Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Life of Chaos ❯ Furinkan - A New Day ( Chapter 10 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Lord Archive 
A new day has started at Furinkan High but something seems to be missing.
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Comedy / Drama / Martial Arts / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 10.29.2012 | Pages: 4 | Words: 4.1K | Visits: 614 | Status: Completed
A new day has started at Furinkan High but something seems to be missing.
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Comedy / Drama / Martial Arts / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 10.29.2012 | Pages: 4 | Words: 4.1K | Visits: 614 | Status: Completed
Life of Chaos - Part 1
Chapter 1 - A New Day
By: Lord Archive
Characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Shogakukan and are used without permission. All rights reserved.
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He woke up to find something large and warm nestled close to him. That was unusual, but it had happened before. This time was unique, however, since the warm body wasn't covered in fur or clothes, but was mostly bare skin. He wasn't wearing any clothes either, nor was he a piglet. He opened his eyes and saw a girl nestled against his chest. "Wah?!" He jerked away from her and fell off the bed.
The girl yawned, sat up, and stretched. "Good morning, Ryoga."
Ryoga couldn't stop blinking. She sat before him completely naked and unashamed. He could see everything and he wasn't fainting or bleeding out of the nose. He could remember some of last night, but nothing beyond the thought of, 'Why am I holding her shirt?' A lot happened after that, but he couldn't remember THINKING at any time between then and falling asleep. It had been like he was on auto-pilot but with her leading every step of the way.
"Something wrong?" his lover asked.
"No, n-nothing wrong." Ryoga couldn't think of why it would be wrong if she wasn't upset.
"Then why did you fall out of bed?" she questioned.
"I rolled over and fell?" Ryoga answered lamely.
"Oh." She then looked at the clocked. "Manure! We forgot to set the alarm. We're late!"
"Akari-chan, wait!" Ryoga called out as she grabbed his arm.
Akari pouted at her lover. "What is it?"
"I... ah... well... forget it." Ryoga sighed.
"You want to say something, dear. You can tell me. Is it about last night?" Akari questioned.
Ryoga scratched the back of his head. "Well, yes. I just don't know what to say. That was so sudden.... Give me some time to sort my thoughts so I can say what I want. Okay?"
Akari nodded nervously. Did she move things forward too fast? She hope not.
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Nabiki watched Ranma and Akane prepare for school. They were still nervous. Something was definitely up, and she would find out eventually. She always did, and made a profit selling what she discovered.
Nabiki couldn't help but notice Kasumi and Nodoka were uneasy. She suspected Kasumi was in on what was going on between Ranma and Akane, but apparently so was Nodoka. The more people who knew, the easier it was for someone to slip and reveal this new secret.
Sighing, Nabiki stood up and left for school. As much as she wanted to know what this secret was, she didn't know its worth or how much time would be involved in finding out. Better to go to school early and make some money through the proven routes now, and come up with plans to get that information out of Ranma and Akane at school or Kasumi and Nodoka after her classes ended.
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Shampoo glared angrily. This simply wasn't working. Every attempt was coming up fruitless. There had to be a way to do this. She threw her hairbrush in disgust. She just couldn't get her hair to look as full as she wanted. Konatsu was going to die slowly for cutting her hair.
Shampoo eyed the ribbon a girl from Furinkan had given her. She picked it up and tied her hair into a pony-tail. She tested the look by throwing her hair around a little. The look was almost right. Shampoo then grabbed another ribbon and tied it at the bottom. She shook her head, and smiled slightly at the way her hair moved like a tail.
Shampoo preferred her hair to be long, but a pony-tail was kind of nice. It made her look a little older and had it's own cat-like qualities. She wished her beloved Ranma had never had the Nekoken training, cats were great and noble animals. She hoped Ranma would overcome his fear of them so that they could be together.
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Tsubasa wasn't nervous about returning to school; he was scared shitless. However, when his mother was pissed, she looked like the grim reaper. If he skipped again, he would wish he were dead. At least she was happy that he was wearing a boy's uniform now.
"Kurenai." Little Ms. Hinako pouted at her student. "Do you have any excuse for missing the afternoon classes?"
Tsubasa looked at his teacher with wide eyes and pale complexion. When he shook his head, it was barely noticeable.
"You've been a very bad delinquent. Happo Go En Shatsu!" Ms. Hinako casually readjusted her clothes. "Wataru, see that he makes it to class."
Ayashi scowled. "Rumiko, this is all your fault."
Rumiko shrugged. "If you didn't want to be class-rep, you should have declined."
"What's today's bet?" Daisuke asked.
"Who will fall into the swimming pool, and how many times, before four o'clock this afternoon. Jumping in intentionally doesn't count, of course," Nabiki answered. "There is a new ongoing bet as well. Who will have sex first: Ranma, Ryoga or Mousse."
