Blue Tides

By Kyle Emmerson

Ranma 1/2 is the sole intellectual property of Rumiko Takahashi. I take no
credit in the creation of these characters and situations. Enjoy.

Prologue: The First Wave

----

	It was Ranma's first morning at the Tendo home, and already he'd
found three deciding factors that it was going to turn into a bad day.
First, his father sprung it upon him on a moments notice that he was going
to attend the local High School, Furinkan. Then, in an effort of taunting
Akane, his only enjoyment since arriving, some old lady had splashed him
while rinsing her sidewalk.

	Then there was Doctor Tofu. Now, that was an anomaly.

	"He's pretty good," Ranma said, running along the top of the
fence. "Martial Artist?"

	"You could tell?" Akane asked, looking up to him.

	"Yeah, I mean... he snuck up on me without me even noticing. To
hide himself from the senses like that... He'd have to be pretty damn
good," Ranma replied.

	"Well, he's been--"

	"Whoa! Watch out, man!"

	"Hmm?" was all Ranma manage to get out as he was knocked from his
place on the fence. It took all of his power and skill just to avoid
falling into the water. Instead, he fell on his shoulder on the pavement,
next to a bewildered Akane.

	He quickly got up to face the... thing that knocked him off the
fence.

	He was about to yell when he saw some guy grinding a skateboard to
a dead halt-- on the fence. The guy looked around his age, his hair was
somewhat long, what wasn't covered up by a red bandanna. He wore black
wide-leg jeans and yellow hooded shirt with... something in English
written on it. He also noted the long metal chain that ran from his front
pocket to his back pocket.

	"Whoa man," the... person said. "You okay?"

	Ranma rubbed the back of his head and scowled. "What the hell are
you doing?"

	"Sorry, man. I was distracted. You musta been too until I hit you.
Really sorry 'bout that, man."

	"What are you talking about?" Ranma said, looking sheepishly at
Akane. "I wasn't distracted."

	"No, you were. You were running along the same fence I was
boarding on, you know. That means you're either a gymnast or a martial
artist, and gymnasts would have known I was coming. Same with martial
artists. You were distracted."

	"Hey--" Ranma began to say, but was abruptly cut off.

	"Look, you two can argue until you're blue in the face, but I need
to get to school before I'm late," Akane said, running up ahead.

	"Oh, shit!" the strange one said. "That's right! I need to get
going!" He quickly turned around and hopped onto his skateboard, and
passed Akane in record speed."

	Ranma frowned. "Damn weirdoes. I never should have come here," he
said, then ran forward to catch up with Akane."

	"Who was that guy, anyway?" Ranma said.

	Akane shrugged. "I think it's Tatewaki Kuno," she said.

	"Who?"

	"The new Principal's son. The whole school has been talking about
it for weeks. The Principal's spent his life out there, and his kids are
starting at the school today. I hear his daughter's going to be in our
class."

----

	"Students, please rise," the teacher said.

	The students did so.

	"Class, we have not one but two new students today. The first, as
you know, is the daughter of the new Principal, Kodachi Kuno."

	Kodachi, who was in fact, not dressed in a uniform, but instead a
pair of jeans and a red tank top, nodded as if to acknowledge her
recognition.

	"Kodachi spent her life in Hawaii, so she's new to Japan. Everyone
please show her how Furinkan Students behave," he said. "And next, we have
Ranma Saotome."

	Ranma nodded.

	"Ranma has just come back from a long trip to China, so please
show him how we behave." He looked over to the new students. "You two may
be seated."

	The students nodded and picked out the two empty seats near the
back of the room.

	"Oh, and Ranma, Kodachi?"

	The two students looked up.

	"I'll expect uniforms on you by the end of the week."

	Both Ranma and Kodachi scoffed simultaeneously, then looked at
each other momentarily. They each looked away.

	A moment later, their desks were flooded with people. Most of the
guys (and some of the girls) flocked Kodachi's desk as Ranma's desk was
flocked by the rest of the class-- with the exception of Akane, who was
looking back and smirking at them.

