7

The werewolf in my class was kind enough to inform me that my Illusion Barriers affect reality, so now I have to be mindful of that.

That's why I'm standing on a vacated lot near my apartment and not inside it.

"Id create!" I chanted to the early morning sun and watched the world grow darker around me, the city soon grayed out and was taken over by a deep mist.

Even with the low visibility and the distant sounds the monsters were making, it was still less creepy than the utter silence of the empty version of the skill.

Illusion Barrier Creation leveled up!

Nice! I was starting to get worried.

Dismissing the screen, and not wanting to erase the barrier and raise it again for what was essentially an experiment; I focused on my brand new skill and activated the minute-long summoning sequence.

As the progress bar filled up, I could somehow feel the new alien creature I'd ordered to stay at my apartment disappearing from where she was, and appearing there, right over the evil-looking summoning circle.

"UWOOOHH! MINON HAS ARRIVED! MINONNNN!!"

I flinched at the minotauress's booming voice. In retrospect, naming her after her verbal tic was a bad idea; now I can't know when she was referring to herself or just exclaiming the thing for the heck of it.

Why did I do that again? Oh yeah, it was funny to me

Minon.

Cardian of The Strength.

Level: 5

Well, it's not like I can take it back now.

"Volume!" I reminded the summon.

"WHAAT… Oh! Yes!" She kept the broad smile up while she rubbed the back of her head with a gauntleted hand, "Sorry, master."

I nodded, "This is the place I talked about. You can go wild as much as you like in here." She loudly inhaled an excited breath at these words. "There is a lot of monsters around. Your duty is to kill them… Are you sure you're ok with spending all day like that?"

"Yes! Of course! I want that very much, minon!"

She certainly seems like it, with the whole trembling with excitement and all.

"What about food?" I asked.

"Tasty! But don't need it!"

"Rest?"

"What's that? Minon?"

Ok, not human, already knew that… That confused 'minon' was kinda cute, though.

"Right then. Minon, I order you to slaughter the monsters in this area for the rest of the day."

"YES!!!" She beamed, then she rushed to the side and promptly brought down her Warhammer on top of a slime that got too close.

The ground beneath the creature cracked easily, but the monster itself didn't see to be bothered by it and just reformed its body around the hammer's head like I'd seen they do with Ranma's fist.

"Oh, and some of the monsters are immune to blunt damage, so you have to find another way too…" I trailed off.

Wait a second!

"Grrr! Annoying thing!" Minon groaned as she hoisted her weapon high with the slime around it. Then the slime began to shine—no, the hammer part of the weapon started to shine.

Minon struck the weapon down again, seemly aiming at the ground itself. "POWER STRIKE!"

The ground and the creature exploded, throwing shrapnel's and slimy goo everywhere and leaving a pretty sizable crater behind.

"AND STAY SMASHED WHEN I SMASH YOU! MINON!"

The display had left me momentarily stunned, but I didn't lose sight of what I'd noticed before.

"Minon, wait!" I shouted before she could disappear into the mist. The cowgirl's body suddenly froze under the weight of my command, but she was able to move again once she reined in her bloodlust and stopped fighting it.

"Master, come on!" Minon whined like a petulant child, both of her arms slumped with the long handle of the Warhammer in her grip. "You said—"

"Where did you get that?" I asked, interrupting her complaint.

"Minon?" She looked down confusedly. Checking out her bikini barbarian getup, her bovine tail waggling behind her with the inspection. The incriminatory Warhammer was now propped at her side, standing as tall as she was, with a comically large head. It looked more at home in a Jrpg than real life.

"That thing." Repeated, making obvious where I was pointing. "I'm certain you didn't have that weapon before, I'd definitely have noticed it if you did."

In fact, now that I'm looking at her closely, the weapon wasn't the only thing different about her. Her gauntlets from last night, hell, from before I exited the apartment, were a pair of enormous, bulky things that made her already muscular arms look three times bigger than they actually were, but now her gauntlets were gripping tightly to her skin, looking way more slender than before. They're still huge due to the size of her arms, but it was a shadow of the size of before.

"Oh, this?" She said, waving the weapon a few times before resting it at her shoulder. "I grabbed it!"

… Ok, how? Where? I thought I ordered her to stay in the apartment.

"And where exactly did you grab it?"

"Ah, in between, minon." She said with a nod and a smile, happy to have explained things so precisely.

I tried to not let my eyebrow twitch. "What is this, 'in between', Minon?"

"You know, in between, in between!" She lowered her weapon to the ground, propping its long handle on her shoulder as she began to gesture with her now free hands. "Like, I was in that boring squared room, and now I'm here. But I went past the in between and was able to change things up."

…In between, maybe… the place where she goes when she isn't summoned? And she's saying she went to this place now, in the minute it took for her to be summoned.

No, I distinctly felt her being dismissed from my apartment in the exact same moment the progress bar had filled up. So she when to that place in an instant and… what? Picked up a weapon…

Her gauntlets... They are not only smaller, but they also lacked the fingerplates they used to have, almost like...

"A weapon. You can choose between different weapons when you're summoned." I concluded.

"Eyup!" Minon declared happily, twirling the heavy Warhammer as if it was a wooden stick. "I have this to smash things well, I have my gloves to smash things with my punches, and I have a bigass ax to slash things if I ever get tired of smashing things, but I never used, minon!"

Three weapons she can choose from. This wasn't displayed in the skill's info.

"You can change anything else beyond your weapons?" I asked.

"Ehhh, I don't care about that, I only want to smash things; can I go smash things now master? Let me smash things!" She whined.

"Just a second, I want to see something first."

She'd said she didn't care, meaning she goes by her instinct, but it doesn't mean she doesn't know about it. I breathed in and tried a different approach. "Minon, tell me what you can choose when you are about to be summoned," I said, activating the skill-based effect that would make my words into an order to her.

The results were immediate.

She straightened up her back, the butt of her weapon clanging on the floor as she hoisted it with the discipline of a formal guard. Her normally restless green eyes suddenly went numb.

"Master, I'm able to choose between a pair of fighter gauntlet, a two-handed Warhammer, a two-handed battleax, or go unarmed for my melee options. I'm also able to choose up to three abilities from a pool of six in each summoning, with the individual level of each decreasing in relation to the amount chosen. I'm also able to choose where to allocate my status points provided that I do not stray from the template of The Strength aspect. I'm also able to choose my outwards appearance to a certain extent; this includes the length and color of my hair, the shade of my skin, the definition of my musculature, the size of my chest."

At the end of her mechanical rant, she blinked, her green going back to their natural shine. "Oh yeah, I can do that! Thank you for reminding me, master!" She finished with a big, toothy grin.

Meanwhile, I was getting over my shock: I'm pretty sure she used gamer related terms right there. Is it because she is a construct created by the Gamer? Maybe if I…

"Status." I tried.

Ōe Hiroshi

The Gamer—

I closed the screen and tried again.

