Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ School Days ❯ The First Attempt ( Chapter 2 )

SCHOOL DAYS

A Ranma fan fiction

By Mitsukai Ashi

 

Summary: Ranma Saotome is a teenaged martial artist attending his third and final year at Furinkan High School. Tall, strong and totally hot, all the girls are in love with him…and he milks it for all it's worth.

Enter Akane Tendo, the new transfer student. Ranma sets his sights on her, but for the first time in his life, he's rejected! Will he ever win over this stubborn girl?

 

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma, Rumiko Takahashi does and all credits for the existence of Ranma shall go to her. I just write stories about her characters. ^_^

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER TWO

 

The First Attempt

 

 

 

A couple weeks later, Akane felt perfectly comfortable with Furinkan, as her friends had promised. Her classes were more challenging, which pleased her; she was much less bored now. Despite her shyness, she was also quickly making friends, not only with Yuka and Sayuri, but with much of the female half of her class. She was also beginning to act much more like herself; spunky, athletic, and spirited. And of course, Ukyo and Shampoo stood by her to help her out with her new life. Really, only one thing about school bothered her anymore; Ranma Saotome.

Even without her friends' warning, Ranma would have scared her. He watched her all the time, every move she made, every step she took. The way he watched her with such intensity…she was terrified of him. And when she was scared, she got pissed.

“I mean, what the hell is his problem?!” Akane asked Ukyo one morning as she gathered her things from her locker. “I really don't see why he has to watch me like that. You said maybe he wants to ask me out. Well, if he does, why doesn't he just do it?! Does he have to stalk me?”

“He's trying to figure you out before he asks you out,” she replied. “Like, a surefire way to ask you out and get a yes.”

“Huh?”

“For instance,” Ukyo explained, “as you know, I love to cook okonomiyaki. He followed me a little and found out that I run my okonomiyaki restaurant. So one day, he asked me if I would cook some for him. I agreed, and he came over after school. As I cooked him some food, he complimented my form and such. I tried to brush him off cause I knew what he was up to, but…” she blushed and giggled a little, “…he is just so damn cute!”

Akane stared at Ukyo. This girl made it a point to be a tomboy; if she could have her way, she'd probably wear the boys' uniform to school, so this was really weird. Ukyo turned bright red and muttered, “Akane, you did not just see that, and never mention this again.”

Akane laughed, and Ukyo cleared her throat in embarrassment and continued, “So anyway, I finished the okonomiyaki and gave it to him. He exclaimed how much he loved it, and when he was finished he said something like, `I loved it, Ukyo…but not as much as I love you'…or something to that effect. Then he asked me out, and I said yes.”

Akane just gave her friend an incredulous look. “And you bought that?” she asked.

“Well, what was I supposed to do?”

“Knock him on his ass?”

Ukyo grinned. “I know I should have,” she said, “but…you know, it was the first time a boy had asked me out, not the other way around. So I said yes.”

Akane gazed at Ukyo sympathetically. “Ucchan,” she said, using Ukyo's childhood nickname, “don't tell me you still love him?”

Ukyo blinked and looked away, toward a window. She gazed at her own reflection.

“I don't know,” she said. “Do I…?”

“Probably,” said Sayuri as she, Yuka, and Shampoo walked up to the two. “No girl he's dated ever fully got over him. The proof is that we all bear a grudge toward him.”

“I wonder why he dates so much?” wondered Akane.

“Who knows why philanderers do the things they do?” sighed Yuka.

“Ranma coming,” said Shampoo suddenly.

The others looked at her. “What?”

“Ranma approaching from around corner,” said Shampoo. “Can sense him.”

They looked around and saw Ranma and his friends rounding the corner, chatting rather excitedly. Akane watched them warily as they approached their group. Ranma held out his hand as he spotted Akane, and they all stopped and quieted.

“What do you want, Ranma?” asked Ukyo.

“A word with Akane,” he said, his gaze never leaving Akane's.

“About?” Akane asked coldly.

“A match,” he said. “I hear your family runs a dojo.”

“Yeah, that's right,” she said. “What of it?”

“So does mine,” he said. “And I thought maybe we could have a fight. You know, a purely classmate-to-classmate spar. What do you say?”