	A barrage of questions flooded the two newcomers, everything from,
"Wow? China?" to "What's your bust size?"

	It subsided after a few minutes and the students gradually
returned to their desks to get some real learning done.

	Kodachi and Ranma both had no idea what was going on.

----

	"Class, this is Tatewaki Kuno, who has just moved here from
America. Please give him a warm welcome," the teacher said.

	"Hi," Kuno said, waving. "Call me Tach."

	The class gave him a calculating look. It took all of two seconds
for the girls to decide they liked him, and another half a second after
that for the guys to decide they hated him.

	Nabiki, however, had decided she was going to be his new best
friend ever since she found out he was rich.

	'Tach' slowly found his way into the class and took a seat. As
soon as the teacher's back was turned, the girls flooded his desk, while
the guys just glared at him. Nabiki only had to clear her throat, and the
desk was cleared.

	She walked forward, and put her hand on Tatewaki's desk.

	"Tatewaki Kuno? I'm Nabiki Tendo."

	Tatewaki looked dumbfounded for a few moments, then took her hand
and shook it. "Hi. Call me Tach please."

	Nabiki blinked. "Umm... Okay, Tach."

	At this time, the teacher had noticed the condition of the class
and forced everyone back into their desks.

	Nabiki gave Tach a wink and looked back to the teacher.

	Tach just continued to look at her in confusion.

----

	"You know," Ranma said, taking a chunk of his sandwich and
swallowing it. "That Kodachi chick seems a little... weird, doncha think?"

	Akane scoffed. "SHE'S weird? Look at you, Ranma."

	"Hey!" Ranma exclaimed.

	"Besides," Akane looked back at him and smirked. "I think you like
her."

	"WHAT?" Ranma screamed, almost enraged. "I don't like--"

	"Besides, I think she kinda likes you," Akane said quickly.

	Ranma stopped almost immediately. "Umm. Well, it's not like it
matters anyway. I'm a martial artist. I'm not in it for the chicks."

	"Hey," a voice called from nearby. "You're the guy I moshed
earlier, right?"

	Ranma looked back and rolled his eyes. Oh, great.

	"Yeah, hey. Look, really sorry about all that earlier, I was
focused on school. First day and everything, ya know."

	"Yeah, whatever," Ranma said, resting his arms behind his head.
"It didn't phase me any, so there's no use in apologizing."

	"Well... uhh..." Tach began. "Look, I'm still sorry. I'm Tach
Kuno."

	"Yeah, I figured that," he replied. "Your sister is in my class."

	"Forgive him, Sempai," Akane said. "He's new here too."

	"No shit?" Kuno replied. "Actually, can you please not call me
that?"

	Akane blinked in surprise. "Umm. Why not?"

	"Too... uhh... formal, I guess," he replied. "Look, anyway--
that's not why I'm here. Coach and I--"

	"Coach?"

	"Yeah, my sister," he replied. "We call her coach 'cause she's a
harsh sports fiend, and it's close enough to her actual name it doesn't
matter."

	"Really?" Akane asked.

	"Really. Look, anyway-- what I was gonna say is that we're having
a bake over at our place--"

	"A bake?" Ranma asked.

	"A clandig... A party."

	"Oh."

	"You annoying my classmates again, Tach?"

	"Just getting them out to the bake," Tach replied. "So how 'bout
it?"

	"A party?" Akane asked. "I'm... not exactly..."

	"Come on, sis," Nabiki said, walking by. "Scared of a party?"

	Akane furrowed her brow and scowled at Nabiki. "I'm not scared of
anything, Nabiki!"

	"I'll go," Ranma said.

	Tach clapped his hands. "Right on!" he said. "Nabs knows the
address, I gave it to her in class..."

	"Nabs?" Akane asked.

	Nabiki just shook her head. "Don't ask."

----

	Well, that's about all I've done so far. The fic should be up on
the page in a little bit. Comments, criticism, and even suggestions are
appreciated.

Seeya!

http://www.nabiki.com/tydi-oh-ki