Cat Fist Fury Ranma ? is etc, etc, etc? <>: Thoughts Chapter 4 Misfits It was a sunny and clear morning in the district of Nerima as the citizens of Tokyo began to rise for the day. In one particular area of the neighborhood, one girl was already up and running, literally. People who were just exiting their houses to get their morning papers paused to watch a young girl jog past them. Akane Tendo briskly ran through the streets of Nerima. She was dressed in her usual jogging attire of T-shirt, shorts and running shoes. Her long black hair flowed behind her like a flag in a gentle breeze. As she went along, she occasionally threw a punch or kick in front of her. She briefly glanced at her watch and smiled. Another mile to go and she would beat her old record by twenty seconds. It was then that she looked down and saw a darting shadow on the sidewalk. Looking up to her right, she saw a tall and well-muscled teen sprint across the narrow fence that was parallel to her route. Before her startled eyes, the boy performed several somersaults, then raced down toward an intersection, oblivious that the fence ended there. Without slowing down, he leapt up toward the horizontal beam, which held a traffic light. Like a gymnast who was performing his routine, he executed three giant rotations, then let go on the upswing. The momentum he gained propelled him further upward. Curling his body, he made three midair flips, then landed gracefully on his feet atop a mailbox on the other side of the intersection. Jumping down with almost casual ease and grace, he then proceeded to bound upward to another lamppost that was some twenty feet high. Easily clearing the street light, he made a series of elaborate leaps and acrobatic maneuvers that would have easily won him a gold medal in the Olympics. He then jumped into traffic. Akane's eyes widened even further as she saw him continue to leap and race on the tops of cars and trucks. The way he perfectly timed his jumps from one moving vehicle to another was poetry in motion. He even added a few fancy flips, turns and reversals between jumps. Considering that the cars were moving at an average of thirty to forty miles per hour, this made it even more difficult and dangerous. However, this stranger seemed to be unconcerned as he continued his display his astounding speed, agility and balance. By the time that Akane had reached the intersection, the boy had already leaped back onto another fence and had sprinted out of sight. The youngest member of the Tendo clan stared dumbfounded as she watched him disappear over the horizon. Ranma smiled as he returned to the apartment that he was staying at. It had been a good run. As he began to fix himself some breakfast, he started to think about what he was going to do, now that he had returned to Japan. The former heir to the Saotome School of the Anything-Goes Martial Arts, had considered looking for his mother as soon as he got off the boat from China. Ranma frowned at that last thought. That was something he did not want. After learning the truth about his father at Jusenkyo, the young martial artist had decided that he had his fill of him! He had vowed that day that he would become exactly his opposite. For the past year, he had been going bythe name of Cojiro Shinkara, a name he had made up in order to hide his true identity. For ten months, he had traveled all over China, mastering more than twenty different fighting styles. The training had also enabled him to perfect his own personal techniques, based on the Neko Ken and his saber tooth tiger powers. During his travels, he had also gained a considerable amount of knowledge, including pressure points, music, history, language and mathematical skills. He had also encountered several other places and people who taught him many 'special skills,' some of which could be defined as magical. He had picked up several interesting items along the way as well. His innate ability to quickly learn any skill or technique had served him well. His long journey had also shaped his character. He had learned to be polite and well mannered toward others. He used his wits more often and was not as cocky. His usual arrogant and chauvinistic ways had been diluted without the influence of his father. On rare occasions, his pride would surface, but now he was thinking about his actions and admitting to his mistakes. His only real problem was that his fierce animal nature would occasionally surface in times of great stress, emotion or in the heat of battle. This made him a danger to people around him, especially since he can summon the power of the Neko Ken. Ranma shook his head back to the present. It was time for him to start his new life. Two weeks later? It was an ordinary morning at Himoto High School. Ranma was a bit nervous as he entered the schoolyard. It had been several years since he had attended school. Ever since that one year at junior high, his father Genma had dragged him off to China. Thinking back on that time, he sighed as he remembered some unfinished business. Ranma shrugged as he headed to his first class. During the last week, he had registered with the board for the semester. His overall knowledge on the entrance exams had proven to be satisfactory. He had also gotten a part-time job at a local coffee shop, although he didn't have much of a problem with money at the time. He had participated in many tournaments during his travels and had amassed a considerable fortune in winnings. His Neko Ken fighting style had amazed the crowds, resulting in good odds. By the time he had started out for Japan, he had gained more than twenty million yen! Much of his fortune was made when he competed in several underworld competitions, especially