6.1

part 1.

This isn't the first time I've been cornered in the men's bathroom. Hell, this time the odds are actually in my favor; there was only one, and it doesn't look like he was armed.

The guy in question was an average looking dude with an athletic build and earthly brown hair that spiked wildly in every direction. He'd got inside the room and wordlessly blocked the door with his body, making his intentions obvious right from the start.

At least he was waiting for me to finish washing my hands, which I did with deliberated slowness.

If it was only that, it would be fine. I am completely confident that I can kick the ass of anyone in this school whose name didn't start with Saotome and ends with Ranma, but the words floating above his head gave me pause.

Himiko Kenji

Vegan Werewolf

Level: 09

I sighed.

I had… not forgotten, but pushed the more… overtly supernatural aspects of the classmates to the back of my mind, mostly because I didn't know how to approach them or how to begin talking about the subject. But it seems my recent encounter with the supernatural was attracting even more of it into my life.

I suppose this was inevitable, and, not gonna lie, a bit fun.

"So," I said, shaking the last droplets of water to the side. "What do you want?"

He was slouching down, shoulders squared, arms limp, head hanging low but with eyes locked on me, I decided this posture was an aggressive one, but, frankly, with my growing experience, I can say there are better postures to be in if you want to start a fight. But then again, the gamer told me he wasn't human, and it hadn't led me astray yet.

"Stop doing that thing." He said after a moment of glaring.

I raised my eyebrow, "Sorry?"

"That thing! That thing you and the martial artist are doing. Where you disappear and reappear later, stop that!" He insisted.

There was something under his tone that made the words tremble, almost like a growl.

I kept my expression under control. Ok, this is my fault, really; I've been very blatant on the usage of my abilities around this school, hoping for the blanket of Nerima weirdness to cover for them. The encounter with the freaking Campione! Organization made me realize I could use a little more discretion, at least until I figured out what the fuck is happening to this world, but it seems it was too late for that now.

No use crying over spilled milk, the damage is already done.

"Why?" I asked simply.

The guy showed me his teeth but settled back down. "The smell, you're messing out the smell around the school!"

Crap, so my Illusion Barriers did leave an effect on reality… That actually makes sense, considering that they are not a foreign concept to this world.

I slid my hands on my pockets and leaned my hips on the sink but kept my guard raised despite the casual pose.

"Noted. But how is it different, may I ask? Am I making the place smell bad?"

How am I affecting reality? Basically

"No, good. You're making everything smell good. Way too good!" He produced a dog-like snort with his nose and shook his head "This is bad, will attract bad things. Monsters. Monsters will bring trouble. I'm supposed to stay out of trouble."

…

O…kay. I tilted my head, casting a gaze over this guy. Trying to watch for the small details and remember what I've seen of him in class.

No wonder he always kept to himself.

"You can't human very well, hãh? Werewolf-san." I quipped, because frankly, if he's going to drop one of my secrets on me, then I'm gonna do it to him too.

It was a risky move that led to risky results; He flinched for a second, his eyes wide in surprise. Then immediately lean back in, his claw and canine growing as he snarled.

At least he didn't attack me outright. But I can see he was preparing to.

I put my hands up quickly. "Hold up!"

My exclamation must have taken him by surprise because he actually paused.

"Just to be clear, I have no interest in fighting you. But I'll defend myself if you try to start anything."

"Hãhh?" I think if he had dog-ears, they would be flapping around right now as he seemly tried to fix the gears inside his head. Even his aggressive posture dismantled a little, though his lower canine now poked from his mouth even when closed.

"… You're trying to confuse me." He decided.

Not untrue. "I'm serious."

"No. You're going to attack me when my guard is down."

"Why would I do that?"

"Why— Because that's why what humans do!" He furred his blow deeply. "We hide, if we're discovered, humans attack, always."

We? Interesting, is he talking about his kin as a whole, or somebody else?

