[How to speak Australian:]

A man is walking down the street, drinking a beer in one hand and reading a magazine in the other.
He gulps down the last of the beer, then tosses it toward a nearby trash can. Unfortunately, because he's still distracted by what he's reading, he hits the rim and the can deflects onto the sidewalk. The man doesn't notice.
Suddenly, the ground shakes slightly, and the man stops, startled. The shaking slowly increases, and he begins looking around wildly to determine the source of the disturbance.
Before long he sights a purple glow traveling at high speed shining from behind a line of buildings ahead.
"SHYAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Orochi Ranma dashes into the street and barrels toward the litterbug like a purple comet, trailing violet explosions. The man is helplessly blasted to the side, and Ranma continues rushing onward through the streets of Nerima.

["Environmentalist".]

The charred remains of the beer can manage to bounce off of a utility pole right into the blackened trash can, and a large "F" is barely visible in the midst of the ash.

["Beer".]
[Fosters. Australian for beer.]

(Fosters Brewing Company would like to remind you to drink responsibly; never drink and drive. And Black Dragon, representative of Black Dragon Productions, would like to remind you that alcohol kills brain cells. And if you're reading his stories, then chances are you don't have that many to spare.)

Yagami 1/2
A Ranma 0.5/King of Fighters Crossover
by Black Dragon
revcoll@peoplepc.com
https://www.angelfire.com/anime2/fanficlair/index.html

Neither Ranma nor any of the related Ranma 1/2 characters belong to me. Neither do the KOF guys and gals. I don't make a bloody penny off of this. Hell, do you realize how much money I could make if I actually used my skills for profit? Maybe I could even quit my job washing dishes at Pizza Hut!

Chapter 6
Hot Flash
**********************************************************************************

*Splash*
Shampoo stopped her slow descent of the stairs as she heard the telltale sound of water being dumped on something from the living room below. She waited in place as exclamations rang out from that same room, eventually silenced, though only temporarily, by the sound of more water being poured, this time with a subtle hiss that betrayed the relative temperature of said liquid. There was some more fast-paced talking and shouting, which was so mixed up that Shampoo had significant difficulty making sense of it with her admittedly limited fluency of Japanese.
A few of the voices died down, and there was another splash of water. Shampoo decided that she had spent enough time eavesdropping, and descended the stairs the rest of the way.

"HOW could you have done something so stupid?! Have you no regard for our son's safety?! Or your own?! Going to such a dangerous place!! You're lucky he got off as easy as he did!!" Nodoka continued shouting in Iori's face, and Iori continued gazing back at her with his usual leaden stare.
"Feh. You call this getting off easy?" Ranma-chan muttered as Yurumi stood over her wide-eyed, an upended bucket in her hands.
Iori sighed heavily as Nodoka glared daggers at him. "Yes, it was stupid, and I'm sorry. Ranma. I never should have taken you somewhere so dangerous, and I accept full responsibility for what happened." Actually, he mostly blamed the jerk with the glasses for what happened, but as he wasn't around for Nodoka to vent on, Iori kept that judgement to himself.
Ranma shook his head and clapped his hands on his knees. "Aw, it wasn't your fault, Pop. I just shoulda kept my balance better... or jumped off... or something..." Ranma trailed off, then winced as a stream of hot water spilled onto her head from the kettle that Yurumi was emptying over her. "Do you mind?" he was glad to see his little sister again, to be sure, but she was taking this curse entirely the wrong way.
"Wow! That is so cool! Now I'll have a brother and a sister!" Yurumi smiled and Ranma cursed inwardly.
Nodoka looked back and forth between her son and her husband, then sighed deeply. "This is very unfortunate... but what's done is done. It was an accident, and there's no helping it now." She considered for a moment, and then stared hard at Iori. "After all, it doesn't change who you are, and it doesn't really matter. Though... there was another matter, wasn't there, dear?" Nodoka raised her eyebrow.
Iori glanced meaningfully at Nabiki, who blinked in surprise and cursed inwardly. She was playing a part, and was ill-prepared to recite her lines.
All present blinked as Ranma's expression darkened noticeably, and he gestured to the middle Tendo daughter. "Mom, I'd like you to meet Nabiki, Mr. Tendo's daughter."
Nabiki smiled pleasantly and stood up before bowing to the elder woman. "It's an honor to meet you."
Nodoka cut right to the chase. "And what is your relationship with my son?"
Nabiki bigsweated. "Er... relationship... well..."
Iori, like everyone else, wondered what was going on. Ranma looked as if he was on his way to his own execution, and Nabiki, who had struck him as a good actor, seemed to be mucking up the whole thing.
"Well... we go out, sometimes."
Nodoka's reaction was instantaneous, and Yurumi almost found herself knocked off her feet as her mother enveloped Ranma in a hug. "Oh my son! You're so manly! I just knew that you'd get a girlfriend!"
Nabiki probably would've found the sight incredibly amusing, except that her own parent had managed a death grip on her torso. "Oh Nabiki! You make your father so proud! To take it upon yourself, and all on your own, to see to the joining of the schools! We shall arrange for a priest immediately!"
Ranma glared over to the aforementioned girl and mouthed "I hate you." Nabiki just rolled her eyes.
"Daddy, I SERIOUSLY doubt that we're going to get married. Could you let go?"
Nodoka blinked and turned toward her husband, incidentally letting Ranma go. "Dear, what's this about joining the schools and a priest?"
Iori simply shrugged and twirled a finger around his ear in the universal gesture for "Don't look at me; he's crazy."

Shampoo entered the room, figuring that now was as good a time as any to introduce herself. "Nihao, Ranma! Is Ranma mother?" She asked. Nodoka blinked at the young woman's unusual grammar, but nodded.
Ranma scooted away from Nabiki. "Mom, this is Shampoo, a friend of mine from China. She's here to... ah... visit?" Ranma finished, unable to really comprehend why she would trek all the way to Japan to see him when he had only left a month ago.
Shampoo nodded happily, and then bowed to Nodoka the way she saw Nabiki do it. "Is honor to meet Ranma mother."
Nodoka looked the shapely teenager up and down, smiling the whole time. "Come to 'visit', have we? Well, I'd be happy to have you as our guest, if you ever need a place to stay." The way she said it seemed to imply that there was some hidden invitation within that statement, though for the life of him, Ranma couldn't imagine what it was.