"Show me the Cardian status." Nothing. "Cardian, status." My status screen popped up again, which I closed without pause. "Minon, status… Cardian Minon Status."

A screen popped up— there we go!

Minon.

Cardian of The Strength.

Level: 5

Hp: 4.800/4.800.

Mp: 25/30

Str: 130

End: 95

Dex: 09

Agi: 04

Int: 02

Wis: 02

Cha: 03

Abilities:

Power Strike. lvl 02.

Bask your next strike with your internal energy to increase its damage.

Tough Skin. lvl 02.

Your skin is leathery and hard to break, increases your natural defense to physical attacks.

Berserker Fury. lvl 02.

When your Hp decreases below 20%, you receive a boost of Str and End, at the price of Int and Wis.

She does have a status screen!

Also holy shit, she got a three-digit stats at level 5, and the amount of Hp she has is pretty cheaty too… Though all her other stats are all below 10, so, balance?

I chuckled, she really is integrated into the gamer system, even if she is technically a different person, she still my summon, maybe the system sees her as a mechanic itself, or a weapon, hell, or even a spell. But I suppose this doesn't matter. Also, I do not see any exp bar on the place mine usually stays, but that kinda makes sense considering her level is tied to my Summon Cardian skill.

I'm really liking this stream of discoveries! And that's even before I tried out what I actually come here to see in the first place.

"Master, come onnn," Mino whined again, clearly tired of my evils chuckles and eager to do what apparently was her favorite thing in the world.

"Right, right, sorry, anyway, that should be enough for now. So Minon." I smirked, letting a pause hang in the air. "Smash."

Always wanted to say that.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Was her fierce battle cry as she sunk into the mist. The appropriated smashing sounds followed shortly after it.

I grinned while I watched my exp bar. It seems the experiment was a success. Slowly but surely, the bar was being filled.

-0-0-0-​

I was still keeping my eyes on the ex bar as I exited the ID and went into the city.

Truth be told, it wasn't an efficient method of leveling up. If my calculations were correct, I'm only gaining part of the total exp from the monsters Minon killed, another part went directly to my Summon Cardian skill, and a third part was seemly lost. That pissed me off a little; wouldn't make more sense if the exp were divided equally?

The answer is yes, yes it would. But instead, the gains are almost random; sometimes I get most of it, other times my skill receives the most, and on others, both I and my skill get the minimal amount, and the majority was lost.

Fucking Gamer, work with full numbers, damn it!

That annoying fact, coupled with the fact that my level is way above the monsters of an Illusion Barrier level 4, made so the amount of exp I received was small and anything but consisted. Still, a semi-constant stream of 1 or 5 exp is better than nothing. The trick was to forget about it and go about my day.

And that was what I did: navigating the streets with growing familiarity. I kept my eyes open for the type of shop I wanted to find, but I wasn't so lucky, my current objective, however, was actually quite easy to find, I just needed to ask some locals for direction.

The Tendo's residency stretched over a sizable chunk of rectangular land. It was composed of a large two-story house built on the traditional Japanese style, a smallish dojo built in the same way, and, going by what the show showed me, a pretty ample greenery with trees and a koi pond spread around it. I let out a whistle of appreciation as my eyes rolled over the white painted walls.

Definitely a decent sized house, but not quite a mansion; I've seen what actual Japanese mansions looked like, especially on the Ōe side of my memories, those fuckers can stretch like football stadiums.

I was circling the walls in the direction of the front entrance when I realized I wouldn't need to go that far. There were unmistakable sounds of meaty strikes and shouted cries coming from a particular part of the wall that told me there was fighting going on the other side.

"Hey, Ranma!" I shouted over the walls.

"Hiroshi?" Came the reply, then, a loud crash happened, followed by a muffled sound, and then a noisy splash of water before Ranma leaped over. Landing in front of me wearing a slightly ruffled training gi.

"Hey man, how's it going? Didn't know you knew where I lived." He said with a cheerful smile.

"I asked around. Got sometime? I have excellent news." I gave him a smile of my own, eager to see his face when I tell him. "I'm sure you'll like it a lot."

"Hoh? Try me,"

And on the next instant, a freaking panda crashed down right on top of Ranma.

No, no, it wasn't a panda; there is no way that thing could be a panda. Pandas are cuddly-looking creatures that grow up to a man's waist. That thing? I gigantic black and white monster bear that loomed over two meters tall, it also had circular glasses dangling from one furry ear, and a drenched gin top tautly stretched over his fat shoulder.

Holy crap, he is a lot more intimidating in real life!

No, no wait, this was just the shook of the first meeting, I can see the goofiness counterbalancing the fierce aspects.

Saotome Genma.

Cursed Master Thief of the Anything Goes

Level: ??

Wait, I can't see his level!?

What the—I thought he was a buffoon!

"Get… Off of me!" Roared Ranma as he surged to his feet, flipping the half-ton pile of fur, muscle, and fat out of his back.

To my surprise, the monstrous panda seems to glide in mid-air just like Ranma does when he jumps, before landing at a distance.

"What the heck, pops!?" Ranma complained to the beast while he rolled his aching shoulders.

The panda made some feral noises; it sounded… well, it sounded like a dog trying to speak. Except it was a lot throatier… and it got a better result. I could almost make out words.

"What was that pops?" Ranma cupped his ears. "Maybe if you speak louderrr!" He mocked.

The panda stomped the ground angrily, but in the end, decided to let his gestures do the talking. Suddenly, there was a pair of buckets filled with water on each of his paws, his muzzle twisting into an evil grim.

"You wouldn't dare!" Ranma challenged but hopped back with a yelp to avoid a splash of water.

"So that's your panda-dad-man." I finally found enough voice to comment. I swear; there is never a dull moment with this guy. "Why do you care if he turns you into a girl? I do have warm water, you know?"

"It's a matter of pride!"

With a bear-like roar, Genma charged at us. For some ungodly reason, he decided to target me too.

And that's how Ranma and I got chased down the street by a giant panda bear. It was an ok way to start Sunday.

-0-0-0-​

I almost regret not staying behind and invite myself over for breakfast. Seeing the iconic scenery I've seen some many times during my childhood, and much more in the form of hidden details the camera never showed, would have been a nice experience.

Still, knowing the setting I was now part of, I thought it would be wiser to give this kind of information to Ranma and Ranma alone.

Plus, her face right now… priceless.

"You serious!?" Exclaimed the redhead with mouth hanging open, her large blue eyes taking more space than they normally did. Her expression was a mixture of shook, incredulity, and a growing spark of hope.

"Did you know you have a tinge of purple around the top of your eyes that looks remarkable like makeup?—"

"You're not bullshittin' me, right Hiroshi!? I gonna be furious if you're bullshittin' me!"

"I'm not bullshitting you! Stop fucking shaking me!"

Why it's alway with the shaking!?