"Honestly, I'm new to this; I still don't know how to react to a werewolf, yet." I admitted while making a 'what can you do?' sign with my raised hands. "Sorry if people attacked you before, but I can promise I won't without a reason."

I could almost hear the tick-tock going on in his head. He was also clicking his sharp teeth together, but it didn't look like a threatening act, it looked more like a nervous tick.

"I'm supposed to stay out of trouble." He repeated his previous statement.

My shoulders rolled in a casual shrug. "You're not. The way I see it, we're just talking."

He looked at me suspiciously for a couple of seconds before making an internal decision and turning to leave.

That actually made me blink, is he just going to—

He snapped back, and I flinched, but instead of an attack, a clawed finger was pointed at me.

"Anyway, stop doing that thing!" He reverted back to the start of the argument.

I nodded slowly. "Alright, already thinking of moving to another place anyway."

"Oh… Ok." He looked around uncertain and then left and closed the door behind him.

Well, that went… better than I'd imagine it would go. Hell, I'm even leaning on liking the guy. He was honest and direct, at least, unlike some sneaky milfs…

I grumped at the directions my thoughts had taken, partially angry with myself for getting distracted like that on that night. Sure, my body is a virile pile of hormones now, but I'm an adult goddamn it! I should know not to lower my guard around to sexy women.

Dropping these thoughts, because it's unlikely they would help me now, I left the bathroom and made my way back to my class, where Ranma had started wolfing down his lunch.

The students around me parted and avoided me more blatantly than usual.

"Yo, Gel-man." Ranma greeted as I got close.

"Your jokes are bad, and you should feel bad for telling them."

What he was referring to was, of course, the copious amount of gel that now adorns my hair. You see, after the thunderous fucking from a day ago, my dark locks had stubbornly refused to settle down, so I had two choices, either I went to school looking like a Final Fantasy reject, or took matters into my own hands. That's why now my hair was swept back into a glossy, pitch-black mass that made me look like the king of rock 'n roll during his heydays. I actually thought it looked pretty slick, but Ranma said it made me look like one of his middle schools' delinquents and processed to make bad jokes about it whenever he could.

Guess it explained why everybody was giving me a wider berth than usual.

Reaching my seat, I cocked my hips to the side and put a casual hand over it, casting a questioning eyebrow at the one sitting on it.

Tendo Akane.

Heiress to the Tendo's branch of Anything Goes Martial arts school.

Level: 18

Let this be said about Tendo Akane; she was pretty. Definitely one of the top tiers in our class and probably high up there among our age group. Sure, she wasn't drop-dead gorgeous as Ueraha Rin or even curvy as Ranma-chan, but she had a pretty decent body with everything in the right place, a face that's very easy on the eyes, and long blueish locks that were something to be proud of.

I can see why most of the boys in this school are head over heels for her, though the grimace she was wearing right now was ruining this impression.

"Yo, joining us today, I see." I greeted her good-naturedly.

"As if!" She crossed her arms with a buff. "You and Ranma are up to something suspicious!" She accused.

Now that's interesting.

This is actually my first real interaction with Tendo Akane. Still, it isn't the first time she reacted to my presence— we were in the same class after all, and I hang out with her fiancée: I caught her looks— yet in none of the last instances she was as antagonist as she is now.

Ranma stomped his foot on the floor. "I told you it was nothin' like that! Quit being so insistent, you tomboy!"

"What did you call me, pervert!?"

Ah, I see; they're fighting. And it probably didn't start at the school either.

"Well, Tendo-san, I can assure you we're not up to anything suspicious." I cut in between the two, and then I turned on the 'fuck it' switch because I got a feeling she would be finding out anyway. "We are merely hunting yokais for cash in a pocket dimension."

Akane blinked at the sudden statement, while Ranma choked the rice he was eating.

"Oh, come on!" Exclaimed the gender-bender martial artist after the rice failed to suffocate him. "Don't just tell her!"

