Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ School Days ❯ Attempt #2 ( Chapter 3 )

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 THREE

 

Attempt #2

 

 

 

The next day, Ranma and Akane came to school covered in bruises and bandages. Those who hadn't witnessed the fight quickly heard about it from those who had, and soon everyone was asking them both to recount the fight.

“Can't believe everyone's already heard about it,” Akane grumbled during a class transition.

“Well, it was pretty unheard of,” said Yuka. “Especially the fact that you guys were equal in strength.”

“It's aggravating, though,” said Ranma. Akane looked at him in surprise. It was the first time he'd spoken to her during class. “I mean, everyone keeps asking us to relive it. Can't they just accept that we fought?”

“And everyone keeps saying that Ranma lost,” said Sayuri. “Bet you're not happy about that, Ranma.”

“Well, I did,” he said.

“No, you didn't,” said Akane. “We had a draw!”

“Hey, Akane, if he's going to say you won, why do you keep denying it?” asked Daisuke.

“Because I didn't,” said Akane. “I'm not going to take credit where it doesn't belong. Ranma fought a good match, and neither of us won. That's all there is to it.”

“Akane's huge on honor and stuff like that,” Yuka explained to Daisuke and Hiroshi. “Must be the martial artist in her.”

Ranma watched Akane to see if this was true, and judging by her blush and annoyed scowl, it was. He smiled slightly. She understood things like that. Score another point for her.

He felt a slight twinge of guilt over this, though. What was he doing, really, rating these girls, using them for his own gain? It really wasn't fair to them…

He blinked at his own thoughts. What the hell am I thinking? he thought. Since when do I care about stuff like that?

He scowled at Akane. It's because of her, he told himself. Her sense of justice is so strong that it's getting to me. Must ignore it!

The others watched him curiously. He looked rather thoughtful, a strange thing for him. But before anybody could say anything, the bell rang and the next teacher came into the room, causing everyone to calm down and return to their seats.

“Alright, everyone, let's get started…”

 

* * *

 

“Seriously, though, Akane, why don't you want to say that you won?” asked Ukyo. It was after school, and she and Shampoo were coming over to Akane's house. “Everyone overheard the bet. People are going to say that you don't want him to stop chasing after you.”

“People can say whatever the hell they want,” said Akane. “I really don't care.”

“But if Ranma defeated, he is leaving you alone,” said Shampoo. “Why not agree with him on outcome?”

“I…” said Akane, trying to find the answer herself. She hated having Ranma coming after her. So why didn't she say he won? He would leave her alone then, right? So why didn't she say he lost?

Slowly, a memory surfaced, a memory she had long since thought to have buried and forgotten…

 

“You're such a boy, Akane!” said a young girl from her second grade class. “Why do you feel the need to shame the females of the world?”

“I'm not shaming any girls,” said Akane. “I don't see what's so wrong with wearing jeans instead of skirts and liking martial arts. I come from a dojo, for god's sake!”

“There's a difference between liking martial arts and being manly enough to beat up boys,” said another girl.

“What's wrong with that?”

“It's too manly for a girl! And what's with the short hair, huh? You look even more like a boy!”

She reached up to touch her short purple hair. “What should it matter to you how I dress, act, and style my hair?”

“Don't you have any feminine pride?”

“Of course I do! Why don't you just leave me alone, huh?”

“Because you're a freak! A disgrace! Why are you even alive? You're nothing but a nuisance!”

“That's not true!”

“Fine, we'll duel over it!” said the leader of these girls. “If I win, you can't wear any jeans any more this year. It'll be all dresses and skirts. And you have to grow out your hair.”

“And if I win?”

“We'll leave you alone.”

“Fine! Let's go!”

 

Akane grimaced as she remembered that painful day. The girls hadn't fought fair; when she was about to win, the others had jumped in and beat her with sticks and stones. She had technically won the duel with their leader, but they claimed to have beaten her. And because of them, she had grown out her hair and worn dresses for the rest of the year, become the hugest laughing stock in the second-grade, and worst of all, lost the passion and pride she had prized in herself. That year, she had learned to fear people, and had become shyer than anyone else in her school. It was really only when she entered high school that she had had the courage to cut it short again, and that was because she had met Ukyo and Shampoo and she felt she was finally strong enough to take on anyone that gave her shit about it.

“Akane?”

She blinked and returned to the moment. She smiled slightly, but it was a sad, reminiscent smile.

“I won't say he lost because I know what's it's like to live with someone lying about you all the time and forcing you into doing something you rightfully never should have,” said Akane firmly. “That's why I will deny anyone that says I won that match. I won't ever do that to anyone, no matter who they are.”

Shampoo and Ukyo looked at one another, realizing what Akane must have been talking about. They hadn't been there, but she had told them about that day and realized just what she was referring to.

“Sorry, Akane,” said Ukyo. “We didn't mean to—”

“We're here!” interrupted Akane. “Let's go!”

The other two watched Akane walk into her house, then looked at one another, understanding that she didn't want to talk about it anymore. Sighing, they followed her into her house, hoping that they hadn't upset Akane too much.