in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Even though he didn't like to associate with the criminal elements, such as the Triad and the Yakusa, the associates and contacts he met there were very useful in forging false documents and creating a whole new identity for him. With the proper amounts of money, certain individuals in the right places were persuaded not to ask about his past. Getting enrolled in school with false transcripts had been a simple matter and Ranma decided not to think too much about it. It wasn't that he liked deceiving people, but if he was to start fresh from his old life, he had to have a new identity. People in Japan tended to frown on anyone who did not have a family name. When he arrived in Tokyo, he opened up an account. The young martial artist had taken the job at the caf?, not because of the regular income, but because it felt right. His father had never worked a day in his life, and had used his son to get something without earning it. This included theft, deception and outright selling his son out to anyone who wanted a fianc?e for his or her daughter. Not once did Genma ever try to get something by honest means. If that wasn't considered dishonorable, Ranma didn't know what was. The priests and martial arts masters that he had met had taught him the value of honor, and he would certainly uphold their ideals. The work also helped ease his conscience about his fake documents and how he obtained them. "Class, we have a new student here at Himoto High. His name is Cojiro Shinkai." As Ranma sat down, several of the girls in the room whispered among themselves. "Ooh! He's cute!" "Look at all those muscles!" "Those eyes are so dreamy!" "Watch it Sayuka! You're drooling!" Ranma blushed a bit as his enhanced hearing picked up their comments. He had also detected the flowery scent of perfume being applied in secret. Body temperatures had risen a few notches and most of the girls were unconsciously releasing increased levels of human pheromones. With all this sensory input of his surroundings, Ranma found it difficult to concentrate on the teacher's lecture. It was sometime around noon as Ranma headed toward to the cafeteria. As he was about to push into the crowds at the entrance, he heard two students argue nearby. On a whim, he decided to tune in on their conversation. "I tell you, we're going to get creamed! Furinkan High is going to wipe the floor with us!" A boy in a gray school uniform said. "Oh come on Kai!" The other boy replied. He was wearing a white karate gi. "I'll admit we didn't do too well last year, but come on! Their martial arts teams aren't that much better than ours! All they had last year was that guy Kuno!" "Maybe so, but they've gotten some new recruits this year! I've been checking out the competition! They finally managed to convince Akane Tendo to join up for the tournament tomorrow! They've also managed to get a few really powerful contenders! We're in big trouble Sodan!" "Akane Tendo? The same one that beats up fifty boys every day? The one that even Kuno can't beat?" Kai's face became pale. He had heard the rumors. "Right! She fights in the Anything Goes Martial Arts! There's no one in our group who can match that!" Ranma's expression became intrigued as he heard him mention his father's fighting style. After a moment of deep thought, he decided to approach the two boys. "Excuse me? I'm new at this school and I couldn't help but overhear you saying something about a tournament?" The two looked at Ranma with a suspicious eye. The one named Sodan said in a level tone. "Why are you interested? Are you so kind of fighter?" "You could say that." Ranma said with a gentle expression. "Well, it's none of your business!" Kai said he put a hand on Sodan's shoulder and gestured for him to leave with him. "Hold on Kai! Let's hear him out!" The boy in the gi turned back to Ranma and asked, "What's your name?" "Cojiro Shinkai. I do know quite a bit of martial arts." "What style do you use?" "Well?" Ranma began. "I know all the standards: Karate, Kung Fu, Judo, Kenpo and several others. I also practice Ultimate Neko Ken!" "Ultimate Neko Ken? Never heard of it!" Kai remarked in a disbelieving tone. "It's?" Ranma became a little embarrassed as he admitted to the boys. "a fighting style that I've been developing on my own." "Oh brother!" Kai said in an exasperated voice. "We need REAL fighters! Not amateurs!" "Oh come on Kai! It's not like we've had any better offers right now!" Sodan turned to Ranma and smiled. "Don't mind Kai! He's just upset that half our team went and quit! We barely have enough members to qualify for the No Holds Barred Tournament." "No Holds Barred?" Ranma asked. Kai nodded. "It's a tournament held every year between schools to see who has the best fighting clubs. So far? heh, uh we've always come in second-to-last or last place. Our rival school Furinkan High has been trouncing us for the last five years. Last year, some guy from the their kendo club almost single-handily beat our best fighters. He's fighting again this year and well? from what our contacts are telling us, this new team that he's assembled is pretty impressive. We've seen them in action! People have nicknamed them the Nerima Wrecking Crew! They could break through concrete without batting an eye! They've been seen to break through walls without using the door to get in! A couple of them use some really weird techniques, but overall, our team just can't stand up to that kind of power!" "Sounds interesting." Ranma commented. "Exactly what does your team consist of?" Before either boy could answer, another student came up to them and handed Kai a note. As the student left, Kai began to feel a dark cloud loom over his