Was he trying to keep this as a bro secret? That's kinda touching.

"Speaking of which, we can't do it at the school anymore." I broke the news.

"What!?" Ranma actually looked alarmed at that. "Why?"

"I've been informed that it will attract real monsters if we keep up."

"Oh." He looked down and the bento, it had probably been made by Kasumi. "That really sucks."

I shrugged. "Hey, it's not like we have to stop it, we just have to find a better place to do it, and maybe rotate between areas a little bit. Besides, the skill supposedly gives new monsters according to the terrain; I want to test that out." A relevant thought jumped to my mind, and I vocalized it. "By the way, did you know Himiko Kenji knows about what we're doing?"

Ranma, who was looking happier now that his main source of cash wasn't going to end, considered that. "Yeah, there was always this guy stalkin' around when we did our thing, so his name is Kenji, huh."

I frowned. What the… "Wait, wait, wait, you knew a guy was peeking on us this entire time, and you didn't tell me!"

Ranma shrugged, pushing a sausage into his mouth. "He was bein' really discrete about it, 'sides it's not like he was brotherin' us or anything." He said with his mouth around the meat.

Oh, this guy…

"Oh, so did you know he was a werewolf, also?"

Ranma promptly gaged at the news, quickly looking up at me. "What!? Like a werewolf, werewolf!?"

"Yeah, Ranma, werewolf, werewolf." I leaned in with a grin—my long, thick, imposing shadow crossing over his shocked face due to the light in my back. "See? That's what you do when you have information that could be relevant to both of us. You share it."

Ranma rolled his eyes unabashedly. "Oh, shut up."

"Excuse me!?"

We both looked to the side to see the figure of Tendo Akane, who had been turning her to both of us as she followed the conversation, looking more incredulous each time… Or maybe a bit horrified by the pit of filthy innuendos I was dragging a clueless Ranma into.

"What the heck are you two talking about!?" She demanded, and I had to hold my witches cackles back for the expression in her face.

"Sorry about that," I said with an underlined chuckle. Reaching a hand out to the side, I grabbed a chair that a classmate had conveniently left vacated. Then I pushed it to our table, sat down, and conjured a loaf of bread from my inventory. "I'm Ōe Hiroshi, would you like some bread?"

-0-0-0-​

Now, it had been a long time since I watched Ranma ½, but I can somewhat remember the feeling I had about the characters.

Akane was among my least favorites.

I can even say I've developed a healthy dislike for her character as time goes by, but at that point, I didn't know if it was my old fanfiction knowledge blending in with the half-remembered scenes from the anime. I didn't know if her worst aspects were exaggerations, or if she was as bratty and prone to violence as the fan's usual portrayal of her.

In the end, I've decided to hold my judgment until I had an actual conversation with her.

And now, after spending about a day in her proximity and interacting with her, I safely say she's… Not as bad as the fanfictions might have you believe, but not as good that the dislike for her is entirely unfounded.

In the end, I had to act like a mediator for her and Ranma on more than one occasion. And not to stroke my own ego or anything, but the results speak for themselves.

"Ahh, that's neat, so it's like the 'grounded tiger strike' but in the air!" Akane concluded brightly.

"Urg, hearing it being referred like that is so weird. It was always the 'dive of the unbound eagle' for me." Ranma commented, still thinking over this conversation's surprise revelations. "But yeah, I guess it's the same move if you think about it. Damn pops! Saotome's exclusive, my ass!"

It turns out both martial artists are interested in martial arts, who would have thought?

This particular conversation spurred from an innocent 'So what's the difference between the Tendo and the Saotome branches of the Anything Goes' question by me, partially in an attempt to deflate one of the more tense moments between the two. This resulted in wide eyes and gaping mouths as they slowly realized that none of them had a good answer because none bother to ask themselves, which prompted a very hesitant stream of questions and answers that bloomed into a quite lively discussion. If someone saw them now, they'd be hard-pressed to guess they were at each other's throat this morning.

