Everything is black, Shiro Smith thought as he was floating in space. The idea of asphyxiation hadn't set in, but for now he was enjoying the idea of floating nowhere in particular without a care in the world. "Shiro...Shiro...Shiro" a female voice spoke out of the darkness. Both distant and yet it echoed through him, soothing him, comforting him. It was like he just reached Nirvana. "SMITH-SENSEI!" a more annoying and younger voice tore though the cosmos. Shiro was sent tumbling through space until he crash-landed... and awoke in the bleachers of Furinkhan High with Sakura and Tonomi hovering over him & still holding Sakura's hand. The fainting trick didn't work. It looks like there's trouble at Furinkhan High. And Shiro was center stage with a spotlight on him. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ranma 1/2: Lack of Common Sensei Part 8: The Trap, and the Crash Setting and some characters courtesy of Rumiko Takahashi Created by: Winston Smith This part by: Steven Hykes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tonomi and Sakura both helped the slightly overwhelmed Shiro to his feet. He thought as he gave a very slight smile to Sakura. She looked totally embarrassed by the scene, but it looked like she had something behind it... almost like she was determined to do something. "Sakura? What are you thinking?" he asked. "About how much I want to get unstuck from you, how much I want to explain this whole mess without getting fired, how much I want to see you put the principal in his place for once in my life..." She would have gone on to the other points, but she was interrupted. Tonomi pointed to the sky and yells "Look at that!" Sakura and Shiro both look above towards the sun. It looks as if part of it is darkend out, casting the athletic field in shadow. "Funny, the next solar eclipse isn't scheduled until next year, and Tokyo isn't supposed to see it THAT well." Sakura remarked aloud to nobody. The murmers of the crowd that had gathered grew larger as the field dimmed, as most crowds are prone to do. Next, it became a string of 'Ooos' and 'Aaahs' as an American parade float driven by Yamada-Sensei came onto the field. Thick white fabric concealed the horrors Principal Kuno had devised underneath float. Principal Kuno was on top of the highest point of the float while grinning like a maniac. "ALOHA! Me got the goods, an' you godda go down as first teach I disipline with dis! I wassa going save this to Saotome, but this godda be a test run." At that he tears the fabric off the float to reveal a merry-go-round redecorated in Hawaiian Tacky. "You survive dis' till the song 'Da merry go round broke down' ends and you keep the club, odderwise..." he pulled out a pair of clippers to drive home his point. Shiro and Sakura walked slowly to the machine. Some of the horses were there; some were replaced with Luau pigs. There were Pineapple trees as supports of the top, and the whole thing was convered with pink & white orchids to drive the point home. "How do you want to do this?" Shiro asked Sakura. "I don't know but it seems I'm stuck with going along for the ride." She replied dryly. "Where should we sit? On a horse or a pig?" "Either way it's trouble, but the horse is more conventional" The pair got on the platform while Nabiki was still collecting bets. It was going heavily against Shiro when it became obvious that Sakura-Sensei was going on as well. The pair stood by, what else, a white horse. Shiro helped Sakura into the seat and asked "Should I get up there too, or stand here?" She looked at the space. "You'd get turned around up her and it would look worse. Stay standing and watch my back." Just then the ride jolted to a start and the music started. It got up to a speed a little faster than Shiro remembered American go-rounds to be, but there were no real traps yet. Sakura was just to the point where she considered relaxing when the first trap sprung. The horse she was sitting on spun around quickly, hitting Shiro in the gut and while Sakura held on with her free hand for dear life, Shiro was being thrown around almost horizontal. Shiro's shoes flew off his feet and hit one of the trees. Two pineapples fell from it and landed on the floor exploding in smoke and light. The horse suddenly stopped spinning and both of them went tumbling onto the rotating floor. Shiro landed on his socked feet, but right in front of one of the Luau pigs. The music reached the bridge of the tune when the pig's snout snorted hot air and flaming tounges onto Shiro's backside causing him to scream loudly. Sakura backed away as far as she could from Shiro. The sounds, the screaming, the backround music playing, and her lesson plans for Science class next week. Then the way out dawned on her. "That's it!" she yelled. "Shiro, I need a pineapple!" "Have you lost it? Those things explode!" "Try to catch one & throw it quckly again and it won't! Listen, the music gets louder and softer as we circle around this thing, that means there's only one source of music. If we break it, we win the Principal's challenge, remember?" Shiro wasn't sure if she had gone crazy from shock, but right now he'd try just about anything. He backed towards another tree ready to shake a pineapple loose. "Now what?" He asked. Sakura was making mental calulations to get the arc right. She turned to Shiro. "On 3 hit it. I'll catch and throw it to the platform... 