"What's the odds on Mousse's challenge?" Hiroshi inquired.
"Ranma five gets you seven, Ryoga five gets ten, Mousse five gets fifty."
"I'll put a hundred yen on Ryoga." Hiroshi placed his bet.
"Why the Lost Boy?" Daisuke asked.
Hiroshi smirked. "Better winnings and you know he's living with Akari alone."
"Point." Daisuke turned to Nabiki. "I'll go for two hundred yen on Ryoga and I want a bet slip for the pool."
Hiroshi sighed. "Why don't you just give her all your money and save yourself the hassle. You might try saving some of that money."
Daisuke grinned. "But think of all the money I could win."
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Ryoga sighed again as he rode on Katsunishiki's back. He still couldn't figure out why he had done what he had done last night. He wished he had fainted or that his nose had gushed blood, but that wasn't the case. He had been more excited than he had ever felt before and lost all conscious thought instead. He had just followed his instincts and Akari's lead. Now they weren't virgins.
There was no point dwelling on what they had done. Ryoga wondered what they were going to do now. He knew Akari had always considered him her fiance, but he had only thought of her as his girlfriend. But last night changed things, Akari should at least be his fiancee, if not wife. Ryoga shuddered. It was too soon to think of that.
Akari sat in front of her lover as they rode her pet sumo-pig to school. She didn't like the way Ryoga kept sighing, or the shudder. Everything last night had been perfect, but now he was all depressed. Why would making love last night depress him? "Ryoga?"
Ryoga looked up. "Yes, Akari-chan?"
"Do you regret last night?" Akari asked.
"N-no. Not at all. W-why?" Ryoga stammered nervously.
"It just that you're so depressed. I thought you would be happy," Akari said.
Ryoga fidgeted. "I am happy, but I'm also scared."
"Scared?" Akari turned toward Ryoga.
"Well, yeah. Last night changes things. We aren't just dating now, we're l-lovers and you're my fiancee. I don't know how to deal with that. I don't know how to be a husband," Ryoga explained.
Akari's features softened. "Is that what's troubling you?"
Ryoga nodded.
Akari faced forward and snuggled against Ryoga. "I guess I understand. I've been afraid you didn't love me, that you didn't want me. Now there's no denying how you feel."
"Yep, no denying it," Ryoga nervously chirped. He did love her, didn't he? Maybe that was why he had sex with her.
Ryoga sighed. He couldn't let anyone know about this, since that would ruin her honor. After what they had shared, he couldn't do that to her. Nothing could make him, even if it did cost him the challenge.
The _challenge_?! Ryoga paled. Shit! If Akari finds out about that, she'd be devastated. She would think he only had sex with her to win. Akari running away from him with tears in her eyes flashed through his mind. No! She could never learn about the challenge. What we shared was beautiful. He should've never accepted the challenge. But, he couldn't back out with Ranma competing. It was all Ranma's fault. If he lost Akari because of this, he would kill him.
Ryoga looked down at his lover. How could he make sure she never.... His thoughts were interrupted as Katsunishiki suddenly stopped at Furinkan's main gate.
"Unryu, I challenge you for Charlotte!" Azusa announced.
"Why should I accept? Ryoga is mine." Akari kissed the boy to emphasize her claim.
"He is not!" Azusa yelled cutely. "Charlotte belong to Azusa, and I won't let a violent maniac like you take him from me!"
Akari glared at the overly cute girl. "Ryoga was never yours to begin with."
"I don't care!" Azusa yelled. "I want my Charlotte!"
"Your 'Charlotte' isn't a virgin." Akari pressed her hand to her chest. "He's my lover."
Ryoga fell off the sumo-pig.
A fair number of students joined Ryoga on the ground in massive fall from surprise.
Once Azusa picked her jaw off the ground, she shouted, "That's a lie! Charlotte would never do that!"
Ryoga looked up at Akari. "Why did you tell that to the whole school?"
Akari giggled a little nervously. "Got carried away. Besides, I don't want her or anyone else getting any ideas about you."
Azusa growled like a bear cub and charged.
Akari noticed her coming and that she was wearing roller blades. Unryu signaled Katsunishiki to get ready.
Azusa launched into a kick and heard Akari call out, "Rush!" Before gaining much height, the pig rammed into the skater. She bounced and flopped down the sidewalk before crashing into the door.
Azusa dizzily looked up. "Oh, look at all the cute little piggies." She slumped to the ground.
Hiro flicked up Azusa's skirt to see what color panties she had on today. He frowned when he saw that she was wearing shorts under her dress.
"Mariko," Kodachi said simply.
"My pleasure," Mariko replied. She then enlightened Hiro on why not to be a pervert, through very painful means. Particularly since she was a bit upset that she hadn't gotten to place her bet.