Nodoka composed herself and faced the center of the shattered dining room table as Shampoo took a seat between Ranma and Nabiki (earning a frown from the latter). "On the matter of who's staying where; Ranma, I'd like you and your father to move back in with us."
Soun immediately made eye contact with Iori and shook his head "no" furiously. Iori ignored him.
Ranma scratched his head. "Move back to Juuban? Well, it's not that big a deal, but I've already started the school year here, and the dojo is much clos-"
"Actually, that's not a concern," Nodoka interrupted. "You see, due to an... accident a few months ago, we've moved here in Nerima. I've already taken care of all the paperwork and moved all of our surviving furniture out." She took a sip of tea, and then turned toward Kasumi. "This tea is excellent! Is it jasmin?"
Kasumi smiled back. "Why yes, though I do use a touch of mint."
Iori, thrown off by the discussion of tea, finished processing the part about his old house. "Wait. An accident? What accident?"
Nodoka sighed and took her husband's hand, squeezing it gently. "Let's just say our little girl is growing up." She let a dramatic tear slide down her face, which she quickly wiped away with the corner of her sleeve.
Yurumi blushed and stared intently at the table. The Tendos that were present stared at her in curiosity (having no idea what Nodoka was talking about), and the male half of the Yagami family stared at her in surprise and confusion.
Soun coughed into his hand to get everyone's attention, and began pleading his case. "Be that as it may, Ranma really should stay here, so that he can be with his fian... er... girlfriend."
Ranma's left eye twitched, and he stood up, adjusting his jacket as he did so. "That's also not a concern. We see each other plenty at school." His voice made liquid nitrogen seem warm and cuddly.
Nodoka clapped her hands in delight. "It's settled then! Mr. Tendo, I'd like to thank you for letting my son and husband stay here." She stood up and bowed, which Soun returned shakily.

Ranma sighed and looked at the house that, for four days, he had called home. Though he had a home, one that held his possessions and his family, he couldn't help but feel a certain connection to the Tendo household. A sense of loss, perhaps, of opportunities passed, or possibilities untouched. Ranma shook his head. Didn't matter now.
Ranma bowed deeply to Kasumi. "Thanks for all your help. You've, uh, been really nice to me, and, well... thanks for that."
Kasumi smiled back. "It's no trouble at all! Please, come back and visit!"
Ranma nodded, and moved on to Akane, his expression immediately becoming less friendly.
"So... see ya. It's been real."
Akane nodded, and frowned at the small backpack that Ranma carried. "You didn't forget anything, did you?"
Ranma blinked. "Why do you care?"
"Maybe Kasumi wants you to come back, but I don't."
Ranma rolled his eyes. "Figures. Well, g'bye then."
He turned around and began to walk toward the front yard, where his parents were chatting and Shampoo was talking to Yurumi.
"Hey! Aren't you going to say goodbye to Nabiki?" Akane couldn't believe he would be so rude to his girlfriend; after all, his goodbye to her had been the friendliest exchange they'd had since she found out Ranma was male.
Ranma snorted. "We've already said our goodbyes." And with that, he was out the door, leaving Nabiki and her sisters to stare at the white crescent moon adorning his back.
__________________________________________________________________________________

"One! Two! One! Two! One! Two! Swing-and-throw! Duck, spin, slash and-"
*Thwoom!* A short burst of flames swam over the practice cloth as it swung out into the practice target, a stout wooden post, which was knocked to the far end of the dojo from the attack.
The girl doing the kata finished the full-body spin that completed the maneuver, then stepped back and smirked at her handiwork, having completed the short kata. Across the wooden floor of the dojo, a little girl of about four and a boy just two years older clapped their hands excitedly at the display.
The teenager wiped her brow with a nearby towel, then bowed to her small audience.
"You're a little slow on the transition. Your father could have knocked you out back there."
The girl chuckled nervously as she turned to face her mother. "Yeah, well, I think Dad could take me even if I did everything right."
The older woman shook her head as she picked up the charred post. "Don't let him hear that. His ego is hard enough to keep under control as it is." The two women shared a giggle, and the elder turned toward the children at the edge of the dojo. "Come on now, show's over. Go out and play or something." The children gave light protest at being sent out, but left regardless. She turned back to her oldest daughter. "I'll clean up. Why don't you go take a bath; the water's all ready."
The teenage girl nodded and left, tugging on her gi lightly to loosen it.

Out in the backyard of the dojo, a healthy, middle-aged man with long blond hair was sitting in a lounge chair out in his rock garden, reading a book.
He marked his page, then shut the book and stretched in his chair, obviously enjoying the shrine of peace and quiet he had built.
"Ah... this is nice. I can't believe some of things people say about Nerima. Any place that can go a full six months without some super-powered martial artist showing up is okay in my book."
It should be noted here that living on this particular property and not getting out much is about equivalent to living inside a locked lead safe in the middle of the Chernobyl reactor.
But even so...
*KROOOOM!!!*
The man fell out of his chair as a huge red flash came from the front of the house, and he stumbled to his feet. Grimacing to himself, he launched himself onto the roof, and then jumped up again to clear the opposite edge, ready to defend his home at all costs.
When he got a good look at his landing site, he was so surprised by what was there that he completely forgot about defending anything.
*Thock!* *Wham!!*