She finally released me, and I stumbled back, bumping against the rail of the intersectional sidewalk we stopped by. Not that the place made any real difference; there was no one around at these hours.

Ranma looked at her trembling hands, her fingers closing as her mind worked on what I told her. "I'm gonna be a man." She murmured.

"I'M GONNA BE A MAN!" She burst out, throwing her fist to the sky. "YEAHHHH!!" She shouted so loudly that some dogs on a nearby alleyway began to bark.

I winced at the unexpected shrill sound but smiled just the same. Normally, I would totally be leering her bountiful chest that was currently laid poorly hidden under a loose fabric of a drenched gi, but no… I don't feel like it right now.

"Hey, hey, I said they would have a look at your curse." I insisted once Ranma settle down a little, though 'a little' was a bit up to discussion. Better to make things clear and not give her any wrong ideas. "I don't know if they gonna be able to cure it."

Shiori did say whoever she gonna call was among the best in the country, but I decided to omit that so Ranma wouldn't create even more expectation than what she already has. I was trying to keep my own expectations in check too; this is a Jusenkyo curse we're talking about, if I knew this setting right, there is probably a zany catch to it all, or fate itself would make something happen for the cure to not work.

But even beyond my meta-knowledge, I didn't think a 4.000+-year-old magical curse will be cured by drinking the right mixture of tea or something like that. Got to be prepared for the worst, and the insane.

"Still!" Ranma beamed, slowing down her honest to god spin. "It's the close I ever got since China! I didn't think I'd…" She stopped, finally clicking her feet on solid ground.

Then I got to witness one of the most sincere smiles I saw on a person.

"Thanks, Hiroshi. I appreciate it."

I'm a man, an adult manchild with an adequate-enough social experience, so I most certainly didn't blush for being put on the spot by my friend who was currently in the form of a hot redhead at her most beautiful. No sir, it was barely a flush.

Letting out a slow breath, I finally answered. "No problem, man, anytime."

Twas enough.

"HAH!" Ranma suddenly screamed at my face.

"The fuck!?" I cursed, stumbling back again.

The redhead looked at me with pure determination in her eyes. She placed her hand on her hips and pushed her busty chest up, which produced a rather interesting motion. "Alright, hit me!"

I raised my eyebrow and indulged her.

"Not this way!" She shouted quickly as she ducked under my punch. "But good one. Would have done the same. Serious now, what's the catch?"

I can't say I blame her for thinking this way. I even expected that, in fact.

"This was a boon; I got it after killing a devil cow and saving a little girl. I just told you that." I'd given her an abridged version of what had happened before getting to the main point. I don't know how much she believed, of course, it sounded pretty unbelievable to me even while I was telling the tale, though she didn't vocalize her doubts if she had any. "The catch had already been paid as far as I am concerned, so, unless. the cure involves some unrelated thing we must do, I say there isn't any."

"That's not how things work!" Ranma made a complicated expression, as if trying to work out the contexts. "' Right. So what can I do for you?"

"Excuse me."

"To repay you! What can I do to repay you!?" She repeated.

I… thought about that for a second. I'd asked for a cure for Ranma on a whim, not expecting anything for it, it just seems like one of those things you obviously do.

But at the same time, I tried to see things from Ranma's perspective. His curse wasn't a big deal for me, but it was a very big deal for him, having someone just come and offer a cure just out the goodness of their heart might seem too good to be true, especially when we consider the life she had, and the people she usually interacts. Plus, having someone just come and shower you with good things just because they like you is really embarrassed sometimes, like you don't deserve it. I experienced that a few times in my old life.

"Just to be clear, this really is a case where I expect nothing in return, believe it or not." Ranma frowned a little at that, but I raise a hand before she could complain. "But there is something you can do for me."

"Anything!" She said firmly.

Time to make this official, I guess.

"Teach me martial arts."

"Eh." She blinked; the slightly purple tinge around her eyelids really looks like makeup. I wonder how I never noticed that before. "But I was doing that already!"

"Yeah, I kinda ask for some tips and hints before, so I assumed that's what you were doing. Still, I think it's time to stop beating around the bush." I did a formal bow almost subconsciously, honoring my Japanese side. "Ranma-shishou, please teach me!"

I admit I was partially messing with her in that last bit.

My reward was a strangled squeak that sounded so, so good coming from Ranma-chan's sexy voice, "S-Shishou!?" She gasped but quickly recovered her composure. "Y-Yosh! If you really want that I got no choice! I'mma teach you!" She actually sounds really fired up about that. "And stop bowin'! It's weirdin' me out!"

The good Japanese boi cried within me as I straightened my back.

"Alright! Show me what you got!" Ranma demanded immediately.

I tilted my head at that. "Sorry?"

"I taught you some foundations before, show me!"

"Ah." I scratched my cheek, were going to jump right into it? Ah well

Now, I remember the forms almost perfectly, my memory has gotten better due to the Int points, but he'd taught me that, what? Three days ago? I did the exercise… once when he wasn't around, and I forgot to do it today due to the whole Minon thing. Shit, now I feel a little embarrassed.

"The thing is…" Don't want to admit it, avoid! Avoid! "Come on, man, you taught me that three days ago."

"That's more than enough time to get it perfectly!" Ranma chirped.

… Is it? I mean, I never really dabbled in martial arts before, but to do it perfectly after three days feels kind of…

It occurred to me then that Saotome Ranma might have some skewed perspective about how ordinary people progress in martial art.

"Come on!" She insisted.

I sighed, deciding to bit the bullet. I walk a few steps forwards to have some space and mentally prepared to have Ranma insult my form. Then, I started.

There were seven forms, or kata, that Ranma showed me, she… though I suppose it was he at the time, told me to practice the first three. I remember how the looked like but I never couldn't fully…

…

I did it.

After a pause, I did it again.

Before, it was practically impossible to keep my balance, but now it was no more difficult than balancing my next step. Transitions that felt awkward and stiff were now smooth and fluid. Stretches that seemed impossible before now were very much within the range of possibilities.

How!

How is this happening!?

I had no… I didn't try… I didn't even practice that! How are they coming out so easily!?

…My stats! That was the only explanation; I had 30 points more in each of my physical stats, 10 points more in my dexterity.

Only that, already made this much difference?

Somewhere along the way, I stopped. Putting my two feet on the ground and changing stances. I heard Ranma protesting behind me, but I had to try it.

It was harder to do it from my memories because I only had pictures and text for reference, not the moving demonstration Ranma had shown me.

Wing Chun; fast punches and palm strikes, frequent hips movement, low kicks focusing on sweeps.

Karate; efficient movements, synchrony of punches always with one arm free for defense, numerous kicks.

Jeet Kune Do; an explosion of fast movement in all directions with a focus on keeping balance and using a move to prop the next one.

Bājíquán; full-body movements with your full weight behind it, numerous short-ranged but explosive attacks.

Muay thai;—

I felt a bump in my lower back.