That isn't to say there weren't any bumps, however, and most of the problem came from the difference in personality between the two.

You see… Ranma is rude, and sometimes he can be very rude. Maybe this is a product of growing up alone with an asshole father, but his first instinct is to mock and ridicule anything he deems as a failure or a mistake, and he does so seemly without noticing it. Like, if you slip on the wet ground and fall on your face, it's most likely he will insult your lack of equilibrium first, and only then crouch down to help you up, but the thing is; he will most likely crouch down to help you up.

While Ranma is very likely to berate your every mistake, he will not see it as an insult, or at least as a serious one. It's honestly just a natural response to him, and that meant he doesn't put much meaning behind it as others do, it's actually pretty hard for him to openly insult someone with the intention of hurting their feelings.

It's not an easy outlook to 'get', and I did so because most of my male friends and my brother acted the same way: within a space where rudeness was just another expression, you quickly learn which insults actually hold meaning. The only problem I can say about it, which admittedly is a pretty big one, is that Ranma has no social filter for it, he will treat everybody the same and doesn't understand that most people are not used to it.

And Akane… well, she is the worst type of person to talk to if you have that mentality and manner of speaking.

One thing that the fandom got right is that the girl had a temper the size of a particular angry midget. I could literally see her go red with every slight quip and insult Ranma casually threw like she took his every word personally. It's actually rather impressive the way she can flip flop back to normal when I step in to cool things down. She also has a nasty tendency to take things out of context and built up her anger from that, even when the thing clearly isn't an insult or mockery. To the point that even I had to watch what I said around her.

At least I can say she isn't prone to outright violence as the fandom indicated, but more than once I had the feeling she would punch us and walk away fuming, but she never did.

If you don't use mockery and keep the intent of your words clear enough, she's usually pretty mellow and friendly.

When you combine these two personalities, you get a powder keg in the shape of a conversation, and this one, while by far the best one I managed to get the two to engage in, was not without its misunderstandings. Mostly because whatever Anything Goes levels they were talking, Ranma was clearly more advance and had better practical and theoretical foundations, plus he has a tendency to insult the Tendo's moves he isn't familiar with and have no counterpart part on the Saotome side. Something that rattled Akane to no end.

"That sounds dumb. I bet I can break that off in no time."

"Oh yeah, care to try!"

See? Ranma sounded challenging, but Akane, she just sounded angry. I signed. Here we go again.

"So, any combination attacks you two can use?" I cut in before Ranma could reply and escalate.

The gender-bender martial artist looked and me, and scrunch his face in thought.

"I dunno… maybe the Dual Jet Streams Raging Water attack? It requires two people to use."

"Ah, you have that too!" Akane exclaimed excitedly, the traces of irritation quickly melting away from her expression. Her finger cupped her chin in thought soon after, though. "Does that move even work? It doesn't sound very reliable."

"It not very useful against people, but it's awesome against projectiles. My pops and I got into a fight with this dumpling stand alliance back in China and…"

Safe! Was what I thought while half-listening to Ranma's amusing tale, Akane seemed engrossed into hearing a report about how one of the martial techniques she knew fare in combat.

+ 1 Cha.

Hum? Well, at least I'm getting something for my troubles.

Despite occasionally needing my intervention, this conversation was actually very informative and, dare I say it, fun.

It had become pretty clear to us that the Tendo branch of Anything Goes deals with ground-based techniques with a focus on strength and resilience, and the Saotome was the opposite of that with a focus on aerial techniques favoring speed and mobility. It's kinda funny that Akane is the heir of the 'hard' version of the style, but Ranma eclipses her in this aspect by his sheer physical stats alone.

We were walking to the school gate when it happened.

I felt a slight chill running down my spine. It was very sudden and very hard to ignore, so it stunned me for a single moment. It was enough for me to feel Ramna's finger gripping the back of my jacket.

