'Thinking'
"Speaking"
*** Time passing or scene change
Mission: Nerima Part 4
"Where is Maxwell?" Wufei grumbled irritably, glancing at his watch. "He's going to make us late."
"I'll go check," Quatre offered hastily, not wanting Heero to take on the task. Heero wasn't the most diplomatic of people at the best of times, and, lately, Duo was guaranteed to overreact and interpret anything that he said in the absolute worst way possible. They really didn't need to start their first school day off with another misunderstanding.
Heero let Quatre go without protest, not trusting himself to deal with Duo without making things even worse. He hadn't meant to insult and upset him last night. He knew Duo dreaded school but he didn't understand why; Duo was certainly intelligent enough to do well, and making friends with students and teachers alike had never been a problem for the gregarious teen. Heero had intended to say that Duo couldn't ignore whatever the problem was as he had during the war, that he needed to explain what was bothering him so that they could deal with it. But, as usual when trying to deal with Duo, Heero himself had been tense and nervous, which meant that his voice went flat and hard, and everything he said had came out wrong, widening the fracture in their relationship even further.
Hurrying up the stairs, Quatre knocked firmly on the attic door. "Duo? Are you ready? It's time to go. Duo?" Still getting no response, he hesitantly opened the door and peeked inside. The room was deserted. "Guys? He's not here," he called as he hurried to join them in the living room.
Trowa ducked back into the house through the side door, "He's not out in the yard or in the shed with his bike either."
Struck by a sudden thought, Quatre checked the entryway, "His shoes and coat are gone. He must have left already."
Heero growled under his breath, then stalked towards the entryway. "We can't afford to all be late. Let's go." He yanked the door open just as a teenage girl with short, blue-black hair approached it.
"Hi," the short-haired girl said, smiling. "I'm Akane Tendo. My family has the dojo next door. I go to Furinkan too. I thought you might like to know a little bit about the school before you get there. We can talk on the way if you like."
Quatre slipped past Heero, giving Akane an answering smile and replying, "Thank you, that would be appreciated. I'm Quatre Winner, and these others are Heero Yuy, Trowa Barton, and Wufei Chang. There should be a fifth, but Duo seems to have left early this morning."
"Oh yes, I didn't actually meet him myself, but my sister Kasumi did. She was out sweeping early this morning when he went by. Ranma was just leaving to help our friend Ukyo at her restaurant, so he offered to show Duo around the neighbourhood on his way."
"Oh, that was kind of him," the blond said faintly, shooting a worried glance at Heero's clenched jaw. "And who is Ranma? Your brother?"
"No, though we'd both be happier if he was!" Akane laughed. "Actually, he's my fiancé. Our fathers arranged it - interfering old men. He and his parents are living with us at the moment, though our parents are away for a while visiting some friends. My oldest sister Kasumi is looking after things while they're gone."
Quatre stole another sidelong glance at Heero, noting with relief that his jaw had relaxed slightly. "So, what can you tell us about Furinkan?"
***
The four ex-Gundam pilots stared in disbelief. They had been certain that their pretty young neighbour had been joking, but there really was a man - wearing a Hawaiian shirt and with something that looked rather suspiciously like a pineapple on his head - running around just inside the school gate, waving scissors and hair clippers and shouting that the group that had entered just ahead of them all needed haircuts.
"That - that - thing - is the school principal?!" Wufei exclaimed in shock.
"Yep, that's him. Ol' pineapple-head himself," a tall, dark-haired boy confirmed, wandering up to the small group. "Mornin', Akane," he said, pulling a bandana out of his pocket and tying it around his head.
"Good morning, Ryoga," she answered, smiling cheerily up at him. "Good morning, Mousse, Shampoo," she added, nodding to the young people accompanying him. "It was Ranma's turn to help Ukyo with the breakfast rush today, but he should be along any..."
A red and black blur shot past them, through the school gate, and past the would-be barber, who suddenly found himself missing the tools of his trade and shouted in outrage.
"That'd be my cue," the boy with the bandana smirked, drawing in a deep breath and bellowing, "SAOTOME, PREPARE TO DIE!" before racing off after the blur and managing to "accidentally" wrap the principal up in one of his own extension cords in the process.