"Hi Uncle Andy!" Tomas grinned and removed his foot from his uncle's head as the older man mumbled something unintelligible into the ground where his face was embedded.
The front door opened, and Mai Bogard rushed outside to see to the disturbance, only to stop in surprise when she saw who it was.
"Tomas! It's you!" The young man found himself engulfed in a powerful hug from his aunt, and blushed nervously as her chest pressed against his.
"Hi Auntie. Er... could you let go, please?"
"Oh! It's been so long!" Mai pulled herself away from her nephew and held him at arm's length to look him over. "My, you're growing up to be so handsome! Just like your father! And your uncle, of course!" Mai chuckled. Then she turned to see what exactly her husband was doing, and frowned when she saw him picking himself up off the ground.
"Andy, get up! Is this how you greet your only nephew?" Mai chided.
"Better greeting than he gave me," Andy muttered. "What's the big idea blowing up my front porch, anyway?" Andy glared at the boy as Mai started fussing over him, rather than helping her husband up.
Tomas chuckled nervously, putting a hand to the back of his head. "What? I just wanted to surprise you!"
Mai smiled. "It IS a surprise. Oh! Your Japanese has gotten much better too!" She continued gushing over him as she led him indoors, followed by her grumbling husband.
"Toji! Kikyo! Come see who's here!" The two youngsters of the household came from their rooms at their mother's call, having been ushered there after the explosion.
Tomas kneeled down, smiled at his younger cousins and gave them a small wave. They immediately rushed to meet him, tackling the older boy and laughing as he lifted them up, one on each arm.
Andy left for his precious peace and quiet in the backyard, muttering darkly about his brother's tendency toward overzealousness and showmanship and the genes that saw fit to infect the next generation with such things.
Mai led Tomas into the dining room and sat him down before managing to pry her children off of him. "So what brings you here?"
Tomas grinned. "Training, what else? Dad said there wasn't much more I could learn in South Town, so he snuck me a ticket to Japan and told me to cruise around here for a few months; you know, challenge some dojos, beat up Uncle Andy..." Tomas chuckled.
Mai raised an eyebrow. "Yes, well, make sure you don't damage anything important. He still has certain duties to perform, you know."
Tomas' face was instantly serious and he held up his hands. "Absolutely. Nothing below the waist."
They shared a laugh at that, and Tomas marveled at how well his aunt had aged. She had always been admired for her beauty, and that beauty hadn't so much faded as it had matured. The slight lines of her face seemed a natural part of her skin, rather than flaws, and three childbirths had fairly thickened her waist, though none dared to agree when she mentioned it.
Mai trailed off chuckling, then frowned slightly as something occurred to her.
"Terry 'snuck you a ticket', huh? Your mother must be worried about you."
Tomas chuckled nervously. "Not so much mad as angry. I feel sorry for Dad. Still, she'll calm down. It's for my martial arts training, and she always liked Japan."
Mai's frowned deepened. "And what about school?"
Tomas' face turned blank. "Er... well... you see, in America, we have longer vacations, and..." he stopped and glanced at Mai's flat stare. "Eh, well, it was worth a shot," he said tiredly.
Mai shook her head, and got up to pour some tea. "Well, you're going to be staying with us, right?"
Tomas flushed slightly. "Well, yeah, I was kind of hoping-"
"Good!" Mai smiled brightly, and carried the tray over to the table. "Min happens to be starting at a new school tomorrow. I can have you signed up so that you can go with her!"
Tomas' face darkened as his aunt laid down the tray. "Great. School." Then he blinked. "Min is starting at a new school? This late in the semester?"
Mai sweatdropped. "Yes... well... there was an incident at her old one..."
"Which WASN'T my fault! I don't care who you're related to; look but don't touch! If he hadn't been the principal's son, I probably would've broken his arm!" The aforementioned teenage girl stood with her arms crossed as she leaned against the handrail of the staircase, frowning.
Mai rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know. He only got what he deserved." She turned back to Tomas. "We think Furinkan will be a good change for her; the school policy is extremely forgiving of various acts of violence, and actually approves of beating up the principal's son."
Min snorted, and ran a hand through her strawberry blond hair. "Well, if the boys could actually learn to keep their hands to themselves..." she frowned, then added "and their thoughts. I mean, that one guy didn't actually touch me, but..."
Tomas chuckled. "Yeah, we're a pain in the neck, I know."
Min sighed. "You know, it wouldn't even be so bad if any of them were fighters, but the guys at school are just so weak." She looked up at her cousin and grinned. "Speaking of which, you're growing up to be quite the stud. The girls back home must be crying at the loss."
Tomas gave her a flat stare as he openly looked her over. Min had grown up with all of her mother's looks and none of her father's inhibitions. She had come downstairs wearing only a ridiculously sexy bathrobe (probably one of Mai's), which didn't even look to be tied on right.
"You know, if I weren't your cousin, I'd probably say something very inappropriate myself."
Min giggled and winked at him. "But you ARE my cousin, you naughty boy!" She walked over to him and grabbed his arm, and he blushed as she started feeling it. "Ooh! Somebody's been working out!"
Tomas snatched his arm away, trying to hide his flushed face under his hat. "Cut it out!" Min giggled and made as if to grab his other arm.
"Min, stop teasing your cousin!" Mai chided, and then pushed a cup of tea toward Tomas. "He's going to be staying with us for a while, and I want him to feel at home!"
Min looked thoughtful. "Okay... but only if he'll spar with me!"
Tomas sweatdropped, then shook his head as he gulped down his tea. "Don't think so."
"What? Why not?" Min demanded.
Tomas let out a satisfied sigh, and set his teacup on the table. "Uncle Andy says you fight too much as it is. He doesn't want you to get hurt."
Min slumped down into a chair next to her cousin. "Hmph. Daddy has no idea what he's talking about."
Mai shrugged, and lightly sipped her own tea. "Andy does get a little overprotective at times. But surely a little workout won't hurt."
Tomas snorted. "Besides, I don't fight girls if I can help it."
"Excuse me?" Min deadpanned.
"Just what I said," Tomas insisted, adjusting his cap over his head. "I don't like fighting women. I need serious opponents."
Tomas ignored it when his cousin started twitching. She'd get over it.
*Tap* *Tap* *Tap* He turned his head, and bigsweated slightly as he saw Mai staring at him with narrowed eyes, tapping one of her battle fans, thankfully still closed, on the dining room table.
"Er... of course, I mean that with the greatest possible respect..."
*Shing* The fan opened, and light gleamed over the fans' razor edge.
"Eh heh heh..." Tomas chuckled nervously, then turned to bolt out the exit, only to see Min obstructing the path, arms crossed beneath her breasts, with a razor fan in each hand.
Tomas stared for a moment, then looked back at his aunt. Then he turned back to his cousin again. "Dojo, five minutes?"
"Two."
"Yes ma'am."
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma stared in wonder at his room. His room. A place he could call his own; a place that would always hold a warm bed for him and offer him sanctuary from the rigors of the outside world.
And besides that, all his stuff was here.
He immediately opened his closet to familiarize himself with the changes. This wasn't his old room, of course. This one was a little bigger and had the closet on the wrong side compared to the window, but his mother had taken obvious care in reconstructing it to be as familiar to him as possible.
"How do you like it?" Ranma turned at his sister's voice and smiled.
"It's all right. It'll take some getting use to, staying in one place again, but it's good to be home." Ranma sat on his bed, feeling the soft covers fondly.
Yurumi nodded happily. "I'm glad! I helped Mom to put your room back together!"
Ranma smirked. "Oh, did you?" He got up and started rummaging through his closet.
After a moment of moving the few boxes at the entrance, Ranma frowned and turned back toward his younger sibling. "Yurumi? Where's my manga collection?"
Ranma's eyes narrowed as Yurumi sweatdropped and chuckled nervously.
"Uh... I don't know. Aren't they there?" Yurumi's eyes went big and watery, and her best "innocent little girl" smile blossomed over her face.
Ranma stood over her and crossed his arms over his chest, unimpressed by the cute and innocent act. "No, they're not. Not even the Evangelion ones. You know, the ones Mom got me for my last birthday right before I left? The ones I haven't read yet?" Ranma's glare intensified, and little drops of sweat started pouring down Yurumi's brow.
"It was an accident! I'm sorry!" The redheaded girl flushed in embarrassment and stared down at the floor, ashamed.
Ranma continued glaring. "What kind of 'accident' was it anyway? How did you burn the house down?"
Yurumi blushed some more, and began tracing circles in the carpet with her foot. "Well... I was outside in the back yard, and... there was a bee, and I didn't see it. I was laying down, and I felt something on my arm..."
Ranma blinked. "And it stung you?"
Another sweatdrop rolled down Yurumi's head. "It didn't get the chance."
Ranma stared for a moment, then scratched his chin in thought. "So... a bee surprised you... and you burnt the house down."
Yurumi nodded sharply.
"Somehow, I think there's a little more to this than that," Ranma deadpanned. Then he sighed. "But, since it was an accident, I forgive you."
Yurumi sighed in relief. "Thank you! I really am sorry!"
Ranma smirked slightly and turned back to his closet. "Don't mention it. It's not like you destroyed anything really important. Like, say, my anime collection." Ranma pulled out the cardboard box with the appropriate markings, blinking in surprise when he realized how light it was.
Quickly setting it on the floor, he tore open the lid of the box with a swift stroke of his hand. A single "Gall Force" tape stared up at him, with much of the tape's box rendered indistinguishable with soot and ash.
"Yurumi..." Ranma's voice rose slowly, and he turned his head to see his little sister stealthily creeping out of the room.