"RANMA PREPARE TO DIE!"

I was pulled back and off my feet. But unlike the last time, the sudden shift didn't mess with my perception, and I was able to see a yellowish and red blur dropping over our previous position like a meteor, at the same time that I managed to put my legs under me to land and slid on the ground crouching rather than on my ass, the yelp at my far side told me that Akane wasn't so lucky.

To my surprise, the ground beneath the figure didn't become a crater; it didn't even crack under the heavy impact… To my even bigger surprise, I was proven wrong a solid three seconds later, when the ground opened up in a wide hole that somehow took a few seconds to form. The few students around who were leaving let out startled cries as they watched.

The figure on the crater was tall and muscular, with baggy, worn-out yellow garbs with a tiger theme bandana and a red umbrella— Oh, it's Ryoga.

Hibiki Ryoga.

The Eternal Lost Boy

Level: 24

I was wondering when he was going to show up.

Ryoga pulled up his umbrella from the ground and rose to his feet, keeping his gaze solemnly on his target.

"I see you still good at running away, Ranma." He gave out a cocky chuckle.

The martial artist frowned, opening his mouth to let out a retort, only for his head to be cocked forwards by a thud.

"What the hell!?" Ranma shouted at a pissed off girl at his side, who was trying to hold the tear on the backside of her skirt shut.

"Look at what you've done, pervert!"

"I was tryin' to get you out of this guy's attack!"

"I could have done on my own, thank you very much!"

Really guys? Is this really the best time? And look, now Ryoga is trembling in anger. Poor dude.

"Stop ignoring me, Ranma!!" He shouted, interrupting the growing argument. The tip of his umbrella pointed at Ranma. "I've come a long way to right the wrongs you did to me!"

That brought Ranma's attention. He snapped his sharp eyes to Ryoga and… looked.

And looked.

And continued looking.

"…Y-You don't remember?" Ryoga sputtered.

Ranma squinted his eyes, concentrating very deeply.

"Maybe someone from your Junior High?" I threw a bone.

"AH!" It was all he needed, apparently. He snapped his fingers at me, and then at Ryoga. "Now, I remember! Err. Shinahara Kenishi!"

"Who's that!?" The lost boy roars in frustration. "Hibiki Ryoga! It's Hibiki Ryoga!"

"Yeah that's it. Sorry, sorry, got it confused." Ranma rubbed the back of his head and actually smiled, apparently forgetting this guy just tried to kill him. "Ah man, long time no see—"

"Silence!" Ranma got an umbrella pointed at his face as he tried to approach. "Answer my question! Why didn't you come to fight me at the appointed time!?"

Ranma blinked. "…I waited for you at the agreed place for three whole days." He said slowly.

"Three days!" Was Akane's exclamation and pretty much the reaction of the growing crowd. I just remained in my squatting position and enjoyed the nostalgia.

"But when I arrived on the fourth day… You were already gone!"

"Fourth day!?"

Where is Kuno, by the way? I thought he always appears when logic starts to fail.

Ranma took a deep, calming breath, and spoke. "Ryoga, let me ask you a question."

Taking the lost boy's silence as acceptance, he continued.

"That place where we're supposed to fight back then…. Wasn't that vacant lot behind your house?"

"Why did you force me to wait for three days then!?" Ranma countered with a healthy deal of logic and reason. Don't think it's very effective against this wild Ryoga, though.

"Bastard! Do you think I was out for a stroll those four days!?"

With a heavy heart and pain in his eyes, Ryoga started telling us his sad tale about getting out of his house and getting lost across Japan from a journey that should have taken a few minutes.

In the end, he masterfully succeeded in informing everyone about his sense of direction if the murmuring was any indication.

"Ok, but how did you get all the way up to Hokkaido in one day, though?" I asked.

"You broke a man-to-man promise!" Ah… Ignored. "And then you dare to run off to China with your father!"