Mariko noted that Akari did seem to be a relatively normal girl, once you took away the pig fetish. Such girls would not show public displays of affection for a mere boyfriend. If she had the courage to kiss Kuno in public, there would be little doubt that her virginity had ended. Unfortunately, Nabiki hadn't missed that either and stopped taking bets then.
"All right, ladies and gentlemen," Nabiki called out. "I will honor all bets when I can confirm that Ryoga is indeed the victor. Mousse...." She looked at the male Jokensuko warrior who seemed to be cursing in Chinese. "...obviously hasn't won. There is a chance Ranma beat Ryoga when he disappeared with Akane for a couple hours. Besides, I haven't verified that Ryoga has had sex with Akari. Once I am certain of the winner of that challenge, all bets will be paid."
Mousse's features lightened immensely when her heard what Nabiki said. Maybe Ranma had won. But even if he hadn't, spending a few hours alone with Akane would help to gain the same end, Shampoo no longer bound to marry Ranma. Once, Ranma has made his intentions clear, preferably after sleeping with Akane, Shampoo wouldn't have to marry Saotome. True, she would be dishonored, but there was no way she could avoid that-- at least in a way to Mousse's liking. And with the end of Shampoo's 'marriage' to Saotome, she would be free to pursue a relationship with him.
Nabiki eyed Mousse critically. Figuring the entire challenge was not an attempt for the duck to prove he was better but to get Ranma to sleep with Akane. He probably didn't care if it was any girl except Shampoo. Clever, Nabiki mused. So the waterfowl does have a brain. Scary thing was she didn't know yet if it worked. Ranma and Akane were awfully nervous and doing the deed would explain it, as well as Kasumi's unusual behavior if she knew about it. Didn't know why Auntie Nodoka would be worried, she would be happy. Nabiki thought for a second. It wouldn't be because she's afraid Akane will get pregnant. Akane shouldn't have been fertile yesterday and Auntie probably would be delighted to be a grandmother. Nabiki shrugged. It's a working theory, might as well try it and see what I find.
Shampoo glared angrily. The placement wasn't right. A little to the left, a bit closer. There! The Jokensuko warrior launched herself from the tree, sword in hand.
Ukyou's eyes widen in shock as Shampoo flew out of the tree with a sword raised to kill.
Konatsu pulled something out of his school shirt and threw it over his shoulder.
Shampoo couldn't dodge in time. Her target had been talking to the stupid spatula girl and shouldn't have been able to detect her presence, but somehow he had. The thrown object struck her in the face and exploded. Being a water balloon, the warrior turned student was now a cat. The sword landed a foot shy of Shampoo's prey.
Konatsu calmly turned around and pulled the cat out of the wet clothes. "Please, Shampoo, I do not wish to fight you. I will gladly talk about any compensation you would like, but I'm afraid I'm not willing to pay with my life or do anything that would injure those I care about."
The cat clawed Konatsu's wrist and was promptly dropped.
Konatsu held his bleeding injury. "I beg you reconsider." He then joined Ukyou and they walked into the school.
"Konatsu, why don't you just defeat her," Ukyou suggested. "It would stop her from trying to kill you."
"But I have no intentions of marrying her," Konatsu explained.
Ukyou shrugged. "Neither does Ranchan, and he'll eventually find a way out. And when he does, you can use it too. Besides, what would you rather have: Shampoo trying to kill you or sleep with you?"
Was that a trick question? Konatsu wondered. He certainly didn't want to wake up to Shampoo, he wanted to see Ukyou's face every morning. If he defeated Shampoo, wouldn't her attempts to marry him hurt his chance to be with his beloved Ukyou?
"I, Kuno Tatewaki, the Raising Dawn of Furinkan High, once again impart the worthy challenge to you. Whoever defeats the glorious and fierce Tendo Akane or the maidenly wild flower that is the pig-tailed girl, shall win a date with the one you defeated!"
"I'd rather take out the Chinese babe with the pony-tail. I'd get more than a date from her!" a freshman replied loudly.
"He's nuts. That Tendo girl kicks like a mule, and that 'pig-tailed girl' is supposed to be better than she is," another boy retorted.
Another freshman nodded. "Yeah, I'd rather be in class than the infirmary."
The various male freshmen dispersed.
Sayuri blinked. "I think we should consider dipping into the freshman class for dates."
Yuka nodded. "They actually have intelligence."
"Hey!" Hiroshi and Daisuke shouted at the girls.
Kuno was undaunted by the lack of support for his cause. He had gotten used to that last year after his fellow comrades had fallen to the lies that Ranma and Akane were to be wed. He stood steadfast to his position at the front gate, waiting for when he would once again fight for his loves. He ignored his sister, Mariko and all other distractions.
The final bell rang to begin class and Kuno still stood his ground.