Iori let a small smile show on his face as he looked over his new living room. Unlike the bedrooms, the rest of the house had been completely redecorated.
"I'd hate to think what our insurance rates are now." Nodoka blinked as Iori spoke; that hadn't been what she was expecting at all.
Sweatdropping slightly, she gestured to the living room. "Well, let's not worry about that now! How do you like the house?"
Iori nodded his head. "It's all right."
Nodoka stared up at her husband for a moment, then leaned up against him, resting her chin on one of his broad shoulders. "I missed you..."
Iori gently wrapped his arms around her, and started stroking her hair with his hand. "I missed you too..."
She snuggled further into his embrace. "Mmmmmmm... do you want to go upstairs?"
Iori raised an eyebrow. "What about the kids? We just got home."
"EEEEEEEEEEEK!!!" Iori blinked and turned at the sound, to see Yurumi rushing down the stairs as if something was chasing her. Fortunately, she tripped over the last step, and ended up with her face planted in the wooden floor of the living room. Fortunate, because a moment later Ranma dove through the space she would have occupied standing, and crashed heavily into the table.
Yurumi got up and scrambled away. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! Please don't be mad!"
Ranma growled and got up himself before giving chase. "Get back here, you little pyro!!"
"I think they can entertain themselves," Nodoka mumbled into her husband's shoulder.
Iori nodded mutely, then let his wife take his hand as she led him to their bedroom.
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Meow."
"Mmphrgl..." Ranma mumbled into his pillow, unheeding of the creature beside his ear.
"Meow."
"Hmmmm..." Ranma smiled slightly in his sleep, immersed in his own thoughts and fantasies while oblivious to the real world.
"Mrowr!"
Ranma flinched, then turned over, spreading his arms and legs out haphazardly over his bead. "Knock it off Kuno... zzzzzzz..."
Shampoo struggled under Ranma's elbow as he continued sleeping, but to no avail. Stopping to fume over her predicament, she considered her options, only to break down and just bite him.
Ranma frowned in his sleep as tiny pinpricks of pain shot up his arm, and his body reacted accordingly.
"MEOOOWR!!!" *Thud* *Wham!*
Ranma jerked awake as he heard his bookcase fall over, and groggily pushed himself up onto his knees to look in the direction of the disturbance.
"Oh, geez! Maya!" The remnants of sleep fled his senses as he rushed to the rescue of his pet, who was howling wildly under the weight of the bookcase which had fallen on her.
He scooped the cat up after righting the furniture, and gently held her in his arms as he checked her for injuries.
"Man, that must've hurt! What happened?"
"Meow." Shampoo replied sarcastically. Of course, the subtle tones indicating such a thing in feline speech was totally lost on Ranma.
Ranma breathed a sigh of relief as he gingerly felt and tested all of the bones and joints likely to be broken, only to find no sign of injury. "Wow, you're a tough one. That probably would've killed most cats."
Shampoo held her tongue this time (not that it made any particular difference), and allowed herself to be stroked as Ranma sat down on his bed.
"Huh... how'd you get in anyway? I could've sworn I closed the window." It then occurred to Ranma to actually look at the window, which was open wide enough for a person to get through, never mind a cat. "Oh. I guess I forgot."
Then there was a knock on the door. Ranma was still wearing his shirt and boxers, so he was decent enough for visitors. "Come in."
Nodoka stepped into the room, looking at his messy bookcase. "Is everything all right? I heard a loud noise..."
Ranma shook his head. "Everything's fine. Maya here was just playing on the bookcase and knocked it over." Ranma wasn't looking at her at the time, so he missed seeing the twitch that developed in the feline's left eye.
Nodoka smiled as she looked at the cat, and then walked up to pet it herself. "I didn't know you had a pet! Where did you find it?"
Ranma smiled and scratched the cat behind the ears, dissolving her annoyed expression. "She just sort of showed up. She's been following me around all the time."
Nodoka nodded and turned to leave. "Well, if everything's okay, then breakfast will be ready in-" she stopped suddenly, then pointed to something next to his bed. "Ranma, what are those?"
Ranma blinked. "Huh? What?" He turned to look at where she was pointing, and blinked once more. There on the floor lay a short, purple, floral-pattern blouse and pants that seemed to be fairly damp, right next to an upside-down bucket.
"Er... those would be... Shampoo's clothes and-" He was about to mention the bucket as well, and then continue by making it clear that he had no idea where the objects came from, when he was suddenly enveloped in a tight hug.
"Mrowr!" Shampoo was roughly ejected from her seat in Ranma lap, and swore that she'd never forget to hide her clothes again as she picked herself up from her second flight that day.
"Oh my son! You're so manly!" Nodoka gushed as she hugged Ranma to herself.
Ranma, for his part, tried his best to come up with a suitable response that fully conveyed the depth of his considerable confusion. "Huh?"
Nodoka held him out at arm's length to smile at him, and suddenly a worried frown crossed her features. "Oh, but how will Nabiki react to this? Please excuse me for judging her, but as first impressions go, she doesn't seem like the type to share."
"Nabiki? What? React to what?"
Nodoka gasped. "But of course! She must already know! That would explain her behavior before!"
Ranma continued his helpless muttering, even as he realized that his mother wasn't listening anymore. "Know what?"
She smiled at him and squeezed his shoulder. "No doubt she's torn between the pain of having to share you with another, or perhaps several others, and the unbearable agony of not having you at all."
Ranma gave up. "Yeah. That must be it."
Nodoka sighed and rubbed Ranma's hair. "Well, don't worry. I'm sure she'll come around and accept your relationship with Shampoo in time." She patted Ranma's head, then turned around and left, humming to herself happily all the while.
Ranma stared after her, even as the door shut and he could no longer see her back.
"Is there ANYONE in my family even REMOTELY normal?!"
Shampoo declined to reply.
__________________________________________________________________________________