He finally had enough and step in for a swing. Ranma leaped above it and glided backward like he was on the moon before landing gracefully on his feet.

"So you come here to finish that fight?" He asked with growing eagerness.

"Finish it!? You don't know half of it!" He swung his umbrella to the side and popped it open. "REVENGE!!" Then he launched his god-knows-how-many-pounds umbrella like a Frisbee of death, something that Ranma casually dodged out of instinct.

Leaving the thing to spin directly at the growing crowd of students behind him

"OI!" I leaped backward and got my hands on the spinning handle of the thing as it passed over my head. In retrospect, this wasn't a very well-thought-out idea.

My entire body was dragged by it to the point my feet momentarily left the ground. Luckily my grip and my weight were enough to knock its trajectory out of the way of the bystanders and directed it toward the ground. Were it dug its blade-like gash into concrete for a good fifteen centimeters.

I let out a grunt as I felt the spinning handle grinding against the palm of my hand, but just tightened my grip and bore the pain until it finally stopped.

Ignoring the burning sensation, I put my other hand on the handle and lifted the thing of the ground… Trying with all my might to not show how much the weight was affecting me.

Seriously is this thing an umbrella or a freaking ship anchor!?

I placed it on my shoulder, where it dug uncomfortably on my skin. But with the support of my entire torso, I managed to keep it up much easier. With the umbrella secured, and after I made sure I wasn't going to drop on my ass due to its impossible weight. I turned to Ranma, moving with easy steps to not throw my precarious balance off.

"You. Be more aware of your surroundings!" I chastised the idiot until he was sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

"And you." I made a point to aim his own weapon in his direction… with one arm… my every muscle screamed at me for that, but I had my pride damn it. "Watch where you throw this thing, you could've hurt someone, idiot!"

My declaration caused some surprised "Hoooh!" among the crowd. Ryoga frowned at my interruption.

"Who the hell are you!?" He demanded.

I lowered the umbrella, placing it tip first on the ground while keeping my raw palm over the pommel like a sword. My muscles began to cry in relief, but I didn't let that show on my face.

"I am…" Pause for dramatic effect. Everyone drew in. "…A complete random bystander! You may carry on with your dramatic confrontation."

People stumbled comically. What? What were they expecting, that I was going to pick a fight with a guy who carried this thing all the time? No, no, no, I had Ranma for that!

And speaking of the martial artist, he just laughed.

"Don't try to be cool if you don't have a follow-up man, that was lame!" He said between chuckles. "Anyway, I just remembered what this guy's deal was. Hiroshi, give me bread!"

"… You have to be more specific."

"All of the bread!"

Well… He asked.

"THAT'S TOO MUCH BREAD!"

"WHAT HERESY ARE YOU SAYING!?"

"AHHHH!" Ryoga stomped on the area between the now bread-covered Ranma and me. The impact made me stumbled backward and forced me to use the umbrella to prop me up so I didn't fall.

"ENOUGH RANMA, NOW YOU DIE- eh?"

"That's melon bread!"

The odd exchange was made from behind the curtain of dust Ryoga's attack had lifted. But when it settled, I could see the lost boy holding a delicious melon bread in his hand.

"Still not enough, hah? You're greedy." Ranma commented from a distance, "Here, Curry Bread."

"There is more, Chow-Mein Bread."

"Croquette Bread!"

"Choco Bread!"

"Avocado Bread!"

Ranma continued to make Japanese bread rain like God did in the Garden of Eden. It was a vision so beautiful it almost brought me to tears.

"That's all I can remember!" Ranma concluded.

In the end, Ryoga had his arms full of concentrated deliciousness. Yet he was trembling in anger, the ingrate. "Ranma… What is the meaning of this!?"

"Yes, Ranma," Akane spoke from behind them, the combination of antics had made her forget about the state of her skirt and put her hands to work massaging a surging headache. Two lucky guys behind her were clearly having the time of their lives leering at her exposed underwear. "Please Ranma, explain to us what that was all about."