She smirked. “When and where?” she asked.

“Akane, no!” said Shampoo.

“You're a great martial artist, but Ranma is at least as good!” said Sayuri. “Don't risk it!”

“He challenged me to a fight, guys,” she said. “As heiress to the Tendo School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts, I can't back down from a challenge even if I wanted to, especially not if another school challenges me!” She turned back to Ranma. “Of course, before we fight, I should know the name of your school, if we're to make this a proper challenge.”

“Of course,” said Ranma. “I, Ranma Saotome of the Saotome School of Indiscriminate Grappling, challenge you, Akane Tendo of the Tendo School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts, to a fight.”

“I accept,” said Akane. “I repeat, when and where?”

“Your school, after school today, 4:00,” said Ranma. “Be there.”

“You're the one challenging my school,” she said. “You'd better be there.”

“I will,” he replied, signaling to his friends and walking away. Akane and her friends watched them until they were out of sight before they turned to Akane desperately.

“Akane, how could you accept?!” asked Ukyo.

“It's not like we're staking anything,” said Akane. “Chill out.”

“But you might get hurt!” said Sayuri.

“I told you, I have to accept even if I don't want to,” said Akane. “And I definitely want to.”

“Ranma is master…!”

“I don't care,” said Akane. “I'll hold my own against him. Don't you worry, guys, I'll be fine.”

“Why, Akane?” asked Yuka. “What if he hurts you?”

“Are you saying you don't think I can take him on? That I'm weak enough that he can defeat me?” asked Akane.

“No, of course not—”

“Then don't worry,” said Akane. “I can handle him. And if you're still worried, just come and watch our fight!”

 

* * *

 

“Ranma, are you sure you can do this?” asked Ryoga.

“You think I'd fight a girl I'm planning on dating if I thought she could beat me?” asked Ranma.

“Yes, you would!” replied Mousse. “You would be driven by your pride to fight, no matter who it was! That's how you met me and Ryoga!”

“Relax, guys,” said Ranma. “I've got a plan. There's no way Akane will be able to beat me.”

“You're going to cheat?!” asked Daisuke.

“I thought martial artists were all about fighting with honor!” said Hiroshi.

“Nothing so low as that,” said Ranma. “She's just not strong enough to beat me. I've seen her fight at school, and she's really good, but still not strong enough to beat me.”

“Then what's the point of all this?” asked Ryoga.

“You'll see if you come to her dojo at 4:00,” replied Ranma happily. “And I promise you, before you eat your dinner tonight, Akane Tendo will be my girlfriend.”

 

* * *

 

Later, as the bell rang for lunch, Ranma turned to Akane.

“Hope you don't mind I invited some witnesses to our match this afternoon,” he said.

“Oh, no problem,” she said. “I did too.”

“Cool. I get to kick your butt in front of my friends and yours,” he smirked.

“I don't think so,” she said. “I think all that's gonna happen is you're going to be humiliated in front of our friends.”

“As if you're going to beat me.”

“You just wait, Ranma. Don't underestimate me.”

The other students looked on curiously as the two stared daggers at each other, Ranma with a smirk, Akane with a fierce anger and determination.

I'm not going to lose to you, Ranma Saotome, she swore. You just wait. I will avenge all those girls you've hurt!

After a moment of tense silence, Ranma turned with a sort of grunting noise toward his friends. Akane smiled proudly and turned back to her friends.

“Man, Akane, you sure got guts,” said Sayuri. “Standing up to Ranma like this.”

“I'm sure I'm not the only one who's done it, Sayuri,” shrugged Akane. “It's really no big deal.”

“Most people who do are male and get beaten,” said Yuka. “This is the first time a girl's challenged him so forwardly…and public about it.”

“Public?” asked Akane. “It was just us and Ranma's friends. It wasn't really public.”

“Keyword there: wasn't,” said Ukyo. “Look around you.”

Akane looked around curiously. All around the classroom, students were whispering and looking between her and Ranma.

“Look public to Shampoo now,” said Shampoo.

“As long as they don't destroy my dojo over it, I really don't care,” said Akane.

