagger back. Before Kuno could recover, Ranma lashed out with 
his staff again and gave a hard jab to the kendoist's kidneys. Kuno 
went down. However, instead of pressing his advantage, he stepped 
back for a few feet and waited.
     Kuno staggered back to his feet and snarled. "Why you low-bred 
cur!" He then slashed at his opponent, but Ranma simply jumped 
over the bokken and with one free hand, he pointed at Kuno's 
forehead. An instant later, he spun around and delivered a reverse 
spin kick that nailed his foe in the temple. Kuno was knocked down 
again.
     Angrily, the self-centered egomaniac came back up and then 
delivered another series of slashes, thrusts and swings. The blind 
martial artist proved to be too agile for him to hit. His sixth sense 
warned him of each attack and his seventh sense gave him a detailed 
image in his mind of every maneuver. Ranma used a variety of 
sidestepping, ducking and leaping moves to evade every technique 
used against him. As a result, the surrounding area was torn apart as 
Kuno's bokken split the pavement, sliced though a nearby tree and 
punched holes in the front wall.
     <He's so fast!> Akane thought. <He's not bad!> For a moment, she 
had the feeling that this newcomer might be even better than she 
might be, but she quickly dismissed the foolish notion. <Of course, I 
could do that too! This guy's just lucky! I'm the best martial artist 
here!>
     <He's good!> Kuno thought as he lashed out again only to miss. 
<He may prove to be errk!> His train of thought was abruptly 
stopped when Ranma hopped up and delivered a snap kick to Kuno's 
face, causing his body to straighten up. The wannabe samurai barely 
realized what was happening when Ranma then delivered a blow to 
the top of his head with his staff, making him bend over. Ranma then 
pointed his staff at Kuno's stomach and focused his ki into it again.
     "Extend."
     Amazingly, the staff then grew to five times its length, driving into 
Kuno's belly and drove him back, slamming him against the school's 
wall. A large depression was formed as the cement crumbled, 
knocking the wind out of Kuno's sails. The blind martial artist then 
refocused his ki.
     "Reduce."
     The pole shortened itself back down to its five-foot length. <Great! 
It worked!> With it no longer pinning him to the wall, Kuno slumped 
down. He shook his head and staggered forward, unwilling to admit 
that this upstart was winning. Running on adrenaline, he made 
another series of sword techniques at his opponent, but Ranma 
dodged them all yet again.
     As the battle raged on, Cologne became even more interested in 
Ranma's new weapon. <Very impressive!> The other Amazons were 
also amazed and so was the rest of the Furinkan student population. 
     After dodging the last of Kuno's attacks, Ranma retaliated by 
dropkicking his enemy's face and then followed through with another 
blow to the head with his staff. Kuno was soon bending over and 
just as he came down, Ranma did a roundhouse kick and sent him 
sprawling. As Kuno went down, Ranma held up his staff above his 
head with one hand and began focusing his senses on his 
surroundings. He smiled as he took in all the data and then focused 
his ki into his weapon, causing it to shorten into a baton of about a 
foot and a half in length.
     Kuno was in major pain. No one had ever given him this much of a 
beating before, except for Akane. Just as he was getting up when he 
saw Ranma's staff suddenly lose more than three-quarters of its 
length. Thinking that this was an opportunity, he rushed forward, 
intending to give him a vicious slash to his head. Then Ranma did the 
unthinkable. He threw his weapon away, then just stood in a neutral 
stance with his arms crossed.
     <What's he doing?!> Akane thought.
     The blind master of the Unseen Light smiled as he sensed Kuno's 
charge. However, he wasn't the least bit worried as he used his 
seventh sense to track the flight path of his baton. He had hurled it 
forward, but he had not aimed it directly at Kuno. Instead, the metal 
projectile shot like a miniature missile and went by Kuno, missing him 
by more than three feet. However, it then ricocheted off the fallen tree 
that Kuno had cut down earlier, bounced off the school's flagpole, 
then rebounded off the main building's wall before its angle of 
trajectory sent it right back toward Kuno. 
     "YAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Kuno screamed as he raised 
his bokken over his head to deliver the final blow to end this fight. It 
was then that he felt something rush over him and heard the 
distinctive sound of something being sliced. It was then that he felt 
something hard hit the top of his head, then make a dull thud on the 
ground beside him. He froze in mid-strike as he looked down. His 
eyes widened as he saw what was lying near his feet. It was the 
wooden blade of his bokken! He then looked up and saw that he was 
now clutching a useless handgrip. His gaze then came toward his 
opponent who was absently twirling his baton, which he had deftly 
caught on its return trip.