"Hm, well, back at our Junior High, all lunches were like battlefields…"

And then he proceeded to tell us a tale of a boy, a boy whose parent didn't have time to make him a proper breakfast because they got lost on the way to the kitchen, a boy who always spent his mornings hungry, longing, yearning for the time when he could be released from his prison of learning so he could bask on the deliciousness that waited for him in the cafeteria. Many more there seek that same deliciousness, but the boy knew that and prepared accordingly, honing his body and skills until he stood above everyone else for the sole purpose of getting the deliciousness first. And the boy did that; victory filled his soul as he closed his finger around his prize… only to be snatched away at the last second by another, more skilled boy.

Again, and again, and again, for a full goddamn year.

"Ranma," I said. Tears staining my cheeks. "You do that shit to me, and I'm murdering you in your sleep."

"E-Even you Hiroshi… please tell me that you're joking."

… Mostly. I want to be part of this comical anime bullshit because it's funny to me, and people were easier to manipulate when the silliness is cranked up to eleven. Doesn't mean I won't try, though.

We were now sitting in a circle having a picnic because that what you do when you have a butch of tasty bread lying around. Luckily many students had wisened up after seeing the lost boy's propensity for causing collateral damage and left, so I didn't have to watch out for that many people when the fight inevitably restarted.

And look at that, it already did. While I was lost in thoughts about the emotional tale, Ranma managed to insult Ryoga, or the guy just got impatient again, and they had started duking out, and like, really going at it this time.

Ok, not really… I don't think Ranma can just shrug off one of Ryoga's unreasonably destructive attacks, but he was keeping things casual and focused more on dodging and asking questions than countering. It was clear that he had already gauged the skill of his opponent and correctly deduced that Ryoga was nowhere near as fast or agile as he was. And believe me, if you're not at least that, then you'll never hit the slippery acrobat that is Saotome Ranma.

It was, however, the most impressive battle I've seen Ranma partake. Just because Ryoga wasn't as fast and agile as Ranma, didn't mean he wasn't superhumanly fast and agile, and combining that with his strength… Ok, maybe that's a bit too much strength—and why the hell is this fucker causing so much collateral damage!? Didn't he know how to aim!?

Explosions rang out across the courtyard of Funrikan High as it received a barrage of damage comparable to an artillery bombardment, and that was me just slightly exaggerating. Every punch and kick Ryoga threw seems to break something, explode a crater into existence, or uproot a tree.

Is this baseline Ryoga!? Didn't he get more destructive as the series went on? Fucking hell, I think we're gonna need Kaiju methods to deal with him then!

And why the fuck is he causing so much collateral!? I don't remember Ryoga's first appearance very well, but I'm pretty sure he didn't explode the school on his first fight. Fuck, I can't think of a reason for… Wait a second.

I looked down at my hand… and saw the umbrella dragging behind me. I had gained an extra point in strength just for carrying the thing along while escaping the shrapnel.

Crap! I have the thing with me, that means Ryoga is fighting without it, and so… Wait, he can't use precision attacks without it?! Or maybe he's not used to his own limbs for—Fuck it! It doesn't matter now, have the umbrella, might as well use it!

After about five minutes of pure chaos, the fight finally drew to a close. Well, in a way, it did: Ranma had noticed the damage they were causing and wisely chose to draw Ryoga to another field so they could fight more freely.

I could hear the lost boy declarations of revenge fading in the distance.

+ 1 Str.

+ 1 Str.

I got to admit carrying this thing around is a pain in the ass… and the back… and the arms… oh god, the arms—But I can't argue with results, especially after it earned me three consecutive bonus points in strength.

After the power-up, it was easier to carry the thing around and even maneuver it a bit while it was open.