"It's too straight. You have to bend this part a little." Ranma commented. She then easily slipped into the Muay Thai stance I was trying to imitate. "Like this. See?"

And so we continued. I went through the extensive collection of forms and poses I've absorbed, and Ranma accompanied me the whole time giving me pointers about the styles she learned herself or fought against before, which turn out to be all of them, no surprise there, I got the training manuals for a public bookshop; they are not exactly niche.

It was just a demonstration of each style, a fraction of what I had in my head. By the end, I had a small layer of sweat over my skin, and my breathing was heavy. But it was so damn satisfying.

"So?" I asked Ranma. Technically I went against his order, but I wanted her opinion.

"That was very weird." She said instantly.

Ok… that wasn't the repose I was expecting.

"Where did you learn all of that?" Ranma asked.

I hesitated briefly but decided that honesty was the best route.

"I can memorize books, like, right down to every letter. I memorized a lot of martial arts instruction manuals."

"Manuals." Ranma cupped her chin. Bushing my incredible bomb, I dropped on her to the side, though maybe she was hype focused on another subject. "That might be it. I never saw somethin' like that."

"What?"

She noticed she'd spoke that out loud and moved to explain.

"Like, your heart isn't on it… No, no, that's not quite what it is… You weren't movin' with your body. Got it?" She tried.

"No."

Ranma clicked her tongue. Scratching her hair loudly. "Anyway, I ain't good with this stuff, but I know the problem! You got to practice! Like every day, all day, all the time. You might know the moves, but your body sure as hell don't!"

Wait, that actually made a little bit of sense to my fanfiction and literature experienced mind. It's muscle memory, or something similar to it. It would make sense that Ranma found it strange because my body isn't normal. If we try to imagine an average martial artist's progress: he'd go through, learning a move, failing at it, then practice again and again until you can do it… and at the same time, you have conditioned your body to be able to do it with your attempts. I imagine that I skipped a few steps at that due to my stats

"Go back to what I taught you, you can try the rest on your own, just repeat what you know until you can do it with your body too," Ranma said, stepping across from me.

"Can I use those in a fight?" I asked the most important thought that crossed my head.

That display… Before it felt like I was posing rather than doing kata, but now, with my body vastly better and Ranma's instruction fixing the small bumps, I think-

"' Course not, idiot."

Was Ranma immediate answer.

"What? Why!?" I couldn't help but it demand, I didn't whine damn it.

"Your breathin' still sucks, your balance got better but it didn't get any more solid, and you fight like a robot. Anyone with a hint of sense would be able to counter it. Hell, you should be able to counter it if someone came at you like that."

He's not wrong… maybe; I mean I know how to handle myself in a real fight, piles of surprisingly crafty Kappa made sure of that. There are a lot more factors to take into consideration in a real fight, and the more I thought about it, the more I saw how difficult it would be to do textbook perfect kata in the middle of that chaos.

"You can sneak a move or two if you see the opportunity, I guess, as long as your guts say so," Ranma said in a sigh after she saw how depressed I was getting. "Now, guards up! We're burning sunlight!"

Oh? Keeping the surprise of my face, I entered the first kata Ranma taught me. "Are you going to teach me the others kata?"

"Teach you the others? You barely perfected the first three! No, I'm helpin' you out with those first."

"Oh." I hummed… and then saw Ranma walk to my front, and get into an identical stance. "Ranma, what are you doing?" I said, my sense of dread steadily increasing.

She gave me a confused look, a genuinely confused look. "What? You asked me to teach you, right? Well, I'm goin' to teach you!"

And then she blurred forward, fist raised.

Oh boy.

-0-0-0-​

Skill created: Martial Arts Mastery, lvl 01.

Gives intuitive grasps about how to fight using a general ability on martial art without focusing on any particular styles, increases the damage of unarmed attacks.

Skill created through special action: Anything Goes Style Mastery, lvl 01

Gives intuitive grasps about how to fight using the Anything Goes style of martial art, increases the damage of unarmed attacks.

I cracked open the eyes and finally read the two skills I'd got some time during the beat down.

"Humm? It only seems to be a few light bruises. Are you sure you got it right, Ranma-kun?"

"What?... The heck! He's totally fine now! What gives!?"

At my side was the now male Ranma, and the man I recognized as doctor Tofu even without the nametag and surprisingly high level of 48 informing me of this fact.

My eyes quickly went back to my skills.

It was a literal world pain to get these two.

Very much worth it, though.

-0-0-0-​

"Your body's freakish."

Was Ranma's comment about the fact I could go from 'purple and unconscious' to 'utter immaculate' in about half an hour.

"Oh, the irony," I said to the guy who could change sex under cold water.

"It's so unfair! Do you know how much could train if I had this recovery rate!?"

"Don't talk to me about unfairness, mister I-learned-with-a-freaking-glance."

Yes, it seems my early ascertainment of Ranma knowing or having fought against most of the styles I displayed was wrong. There were indeed some styles he knew or fought against, but most, as I came to find out, he wasn't familiar with. What he did then was copy what I did and then deduced, yes freaking deduced, the right way to move from that. Most annoying of it all was that he was right on the money in all his conclusions and could move much better than me in anything he tried.

Annoying martial art genius.

"Alright," Ranma crossed his arms behind his head in a relaxed manner, apparently accepting and moving on from the fact I could bounce back from utter exhaustion in a few minutes. "What's next?"

We had maintained a lazy, but steady pace ever since we left Doc Tofu's clinic, it didn't take much time for me to reorient myself and pick a direction. Ranma had changed into one of the extras outfits we keep within the storage; a habit created from multiple encounters with cloth-dissolving slimes.

It was around noon now, meaning we'd spent the better part of the morning beating my new martial skills into my body. Ranma had continued to follow me even after he declared training done, signifying that we would hang out today, apparently.

"I'm gonna see to the reason I left home in the first place." My inventory screen popped up on my side and let my mangled baseball bat fall into my hand. "Repair this."

Ranma whistled as he inspected the damage, he gestured for me to pass it to him and tried out a few swings.

"Yeah, it's pretty bad." He concluded. "How the heck did it get like that in the first place?"

"My tussle with the minotaur. Weren't you listening?"

"Oh yeah, your little adventure. One where you literally beat up a monster and saved a princess… and you didn't even bother to call me in."

Is he salty? Oh god, he is salty.

"I'll make sure to call you next time I see a horrible monster attacking the innocent. I'll put up a Ranma signal in the clouds or something."

"What?" The comic books illiterate frowned. "How's that even work?"

"Nothing. Just, I'll try to not keep you out of the fun next time." If I have the choice, at least. "Anyway, do you know any repair shops or something like that in the area."

"Nah man, still gettin' the feelin' of the place myself."

"Figure that'd be the case." I turned around the streets and easily jumped over a flight of stairs to get across an open alley. By that point, Ranma wasn't even bothering with solid ground anymore; he was walking over the edge of everything. "I have a friend that lives the area. She might know something about it."