"So where do you go to school again?" Ranma walked along the fence above his little sister, who jogged briskly along the concrete path below.
"I go to Tenma Elementary! It's right down this street!" She looked up at Ranma, who was keeping pace with her at a steady walk. "Where's Furinkan?"
Ranma shrugged and pointed in the general direction of his own school. "Somewhere thataway."
She frowned slightly and slowed down. "So you won't go to school with me?"
Ranma chuckled a bit. "I'm a little old for elementary school. I would if I could though. There are some nuts at Furinkan that you wouldn't believe."
Yurumi stared at him curiously, and then blinked as he went stiff. "What's wrong?"
Ranma sighed. "Aw geez..." He jumped straight up off the fence, and before Yurumi knew what was happening, the chain link construction fell apart in a mess of twisted steel and spotted bandannas.
"RANMA!!! PREPARE TO DIE!!!" Ryoga followed Ranma's passage over the fence, and Yurumi watched in wonder as the lost boy twisted in midair for a jumping kick that blasted a crater in the ground where Ranma landed, just inches away from striking Ranma himself.
Ranma punched him straight in the face as a result, knocking the fanged fool back into a section of fence that was still mostly intact. "Is it just me, or have we been through this before? You know; 'Ranma, prepare to die', then you list some offense I've committed, then you savagely try to attack me, then I prove to be too much for you, and then you pull some stupid last ditch tac. I seriously think we need to work this out, man. Or at least come up with some new lines."
Ryoga twitched with every word, growling when Ranma was finished. "Well, if you're tired of the routine, then do me a favor and DIE this time!"
Yurumi gasped as Ryoga launched himself forward at her brother, and felt a creeping sense of dread overtake her. He was trying to hurt Ranma!
Ranma deflected the first blow and the follow up, then ducked under Ryoga's next punch and tried to sweep his legs out from under him. Ryoga took the hit to the legs, but managed to hit the ground with his hand and flip away without injury.
Ranma snorted and stood up, flexing his hand. "So come on, out with it. You got a reason to try your luck again or are you just being a pain?"
Ryoga snarled. "Oh, I've got a reason! Last night I spent two solid hours listening to how much of a jerk you are! Every single horrible thing, burned into my mind forever! How could you do such terrible things to Akane?!?! YOU WILL PAY!!!"
Ranma sweatdropped. "Two HOURS of listening to Akane rant about me? Never mind remembering it all, how'd you stay awake?"
Ryoga started forward, only to stop in confusion as a little red-haired girl stepped between him and the bane of his existence.
"Hey! Leave Ranma alone, you big bully!" She glared fiercely at the lost boy, who only seemed to get angrier.
"SO!!! Hiding behind little girls now, are you?! Who knew that even you would stoop so low?!" Ryoga shouted.
Ranma just rolled his eyes. "She's my sister, you twit." Then he put a hand on Yurumi's shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about me. This is a grown-up thing, okay?"
Yurumi stared up at him dubiously, but allowed Ranma to gently push her away from the danger zone.
Ranma walked back with his hands in his pockets, and faced Ryoga with a bored expression. "All right pork-for-brains, let's get on with it."
Ryoga snarled and slipped off his backpack. "You think you're so great with your stupid fire! You're nothing but a coward and a monster! I'm going to make sure you never hurt an innocent ever again!!"
Ranma's expression hardened as Ryoga started hurling a stream of bandannas, more than he'd ever launched before at one time. Then his lip started to twitch as he stood there, unmoving.
Ryoga blinked. He had thrown so many so that Ranma would get hit even if he tried to dodge, but not so many that the girl would get caught in the swarm. But Ranma wasn't even trying to get away! Was this a miracle given form, or was the coward up to something?
"Don't you..." Ranma's form began to tremble.
"EVER..." A light purple aura encompassed him, and the air began to waver in front of him as heat rushed upwards.
"Say that..." Ranma lifted his arms into the air above his head, wrists crossed and one palm overlapping the other. Time seemed to freeze as the bandannas began to close in.
"AGAIN!!!" Within the blink of an eye, the violet energy seeped into Ranma's hands.
"Gouka rippuku!!" *KA-KA-KA-KA-KROOOOM!!!*
A thunderous roar split the air as Ranma's palms hit the ground, and a huge spike of purple flame burst up from below him, followed by three more spikes, each jutting out at an angle on each side of Ranma's engulfed form.
Ryoga gulped as his bandannas were knocked away like paper origami swans trying to float into a typhoon. Soon after the ground stopped shaking, and the the jagged towers of fire faded into small embers that floated softly to the ground.
Ranma knelt on one knee in the center of the blackened crater, his hands still pressed, palms down, into the dirt below. Slowly he began to stand up, his eyes cloaked beneath a dark mop of hair.
Then, he paused, as he heard an odd noise off to the side.
*Sssssssss* He noted that a nearby fire hydrant had apparently been damaged by the blast, and little water spouts had broken out around the edges around the nozzles. In fact, it looked like it was about to-
*Bam!* *Pshooooooooooooo*
... Burst...
Ryoga grabbed his umbrella from his pack, twirled around, and opened it in one swift motion, barely managing to shield himself before the torrent of cold water barreled into him. As he jumped away from the barrage he reflected on how Ranma hadn't been so lucky; Ranma had been far closer to the hydrant, and didn't have any real protection from the water.
Ryoga snarled as he caught a flash of red hair moving out of the tail end of the stream, and threw his umbrella like a spear, knowing that his opponent's disorientation and watered-down clothes would hinder her ability to dodge.
Then, as he touched the ground, his eyes widened as he saw that the redheaded figure was wearing a skirt.
"Oops," he muttered, wondering if the death of a family member would be enough to drive Ranma berserk again. Probably. Not that he would likely survive either way, really. Ryoga prepared himself for another running spree.

Yurumi shrieked as the water pounded into her back, pushing her along the sidewalk roughly. She managed to keep her footing though, and shook her head once it was clear of the powerful stream. She just barely managed to see the incoming projectile out of the corner of her eye, and her breath seemed to catch in her throat as time slowed to a crawl.
She could feel her terror rising; feel the quickening of her heart and the rush of blood through her veins, even as the oversized parasol slowly spun as it floated on its way toward her chest.
Her entire body tingled, and she felt a massive updraft of heat, even as she observed how gentle it seemed, rolling in the wind as it was.
She started to scream, and the bonfire within her shot to its peak as she shut her eyes and took in air, just missing the white crescent moon that moved to block the umbrella's path.
And then, all at once, hell broke loose.

Ryoga's morbid dread turned to pleasant surprise as he saw Ranma dive out of the stream to take the hit. Now his attack would succeed, and the girl would survive! Ryoga began to crack a smile.
Then the oddest thing happened.
First, the girl flashed. Not just flash an aura, like Ranma did before his most powerful attacks, but FLASH flash. Like "nuclear explosion surrounded by hills of magnesium powder with a hint of purple" flash.
Ryoga didn't even have time to blink from the sudden influx of light when a solid beam broke the Earth underneath the two Yagamis and stretched skyward, parting the clouds as it lanced to the heavens.
By the time Ryoga actually DID blink, the beam was expanding, and he found himself blown back as the wall of dark violet tore apart the road in a series of deafening explosions.
Ryoga hit the wall on the opposite side of the street roughly, and continued to stare wide-eyed as the lance of unholy fire stopped growing, merely rushing to the sky in a thick tower, with a constant, heavy roar to remind all who saw it of the Orochi's relentless fury.
Then, not quite as suddenly as it had began, the torrent shrank to a single, wire-thin violet ray, which seemed to hold for a moment before shooting upward, trailing a final chain of dark explosions.
Ryoga stared in gibbering horror at the sight of so much destruction all at once, and once his eyes completely readjusted to the light effects of the whole ordeal, he watched as Yurumi tiredly fell to her knees behind what Ryoga could only imagine was once Ranma.
Ryoga didn't care whether or not his rival lived. He didn't care that the girl was now looking around as if confused. He didn't even care that he was leaving his backpack. Ryoga turned around and RAN.