"You're ok?" I asked the two frightened girls under me; the latest bunch I covered from the shrapnel and debris. I tried to keep a firm grip on the handle of the open umbrella, but some shaking was inevitable.

"Y-Yeah." One of the girls spoke up, her face bright red from the stressful ordeal. Her friend had buried her face on her chest, but now had popped one eye up and was watching me intently.

I nodded. "You two can go now; the worst is already over."

"A-Ah yes, t-thank you!"

After making sure they weren't hurt, I turned around and started walking towards the center of the cloud of dust, waving the damn umbrella while at it in an attempt to close it. Even that is hard to do with this thing; it was like a lump of pure tungsten carved into the shape of an umbrella.

When I finally managed it, I promptly threw the thing into my inventory. Because I'm guessing Ryoga won't show up again for a while, so I might as well use it to do some strength training before I give it back. As payback for my raw hand, of course.

As expected, I found Akane on an area clean from dust, looking at the place where the new martial artist had gone, probably wondering where Ranma could have…

My eye twitched.

"My disappointment is immeasurable."

"What?" Said Saotome Ranma, looking at me.

"I thought you were heroically leading that wrecking ball away from the innocents."

"Meh." He said with a shrug of his shoulder.

"Why is he running away. then?"

"He isn't. He thinks he's pursuing me." Ranma placed his hand beside his eyes to illustrate. "He's like an angry bull. His tunnel vision is something else."

Heh, I can believe that.

Striding past Ranma, I made way towards Akane, who also turned to look at me. Taking off my school jacket, I quickly handed it to her.

"Here, for your little problem."

It was kind of funny watching her blink, her face slowly etching towards the realization she had forgotten while a bright blush spread over her nose and cheek. With an adorable yelp, she went low on her knees, hands snapping to her rear to cover up her shame.

I draped my jacket over her shoulders. "Here, you can give me back tomorrow. And it's not Ranma's fault you know, he was really just trying to drag you away from danger. What happened there was just an accident."

Tendo Akane looked up at me for a long moment, before slowly rising to her feet and tying my jacket around her hips to cover the holes on her skirt.

"Ōe-san… I'd like to apologize."

"Hum?"

"Up to this morning, I thought you were a no-good delinquent, but you're not like that at all." She dipped her head in a short bow. "I'm truly sorry."

"Heh, no need to be so formal." I waved her off. "It's all a big misunderstanding anyway, and it's not like I'm helping with my looks. There is nothing to apologize for."

She smiled at me and—whoa, ok, I got to admit that Akane looks really good when she smiles. She should definitely do it more often.

"Ranma!" She called, stepping close to the martial artists, who looked down at his diminutive fiancée. "I'm… I'm sorry for hitting you before. I shouldn't have jumped into conclusions like that."

Hehe, Ranma's expression after hearing that was comical, there was even a little blush on his face. After blinking his shock away, he put his arms behind his head in a casual matter.

"Meh, it was nothing. It's not like you can hurt me anyway."

Ah, here we go.

"Wh—Are you calling me weak!?" Was Akane's declaration as her mood did a 180, and the following exchange began to drag them both further into anger and insults.

I sighed while watching the famous anime argument play out. It was as more awkward to watch when it wasn't behind a television screen, but I can't deny there wasn't some amusement there.

The wind had swept away most of the dust by that point, showing that despite the impressive effects, Ryoga's attacks didn't damage the school that badly, it was mostly a shitload of cracks on the concrete and a few knock over trees, the most significant crater was the one he made at the start.

Man, I wonder if we'll have classes tomorrow.

"PERVERT!"

A loud slap echoed in response to Ranma's remark about childish underwear.

I look up, noticing the position of the sun, and quickly checking my clock.

Well, I guess school time is over. Time for the more… adult part of my day.

"Man, I'll never understand that tomboy!" Ranma complained while rubbing his aching cheek. Akane was already walking away, fuming.

"Tsunderes, my friend, tsunderes…"