A block of the sidewalk lifted a few feet in front of Kuno. "Oh, Keiki. You should be in class, not out here loiterin'. Da big Kahuna no can allow that, especially from one a his own."
Kuno maintained his focus to the point that he didn't recognize his father existence. He stood resolute, waiting for his rival and his loves. Nothing else mattered to him.
The principal glared at his son and tossed a few pineapple bombs towards his son's feet. They exploded, Tatewaki was launched into the sky and he crash-landed into his classroom.
Ms. Hinako considered draining Kuno, but decided Principal Kuno's punishment was enough. She then frowned looking at the class. "Does anyone know where Saotome or Tendo are?"
The class shook their heads, giving the general consensus that no one had seen them.
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The morning classes surprisingly passed with little incident.
Tsubasa was too scared to even look at Ukyou in fear of what Konatsu might do to him.
Konatsu wondered where his friends were, but wasn't too concerned. He kept an eye on Tsubasa to make sure he behaved himself.
Ukyou wasn't aware anybody existed in class. She couldn't take her eyes off the vacant chairs that were supposed to be filled.
Shampoo stared at the seat in front of her. Her beloved husband was supposed to be sitting there, but he wasn't. Worse she couldn't leave to go find him. Cologne had warned Shampoo to stay out of trouble, because if she were expelled she would have to go back to China. Furinkan seemed to prefer odd punishments, but she didn't want to risk being forced away from Ranma.
Mariko tried to flirt with Kuno, but was ignored even after he had awakened.
Kuno meditated on the absence of his loves and his rival. He came to many possible conclusions, but none that he could truly act on without raising Ms. Hinako's ire.
Mikado spent most of his time glaring at Kodachi, and she often glanced at him like he was a lowly insect. Sanzenin was thankful that his make-up covered up the various ink marks that he had received from Kodachi, Azusa, Hiroshi and Daisuke.
Ryoga agonized on how to keep the challenge that Mousse had made a secret from Akari.
Akari wished Ryoga wasn't so depressed. Did he have to worry about everything? Why couldn't he just be happy that they shared their love? She really wanted to know, so she could make him happy.
Azusa pouted. Her beloved Charlotte had... gotten dirty. He wasn't as cute. He had slept with a pig farmer. A statement like that should be an insult, not the literal truth. What was she to do now? Well, there was that cute boy sitting in the back row. Maybe he would be interested in a nice cute girl.
The rest of the class, more or less, behaved themselves and kept their mind on what the teacher said. Well, as much as any normal student, which wasn't really saying much.
Lunch arrived and most of Class 2-D swarmed Nabiki, eager for information on Akane and Ranma. They didn't like what they got, nothing.
Nabiki had known that both Ranma and Akane hadn't shown up at school yet. She couldn't figure it out. They had gotten ready for school and should have arrived with plenty of time to beat up Kuno. Attempts to call home had gotten her nothing, just her father saying Kasumi and Nodoka were out-- probably shopping. Nabiki suspected that was false, but she couldn't figure out where they were except that Ranma and Akane were probably with them. The middle Tendo promised herself that she would find out what was going on as soon as she got home.
Ukyou sagged after finding out that Nabiki didn't have any information. She then went over to a tree and slumped under it. She picked at her lunch. She had wanted to eat with Ranma, but he was missing with Akane. Probably some bit of insanity struck after Nabiki left and she'd just get the story from Akane later. It was nothing to worry about, they'd be back soon enough.
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School ended and half of Class 2-D migrated toward the Tendo home. A stunned Nabiki and a nervous Kasumi greeted them at the gate.
The students began to ask various questions about Ranma and Akane.
Kasumi cleared her voice, and the students went quiet. "My, so many of you want to know what happened to Ranma and Akane. Well, this morning they eloped. They'll be wandering around Japan for at least the next couple months as a honeymoon. Isn't that nice?"
From space a mighty and chorused shout of "WHAT?!?" echoed despite the vacuum.
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Author's Notes:
When I started writing this, I put in way too much Japanese. Now I find myself regretting pulling out some of it, namely honorifics. Before the issue was with saying 'Lady Kodachi' instead of 'Kodachi-sama,' not a big deal, or Nabiki's 'Kuno-baby' instead of 'Kuno-chan' which has more issues, but not entirely unreasonable. This chapter the lack of honorific use caused more issues, namely Akari had original said 'Ryoga-sama' during the entire prologue, but due to becoming lovers she dropped 'sama,' which to anyone who paid attention to her the day before something changed in their relationship as such Nabiki was to stop the betting pool then. To get roughly the same impact and keep the lack of honorifics, it was changed to Akari kissing him in front of the school. More issues crop up in the next chapter as with Ranma literally running off with Akane, it changed the dynamics of the relationships around him and thus changed some of the honorifics used.