"Wha-What? What did... how...? Ranma? Hello? Ranma, where-*Gasp* RANMA!!!"
__________________________________________________________________________________

Iori started as the flash of light filled the living room, and nearly fell off the couch as he witnessed the huge pillar of fire through the window.
"What in the...? Ranma! He must have-"
Nodoka sighed as she entered the room, cutting him off. "Oh dear. Not again."
Iori blinked, then looked at his wife. "Again? What?"
Nodoka frowned as the tower thinned and disappeared, trailing explosions of purple fire. That was unusually big, even for Yurumi, though it seemed more concentrated than normal.
"Oh, this still happens every once in a while. If she gets scared or angry enough, Yurumi sometimes has her little 'accidents'."
Iori stared as smoke started billowing from the distant blast zone. "'Little'?"
Nodoka shrugged. "Yes, well, she's getting better about that. I'll call the school and tell them she might be late."
Iori sweatdropped and laid his head back on the couch. 'I can just imagine what SHE'LL be like as a teenager.' His face darkened as images came unbidden of young men aggressively flirting with a 16 year old Yurumi, and getting themselves and entire city blocks blasted to ash as a result.
"Kids," he muttered sourly, and went back to reading the paper.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Nabiki and Akane rushed to the site of the explosion, fully expecting to see Ranma trying out some new technique of his, or perhaps locked in a titanic battle with some foe of unholy power. Nabiki also had another strong suspicion, but didn't dare speculate on it too long. After all, if Ranma had in fact experienced the Riot of the Blood, running to investigate it was paramount to suicide.
All they found, however, was a black crater roughly ten meters wide with smooth, glassy edges. The inside of the crater was mostly covered in ash, and it looked like a metal object of some type had been melted down near the edge of the blast site.
Akane frowned. "Well, he had to have been here. Who else would just blast a hole in the street for no reason?"
Nabiki shook her head. There were no other burns around the area, and the only other sign of damage was the fence in front of the canal, and a short trail of soot leading away from the crater. Considering the type of damage Ranma had caused in Orochi form, it seemed unlikely that he had entered that state this time.
Nabiki blinked. "Hey, there's a backpack over there."
Akane crossed the street, and quickly began observing the item. "Hmmmm... doesn't look like the one he had before." She opened it up, and then grabbed the top item, with was a yellow shirt. "No, I don't think this is his."
Nabiki frowned at the crater and chewed her lip. Looking closely, she could see that the residual heat from the crater was causing distortions in the air as it rose from the burnt Earth. "I wonder... just how powerful was that blast? I mean, from what we saw, I'd expected a chasm to be here, at least."
Akane considered it as she joined her sister, shirt still in hand. Then, on a whim, she tossed the garment into the blackened depression.
*Fwooosh* The shirt lit aflame instantly upon contact with the charred ground, and within moments the Tendo sisters were staring at nothing but glowing embers.
Akane sighed and turned toward the school. "Well, as long as he's not bothering us anymore, he can burn down the Prime Minister's mansion for all I care. I'm not going to be late if he's not even here." She starting walking briskly toward Furinkan, not even looking back at her sister, who still stared at the shirt's dying embers.
'Ranma... what is this power of yours?' And with that thought echoing in her head, Nabiki turned herself and followed Akane to school.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Dr. Tofu hummed lightly to himself as he followed his latest patient out of the examination room, checking over his records as he walked. Clearing his throat, he looked up from the papers to make eye contact with the kindly old woman. "Your rheumatism is looking much better Mrs. Yaguchima. Just keep making those visits to the hot springs, and you should be fine."
The old lady smiled at the good doctor and nodded her head. "Of course. Thank you doctor."
Dr. Tofu went back to humming to himself as he filed the papers, and then started thumbing through a small gray notebook that listed all of the day's appointments.
*Bam!* "Help!! Somebody, please help me!!"
Dr. Tofu looked up sharply as he heard someone burst into the waiting room, and briskly rushed out of his office.
He frowned when he got a good look at what was causing all the commotion, and adjusted his glasses slightly out of habit. A little redheaded girl in a school uniform was kneeling on the ground sobbing her eyes out, looking desperately at the various people who were staring at her in bewilderment. The girl had no visible injury, though she looked fairly dirty and generally out of sorts, and had dragged some sort of black mass noticeably bigger than she was into the room behind her.
Dr. Tofu leaned down next to the girl, and she immediately focused on him. "There now, what's wrong?"
"It's my brother! I... well, there was this guy *Sniffle* and he... well... and then I..." Yurumi started shaking again as her eyes teared up, and she whirled around and pointed at the mass. "My brother! Please! You have to help him!! Please save Ranma!"
Tofu blinked. That at least explained what the mass was. He had at first identified it as a bag of coal dust, and was fully prepared to chastise the little girl for bringing such a thing into his clinic. "This is Ranma, you say?" He leaned down over the thing as Yurumi gave a sniffling nod, and knocked on it, causing a thin layer of ash to jump off onto the floor. Then he rubbed on the spot, causing more ash to shake off, revealing a white crescent moon. "Oh dear... how did this happen?"
Yurumi seemed to choke on the question as the doctor looked at her. "It... i-it was... I was j-just... I cou-couldn't... RANMA!!! Please don't die!!" Dr. Tofu blinked once more as the girl collapsed into sobs, and then scratched his head as he realized that she was wailing in anguish, rather than naming Ranma the culprit.
Seeing how he would be unlikely to get any more useful information from the younger Yagami, he lifted up the burnt burden that she had procured and carried it into the examination room, away from the prying (and mostly wide) eyes of the waiting patients.

Dropping Ranma on the examination table, he went to the sink to fill up a bucket with warm water (so as not to activate his curse). Yurumi rushed in behind him and looked over the edge of the table, still crying. Despite having dealt with such sights before, he couldn't help but feel his heart break at sight of how scared and helpless she was.
"Please Ranma... I'm so sorry..."
Dr. Tofu put on his most encouraging smile and walked back to the examination table, bucket in hand. "There, there, he should be just fine. Ranma's a tough one, from what I hear." Then he upended the bucket over the pigtailed boy, washing away much of the ash and soot that covered him.
No doubt about it; it was Ranma. He looked like he had taken a steam bath in a nuclear reactor, but it was definitely the same pigtailed boy that had followed Akane to his clinic just a few days prior.
Yurumi stared in horror at the charred body, her sobs caught in her throat. "Is... is he..."
Dr. Tofu gave her a relieved smiled. "No, no, he's alive all right. Watch." He poked Ranma in the back, and his entire body twitched slightly at the contact. "See that? That nervous reaction indicates that he's experiencing an unfathomable amount of pain, probably all around his body, and especially when I apply pressure. So he clearly survived." Dr. Tofu jabbed Ranma a few more times to demonstrate, and Yurumi breathed a sigh of incredible relief.
"*Groan* Hurts... so... much... burns... owwwww..."
Dr. Tofu's smile grew. "See? He's even conscious!"
"RANMA!!!" Fresh tears rained down her face as Yurumi jumped up onto the table and hugged her elder brother, not noticing as his body locked up and he generated a few tears himself.
"I'm so sorry!! It was an accident!! I can't control it, and when I get really scared, it just happens!! Please don't hate me!!" Yurumi continued sobbing into Ranma's chest, oblivious to his pained grimace.
"Hurt! Pain! Ow! Leggo! Leggo! Leggo!" She did so, and Ranma fell back onto the table, in obvious agony.
Dr. Tofu whistled a short tune as he rummaged through his drug cabinet, and pulled out a bottle of conspicuous green liquid. "This should help the burns. You two should really be getting to school."
Yurumi slipped off of the examination table, and bowed deeply to the physician. "Thank you so much, Doctor!"
Ranma groaned. "I can't move."
Tofu blinked, then flexed his fingers. "Oh, really? Here, let me fix that." *Jab*
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWW!!!!"
__________________________________________________________________________________