     "Well Kuno, it seems that you have a LITTLE skill with that stupid 
sword of yours. Now let's find out if you have any skill without it." 
Ranma then made his baton shorten back to original eight-inch 
length, put it away, then went into a stance. It was at that time that 
dark storm clouds began to form and the skies became darker. <I 
guess it's time to end this. I really should have wrapped this up 
quicker!>
     Kuno was at bit of a loss of what to do next, as he had absolutely 
no training in unarmed combat. In fact, he was still in the same mid-
strike position as Ranma rushed forward to finish the fight. With 
lightning speed, Ranma delivered a series of shiatsu pressure points 
to his upper arms, legs and torso. He even froze the muscles to his 
mouth as he no desire to hear any more of Kuno's stupidity. The 
kendoist became as rigid as a statue as his major skeletal muscles 
locked up.
     Ranma smiled as he sensed the Kuno's battle aura die down. He 
then added insult to injury as he walked behind Kuno and gave a firm 
push with an index finger to the back of his head.
     "Timber!"
     Kuno fell flat on his face, still frozen in place. Even though he 
couldn't move his mouth, he still managed a slight, unintelligible 
sound that was a cross between a groan and a whimper.
     It was then that there was a moment of silence. You could hear a 
pin drop in the schoolyard. Then a loud cheer, accompanied by 
applause was heard. The students began whooping and shouting as 
they had just witnessed the utter defeat of Kuno.
     "All right! He did it!"
     "Who is that guy?"
     "He's cute!"
     "Cute nothing! He's gorgeous!"
     "Pay up Nabiki!"
     On the schoolyard, his fellow Amazons was congratulating 
Ranma. 
     "You did great Ranma!" Shampoo smiled as she gave him a hug. 
     Cologne hopped up to him and said, "Very good Ranma. You have 
defended the honor of our tribe. Although, I didn't expect the fight to 
last that long."
     "Sorry about that. I wanted to test out my new battle staff. Now 
that I have, I don't have to worry about him any more." He gestured 
with a thumb to the fallen kendoist. 
     "By the way Ranma, may I see that new weapon of yours?"
     Ranma shrugged as he handed her the small metal rod. Cologne 
then scrutinized it, but could find nothing out of the ordinary about 
it. It appeared to be just a solid metal cylinder that weighed just less 
than six ounces. She could see no mechanical devices, no moving 
parts or hidden switches. She could however, detect the residual ki 
energies that Ranma had used to make it expand or shrink. She tried 
to focus her own ki into it, but could not make it change its length. 
She then looked up at Ranma and said, "Very interesting. I take it 
that this was another one of Koga's secrets?"
     Ranma nodded as he took back his weapon, focused his ki into it 
and made it elongate into its five-foot length to demonstrate. He then 
shrunk it backdown to its eight-inch size and put it away. "Master 
Koga taught the technique to me a couple of weeks before he died. I 
made it during the trip to Japan. It does have some more uses than 
my old Bo Staff."
     "We'll talk more about it later. For now, we must the four of you 
into class. I'm afraid that you three are going to be late because of 
this. Come along."
     The group passed both Kuno and Akane, who was still standing 
in disbelief at what had occurred. As they entered the building, 
Shampoo turned to Ranma and said, "What about Kuno?"
     "Don't worry. The pressure points I used will wear off in about an 
hour." 
     "He wasn't much of an opponent, was he?"
     Ranma smirked as he said, "Nah! I could have taken him with my 
eyes closed!"
     The Amazons all shared another chuckle at the private joke.
     Outside the school, Akane finally snapped out of her shocked 
state and hurried her way into the school. As soon as she entered the 
hallway, the skies began to open up and the rains began to fall, 
drenching the still frozen Kuno.
     <Curse you Saotome! I, Tatewaki Kuno shall see to it that you will 
suffer the awesome wrath of the Blue Thunder!>
     A few meters away, a large form was hunched behind a tree that 
was near the front schoolyard. It was covered in black and white fur, 
which was being soaked by the falling rain. It, or rather he had 
witnessed the entire battle.
     <Hmmm. Getting that son of mine back may be trickier than I 
thought! The boy's always with those damned Amazons and it looks 
like he's gotten better too! No matter! I'll just get Tendo! He'll help me 
after I've explained everything. Once we get Ranma to the dojo, then I 
can just kiss all of my worries goodbye, and be set for life! Nothing 
can go wrong!>
     Genma Saotome then made a beeline toward the Tendo Dojo. In 
the distance, a flash of lightning crackled, almost as if it was a sign 
for things to come.