1, 2, 3!" Shiro hit the tree with the full force of his back. Sakura quickly caught the closest one and lobbed it towards the musical source. While she was occupied, Shiro noticed another trap. Above them a set of electric clippers descended Shiro had moments to act. He tackled her as she threw the payload. The resulting explosion stopped the merry-go-round's motion and the clippers fell from their places 4 feet above them. Shiro heard the music stop, followed by the buzz of clippers and felt the thud of something metal hit the back of his head near his collar. he thought. As the dust settled around them, they dragged themselves from the float. Some, in the bleachers was cheering the winners for saving the club and saving their hair. Others were looking forward to a fight. Sakura turned to Shiro and noticed the damage caused by the deathtrap. A look of horror passed her face, as Shiro reached the back of his head to where the wind was cooling the area a pair of clippers struck him. It would appear the Principal would finally get someone to follow his rules of hair management. Shiro felt completely humiliated, despite winning the first half of the challenge. Principal Kuno and Nabiki were the only 2 not cheering them on, one for losing, and the other for setting the odds wrong. Just then, it seemed night on the field. Looking up, the beleaguered pair saw the sun completely obscured now by something getting bigger. "Look up in the sky!" Hinako-chan cooed. "It's a bird!" Hiroshi yelled enthusiastically. "It's a plane." Disuke intoned. "...It's an airship?" Tonomi quizzically said finishing the chant. Indeed a big yellow hot air balloon with a Spanish Galleon under it was losing altitude and heading straight for the athletic field. Less than a third of the school thought to move away from the bleachers as it came in for a crash landing and a large smoky explosion right in front of the bleacher. The balloon collapsed over the bleachers to save on animation costs a few seconds later. The Galleon's nose and bottom splintered and threw off blunt shrapnel, but the occupants were only shaken up. Luckily, Most of the unfortunates in the bleachers were either heavily bruised or had minor injuries The contents of the ship were noisy. Boys yelling, Girls with bad Chinese accents, and even an little pervert caused the ship to sound more occupied than it was. Sakura could pick out a very important voice above the din saying "YOU IDIOT!" Then she saw the man who challenged Shiro approach them. Shiro made no attempt to hide his fear of getting even more pain today at the hands of a trained marital artist. Sakura decided to take matters into her own hands, er hand. "Akane" Sakura yelled "How do you dissolve the glue you made - I'm stuck to Smith-Sensei because of it!" Akane looked over the wrecked balcony to the teachers below "Sensei! Use Pickle Brine, it'll wash off in a snap afterward." "Pickle Brine? Wherever are we going to find that quickly so we can get this match under way?" Sakura yelled up. "We just got back from Nekonron, China and we've got pickle vats in the hold!" Akane yelled back. Soun looked a little puzzled by the development. "Wait a second. You two are stuck together by glue?" Shiro answered with what little confidence he had left. "Yes, we tried removing it with water and soap earler to no avail." "So this isn't some teacher-student love affair is it?" Soun prodded on. Sakura took this question. "No, he's our English teacher. One of the best we've had all semester." Soun sweatdropped as he realizes the contradiction he's caught himself in. "Well then, if it's all about glue and they're both teachers, then there isn't really a need to fight is there? All's well that ends well that's what I always say." Shortly after ward the glue was de-glued and Shiro collapsed in exhaustion. The club was still his, but at a price of his hair and a lot of bruises. Soun fireman carried Shiro to the Nurse's office to get treated right away, as a way of making up for his melodramatics earlier. The rest of the school was still dragging itself out from under the crashed ship and crawling to the office slowly. There hadn't been this much mass pain at school since Hinako showed up and challenged Ranma. The Nurse would soon have her hands full. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Well, I've gotten Dr. Tofu and his assistant Mr. Saotome coming over to help, and both Akane and Tonomi have volunteered to help triage until they arrive." Nurse Karou says as she inspects the altered head of Shiro. "This is a mess, but I think I can do something with what's left." She took a pair of scissors and evened out the back where Kuno's clippers hit him. "There, I think it's called a 'fade' over in America. Not the most popular style, but it looks good on you." Sakura, Karou, and Tonomi all smiled in agreement. As the casualties pile up in the gym, Shiro looks in the restroom mirror at his now might as well be a buzz cut hair. It brought out his American half and after a few minutes got used to the idea of looking like this - at least until his hair grows out. It had been the end of a very long day after looking at his torn and singed clothes. He looked like a disaster victim, but inside he felt like a marathon winner. he thought. End part 8. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok, let me start by saying this is my first attempt at fanfiction, and I had VERY unusual circumstances to write this. [Regular followers of LoCS will know why] So, before you write me telling me how terrible this is, keep all that in mind. I would like to thank my little brother Brian 'Random' Hykes for giving me the courage to attempt this, and hopefully he won't be so mad that I couldn't write a character like him in due to the sudden change in parts. I would also like to thank Sonny Taing for doing pre-reading and preventing me from committing 2 major blunders on this part. All correspondence for the author can be sent to shykes@nowonline.net. Thank you & God bless.