The teacher continued rolling names around in his head as he filled the list of absentees, moving up the seating chart and marking the truant ones on the regular sheet of paper. As usual, many of the boys participating on various athletic teams weren't present, having been beaten into unconsciousness by Akane, who he was glad to see was in her seat with time to spare.
'Hmmmmm... Let's see... Yagami's not here. First day absent. Ah, well.' The teacher marked the box next to Ranma's name, and then turned toward the class.
"Before we begin, we have two new students attending our classes. One is transferring from another school in the area, and the other is a visitor from the U.S. You may come in." The last was directed at the door, which opened as the two new students entered the classroom.
Nearly every student immediately straightened in their seats as they got a look at the new additions to the class, and the teacher sighed to himself as some of the boys started drooling on their desks.
Min smiled brightly. She was wearing the standard school uniform, and clearly filled it out to its limits. She had also tucked in the shirt so that it hugged her trim waist as much as possible, and even hiked up her skirt so that she showed more leg than the other girls in the class. "Hello! My name is Min Bogard! I'm really looking forward to being here!" Then she smirked, her eyes narrowing. "And before anybody asks, yes, they're real." Most of the girls gave her stares of disbelief.
Tomas rolled his eyes as his cousin bowed to the class, causing half the boys to swallow their drool before they choked. For all that Min complained about male lechery, she sure encouraged it enough. "Hey there. My name's Tomas Bogard. I'm Min's cousin. I'm from the States, and I know Japanese pretty well." Several girls smiled at him pleasantly as he waved to the class. Though the only thing remarkable about his state of dress was that he wore his plated baseball cap in addition to the regular uniform, he still cut a handsome figure, and the girls certainly found him a welcome contrast to Min (whom many amongst them had already deemed a "top-heavy bimbo").
The teacher gestured to the pair of martial artists to get their attention, then turned to the class. "Now, besides the fact that they're transferring so late in the semester, seeing how Mr. Bogard isn't from Japan, I suppose it would be best to have somebody show them around campus between classes. Any volun-"
"I'LL DO IT!!!"
"No! Me!!"
"Forget it!! I know this school better than anyone! I should be the one!!"
"I've lived here my whole life! Let me do it!!"
"Perverts! You just want to hang around Min! A girl should do it!"
"Like me!"
"Hey, I saw him first!"
Tomas and Min sweatdropped heavily as the entire room erupted into chaos and small scuffles. The only real exceptions were the teacher, who simply shook his head sadly, and a single short-haired girl in back, who was hiding her face as if ashamed to be among the student body.
*Wham!* Everyone stopped what they were doing and jerked their heads toward the entrance as the door slammed open.
Ranma glared out at them, his grip tightening on the doorknob. "What?!" This, surprisingly, didn't stop anyone from staring. Ranma had recovered significantly from before, but he still had charred areas on his face, neck, and hands, and his pants and shoes looked like someone had tried to use them to smother a bonfire.
Muttering under his breath, Ranma walked across the front of the classroom, giving the two new students a quick glance before dismissing them completely.
The teacher spoke before he could head to his desk. "Mr. Yagami, you're late."
Ranma stopped, and his eye twitched. "It was a medical emergency."
The teacher raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Oh really? I'll need a note-URK!!!"
Ranma growled as he grabbed the man's shirt and yanked him close. "I SAID 'medical emergency'. Write it. NOW."
The teacher nodded frantically, and marked the appropriate box on his records.
Ranma let go of the teacher, sending the man stumbling back into the chalkboard. Then he turned toward the class, and sweatdropped as he noticed that they were still in a state of "frozen chaos", with all eyes trained on him. "What are you doing? Sit down!"
As one, the students scrambled to their desks. Ranma snorted, then began heading toward his seat.
As Min simply stared at the bizarre turn of events, Tomas turned toward the teacher.
"Sensei? If it's all right with you, could Ranma show us around? We've met before." Ranma blinked, then sighed wearily as he realized that he had been given a task.
The teacher nodded nervously. "If you say so. Seeing as there's suddenly a ring of empty desks around Mr. Yagami, you may have your choice of any of those seats." He waited until they had sat down, then turned back to the board, noting how Min was staring at Ranma curiously. "All right class, turn to page 243... er... Mr. Yagami, I notice you don't have your textbooks with you."
Ranma glared up at him, and the older man gulped. "Sure I do," he insisted bitterly, scooping his hand into his jacket pocket. Then he opened his hand above his desk, letting a small stream of ash fall into a pile on his desk. The entire class sweatdropped.
"The problem is telling my history book from my math and English books," Ranma speculated sarcastically.
The teacher's face darkened considerably. "Er... right. Carry on." Then he turned to the board once more, and began the day's lesson.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma tiredly led the two Bogards on a short tour of the Furinkan campus, pointing out all the sites of interest and importance. This was significantly hampered by the fact that he himself had only attended the school for five days, but Ranma felt he covered the basics.
"This is where Kuno's 3rd period class is. The janitor usually keeps the hall windows on this level open, so it's pretty easy to knock him outside if he attacks."
Tomas scratched his head under his cap. "Uhm... is there any reason why you're listing certain people's classes and ways to avoid or beat them?" Min looked similarly confused.
"Yes." Ranma replied simply, then turned toward a row of lockers. "This is where Akane passes by every fourth period. The students who hold buckets usually stack them up in a little pyramid here without emptying the water first, so if she's angry at you she'll try to knock you into them, or vice versa."
Ranma led the two confused teenagers onward through the hall, before gesturing to what he considered to be the most important structure on campus.
"This is the cafeteria. It's decent enough, and it's cheap, so the good stuff sells out pretty quickly. It gets pretty loud and crowded in here during lunch, so personally I prefer to eat outside."
He turned toward his small audience. "Well, that's it. What class do you have next? I can show you there."
Tomas was already getting out his class schedule to answer the question when Min stepped forward.
"Now wait a minute. All you showed us was the gym, the field, the cafeteria, and the daily paths of two people named Akane and Kuno."
Ranma stared blankly at her. "Yes... and the problem would be...?"
"What about the other buildings? Is a there a science lab? A computer lab? A practice hall? A LIBRARY?"
Ranma frowned, annoyed. "Look, I told you what I know, all right? You can talk to somebody else if you need to know the rest of the place." He turned around to leave, but to his increasing frustration, the girl simply ran in front of him.
That frustration turned to confusion as she smirked and crossed her arms under her breasts. "Fair enough. There is ONE matter I'd like to ask about though."
Ranma raised an eyebrow, and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Go on..."
Min grinned. "You're a fighter, right? I need someone to practice with, maybe even train with. If you're good enough, you could be my partner." She smiled suggestively, and stuck her hip out slightly to one side.
Tomas sighed and covered his face with his hand.
Ranma stared flatly at her for a moment, before briskly turning away. "Thanks for the offer, but no." Deeming the matter concluded, he turned around and began to walk away, only to find himself yanked back by the determined ninja girl.
"And why not?" Min demanded. Then her eyes narrowed. "You don't have... PROBLEMS... fighting girls, do you?"
Ranma was about to answer honestly, when he caught Tomas shaking his head frantically and mouthing "No" over and over again.
Ranma snorted and snatched his jacket away, causing Min to flinch back slightly at the blatant rejection. "Naw, that's not it. What makes you think I'm a fighter, anyway?"
"Well gee, I don't know," Min began sarcastically, "you move like one, you talk like one, you act like one, and you sure looked like one coming in this morning." She stopped, and smirked at the pigtailed boy. "Unless your little sister gave you all those nasty burns."
*Thud*
Min and Tomas blinked. "Why did you fall down?" The former asked.
"The irony hit me," Ranma replied sourly as he stood up. "Okay, fine, I do some martial arts. I'm still not gonna train with you, though."
Min fumed, quite furious that not only had her request been refused, but also that a teenage boy, and a rather handsome one at that, was completely ignoring her womanly charms, which knocked most men flat on their backs.
Then she smiled slightly. "Oh... I get it... afraid you'll be shown up by a girl, eh?"
Ranma twitched, and his hands clenched into fists. Normally he would have come back with a witty (or at least egotistical) come-back, but he was having too bad a day for that, and his own blasted conscience wouldn't allow him to simply pummel a girl into submission, as he would have done to a male in her position.
Min flinched back as Ranma glared coldly at her, and he stepped forward.
"LOOK. I've had a REALLY bad day so far! I've been attacked, scorched, and prodded, all before I even got to school! And then when I get here, I'm chosen to play tour guide for the new students! I do NOT need to take this! I'm positive that today's going to get worse just fine on its own without the help of someone I don't even know!" Ranma advanced forward with every sentence, and by the time he finished, Min was fighting to keep her balance as she leaned backward.
Feeling that he had gotten his point across, Ranma turned around to leave.
"Yagami! There you are!" Daisuke ran into the hallway, quickly followed by Hiroshi.
"Good thing we found you! Kuno's back in school! And he's out for blood! Carrying a REAL sword!" Hiroshi was practically biting his nails as he spoke.
Ranma groaned. "I hate being right all the time."
"YAGAMI!!! SHOW YOURSELF, AND SUBMIT TO HEAVEN'S PUNISHMENT!!!"
Daisuke started sweating. "Geez Yagami, what'd you do to him?"
Tomas blinked as Ranma started banging his head on a wall of lockers. "Uh... is that the same Kuno that you-"
"Yes." Ranma answered curtly, cutting him off.
"Uh huh." Tomas turned toward Min. "Look, maybe we should go."
Min stared at him oddly. "Go? Now? Right when things are starting to get interesting?"
"YAGAMI!!! AT LAST I FACE YOU!!!"