Toward the beginning of his second year at Furinkan, in his fight with Ranma, Kuno gave his name as the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High. Which was a new 'nickname,' considering Nabiki didn't even hear of it. (A nickname is supposed to be made up by the student's classmates.) He has used it only a few times since. It is now a new year, and it is possible that he would take a new name, thus Raising Dawn.
Chapter 1 - A New Day
By: Lord Archive
Characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Shogakukan and are used without permission. All rights reserved.
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He woke up to find something large and warm nestled close to him. That was unusual, but it had happened before. This time was unique, however, since the warm body wasn't covered in fur or clothes, but was mostly bare skin. He wasn't wearing any clothes either, nor was he a piglet. He opened his eyes and saw a girl nestled against his chest. "Wah?!" He jerked away from her and fell off the bed.
The girl yawned, sat up, and stretched. "Good morning, Ryoga."
Ryoga couldn't stop blinking. She sat before him completely naked and unashamed. He could see everything and he wasn't fainting or bleeding out of the nose. He could remember some of last night, but nothing beyond the thought of, 'Why am I holding her shirt?' A lot happened after that, but he couldn't remember THINKING at any time between then and falling asleep. It had been like he was on auto-pilot but with her leading every step of the way.
"Something wrong?" his lover asked.
"No, n-nothing wrong." Ryoga couldn't think of why it would be wrong if she wasn't upset.
"Then why did you fall out of bed?" she questioned.
"I rolled over and fell?" Ryoga answered lamely.
"Oh." She then looked at the clocked. "Manure! We forgot to set the alarm. We're late!"
"Akari-chan, wait!" Ryoga called out as she grabbed his arm.
Akari pouted at her lover. "What is it?"
"I... ah... well... forget it." Ryoga sighed.
"You want to say something, dear. You can tell me. Is it about last night?" Akari questioned.
Ryoga scratched the back of his head. "Well, yes. I just don't know what to say. That was so sudden.... Give me some time to sort my thoughts so I can say what I want. Okay?"
Akari nodded nervously. Did she move things forward too fast? She hope not.
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Nabiki watched Ranma and Akane prepare for school. They were still nervous. Something was definitely up, and she would find out eventually. She always did, and made a profit selling what she discovered.
Nabiki couldn't help but notice Kasumi and Nodoka were uneasy. She suspected Kasumi was in on what was going on between Ranma and Akane, but apparently so was Nodoka. The more people who knew, the easier it was for someone to slip and reveal this new secret.
Sighing, Nabiki stood up and left for school. As much as she wanted to know what this secret was, she didn't know its worth or how much time would be involved in finding out. Better to go to school early and make some money through the proven routes now, and come up with plans to get that information out of Ranma and Akane at school or Kasumi and Nodoka after her classes ended.
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Shampoo glared angrily. This simply wasn't working. Every attempt was coming up fruitless. There had to be a way to do this. She threw her hairbrush in disgust. She just couldn't get her hair to look as full as she wanted. Konatsu was going to die slowly for cutting her hair.
Shampoo eyed the ribbon a girl from Furinkan had given her. She picked it up and tied her hair into a pony-tail. She tested the look by throwing her hair around a little. The look was almost right. Shampoo then grabbed another ribbon and tied it at the bottom. She shook her head, and smiled slightly at the way her hair moved like a tail.
Shampoo preferred her hair to be long, but a pony-tail was kind of nice. It made her look a little older and had it's own cat-like qualities. She wished her beloved Ranma had never had the Nekoken training, cats were great and noble animals. She hoped Ranma would overcome his fear of them so that they could be together.
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Tsubasa wasn't nervous about returning to school; he was scared shitless. However, when his mother was pissed, she looked like the grim reaper. If he skipped again, he would wish he were dead. At least she was happy that he was wearing a boy's uniform now.
"Kurenai." Little Ms. Hinako pouted at her student. "Do you have any excuse for missing the afternoon classes?"
Tsubasa looked at his teacher with wide eyes and pale complexion. When he shook his head, it was barely noticeable.
"You've been a very bad delinquent. Happo Go En Shatsu!" Ms. Hinako casually readjusted her clothes. "Wataru, see that he makes it to class."
Ayashi scowled. "Rumiko, this is all your fault."
Rumiko shrugged. "If you didn't want to be class-rep, you should have declined."
"What's today's bet?" Daisuke asked.
"Who will fall into the swimming pool, and how many times, before four o'clock this afternoon. Jumping in intentionally doesn't count, of course," Nabiki answered. "There is a new ongoing bet as well. Who will have sex first: Ranma, Ryoga or Mousse."
"What's the odds on Mousse's challenge?" Hiroshi inquired.
"Ranma five gets you seven, Ryoga five gets ten, Mousse five gets fifty."
"I'll put a hundred yen on Ryoga." Hiroshi placed his bet.