 

* * *

 

Okay, they aren't destroying it, but still, thought Akane in annoyance as she stepped into her family's dojo later that afternoon. All around the general fighting area, students from her school, and even some not from their school, were lined up to watch this epic fight between Akane and Ranma.

“How the hell did all these people hear about this?” Akane asked Ukyo, who had followed her into the dojo along with the other girls.

“News travels fast, I guess,” she answered, looking around in surprise. Even the doors were open, with people looking into the dojo from the doorways.

“These people have no lives,” said Akane, shaking her head as she tightened the belt of her yellow gi. “It's pathetic.”

“Yeah, well, it's not every day Ranma challenges someone else,” said Ukyo. “He's usually the one being challenged.”

“Yo, people! Get out of my fucking way!” came a voice from outside the dojo doors. The crowd of people parted, and through the door walked Ranma, his friends behind him. Akane was surprised to see him wearing not a karate uniform, like hers, but a kung-fu uniform; a red Chinese shirt, black pants, and Chinese shoes.

“So you study kung-fu?” she asked as he approached her as their friends took their seats (opposite sides of the room, of course).

“Well, actually, I study a bunch of different stuff,” he said. “I just happen to like the Hung-Ga uniforms.” He looked around curiously. “Thought you just meant Ukyo, Shampoo, Yuka and Sayuri. I didn't think you'd already have this many friends.”

“No, they're not mine,” she said, noticing the crowd was quieting down for the oncoming fight. “I think the news just spread from our little…discussion at lunch.”

“Weird.”

“Setting that aside,” said Akane, “you ready?”

“Heh,” he laughed, bowing to her and getting into a stance. “Just don't cry when I beat you.”

“You should be more worried, Ranma,” she said, bowing back and assuming a stance herself. “It's more embarrassing when a guy cries in public than if a girl does.”

With that, the two launched at each other. The crowd gasped as Akane kicked at Ranma and he blocked it so she nearly fell out of the air. She swung her other leg and caught him off guard; her kick hit him in the face and he let go of her foot. They landed back on the ground and stared at each other with amused looks on their faces.

“You're better than I gave you credit for,” Ranma admitted.

“I told you not to underestimate me, Ranma,” she replied. “But you're better than I was expecting, too.”

“Yeah!!!”

“Go Akane!!!”

“Go Ranma!!!”

“Kick his ass!!!”

“Show her who's boss!!!”

They both looked at each other in annoyance.

“Um…” said Ranma.

“Hold on,” she replied. She dropped her stance and turned to the crowd.

“Excuse me!!!” she yelled. “We don't care if you're going to watch this fight, but we ask that you make as minimal sound as possible!!!”

The crowd quieted again, and she turned back to Ranma.

“Sorry,” she said, falling back into her stance. “Let's continue.”

He ran at her and swung at her, but she actually grabbed his fist and flipped him over her shoulder so he crashed onto the floor. He grabbed her ankle again and tried to pull her down to the floor with him, but she ended up kicking him up into the air. She jumped up into the air after him to punch him, but he pulled her trick on her and grabbed her wrist, throwing her down onto the floor. She landed with a loud crash, and he twisted in the air to kick down on her, but she rolled over just in time so his foot broke through the floor. She jumped to her feet while he pulled his foot out of the floor.

“I hope you plan on paying for that,” she said, breathing heavily.

“Sure,” he said. “But you know, you moved, so it's really your fault.”

“How the hell is it my fault? You were going to kick me into my floor! This is a spar, not a death match.”

“Fair enough,” he replied, coming after her again. This time he kicked at her legs and she, caught off guard by his sudden speed, tried to dodge it but ended up getting knocked off balance and as he swung his fist at her, she tried to duck but fell to the floor.

Damn, he sped up, she thought as she kicked at his legs. He's a lot better than I gave him credit for.

He dodged her kick and went to lift her, but she punched his cheek and knocked him out of her way long enough to roll and get up again. She ran after him and swung a series of midair kicks at him, all of which he managed to block. As she landed back on the ground, she threw a high roundhouse kick at him. He ducked out of way and punched her side, knocking her back a few steps, so they stood on opposite sides of the dojo again.

“How about…we make this match more interesting?” Ranma asked.

“Such as…?”