Ranma turned tiredly toward Kuno. The older boy was back, and was, in fact, carrying a real katana as opposed to a training bokken. The fact that he had a visible, vertical scar on his right cheek and several bandages visible even with his usual kendo outfit on was not lost on Ranma.
"Kuno, you're... alive..." Ranma trailed off as an internal battle took place. "Good," he added reluctantly.
Kuno laughed uproariously, despite that it probably hurt quite a bit. "Fool! You think you can slay one so great as I! Even your demonic powers are no match for the wrath of the Blue Thunder!" Tatewaki leveled his blade toward Ranma, and Hiroshi and Daisuke quickly backed off. "I've come to vanquish you once and for all, lowly demon, and end your evil reign!"
Tomas growled and cracked his knuckles. "Hey, you need any help with this jerk, man? That's no toy he's waving around." He would have added that the boy was also clearly delusional with the world's biggest superiority complex, but felt that it went without saying.
Ranma shook his head and stepped away from the American. "I can take him." Then he glared hard at Kuno. "Whether it's wood or live steel, you're still a moron! Go to class before I send you back to the hospital!"
Kuno smirked. "Your insults are as wind striking stone, foul Yagami, and I will not be swayed. My purpose is clear, and my destiny lies with your grave!"
Min nudged her cousin slightly. "I think this loon is serious!" Then she sweatdropped as she saw he was thumbing through an English/Japanese dictionary.
"Where is it... where is it... damn, this guy talks weird..."
Kuno rambled on, oblivious to the two new students. "For the heart of the pigtailed girl, whom you so jealously enslave! For my dearest Akane Tendo, whom you so callously mock! For brave Hibiki, who I have not seen since our cumulative defeat, and I fear may be entombed in the hard, cold Earth even as we speak! For all of humanity, I shall vanquish thee, foul monster, so that-"
*Wham!!* Ranma kicked a locker into Kuno, smashing him into the opposite wall.
"Shut up Kuno," Ranma snarled, then walked up to the mess of metal and man and snatched away the katana. "And stop waving this thing around before you lop off your own head!" Grumbling to himself irritably, Ranma gave the locker one last kick, aware that Kuno's presence had attracted a small crowd in the hallway.
He began to stalk toward his next class, when yet again, Min ran in front of him. "Now what?!"
Min frowned at the tone he was using, but didn't mention it. He did say he was having a bad day, after all. "Ranma Yagami, in the name of the School of Shiranui style Ninjitsu, I, Min Bogard, challenge you!"
Ranma twitched.
Tomas sighed and shook his head. "This is gonna be a LONG day."

**********************************************************************************
End Chapter 6

Gouka rippuku - Hellfire rage: An attack designed to parallel the power geyser, the gouka rippuku generates a heavy blast of flame with a large blast radius on the ground beneath Ranma.

Author's Notes:
For those of you wondering about Yurumi's powers, they will be mostly chiseled out in future chapters, but here's the basics if you haven't already figured them out. She's got the general flame powers, but to a very small degree. She hasn't been raised as a fighter, so its more a utility than a weapon. The berserker blasts are totally uncontrollable, and are relative to the amount of danger/general situation she's in. A bee constitutes a napalm-like bomb blast, while a threat to her life causes the Earth-shattering hellfire. That's all.