"Why the Lost Boy?" Daisuke asked.
Hiroshi smirked. "Better winnings and you know he's living with Akari alone."
"Point." Daisuke turned to Nabiki. "I'll go for two hundred yen on Ryoga and I want a bet slip for the pool."
Hiroshi sighed. "Why don't you just give her all your money and save yourself the hassle. You might try saving some of that money."
Daisuke grinned. "But think of all the money I could win."
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Ryoga sighed again as he rode on Katsunishiki's back. He still couldn't figure out why he had done what he had done last night. He wished he had fainted or that his nose had gushed blood, but that wasn't the case. He had been more excited than he had ever felt before and lost all conscious thought instead. He had just followed his instincts and Akari's lead. Now they weren't virgins.
There was no point dwelling on what they had done. Ryoga wondered what they were going to do now. He knew Akari had always considered him her fiance, but he had only thought of her as his girlfriend. But last night changed things, Akari should at least be his fiancee, if not wife. Ryoga shuddered. It was too soon to think of that.
Akari sat in front of her lover as they rode her pet sumo-pig to school. She didn't like the way Ryoga kept sighing, or the shudder. Everything last night had been perfect, but now he was all depressed. Why would making love last night depress him? "Ryoga?"
Ryoga looked up. "Yes, Akari-chan?"
"Do you regret last night?" Akari asked.
"N-no. Not at all. W-why?" Ryoga stammered nervously.
"It just that you're so depressed. I thought you would be happy," Akari said.
Ryoga fidgeted. "I am happy, but I'm also scared."
"Scared?" Akari turned toward Ryoga.
"Well, yeah. Last night changes things. We aren't just dating now, we're l-lovers and you're my fiancee. I don't know how to deal with that. I don't know how to be a husband," Ryoga explained.
Akari's features softened. "Is that what's troubling you?"
Ryoga nodded.
Akari faced forward and snuggled against Ryoga. "I guess I understand. I've been afraid you didn't love me, that you didn't want me. Now there's no denying how you feel."
"Yep, no denying it," Ryoga nervously chirped. He did love her, didn't he? Maybe that was why he had sex with her.
Ryoga sighed. He couldn't let anyone know about this, since that would ruin her honor. After what they had shared, he couldn't do that to her. Nothing could make him, even if it did cost him the challenge.
The _challenge_?! Ryoga paled. Shit! If Akari finds out about that, she'd be devastated. She would think he only had sex with her to win. Akari running away from him with tears in her eyes flashed through his mind. No! She could never learn about the challenge. What we shared was beautiful. He should've never accepted the challenge. But, he couldn't back out with Ranma competing. It was all Ranma's fault. If he lost Akari because of this, he would kill him.
Ryoga looked down at his lover. How could he make sure she never.... His thoughts were interrupted as Katsunishiki suddenly stopped at Furinkan's main gate.
"Unryu, I challenge you for Charlotte!" Azusa announced.
"Why should I accept? Ryoga is mine." Akari kissed the boy to emphasize her claim.
"He is not!" Azusa yelled cutely. "Charlotte belong to Azusa, and I won't let a violent maniac like you take him from me!"
Akari glared at the overly cute girl. "Ryoga was never yours to begin with."
"I don't care!" Azusa yelled. "I want my Charlotte!"
"Your 'Charlotte' isn't a virgin." Akari pressed her hand to her chest. "He's my lover."
Ryoga fell off the sumo-pig.
A fair number of students joined Ryoga on the ground in massive fall from surprise.
Once Azusa picked her jaw off the ground, she shouted, "That's a lie! Charlotte would never do that!"
Ryoga looked up at Akari. "Why did you tell that to the whole school?"
Akari giggled a little nervously. "Got carried away. Besides, I don't want her or anyone else getting any ideas about you."
Azusa growled like a bear cub and charged.
Akari noticed her coming and that she was wearing roller blades. Unryu signaled Katsunishiki to get ready.
Azusa launched into a kick and heard Akari call out, "Rush!" Before gaining much height, the pig rammed into the skater. She bounced and flopped down the sidewalk before crashing into the door.
Azusa dizzily looked up. "Oh, look at all the cute little piggies." She slumped to the ground.
Hiro flicked up Azusa's skirt to see what color panties she had on today. He frowned when he saw that she was wearing shorts under her dress.
"Mariko," Kodachi said simply.
"My pleasure," Mariko replied. She then enlightened Hiro on why not to be a pervert, through very painful means. Particularly since she was a bit upset that she hadn't gotten to place her bet.
Mariko noted that Akari did seem to be a relatively normal girl, once you took away the pig fetish. Such girls would not show public displays of affection for a mere boyfriend. If she had the courage to kiss Kuno in public, there would be little doubt that her virginity had ended. Unfortunately, Nabiki hadn't missed that either and stopped taking bets then.