Ranma raised an eyebrow at the prospect of me having other friends, something that I found slightly offensive. It's not my fault I don't look like the most approachable guy at the school, that's the Japanese preconception working against me. I'm a pretty friendly guy, damn it!

"If you say so." He said and then looked ahead. He continued looking at that direction as he spoke again. "Hiroshi, not to alarm you or anything, but there is this person following us for a while."

"Ah."

Now, how to explain my taimanin to Ranma? I suppose it would be better if she had agreed to accompany me, like, actually accompany me, not stalking behind like she is now. I could have introduced the two face to face then. But she'd insisted that it was not proper and that she should act like 'someone of her station'. I would have called bullshit on that, but I noticed that she really, really got off from this whole kunoichi and retainer act.

I could just call her now and present her to Ranma, but I decided to respect her choice… Alright, I want her to get off from this as much as she can, so she'd be hot and bothered by the end of the day. More chance of a repeated lovemaking marathon this way.

So instead, what I said was.

"It's just my ninja. I saved her life a while back so she swore loyalty to me. I can introduce you if you like."

"Wait, you saved a ninja's life and what!" Ranma squatted down, looking at me. "Hiroshi, what have you not been tellin' me?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "That, and the Minotaur busting are the biggest things that happened to me since I got to town."

Ranma stared down at me. He stared at me until it became genuinely uncomfortable. Then he let out a laughing breath.

"Damn, and here I thought I had the weird life."

I grinned at that. "Give it time; I'm sure you'll surpass me someday soon. Would you like me to introduce you to her or not?"

"Pass. Every ninja I ever met was a weirdo. I don't see how this one would be any different."

Well, he's… not wrong.

That turned into a conversation about the ninjas Ranma personally met. Apparently, there were three, and he trained ninjutsu under all of them for a time. I'm reasonably sure the last one was a taimanin, but I couldn't be totally certain of that because I didn't know if taimanin were the only bodysuit-wearing ninjas around.

We're on a discussion about how ninjutsu related to the Saotome branch of Anything goes when we got to a familiar street and approached a familiar house.

I smiled when I saw her; she was in the garage, humming a song while she cleaned the sports car there. It was incredible how she made the combination of overalls and a striped shirt look like something right out of a fashion magazine.

"Hey, Tenou-san!" I singsonged.

She looked up, her brief look of confusion turning into a bright smile.

"Ōe-senpai, good morning!" Said my frequent jogging partner.

Well, jogging is a bit of a stretch. Tenou-san just seems to like going to school at ungodly early hours, and as her route is the same as my jogging route, we bump into each other almost every day.

There is something different today, though.

"Wait, senpai?"

"You are my upperclassman, aren't you? Even if you are from another school."

I hummed, placing my baseball bat on my shoulders and then gestured behind me.

"This is my friend Saotome Ranma. Ranma this is Tenou Haruka."

"Ossu." Ranma greeted casually. "Nice car, do you drive?" He said, making conversation.

"Only on my dad's race track," Tenou-san answered with an underlined laughter. "Nice to meet you, Saotome-senpai."

While Ranma was rubbing the back of his head, a little embarrassed for being called in such formal manner, I continued.

"So Tenou-san-" "Anyway Ōe-sem-"

I started talking but stopped when or our words bumped together.

"My bad-" "Sorry-"

We paused again; this time, Ranma let out a snort.

I slapped him on the shoulder but mostly ignored him. And then I said.

"It's ok. You can go first—"

I was interrupted again, not by Tenou-san this time, but by the door connecting the house and the garage opening.

"Haruka-chan, would you mind going out to buy some groceries? We are missing a few- Ara?"

The person who walked in was an attractive middle-aged woman with brown hair, slender body, and a gentle face. She shared eye colors with Haruka, but few features beyond that, just enough that it would be undeniable that they were related. She was wearing a simple pair of pants and a sweater shirt. Her eyes widened for seeing us there.

Then she clapped her hands in front of her face, her slightly gaping mouth morphing into a smile.

"Oh my! Oh my, oh my~"

"Oh no…" I caught Haruka's murmur.

"Ahh~ to think little Haruka-chan would already be in the age to bring her boyfriends home. My, my, time sure seems to fly~."

I blinked, did she just… I looked at Ranma at the same time he looked at me, his face similarly shocked.

Did she just implied that we're Tenou-san's boyfriends, both of us!?

"Mom! Please don't!" Pleaded the mortified daughter, scrambling to get to her mother. But she tripped on the cleaning cloth she had dropped on the first step.

"So you are following your father's path after all. He was quite the stud back at in the day, kinda the playboy too. Mama never thought she would end up with the neighborhood's bad boy who dated multiples girls at once, but that's the wonder of life~."

"MOM!" Tenou-san got to her, putting her taller body in front of her as if to block our vision of her mother form us. Or maybe the other way around. "Please, please stop talking."

"But Haruka-chan, you shouldn't hide your boyfriends like that. I'd love to meet them!"

She not even speaking in English, where the word could be interpreted as boy friends. She is using Koibito in a plural sense. She honestly seems to believe we were her daughter's lovers and apparently was quite enthusiast about the prospect.

Another eccentric milf, great…

At least this one didn't have enormous tits, though I don't know if that counted as an improvement.

"Mom, can you go back inside, please."

"Now, now Haruka-chan, it would be rude to your boyfriends, you should invite them in too."

"No, mom you don't understand it's-

"That's no way to treat your boyfriends, you know."

Well, she is… quite insistent.

"Mom, can you please listen!"

"I just knew you would surprise your like that someday, I always told your father—"

"THEY'RE NOT MY BOYFRIENDS!"

That brought silence to the garage. A fairly… heavy silence that caught me by surprise.

I didn't notice the change in the atmosphere, but now it was obvious.

"I… I gonna leave for a bit. Be back later." Tenou-san declared eventually, turning her back to her hurt-looking mother and promptly exiting the garage.

We stood there with Tenou-san's mother for a few seconds.

Looking to disperse the awkward air, I promptly bowed, introducing myself, and bid her a respectful goodbye. Ranma made an effort to imitate me.

We caught up with Tenou-san's a few blocks down the street.

"I'm sorry about that. And I'm sorry for leaving like that." She said without facing us.

Do you need to talk about that? My first instinct was to say that. But it wasn't the time for it. Maybe if we were alone, or if we knew each other for longer, I could ask that, but now it felt like the wrong thing to say.

Surprisingly, it was Ranma who found the next route out.

He shrugged even though she wouldn't be able to see it, and casually spoke.

"Weird parents, am I right? Mine steal my food in the name of training."

I couldn't help but smile at that. "Mine once put an actual horse in my room while I was sleeping as a birthday present," I added. Fishing a weird childhood memory from my Ōe side.