head. He began to tremble as he read the note. Then he fainted dead away. Ranma and Sodan looked in confusion at the unconscious form sprawled out on the floor. Sodan then picked up the note and read out loud. "I quit! Signed Sharada from the karate club. Oh no!" "What's wrong?" "We just lost our ringer! Sharada was our best fighter! Now our team is one member short! The minimum is five representatives from each school!" Ranma looked with sympathy at the distraught Sodan. He then glanced at the insensate body of Kai. He then made a decision. Later that afternoon, Ranma and his new friends, who had introduced themselves as Sodan Shurinko and Kai Metsubana, were heading toward the main gym where the members of the No Holds Barred team was training. As they entered the building, Ranma was being briefed on the rules of the tournament. "So let me get this straight." Ranma surmised. "The tournament is made of single bout elimination rounds. A person can win either by knockout, submission or by knocking his opponent out of the ring. Any fighting technique can be used, and weapons are allowed if they happen to be part of the person's fighting style. No time limit." "You got it!" Sodan said as they approached three other students who were waiting at one end of the gym. Ranma quickly assessed their stances and power levels. He frowned when he probed their auras with his enhanced senses. "Cojiro, I'd like you to meet Kosho Narimo, Sakoto Tachinita and Shang Tai." Sodan turned to the boys and gestured to Ranma. "Guys, this is Cojiro Shinkara. He'll be joining our group." "Where's Sharada?" Ranma noted the smaller boy who was wearing the white gi. "I'm afraid he? quit, Kosho." "We're dead." Kosho said simply as he let out a depressed sigh. "We lose big time!" The second boy added. Ranma looked over the second boy. He was his height and looked Chinese. He wore blue sweat pants and shirt, with running shoes. Ranma thought. "What kind of attitude is that Shang?" "Realistic attitude!" Shang replied. "I don't think we'll even get past the preliminaries!" The last member said. This boy was larger than the other two and had a lot of bulk. "Come on Sakoto, think positive!" "Okay, I'm very positive that we're going to get our butts kicked!" "Not much on the confidence level, are they?" Ranma remarked. Sodan sighed as he nodded. "I'm afraid so. Last year, the rest our team got so badly pounded that most of them refused to participate this time around. We're all that's left. If we don't make a good showing this year and get at least third place, then the school board will cut off funding for our clubs!" "Are you sure you want to get involved in this?" Kai asked. "Hey, I gave my word that I'd help, and I keep my promises!" Ranma said without hesitation. He walked out to a training area and took a stance. "So come on guys! Let's see what you've got!" The other boys stared at Ranma for a moment, then joined him on the mat. Sometime later? Ranma couldn't believe just how outmatched his teammates were. Kosho turned out to be a fair karate fighter, but Ranma easily outperformed him and had him sprawled on the mat in five seconds. Shang Tai was quick and agile, but he was nowhere near as fast as Ranma. His punches and kicks also lacked decent hitting power to be effective. Sakoto had good weight and endurance to withstand several hits, but his movements and reaction time were far too slow for him to make any good use of those abilities. He also suffered from poor recovery time. "Wow! You're really good Cojiro!" Sakoto remarked as his sparring partner released his hold and let the wrestler up. "Yes! Shang agree!" "There may be hope for this team yet!" Kosho said. "Errr? thanks." Ranma said as he stood in front of the team. He didn't know what to do with these boys. With the tournament coming up the next day, there was no way he could help these boys improve their mediocre skills to give them a better chance against their opponents. "Looks like we got our ringer!" Kai said happily. "I was impressed Ranma. I've never seen anyone move like you do!" Sodan said. He then turned to the others and said, "Okay guys, go home and get some sleep. Tomorrow is the big day! I want you all to be at the gym at noon!" The others nodded as they bid each other goodbye. As they departed, Ranma stood with Kai and Sodan. When the last teammate was out the door, he turned to them. "Admit it! Those guys don't stand a chance tomorrow!" Sodan let out a long sigh and said, "Maybe, but they're trying to save the school's honor. They want to see this through. They were the ones who volunteered for this when no one else wanted to. They're also my friends. Sure we may look like a bunch of misfits, but we've been together since grade school. If they're willing to stick their necks out for me, then I'll be there for them!" Ranma couldn't help but admire those words. He decided at that point to help these guys out. "By the way, you have any information on who I might be going up against?" Kai nodded as he said, "I've had a few of our contacts look up the members of the Nerima Wrecking Crew and it turns out that despite their idiosyncrasies, their martial arts skills are nothing to sneeze at." "Who's their team captain?" "Tatewaki Kuno! He's an upperclassman and also captain of his school's kendo club. He's good with that bokken of his. I've seen him slice through trees and split concrete with it! He has a strange way of talking though. Always spouting poetry. He's got one weak spot though. He's been trying to get close to a girl named Akane Tendo. He's got a real soft spot for her." "Akane Tendo. Is that the girl who practices the Anything Goes Martial Arts?" Ranma asked. "That's right! She's got a lot of power! Kuno