"All right, ladies and gentlemen," Nabiki called out. "I will honor all bets when I can confirm that Ryoga is indeed the victor. Mousse...." She looked at the male Jokensuko warrior who seemed to be cursing in Chinese. "...obviously hasn't won. There is a chance Ranma beat Ryoga when he disappeared with Akane for a couple hours. Besides, I haven't verified that Ryoga has had sex with Akari. Once I am certain of the winner of that challenge, all bets will be paid."
Mousse's features lightened immensely when her heard what Nabiki said. Maybe Ranma had won. But even if he hadn't, spending a few hours alone with Akane would help to gain the same end, Shampoo no longer bound to marry Ranma. Once, Ranma has made his intentions clear, preferably after sleeping with Akane, Shampoo wouldn't have to marry Saotome. True, she would be dishonored, but there was no way she could avoid that-- at least in a way to Mousse's liking. And with the end of Shampoo's 'marriage' to Saotome, she would be free to pursue a relationship with him.
Nabiki eyed Mousse critically. Figuring the entire challenge was not an attempt for the duck to prove he was better but to get Ranma to sleep with Akane. He probably didn't care if it was any girl except Shampoo. Clever, Nabiki mused. So the waterfowl does have a brain. Scary thing was she didn't know yet if it worked. Ranma and Akane were awfully nervous and doing the deed would explain it, as well as Kasumi's unusual behavior if she knew about it. Didn't know why Auntie Nodoka would be worried, she would be happy. Nabiki thought for a second. It wouldn't be because she's afraid Akane will get pregnant. Akane shouldn't have been fertile yesterday and Auntie probably would be delighted to be a grandmother. Nabiki shrugged. It's a working theory, might as well try it and see what I find.
Shampoo glared angrily. The placement wasn't right. A little to the left, a bit closer. There! The Jokensuko warrior launched herself from the tree, sword in hand.
Ukyou's eyes widen in shock as Shampoo flew out of the tree with a sword raised to kill.
Konatsu pulled something out of his school shirt and threw it over his shoulder.
Shampoo couldn't dodge in time. Her target had been talking to the stupid spatula girl and shouldn't have been able to detect her presence, but somehow he had. The thrown object struck her in the face and exploded. Being a water balloon, the warrior turned student was now a cat. The sword landed a foot shy of Shampoo's prey.
Konatsu calmly turned around and pulled the cat out of the wet clothes. "Please, Shampoo, I do not wish to fight you. I will gladly talk about any compensation you would like, but I'm afraid I'm not willing to pay with my life or do anything that would injure those I care about."
The cat clawed Konatsu's wrist and was promptly dropped.
Konatsu held his bleeding injury. "I beg you reconsider." He then joined Ukyou and they walked into the school.
"Konatsu, why don't you just defeat her," Ukyou suggested. "It would stop her from trying to kill you."
"But I have no intentions of marrying her," Konatsu explained.
Ukyou shrugged. "Neither does Ranchan, and he'll eventually find a way out. And when he does, you can use it too. Besides, what would you rather have: Shampoo trying to kill you or sleep with you?"
Was that a trick question? Konatsu wondered. He certainly didn't want to wake up to Shampoo, he wanted to see Ukyou's face every morning. If he defeated Shampoo, wouldn't her attempts to marry him hurt his chance to be with his beloved Ukyou?
"I, Kuno Tatewaki, the Raising Dawn of Furinkan High, once again impart the worthy challenge to you. Whoever defeats the glorious and fierce Tendo Akane or the maidenly wild flower that is the pig-tailed girl, shall win a date with the one you defeated!"
"I'd rather take out the Chinese babe with the pony-tail. I'd get more than a date from her!" a freshman replied loudly.
"He's nuts. That Tendo girl kicks like a mule, and that 'pig-tailed girl' is supposed to be better than she is," another boy retorted.
Another freshman nodded. "Yeah, I'd rather be in class than the infirmary."
The various male freshmen dispersed.
Sayuri blinked. "I think we should consider dipping into the freshman class for dates."
Yuka nodded. "They actually have intelligence."
"Hey!" Hiroshi and Daisuke shouted at the girls.
Kuno was undaunted by the lack of support for his cause. He had gotten used to that last year after his fellow comrades had fallen to the lies that Ranma and Akane were to be wed. He stood steadfast to his position at the front gate, waiting for when he would once again fight for his loves. He ignored his sister, Mariko and all other distractions.
The final bell rang to begin class and Kuno still stood his ground.
A block of the sidewalk lifted a few feet in front of Kuno. "Oh, Keiki. You should be in class, not out here loiterin'. Da big Kahuna no can allow that, especially from one a his own."
Kuno maintained his focus to the point that he didn't recognize his father existence. He stood resolute, waiting for his rival and his loves. Nothing else mattered to him.