"Wait, seriously! And then what happened?" Ranma asked.

"It shat on my bed. I woke up screaming."

It shat on the carpet, actually, but this way was funnier.

We saw Tenou-san's shoulders hitch in a sudden snort.

"No way that happened." The girl commented, looking back a little.

"It did. Caroline now lives happily in one of my family's ranches."

"One of your family's ranches?" Ranma commented with a disbelieving eyebrow up.

"One day, Ranma, you will discover that everything I said about my family's wealth is true, and I'mma slip a gold bar into your gaping mouth."

Tenou-san laughed a burst of hefty, full belly laughter with a lot of pig-like snort and giggles that completely broke her cool image.

It made her infinitely cooler in my eyes.

"Thanks." She said, facing us. "I'm ok now. What did you want to talk to me about?"

"This." I showed her my bat, "I want to repair it. Do you know any repair shops or any mechanic who can help me with that."

Tenou-san blinked, then she cupped her chin as if she suddenly remembered something. "Repair… I swear I heard something…" She murmured.

Her reaction was strange, to say the least.

"Tenou-san?"

"Ah." She gasped in surprise, meeting my eyes with a blinking look. "Repairs shops, right? No problem. I'll take you there even. It's not like I don't have time now.

"Sounds good."

And with that, we set off, walking on a steady pace across the familiar streets.

"So, what did you want to tell me?" I asked Tenou-san while we walked.

"Hum?" She yanked her incredulous eyes from the sight of Ranma casually strolling atop a thin fence. "Oh, right, what are you going to do about Kuno?"

"What was that about Kuno?" And we suddenly had Ranma's attention.

Ah, that Kodachi thing. Frankly, it slipped my mind.

I open my mouth to make an excuse, but what was the point of that? Better to be honest.

"Sorry, this matter had slipped my mind completely, I had a busy last couple of days."

Tenou-san frowned. "Well, I don't think you can ignore it anymore. St. Hebereke and Furinkan High got a Rhythmic Gymnastics match scheduled for two weeks."

"Kay… and that relates to Kuno, how?" Ranma asked.

"We're talking about his little sister," I explained.

"Oh."

Still, knowing what I knew about Kuno Kodachi, and what usually happens to her opponents.

"This is bad."

Tenou-san nodded. "She will definitely target the girls of your team. Try to take them out before the competition." She vocalized more to Ranma's sake than mine.

To be honest, I kinda wanted to wait for the canon's events. Ranma had managed to deal with her well enough there, and it had apparently no negative, long-term consequences cause by a spiteful rich girl throwing her weight around, so it sounded like a success in my book. Sure, Ranma got a crazy suitor for his trouble, but nothing goes perfectly in that series.

But this isn't a series anymore. If I remember correctly, Akane and Ranma got involved because the Furinkan Gymnastics team asked her to… because they were too injured to participate in the match.

Some girls are going to be attacked and hurt. I will not let this stand.

"Well, Ranma. Looks like we got a busy school week ahead of us."

"Ehhhhh." He grumbled.

Oh yeah, motherfucker, if I have to stand guard and wait for an ambush of a crazy Kuno, then I'm taking my tank with me.

Plus, it was he who said he wanted to be part of my adventures, so he just no right to complain!

-0-0-0-​

The looming threat of Kuno Kodachi would have to wait, however.

I had business to take care of first.

"Sorry, kid, nothing I can do for' ya."

My shoulders dropped in defeat. "Are you sure?"

The repairman, or mechanic, or whatever, didn't pay attention to the plate in the front of the store, nodded "If Ah put it in the machine, it'll snap. Hell, Ah'd say it'll snap if you whack somethin' hard 'nough. Sorry kid, at this point, it's better to melt it and use for somethin' else. You should get another."

I sighed. Pretty much what all the other stores had told me. Looks like my baseball bat really was condemned.

I knew I was being a suborn fuck; I had more than enough resources to buy me another bat, hell, I could buy ten of them with better quality, but… it was my bat.

I know we didn't spend a lifetime together or anything like that, but it was with it that I achieved my first triumph in this world. It was with it that I broke the faces, torsos, and limbs of countless kappa in my way to level-ups. It was with me when I almost died, and when I rose back to my feet and used it to conquer my greatest enemy to date.

It feels wrong to just brush it aside like that.

Sighing again, I collected my lump of aluminum and walked out of the store. Pushing it back inside my inventory once I was out of sight.

I've got to move on; I knew that. A weapon, a proper weapon, would vastly increase my chances of survival. So I needed to stop brooding and get over the bat.

Though for today, I decided to use my teenage card and be a broody prick about it. Well, not exactly broody, but enough to push the problems to the future and focusing on the present.

Level up!

What? – Oh, hey. It seems my investment's paying off. A brief glance showed that my exp bar still slowly crawling in a new, empty space, and I hadn't even done any quest today.

That brought a smile to my lips as I walked three blocks down the commercial street and entered the dark, flashy confines of a 90's arcade.

All colors of the rainbow flashed around me in pings and glow. The mechanical, cheerful noises of video-game music and character lines filled my ears. People pushed around me, talking and laughing and stuffing their mouth with the well-too-grimy stuff from the cafeteria in the corner. Despite all these factors that it was easy to find Ranma and Tenou-san, the martial artist's screams of frustration were pretty loud.

"Come on! Move it! Ah! I pressed the button! Why didn't he move! Arggg! Blasted thing."

Tenou-san, for her part, was laughing at his woes.

They were both sitting at the end of a row of booth-like machines that faced each other. Like every other machine in this place, it offered background music and cheese character lines to join the electronic orchestra of the establishment.

"So, who's winning?" I asked, leaning on the machines from the side, where I could see both of their screens with a simple tilt.

"Shut up, Hiroshi. I'm trying to focus!" Ranma complained, answering my question while he did so.

Tenou-san chuckled under her breath, "what's wrong, senpai? Weren't you bragging about your martial artist reflexes just a while ago?" She teased.

"Oh, I'll show you! Just wait!"

The game they're playing was a rather uncanny machine titled 'Street Combat II'. And that name told everything there is to know about it.

The pixelated characters on the screen looked like something Capcom would sue over. I watched as the blonde-haired, Chinese dressed woman with gigantic thighs pummeled Ranma's protagonist looking character with a volley of kicks after he failed a combo that would make him shot a green fireball. In the end, she ripped his spine out from his chest with an over-the-top shower of blood.

"Arghhhh!!" Ranma wailed as the words EXECUTION flashed on his screen. "This machine is broken!" He decided.

"Whatever let you sleep, senpai." Tenou-san looked up at me. "So, how did it go?"

I shook my head in response.

"Oh, sorry about that." She cast a longing glance at the 'continued?' option on her screen, but then made her mind and looked up. "I know a few more places if you want to try."

She started to stand. But I put my hand on her shoulder.

"No, no, I…" Got to let it go. "I still hadn't had my turn yet. I can't possibly let this utter thrashing slide. Who would get revenge poor Ranma then?"