“If I win…you go out with me,” he said. The crowd, despite their hard-held silence, broke out into murmurs, wondering if Akane would agree to it.

“Alright,” she said, and everyone gasped. “But if I win…you won't date for the rest of the year.”

That really set everyone off, and even Ranma's friends felt a twinge of fear. If Akane, by some chance, actually won this match, Ranma's future would be jeopardized.

“Ranma, you aren't stupid enough to actually take that bait, are you?” asked Ryoga.

“I accept,” he said to her. “Because I know I'm not going to lose!”

“I'll make you eat those words, Ranma Saotome!” Akane yelled as they took off again. And for a while, no one could even really see the fighting; they were moving so fast that they were nothing more than a huge blur of yellow, red and black with the occasional foot or fist coming from the huge blur.

“Can you see what's going on?” Ukyo asked Shampoo worriedly.

“Shampoo no can tell,” said Shampoo just as worriedly. “I hope Akane okay…”

Just then, the blur that was the fight separated into two, and Ranma and Akane landed on opposite sides of the room yet again. The crowd gasped in shock at the sight of the fighters. Both of them were battered and bruised up, and even bleeding from some scratches they'd given one another.

“When the hell did that all happen?” asked Hiroshi, staring at the two of them.

“Guys, this is dangerous,” said Mousse. “Ranma could seriously be hurting Akane, but if he loses to her, he won't be able to fulfill his duty to his family.”

“I don't see why he's betting everything on this one fight,” said Daisuke. “If he loses, he could just find another girl.”

“I think he genuinely likes Akane,” said Ryoga. The other three looked at him.

“How do you mean, Ryoga?” asked Mousse.

“Well, Akane's the first girl he's gone after that studies martial arts just as seriously as he does,” said Ryoga. “And he actually took time to try and learn about her. Granted, two weeks isn't much, but compared to the other girls, it's a much longer wait. He may actually hold some true feelings for her.”

“It still isn't safe for him to put his future on the line for this,” said Mousse.

“No, it isn't,” he agreed. “I'm just saying, I think this time he might actually want to go out with her, not just see if she's suitable.”

“Damn, Akane,” said Ranma, and their friends all shut up, “you're so fucking stubborn.”

“That's because I don't want to go out with you, Ranma,” she said. “I'm not losing to you and I never will!”

“Yeah, well, even if I don't go out with you, I can't stop dating,” he said. “I'm not going to let you interfere with that.”

They launched at each other again, once again becoming nothing but a huge blur. Each second to the crowd felt like an eternity as the two battled it out, and the dojo had become deathly quiet. Outside, night began to fall, but no one dared move from their seat to go home. Finally, after what seemed like hours, they flew out from the fight again, both landing on one knee this time, panting, bruises beginning to form on each combatant. It was clear neither could go on much further.

“How long have they been fighting?” someone whispered.

“3 hours,” someone else answered. “It's a miracle they're both still fighting.”

The crowd heard these words and grew even more anxious as neither moved, just knelt, staring at one another. Finally, Ranma let out a laugh.

“Gotta say, Akane…” he said between ragged breaths, “Other than Ryoga and Mousse, you really were the best fight I've had in years.”

“Likewise, Ranma,” she returned.

“I…I hate to admit it…” he said, coughing, “But…you win.”

He sank to his knees in a defeated bow, but she laughed.

“No, Ranma,” she said. “That one was a draw.”

And with that, she copied the movement as the crowd erupted.

 

 

 

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(A/N):

 

I know you're all thinking, “What the hell did that solve? They're back to square one!” but really, they aren't. They've progressed quite a ways, as you'll see in the next chapter.

I apologize for the lack of excitement in the fight, but it's really hard to make a written fight exciting. And if they're gonna fight for three hours, I'm not going to describe every little move. I ask that you forgive me and keep reading…well, when I get the next chapter up, anyway.

Oh, I got a question from a reader wondering if I'll include Ranma's curse in here…yes, I will, but it won't be a major thing. Not really. For the most part, Ranma will remain in his guy form. But only he and his father are cursed; Ryoga, Mousse, and Shampoo are all normal.

Again, I ask that if you are going to leave a review, please let it be a nice one.