The principal glared at his son and tossed a few pineapple bombs towards his son's feet. They exploded, Tatewaki was launched into the sky and he crash-landed into his classroom.
Ms. Hinako considered draining Kuno, but decided Principal Kuno's punishment was enough. She then frowned looking at the class. "Does anyone know where Saotome or Tendo are?"
The class shook their heads, giving the general consensus that no one had seen them.
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The morning classes surprisingly passed with little incident.
Tsubasa was too scared to even look at Ukyou in fear of what Konatsu might do to him.
Konatsu wondered where his friends were, but wasn't too concerned. He kept an eye on Tsubasa to make sure he behaved himself.
Ukyou wasn't aware anybody existed in class. She couldn't take her eyes off the vacant chairs that were supposed to be filled.
Shampoo stared at the seat in front of her. Her beloved husband was supposed to be sitting there, but he wasn't. Worse she couldn't leave to go find him. Cologne had warned Shampoo to stay out of trouble, because if she were expelled she would have to go back to China. Furinkan seemed to prefer odd punishments, but she didn't want to risk being forced away from Ranma.
Mariko tried to flirt with Kuno, but was ignored even after he had awakened.
Kuno meditated on the absence of his loves and his rival. He came to many possible conclusions, but none that he could truly act on without raising Ms. Hinako's ire.
Mikado spent most of his time glaring at Kodachi, and she often glanced at him like he was a lowly insect. Sanzenin was thankful that his make-up covered up the various ink marks that he had received from Kodachi, Azusa, Hiroshi and Daisuke.
Ryoga agonized on how to keep the challenge that Mousse had made a secret from Akari.
Akari wished Ryoga wasn't so depressed. Did he have to worry about everything? Why couldn't he just be happy that they shared their love? She really wanted to know, so she could make him happy.
Azusa pouted. Her beloved Charlotte had... gotten dirty. He wasn't as cute. He had slept with a pig farmer. A statement like that should be an insult, not the literal truth. What was she to do now? Well, there was that cute boy sitting in the back row. Maybe he would be interested in a nice cute girl.
The rest of the class, more or less, behaved themselves and kept their mind on what the teacher said. Well, as much as any normal student, which wasn't really saying much.
Lunch arrived and most of Class 2-D swarmed Nabiki, eager for information on Akane and Ranma. They didn't like what they got, nothing.
Nabiki had known that both Ranma and Akane hadn't shown up at school yet. She couldn't figure it out. They had gotten ready for school and should have arrived with plenty of time to beat up Kuno. Attempts to call home had gotten her nothing, just her father saying Kasumi and Nodoka were out-- probably shopping. Nabiki suspected that was false, but she couldn't figure out where they were except that Ranma and Akane were probably with them. The middle Tendo promised herself that she would find out what was going on as soon as she got home.
Ukyou sagged after finding out that Nabiki didn't have any information. She then went over to a tree and slumped under it. She picked at her lunch. She had wanted to eat with Ranma, but he was missing with Akane. Probably some bit of insanity struck after Nabiki left and she'd just get the story from Akane later. It was nothing to worry about, they'd be back soon enough.
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School ended and half of Class 2-D migrated toward the Tendo home. A stunned Nabiki and a nervous Kasumi greeted them at the gate.
The students began to ask various questions about Ranma and Akane.
Kasumi cleared her voice, and the students went quiet. "My, so many of you want to know what happened to Ranma and Akane. Well, this morning they eloped. They'll be wandering around Japan for at least the next couple months as a honeymoon. Isn't that nice?"
From space a mighty and chorused shout of "WHAT?!?" echoed despite the vacuum.
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Author's Notes:
When I started writing this, I put in way too much Japanese. Now I find myself regretting pulling out some of it, namely honorifics. Before the issue was with saying 'Lady Kodachi' instead of 'Kodachi-sama,' not a big deal, or Nabiki's 'Kuno-baby' instead of 'Kuno-chan' which has more issues, but not entirely unreasonable. This chapter the lack of honorific use caused more issues, namely Akari had original said 'Ryoga-sama' during the entire prologue, but due to becoming lovers she dropped 'sama,' which to anyone who paid attention to her the day before something changed in their relationship as such Nabiki was to stop the betting pool then. To get roughly the same impact and keep the lack of honorifics, it was changed to Akari kissing him in front of the school. More issues crop up in the next chapter as with Ranma literally running off with Akane, it changed the dynamics of the relationships around him and thus changed some of the honorifics used.
Toward the beginning of his second year at Furinkan, in his fight with Ranma, Kuno gave his name as the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High. Which was a new 'nickname,' considering Nabiki didn't even hear of it. (A nickname is supposed to be made up by the student's classmates.) He has used it only a few times since. It is now a new year, and it is possible that he would take a new name, thus Raising Dawn.