has been trying to get a date with her ever since the semester started. During one speech contest, Kuno announced that if anyone wanted to date withher, they'd have to defeat her in combat first! Now, every day she'd have to fight thirty to forty boys when she comes to school. She plows through them like tornado and she even beats Kuno in the end!" "Okay?" Ranma replied as he thought about it. "What about the others?" "Two of them are foreign students from China." Sodan said. "Mousse and Shampoo." "Mousse and Shampoo?" "Don't underestimate them, just because their names sound funny!" Kai warned. "They claim to come from a village of Chinese Amazons." "Chinese Amazons?" "Yeah. I asked Shang about it. It's also called the Joketsuzoku, a tribe of fierce women-warriors that live near some place called Jusenkyo." Ranma flinched slightly at the mention of the name, then nodded for Kai to continue. "Anyway, Shampoo is supposed to be the village champion and she is one hot babe! She's also one hell of a fighter! Early on, when she first enrolled, a lot of the boys tried to hit on her. This proved tobe very hazardous when they found out she could HIT back! Many students ended up in the hospital. She has a lot of power and speed. Any boy who wanted to get cozy with her usually ended up with several broken bones! That is if any boy could get by Mousse." "Mousse?" "Uh huh. He uses some kind of weird fighting style known as Hidden Weapons. He's always seen wearing long robes in which he hides a LOT of blades, chains, weights and anything else. Hell, he'll hit you the kitchen sink if you're not careful. He's got two weaknesses though." "What are they?" "His eyesight and Shampoo. He's got a real obsession with her. Of course, Shampoo wants nothing to do with him. He'll fight anyone who even gets close to her, but every time he tries to make advances on her, she pounds him into the pavement! His eyesight is also a liability. Those thick glasses of his really don't help him much. Even when he's wearing them, he's mistaken lampposts, street signs, and other people for his Shampoo. Pretty pathetic the way he keeps throwing himself at her." "All right. So who else do I have to watch out for?" Ranma asked. "Ryoga Hibiki and Ukyo Kuonji." Ranma stiffened when he heard those names. Both boys noticed this. "Hey Cojiro, what's wrong?" Sodan asked. "Do you know these two?" "S-sort of." Ranma responded. "Tell me, does Ryoga wear a black-and-gold bandanna and gets lost a lot?" "Yeah! We've seen him get lost in a room with only one door! He'd usually disappear for days or even weeks before finding a place! Even if the place happened to be right next to him! Even though he does act dense at times, he's one of the strongest martial artists around! We've seen him fight though. He's pretty handy with that bamboo umbrella of his. He's also shown some weird techniques with his belt and bandanna. Rumors have it that he's even gained some new skills from those Amazons. He's incredibly strong and could take several hits without even feeling them! He's like a monster!" "Does he have any weaknesses?" Sodan nodded. "Well, aside from his problem of having the world's worst sense of direction, he's got a soft spot for Akane. He goes all soft and gooey whenever Akane shows any kindness toward him. He's also got some sort of obsession with finding some guy named Ranma. Says he ran out on him on a duel of honor." Ranma frowned when heard of this. Ranma sighed as he then asked the question that he dreaded. "This last? person Ukyo Kuonji carries around a spatula right?" "You got it!" Kai said. "He's an exchange student and he's handy with that spatula. He also owns an okonomiyaki restaurant and practices a fighting style based on how to cook it! He's good at both cooking and fighting! Says he's also looking for revenge against Ranma. Something about a stolen yattai." Ranma winced. "Cojiro?" Ranma shook his head back to the present. He let out a tired sigh and bid his new friends goodbye. Assuring them that he would be there for the tournament, Ranma slowly walked home. As he headed toward his apartment, he thought about what he had just been told. Tomorrow would be a day he would not likely forget. To be continued? Author's Notes I decided to give Ranma the name of Cojiro Shinkara, as I wanted to explain more fully how he was able to fit into his new life. As a reader pointed out to me, Japanese society is very rigid and a person with no last name would be considered an outcast or ronin. Now even though Japan has lightened up over the years, it would still be a bit confusing for a person with no background data to suddenly appear, get enrolled and have a job without showing so much as a birth certificate. Hence, Ranma was forced to resort to less than legal means to totally erase any connection between himself and his father, whom I'm sure has more than a few outstanding warrants on him. (You don't commit all the crimes Genma has done and expect to get away scot free, do you?) With the right language (money), Ranma has bypassed much of the red tape and paperwork that one would expect in his situation. However, just because Ranma is relatively well off, doesn't mean that he will have an easier time of it. Money can't solve all his problems! Ranma hasn't officially renounced his real name. He's just using the identity of Cojiro Shinkara as a cover. Ranma feels that even though he does not like being connected to his father, he is still Ranma Saotome inside, if not on the outside. However, this also means that the engagements that are connected to that name are still valid. Ranma, or rather Cojiro, must be very careful not to let his identity slip out, otherwise, he's going to be in a really big mess!