     In one of the classrooms, the attentions of the male and female 
students were fixated on the four newcomers who were standing at 
the front.
     "Class, we have four new students at Furinkan High." The teacher 
gestured to the three girls. "This is Shampoo, Lilac and Perfume." He 
then gestured to the one boy. "And this is Ranma Saotome. They 
have just come from China so let's give them all a 'Nihao' welcome."
     The classroom began whispering among themselves.
     "Wow! What a bunch of babes!"
     "Man! Maybe I can get a date with that cute one at the end!"
     "Oooh! Look at that hunk!"
     "He's dreamy!"
     "I wonder if he's attached?"
     "Class settle down." The teacher called out. The room was 
immediately silenced. "Even though they are new here, that does not 
excuse them for being late." He turned to the four. "You will go out 
with Miss Tendo and stand in the hall."
     Near the front of the class, Akane growled as she heard her name. 
<Darn! It's that Ranma's entire fault that I was late!>
     In another class, Nabiki Tendo was a bit irritated. Although most 
of the betters had placed their money on Kuno winning, the upset 
that Ranma had caused had ended in large payoffs for the few that 
wagered on him. The net result was that she and her factors had 
come out with only a slight profit margin.
     <Hmmmm there's more to this Ranma Saotome than meets the 
eye. I'm going to have to keep track of this one.> She turned to one 
of her flunkies and gave her the assignment to keep Ranma and the 
Amazons under surveillance.
     It was then that she looked out the window and saw that Kuno 
was still lying on his face in the front school yard. Rain was coming 
down pretty hard and the middle Tendo daughter sighed as she 
asked the teacher to be excused to go drag Kuno in. It wouldn't do 
for her biggest income generator to drown. 
     Ranma and Shampoo were soon standing outside the class on one 
side while Lilac and Perfume stood with Akane on the other side. 
Each was holding a bucket of water in each hand. Outside the school, 
the rain had stopped and the sun was out. Akane was a bit miffed at 
having to stand outside with a boy and she didn't waste time in 
voicing out her displeasure.
     "This all your fault that I was late!"
     The three Amazons girls looked at Akane with irritated 
expressions.
     "What you talking about? Is not Ranma's fault you no go in." Lilac 
interjected.
     "Is true." Perfume added. "No one stop you. Why you no go in?"
     Akane became even more angrier as she replied, "Well, why didn't 
you three go in yourselves?"
     Shampoo became very annoyed at this girl's hostility toward her 
cousin. "That's because we're Amazons. Ranma accepted that stupid 
boy's challenge and it is our duty to witness it."
     "What's that supposed to mean?" Akane said in a not so nice 
tone.
     Meanwhile, Ranma was already sensing the hostility level rise and 
tried to settle things down. "Girls, please don't argue. You really 
didn't have to stay and see me fight that idiot Kuno. Cologne was 
already there and she acknowledged that I won." He then turned to 
Akane. "I'm really sorry that you got punished for being late but I 
don't really see how getting mad at me is going to help."
     "Oh go soak your head! " Akane then mumbled in a quiet but 
angry whisper. "Boys are nothing but perverts, especially Kuno!"
     "Why you call Ranma pervert? He no do anything to you!" Lilac 
said as she tensed up.
     "Because all boys are perverts!" Akane hissed back. "They all 
want the same thing and Kuno started this whole mess!"
     Ranma didn't like to be called something without good reason, but 
the last statement caught his interest. "Excuse me, what was that? 
Kuno started what?"
     Akane simmered down a bit as she replied, "Early on, Kuno made 
this dumb speech that if a boy wanted to date me, he'd have to defeat 
me in combat."
     Ranma smirked as he remembered Amazon Law number forty-
three, subsection five. "So that's the reason those boys were 
attacking you?"
     Akane nodded. "Kuno also attacks me in the end. I beat him every 
time of course, since no one's better than me!" She said the last bit 
with pride, as she knew that she had no equal in the martial arts in all 
of Nerima.
     Lilac and Perfume were about to disagree when Ranma interrupted. 
"I don't think so. Judging from my fight with him, and from what I saw 
of your fighting style, I'd say that he was better than you are. If you 
beat him every day, then I'd guess that he holds back a lot."
     The three girls nodded in agreement as they too had come to the 
same conclusion.
     Akane began to fume at this comment. "Oh yeah? Well don't 
underestimate me! Why don't one of you try me on for real 
sometime?"