"And that's the cue for everyone else to hurry up and get in the school while they've got Principal Kuno somewhat - err - tied up," Akane said, waving the others towards the building. "He never bothers us once we're inside, but getting in the gate is a different story."
"Good morning, everyone," a girl clad in a form-fitting black leotard said, suddenly dropping down from the top of the wall.
"Morning, 'Dachi. Any sign of Ukyo?" Akane asked.
"Yes, she and a boy with hair down to here," Kodachi indicated a point just above her knees, "were slipping in the back way a few minutes ago."
"Oh, good, I wondered where Ranma had left Duo," the short-haired girl said. "Now come on, everybody, we've got to get inside so that Ranma and Ryoga can ditch the principal and get in on time too."
"Umm, Miss Tendo," Quatre asked, drawing her aside slightly, "why aren't any of them," he indicated the group just about to enter the school building, "wearing the school uniform?"
Overhearing the question, Shampoo turned and smiled very sweetly as she answered, "Because we don't want to." Silently, she added, 'And none of the staff is capable of making us,' as she continued on into the school.
"And they don't have a father capable of flooding the house with tears at the mere suggestion that his darling daughter might not want to wear the traditional Japanese schoolgirl attire," Akane added out loud, making a face as she and the pilots followed Shampoo in.
Wufei shot one last glance at the spectacular martial arts display taking place in the schoolyard as he entered the building. 'Those boys are good, very good. I wonder whether they take part in any of the martial arts clubs here at the school...' A quick glance out the stairwell window showed that the two martial artists were still keeping the crazy principal occupied as a group of latecomers ran through the gate and towards the school, so when they walked into their assigned homeroom on the third floor mere moments later and both teens were casually sprawled in their desks, Wufei was unable to keep silent. "How did - but - they were just..." he spluttered in disbelief.
Akane just shrugged in response, shooting Ranma a pointed glare and motioning discreetly to the curtain fluttering slightly in the breeze, as Ms Hinako - in her adult form - introduced herself to the new students. Ranma "eeped" softly, then leaned over and shoved the forgotten window the rest of the way shut, just as Ukyo and Duo entered the room.
***
At lunch time, the five ex-Gundam pilots exited a side door, heading for an isolated area of the school grounds that Heero had spotted from a third-story window. There were a number of things that would have to wait till the end of the day for discussion, but he felt that the group needed a chance to talk in private about some of the more bizarre things they had seen today before then.
"Shit," Duo swore softly, "Four behind us."
"Another six in the bushes to the left," Wufei added, swearing under his breath in Mandarin.
"Five in the trees ahead," Trowa said, surreptitiously placing himself between Quatre and the nearest threat.
"Ten to the right," Heero said grimly. 'Damn, just what we needed - trouble on the first day. If we fight back, someone's going to get hurt and we're going to look bad. If we don't fight back, we're going to get hurt and it probably won't be the last time it happens. Real bright, Yuy, leading your friends straight into an ambush. And Duo shouldn't be fighting with those still-healing ribs - one good blow and they'll be broken all over again. Dammit!'
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Gundam pilots. How did such pretty little boys ever manage to bring down Oz?" one of the hulking ambushers said, the leer in his voice more than clear despite the mask hiding his expression.
'Damn, this could be very ugly,' Heero thought, revising his estimate of the threat as more masked individuals appeared, all carrying sticks or bats of some sort. 'I don't think these are all students, either, some of them look older than that...'
The pilots quickly backed into a circle with Quatre, the one with the least hand-to-hand combat experience and the most strategic skills, in the centre.
"Now, now, boys, no need to get all defensive. You could just let us have our fun, no need for you to fight back. Isn't that what you're all supposed to be doing now - keeping the peace? No more fighting or violence?"
There was no doubt remaining now, this was a definite set-up. Oh, there probably would have been some trouble with the school bullies, that was inevitable, but nothing on this sort of scale. Heero counted somewhere in the area of fifty individuals surrounding them. They were in definite trouble.
Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, the group of students that they had met earlier flipped through the air and landed in a loose circle between the pilots and the crowd of would-be attackers. The leotard-clad girl was twirling a gymnastics ribbon in an apparently aimless fashion till abruptly she snapped it out, snatching a club neatly out of someone's hand. Akane stood in a traditional ready stance, a long-haired brunette held an oddly-shaped weapon of some sort, the purple-haired girl wielded a pair of bonbori, and the white-robed boy was twirling nunchakus. The two teens that had distracted the principal that morning stood in relaxed positions, hands in pockets. The pigtailed boy rocked back and forth slightly on the balls of his feet before saying, "Hmm, don't recall there being a Furinkan High Welcoming Committee, do you, Ryoga?"
"Nope, I don't think there is one Ranma. Maybe the Nerima Wrecking Crew should take on the job."
Heero caught a slight bit of movement in the crowd as several individuals - 'Probably students,' he thought - slipped away.
"Huh, sounds like a good idea to me," Ranma answered, "but I think we need to show these fellows the way out first." Both boys pulled their hands out of their pockets. Ranma raised his to chest level, palms facing inward and cupping away from his body. Most of the crowd in front of him broke and ran. At the same time, Ryoga had raised his own hands into a similar position, with a similar result.
'Strange stance - never seen one like that before,' Heero mused, starting to feel much better about their chances of avoiding not only injury but also a public relations disaster.
"Guess they already knew the way out," the bandana-clad teen smirked. "But these guys seem to need a little help," he observed, cracking his knuckles in anticipation.
"Well then, guys, let's help them out!" With that, Ranma and the others sprang into action while the pilots watched in stunned disbelief. Within mere moments, the remaining twenty or so individuals were chained up, wrapped up, or lying in unconscious heaps. All without any of the pilots having to so much as lift a finger.
'This is almost too convenient,' Heero thought, suddenly suspicious. 'Why did so many of them run off without a fight, yet these few stayed? These ones weren't helpless, but they weren't particularly exceptional either... Those students handled them easily, almost too easily, and it still almost seemed like they were holding back...'
"What do you want to do with them?" Ranma asked the five new students. "Got somebody you can call, or local cops, or...?"
"We should probably call Une - but it might cause more trouble than it's worth if they claim we started it," Quatre observed worriedly, his tactician's mind rapidly running through options.
"Ah, now that we can handle," Ranma said, grinning broadly. "Never thought I'd be grateful for Gos's nosiness, but..." he trailed off as Akane came up to the group, dragging along a thin, sickly-looking boy with a video recorder in his hand. "Hand it over, Gos," he ordered, hand outstretched expectantly.
Reluctantly, the boy ejected a disc from the camera and handed it to Ranma, who then passed it to Quatre.
"Uh, thanks," the blond said, looking somewhat dazed.
***
Inside the school, Ms Hinako tucked her coin back in her pocket and pushed the window closed. Ranma had been picking up his own catch-up work and inquiring about extra help for one of the new students when he had looked out the window and spotted the trouble brewing below. He had quickly jumped down and rounded up the rest of the Nerima Wrecking Crew from the schoolyard while she had monitored the situation from the classroom. Fortunately, Ranma and the others had the situation well in hand now; her assistance would not be required.
She turned back to her desk and began to make a list of subjects. 'Hmm, mobile suit pilot - probably strong in math and physics, so maybe some advanced placement tests for those... Gundam pilot in particular - probably explosives training, so some chemistry but might be lacking in biochem... Biology, botany, history, economics...' The young woman laughed lightly, thinking, 'Poor kid, he's going to be sorry he asked by the time he works through these. But with luck, he'll be able to get advanced placement in some subjects so that he's exempted from them, leaving him with extra time to get caught up in the areas he's behind in. Even though Ranma only managed a few exemptions last year, it helped considerably, and earning an extra credit in Mandarin with the help of Shampoo and Mousse gave him a big boost this year.'