 

* * *

 

“I don't understand why she keeps saying it was a draw,” said Ranma as he walked the directionless Ryoga home.

“I think she's just nice,” said Ryoga. “I don't really know what happened yesterday, but if you want to go out with her, you should just accept that she's actually defending you. Not many girls will do that for you anymore.”

“But if she feels sorry for me, and that's why she's saying it, it's going to bother me,” grumbled Ranma. “And that means that if she goes out with me, it could be out of pity. I don't want to be pitied, dammit! I'm Ranma Saotome. I don't need pity!”

“Don't you think you're fretting over this too much?” asked Ryoga. “What's the big deal? And why don't you just ask her out like you have for all the other girls?”

Ranma stared at Ryoga, but listened to his words.

“You know…” said Ranma, “I'm actually not sure. It's weird, but I don't know why I'm stepping lightly around her. Now that I think about it, I've been…holding back a lot more, with her. Weird.”

Ryoga looked at Ranma. His theory seemed to be correct, that Ranma held real feelings for this girl. He hoped so, actually; he was quite fed up with Ranma's girl-chasing.

“Okay!” said Ranma suddenly. “Tomorrow, I will ask her out directly. She refuses, I give up and move on, but if she accepts, I'll put her through the tests. No more hesitating. I'll just get it over with.”

“Good luck with that, Ranma,” said Ryoga.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Well,” said Ryoga thoughtfully, “Akane seems to be much more complex than any other girl you've ever asked out before. She hasn't been around you long enough to really get to like you the same way most girls do, and she seems pretty closed-up and reluctant to date in the first place. I just don't think you should expect an immediate yes.”

“Well, I still have to try,” shrugged Ranma. “Thanks for the advice, though.”

 

* * *

 

The next day, Akane was in a pretty bad mood. She was pretty certain that most of it was due to the fact that she was PMS-ing, but she was also sort of mad at herself for letting herself dwell on the past yesterday.

Ranma, however, was oblivious to this, and asked to talk to her in private during lunch. So they took to the roof. Their friends followed to watch, as referees in case something went wrong.

“What do you want now, Saotome?” asked Akane.

He mentally flinched at the use of his last name. He'd never heard her refer to him that way. Is she in a bad mood…?

“I asked what you wanted?!”

He'd said this so many times, to so many different girls, he was able to say the words easily. “Well, Akane, it's just…I've been watching you for a while, and I just wanted to know if you'd go out with me?” he asked.

She glared at him, and he felt his assuredness start to fade. Maybe this wasn't a good idea…

She walked toward him, and Ranma realized for the first time just how cute she really was, how nicely her hair framed her face, how big and brown her eyes were. He felt a blush creep up from his neck and almost freaked. He was blushing? He had never, ever blushed before. Why now? And why when he was asking her out? It couldn't have been any other time, it just had to be now?!

“Ranma…?”

He looked down at her as she stood before him and swallowed. “Y-yeah?”

Suddenly he felt something small and hard connecting with his nose as she swung her fist at him, and he felt himself fly through the air, blood flowing freely from his face. He landed with a huge thud on the roof, at least ten feet from where he'd been standing. He blinked a couple times in shock, then sat up furiously.

“What da hell was dat fo?” asked Ranma through the blood running from his broken nose. “All I bid was bask yoo bout, yoo stupid domboy!”

“You perverted retard, why the hell would I go out with you?” yelled Akane. “And asking me in front of my friends, four of your ex-girlfriends, to boot! How low can you go? I'd never date a piece of shit like you!”

With that, she turned and left, her friends quickly following, trying to hold back their peals of laughter. Ranma's friends ran to his side.

“You okay?” asked Ryoga, helping his best friend up.

“Damn bitch…I'll bake her bay fo dis,” snarled Ranma, running off to tend to his nose.

 

* * *

 

“Akane, that was amazing!” exclaimed Yuka.

“He sure learned his lesson,” laughed Ukyo.

“Ranma never bother Akane again!” squealed Shampoo.

Sayuri didn't even say anything, she was laughing too hard.

“Somehow, I doubt that,” said Akane. “Ranma's too stubborn; he'll be back.”

“You broke his fucking nose!” said Ukyo. “How would he have the guts to come back again?”

“If anyone would, I'll bet anything he would,” said Akane. “This'll probably come back to haunt me.”

“True, Ranma always has to have the last word or he isn't happy,” said Sayuri, finally done laughing.

“Don't worry, Akane,” said Yuka. “Ranma finally got a taste of his own medicine. He won't even be able to hold his head up for a week if this leaks out. Which, as you've noticed, is probably going to be what happens.”

“God, you just nailed him!” laughed Ukyo again.

Akane smiled as her friends recounted this event, but inside, she was still worried. Ranma was determined to get back at her, if anything. She was going to have to watch out for a little while longer.

 

 

 

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(A/N):

 

Okay, they didn't progress as much as I intended them to, but that makes this story more interesting, right?

 

Well, next chapter, we get to find out a little more about both, anyway.

 

As always, please leave me nice reviews!