"Who asked you!?" Ranma jumped up and said from the top of his game. "One more! I'm getting the hang of this!"

Tenou-san got the meaning of my statement immediately, "Eh. But I already won three rounds. I should let you got at Ōe-senpai for a while. Fight the grunt before the last boss, you know?"

"I heard your provocations loud and clear my cute kohai, and I shall do the mature thing and bring divine retribution for these words… Right after I thrash this cocky martial artist."

"Oh yeah! I want to see you try!" Ranma challenged, settling down on his seat.

I drop down on mine after Tenou-san vacated it. And it was official; today was arcade day.

Being in a 90's arcade, as a teenager, in a group of friends, and with money to irresponsibly spend was an experience I'd never thought I would get to relive. And by god did I miss it.

We played every game that got into our line of sight. We talked, chit-talked, made jokes, and laughed at funny stories. We ate and drank stuff that was bad for us, and insulted each other while having epic battles on the screen of multiple fighting games, the ones that Ranma declared to be his favorites to the surprise of no one.

And then, as if that wasn't enough, the setting of Ranma 1/2 decided to worm it's head in and throws a curveball at us. Though this time it was a rather… fun, curveball.

"HAHAHA! NOT SO COCKY NOW, EH BOY!?"

If the Internet was up in the form I was familiar with; they would dub Ranma's current challenger as a human's meme. He was a very pale Asian guy with an enormous red afro, wearing a crisscrossed, colorful shirt, a jeans jacket with several patches on it, and an honest to god parachute pants covering his fast-moving legs.

Basically, he was a sight to behold.

"Ah!-Crap!-Stop!-ARGH Stupid thing!" Ranma was actually struggling to keep up with his movements, though the problem wasn't the fight itself; it was trying to match the fight with the colorful panels flashing under his feet.

"NO USE! YOUR FOSSIL-LIKE MARTIAL ARTS ARE NO MATCH FOR MY DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION COMBAT STYLE!"

Indeed. They were using the new Dance Dance Revolution machine as the arena for their bout: a Dance Dance Revolution Martial Art challenge to be precise.

And yes, it was as wonderful as it sounded.

"Oh yeah! And how about this!" Ranma then, promptly used that 'learning with a glance' bullshit he showed early today. And started to use his opponent's own movements to fight against him.

"NANI!?"

The crowd cheered around us when they saw the match turn from a one-sided beat down to a contested challenge.

"This isn't happening!" Tenou-san commented. These words might be commonly used in bad situations, but the broad smile in her face told me it was quite the contrary. She had burst out laughing quite a bit on the more uproarious moments of the fight, like Funky Joe's introduction and continuing existence. "How can this happen? People don't just challenge others out of nowhere in real life! Especially not for this!" She pointed at the dance machine. She had to speak loudly due to the cheers of the crowd. "It's like a movie!"

The machine was brand new, a novelty to the arcade goers, so it already had a pretty sizable group around it before Ranma and Funky Joe claimed it for their battle. Seeing the absolute spectacle this fight is turning out to be; it made sense that the whole arcade would congregate around us.

"Martial Artists, Tenou-san, Martial Artists. They attract the bizarre with the very existence and when two meet? Yeah, anything can happen!" I smiled… well smiled more, as I explained over the noises, even though I don't think the girl had the reference to get everything.

"Haruka!"

"' Excuse me?"

"You call Ranma by his first name!" She explained through the crowd. "You can call me by my first name too!"

"Oh! Then I'm Hiroshi to you too, for now on!"

"Can do that Hiroshi-senpai-AH!" She gasped in surprise at the following event. And she wasn't the only one; the whole crowd gasped at the sight of Ranma falling.

"My leg!" He cried out.

"HAHAHA! YOU THINK YOU CAN COPY MY DANCE DANCE STYLE WITHOUT LEG CRAMPS!? NAÏVE!"

Ah, shit. I think Ranma might lose this one. By what I understood from the rules, dropping from the panels didn't end the fight, but it would obviously affect the end score, which was just as important as fighting the opponent. And say what you will about Funky Joe, but I don't think the guy misstep ever once, even while dodging and parrying Ranma's attacks. However, Ranma had already made some mistakes, and now he'd fallen from the panels. He would need a knock out to win this.

If he can get his leg back in order, that is.

"Oh, no." Haruka pushed past a couple of people to she could lean on the rail the arcade's staff had put it up somewhere along the way. "Ranma, don't give up! Fight on!" She cheered, cupping her hands around her mouth.

Two ganguro-looking high school girls that were making googly eyes to Haruka all afternoon caught on what she was crying out and imitated her in a bid to draw her attention. That call then spread to the fat otaku that wanted the hot girls' attention, which spread to his friends, and themsome.

In no time at all, the whole freaking place was chanting Ranma's name.

I laughed, I couldn't help myself, this whole thing was a silly teenager adventure fit for a nineties' movie, and I was loving every second of it. The sound, the noise, the energizing feeling the crowd gave out. I quickly cupped my own hand around my mouth and added my own call to encourage my rising friend.

"COME ON, RANMA! YOU CAN DO IT! BEAT HIS ASS!"

My unexpected strong lungs carried my voice a bit above the others, but it was hardly enough to disturb the overall atmosphere.

"UWOHHHHHHHHH!!!" Ranma roared as he rose to his feet. The crowd roared with him. They got especially loud after he jumped back on top of the panels and started moving.

"HAHAHA! IT'S USELESS NOW, BOY! YOU CAN'T— What!?" Funky Joe gasped, and he was forced to twist his body wildly to dodge Ranma's assault.

Now things were different, now Ranma wasn't only copying his movement, no, now he had unleashed the full terror that was his martial art genius. Going by what it seemed to me, he'd picked out the aspects of Funky Joe's styles that let him never miss a dance panel, and added that to his very extensive repertoire.

He essentially mastered Dance Dance Revolution and figured would how to fight with his usual styles while doing it.

It was goddamn inspiring!

"He's going for a knockout!" I cried out, drawing Haruka's attention. With that realization in mind, she began to cheer harder.

"Wha-NO, STOP THAT, Ah, OUCH! Wait, wait! The MACHINE!" Funky Joe cried out, and credit where credit is due, he was doing an amazing job dodging Ranma's onslaught and keeping his score.

The game machine began to crack and shake under Ranma's quick steps, the violent vibrations traveling from the light panels to the main body, making the dancing images on the screen to fizzle slightly, though it wasn't enough to affect the music yet.

I don't think many people noticed, but even if they did, they were too hyped to do anything about it, exactly like me.

I cheered for Ranma. Haruka cheered at my side.

The crowd pumped their fist up, calling for the action.

The machine began to smoke.

At some point, Funky Joe realized he would have to focus his full might if he was to endure Ranma's relentless assault, and he cranked the intensity to eleven.