When Ranma had first approached Ms Hinako with his proposition a year ago, she had been highly skeptical. In return for her assistance with tutoring and helping him catch up his school credits, Ranma had offered to allow her to drain enough energy off of him to maintain her adult form for half the school day. Initially, she had accepted with the proviso that if he did not take his studies seriously, she would not provide any additional assistance. Looking back, she was chagrined at how badly she had underestimated the martial artist's determination and intelligence. He had covered nearly three times as much material as she had anticipated within the first few months, and his progress had continued since then. Once a few missing foundation skills had been filled in, Ranma had tackled his scholastic studies with the same "never give up, never lose" dedication that he applied to martial arts, and she had been more than happy to keep supplying him with new academic challenges to meet.
An interesting side effect of the deal had turned out to be that Ranma's own energy reserves increased proportionately in order to make up for the added daily chi drain, leading other members of the Wrecking Crew to eventually offer their energy as well in exchange for tutoring. As time passed, Ms Hinako had gradually improved her own abilities, leading to her burning up less energy in maintaining her adult form. Now, she could maintain it on very little added energy, leaving her with real hope for a future as a normal adult.
Humming cheerfully under her breath, Ms Hinako rose from her desk as students began to file in for the first class of the afternoon. Life, even in Nerima, was good.
***
Quatre, Wufei, and Heero stood just outside the school gates waiting for the rest of their group. Duo had pulled Trowa aside to speak to their homeroom teacher on their way out of the building, and the two of them had not yet appeared.
"I wonder what Ms Hinako wanted to speak to Trowa about," Quatre said, looking somewhat concerned.
"I do not know, but apparently she wished to speak to Maxwell as well," Wufei said. "Here comes Barton now, but Maxwell isn't with him."
"Where's Duo?" Heero demanded as Trowa approached.
"He said to go on without him; he's going to be busy with Ms Hinako for quite a while," the taller boy answered. Frowning, he demanded, "Had any of you realized that, other than those brief stays at schools during the war, Duo only ever attended school for one year, during the time he was at the Maxwell Church Orphanage?"
"What?!" Quatre exclaimed in disbelief.
"Oh, over the three years that he was being trained, G crammed university-level math and physics down his throat, together with a healthy dollop of chemistry as it applied to explosives and another of human anatomy as it applied to killing and first aid, but everything else he's had to pick up on his own," Trowa said, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Oh, dear," Quatre murmured. "No wonder he always hated school missions..."
"I always thought he got poor grades on purpose, just because he didn't like attending school," the Chinese boy said, disgusted at his own failure to understand his friend.
"Why didn't he ever tell us? Or ask for help?" Heero whispered, abruptly realizing just how much his own repeated sharp criticism of Duo's schoolwork must have hurt.
"I suspect because none of us bothered to ask him what the problem was," Trowa responded unhappily. "We all made our own assumptions about his behaviour but never bothered to ask him what was wrong. The only reason he told me now was because he thought I might have similar - gaps - caused by my background. S was much more thorough than G, though. I don't have nearly the depth of training in physics and chemistry that Duo has, but since I was being trained for infiltration assignments, S made sure that I had a reasonable degree of knowledge in a broad range of subjects.
"Duo only brought it up now because Ms Hinako is giving him a series of placement tests to help figure out which subjects he is behind in and where he's at in them, and he thought I might benefit from them too. Apparently, he may be able to get advanced placement in the areas he is strong in and be exempted from those classes in order to catch up in others."
"Did Duo ask her about this himself?" Quatre asked, wondering how Duo had found out that this was a possibility.
"No," the other boy answered, "and I'll warn you in advance, Heero, that you're not going to like this.
"Apparently the middle Tendo sister, Nabiki, makes somewhat of a habit of information gathering, and once she found out who was moving in next door, she researched all of us and shared the information with her family and friends. Based on whatever information she found and his own somewhat spotty academic career, Ranma guessed that Duo would have similar difficulties to his own and offered to speak to the teacher about providing him with assistance too."
"Dammit - what level of information would she have come up with on Duo to let a complete stranger figure that out when none of his friends ever guessed?" Heero growled darkly. 'And what sort of friends would have overlooked a problem this big for this long?' he accused himself silently. 'At least now I understand why I upset him so easily last night. I'm sorry, Duo...'
TBC...
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