     Ranma shrugged as replied in a quiet tone. "Who knows? Maybe I 
will." Ranma had no qualms against fighting the opposite sex. Living 
with the Amazons for over eight years had taught him that calling 
women the 'weaker sex' was an easy way of getting into a heap of 
trouble. He had sparred with the warrior women and considered them 
as equals. If they were willing to dish out pain, then he had to 
respond in kind. They expected him to fight back. They demanded it. 
It made them respect him all the more when he did so. The Amazons 
were proud of their status as great warriors and treating them like 
they were weak was a sure-fire way of shortening one's lifespan. 
     Ranma was about to say something else when the hallway echoed 
with an angry shout. The Amazons and Akane turned their heads to 
the sound and saw Kuno rushing toward them with a full head of 
steam. He threw a bucketful of dirty mop water in Ranma's direction. 
The blind boy and the three Amazons nimbly jumped out of the way. 
Akane barely managed to evade as the water splashed over the floor.
     "Ranma Saotome! Prepare to feel the wrath of the Blue Thunder!" 
Kuno yelled as he took out a fresh bokken from within his samurai 
robes. 
     The Amazons landed behind Ranma as Shampoo asked, "What is 
he so mad about?"
     Ranma smirked as he pointed to Kuno's forehead. "I guess he 
finally noticed the little message I gave him during our fight."
     "What message?" She looked up at Kuno's forehead and saw the 
words 'World's Biggest Dope' etched in Chinese. "When did that 
happen?" Shampoo thought back to the fight, then recalled the time 
when Ranma pointed a finger at him. "Oh, Shampoo remember now! 
Very funny!" She started laughing and a minute later, her fellow 
Amazons joined her.
     Kuno was not amused. "You will pay for your insult against my 
personage!" Kuno then began swinging his sword at Ranma. It had 
been embarrassing enough that he had to pay Nabiki 5,000 yen to 
drag him into the school because he was paralyzed. He also had to 
pay her another 10,000 yen when he discovered the phrase on his 
forehead and Nabiki had a Chinese dictionary on hand. "Die you low-
bred cur!"
     With Ranma's enhanced senses, Kuno's strikes were evaded with 
ease. Dropping his buckets to the floor, he began leading Kuno 
toward an open window near the end of the hallway. When he got 
near it, he smiled and stood with his hands behind his back.
     "Come on Kuno, take your best shot!"
     "That I shall!" Kuno slashed at his foe, intending to split him in 
twain.
     However, this was not to be as Ranma stabbed forth with a hand 
and extended a finger. As soon as the digit made contact with the 
wooden blade, it glowed for a brief moment, then exploded into a fine 
cloud of sawdust. Kuno yelped as his weapon was suddenly 
shortened and he found himself still moving forward. With that same 
hand, Ranma grabbed him by the front of his robes and tossed his 
poetry-spouting adversary out the window.
     "Go soak your head!"
     "Wait! This is the THIRD FLOOR!" Akane came running toward 
them. 
     Ranma shrugged as said, "Don't worry, the pool will break his fall."
     "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" 
SPLASH!
     Shampoo, Lilac, and Perfume all leaned out the window and sure 
enough, there was Kuno, floating face down in the water. A moment 
later, he came sputtering up and thrashed about, screaming "Curse 
you, Ranma Saotome!"
     Shampoo looked at Ranma and asked. "How did you know there 
was a pool down there?"
     The blind martial artist simply grinned and said nothing. The 
purple-haired girl then realized that her question was a rhetorical one 
and said. "Never mind."

To be continued

Author's Notes
     Well, it was only expected that Genma wouldn't give up on his 
dream to marry Ranma off and live in luxury at the Tendo Dojo for the 
rest of his life. Of course, we don't really expect Ranma to go along 
with this notion and you can be pretty sure that the Amazons won't 
let him go either. 
     For those of you who are wondering, Ranma new battle staff is 
similar to the one used by Goku in Dragonball and is activated by his 
ki. I'll explain more about it in future chapters. 
     I wanted to make this rewrite a bit more expanded as the original 
chapter was a bit short. I also wanted to show how stuck up Akane is 
as she considers herself the best martial artist in Nerima. As you may 
have noticed, Ranma's personality is different from canon. Eight 
years with the Amazons can do that.
     Well, this rewrite now begins Nabiki's suspicions about Ranma 
and will later reveal his little secret. Come on now you didn't expect 
Ranma to defeat the best fighter in the school and not catch Nabiki's 
attention, right? 