Eventually, however, the timer dropped to zero, and the song ended. This was at the exact same time Ranma managed to kick Joe out of his consciousness, but by then, the dance had finished.

The screen fizzed once, then twice, and then a third time. Smoke began to come out of it. The crowd grew silent, realizing only now the device might shut down without telling them the result of this epic crash.

Until…

"Perfect!" The game declared…

On Ranma's side of the screen.

Now, this was obviously a defect in the machine, as it was made clear by the fact it fizzled out soon after. After all, it was impossible for Ranma to get this score after so many missteps, so the only logical explanation was that Funky Joe's rating must have come out on the different side of the display.

We didn't give a flying fuck about that.

"Ranma won!" I declared loudly, and the crowd exploded.

The feeble rail put by the staff was soon trampled under the weight of multiple bodies trying to get to the center. They actually raised Ranma up like a rock star and began chanting his name. He honestly looked like he was having the time of his life with all the attention, and he even managed to gain a level for his effort, giving the 27 now floating under his name.

Haruka was on the side, cheering and laughing so much that there were tears in her eyes, and she had to hold her belly. The strangely emotional ride to this bizarre situation seems to break her cool-persona little.

And me? Well, I was rushing to get my two friends because that seemed like the owner of the place brushing through the crowd, and boy did he look pissed.

-0-0-0-​

"That was fun!" Ranma declared with a shit-eating grin.

We had managed to escape the wrath of the arcade owner and ran towards the other end of the commercial street. Then we processed to stuff our faces with taiyaki as lunch.

The fish-shaped treat wasn't as tasty as the funny tasting bread, and the bean bread served pretty much the same function with the added bonus of being softer, but I guess they are pretty good too. Though I kinda regret voting for them as lunch because now I can see the legendary Wc Donald at a distance; the most wide spread franchise of the anime world, and one of the places to be if you found yourself isekai'ed there.

Some other time then.

Haruka swallowed down her food to talk. "That was awesome." She said, managing to control her enthusiasm under relaxed demeanor. "You said you practiced martial arts, but I didn't know you were a master."

Ranma grin got wider. "I get that a lot." Of course he would say that.

"Heh, He is not even close to being a master," I said.

Ranma shot me a look at my correction, "And who made you a expert!?"

"Really? He's not a master? But the way they moved, it was more impressive than anything I've seen on the movies."

The martial artist groaned. "That's those kung fu movies, right? That's not martial arts, or maybe not fighting martial arts, at least. It's just a big stage play!" He complained.

That seemed like the start of an exciting conversation, but unfortunately, we were interrupted.

None of us was paying attention to where the guy had come from. Hell, he wasn't very noticeable even with his very obvious delinquent gear and sunglasses. He was practically a burry image on the background before he approached us and began giggling creepily.

"What?" I asked, furrowing my brow. This was the second consecutive day I had to deal with delinquents. God, Tokyo really is flooded with them.

"You're Ōe Hiroshi, right? I got something for you." He said, his voice just as shady as he looked.

Ranma rose to his feet behind me, a wise choice, given that these words are often used as a prelude for something terrible, like an ambush or something. Got to say, having a tank to guard my back is comforting, even if I'm quite sure I could handle this level 05 delinquent on my own.

Instead of attacking, signaling for an ambush, or even activating a trap, the boy juts toss something towards me. I easily caught it. But held it away from my face in case it exploded into paralyzing poison or something.

It was… a folded paper, with a large, unmistakable kanji on the back.

"… It's that a challenge letter!?" I questioned incredulously. Ranma even relaxed on at my side, seemly deciding there was no danger. I made a note to beat pragmatist over his martial arts' ethics later, before someone uses it against him.

Raising my head to ask, I noticed that the guy was gone… Well, kinda; he was at the distance, frantically trying to run away from our sight to make it look like he had disappeared mysteriously. Catching him in the act really took away from the experience.

"An actual challenge letter!" Haruka vocalized my thoughts, though she sounded more like she was having fun than being confused. "What even is this day?"

"' Least he didn't deliver through bow and arrow," Ranma remarked. It sounded from experience.

There was nothing unexpected on the content of the letter itself. In fact, it was almost aggressively straightforward: there was the formal challenge; "Ōe Hiroshi I challenge you to a fight!" The location; " at Jiyuu-ji temple in the Ōizumichō district, Nerima." The time; "at 17:00 today!" even an added bonus of a consequence of refusal; "Or your Viper pet will get it!"

The Vipers guys again. Ugh, are those guys a gang or a bunch of children for me to babysit?

It was signed by Tsuji Shinnosuke, leader of the Shinnosuke group and captain of a larger gang called Ragnarok.

Hm, pretty sure I beat up some Ragnarok guys during my date yesterday. Hell, after hearing that name referring to a gang, I started getting some flashbacks.

Hadn't I wanted an anime that had a gang named like that? Or several?

Oh fuck, this is happening because of that 'debut' thing, isn't it? I must have a reputation now! Fuckkkkk.

"AH!" Haruka suddenly exclaimed from where she was reading over my shoulder.

"Jesus Christ!" I cursed. Ranma snorted at my near stumble, "Don't scream like that in my ear, woman!"

"Ōizumichō district! I remember now." The cool-looking girl ignored that and pointed at me, with an 'I got it' gesture, "I've heard strange rumors about that place lately, good rumors. Apparently, broken items and structures keep getting fixed around that area. But the people can never find who did it, even if they want to thank them."

"Sorry? Where did that come from?"

"You bat, didn't you want to fix it? You can ask whoever is fixing things there. They are doing it for free" She blinked and seemed to notice how she'd dragged the subject in a completely different direction. "Sorry, it was at the tip of my tongue all morning, I just had to let it out."

"Why do you know that anyway?" Asked Ranma.

Haruka shrugged. "I've always been one to keep my ears open for rumors. Plus, it's interesting."

"Guess so. Anyway, congratulations on your first challenge letter Hiroshi, always knew you had it in you!"

"Yeah," I said absentmindedly, my mind focusing on better things that what Ranma's meant by that.

A gang challenge at the very same place where a bunch of strange events has been happening, and these events just happen to be related to what I needed for my bat right now.

Coincidence? Yeah right, as if I'd be so lucky.

New Quest: Fight like a man!

Tsuji Shinnosuke of Ragnarok had challenged you to a fight! Go there and teach him a lesson!... by winning the fight, not literally teaching him something.

Rewards:

+ 300 exp.Increases closeness with the Viper's gang of middle school hooligans.

Decreases closeness with the Ragnarok gang.

Increases closeness with Tsuji Shinnosuke.

Increases reputation within the Tokyo delinquent's scene.

Failure

Injury

Humiliation

Decreases closeness with the Ragnarok gang.

Increases closeness with Tsuji Shinnosuke.

Decreases reputation within the Tokyo delinquent's scene.

Well, at least I'll get a decent lump of exp for this...