[Ranma][FanFic] Birthright 2
Arthur Hansen
bit. I'm posting this here and to RAAC for people's enjoyment. As always, my
homepage is http://home.utah-inter.net/arthurh/art.html
I don't own these characters, I'm just borrowing them for non-profit fun.
----
Birthright 2
Tatewaki Kuno stood easily, waiting for the cretin who dared to stand
between him and his sun, his love fore ordained. The wind moved his hair
lightly, keeping it just out of his eyes. Half closed eyes watched as
his love and the coward came to these hallowed halls of learning.
Ah, if only the others would see that it was foolish to challenge her
ferocity. That only he had the ability to tame her, to make her, his
own. See her movements, mowing done the foolish and ill prepared. Now!
Now was the moment for him to take his place on the stage called life!
"Akane Tendo! Never a fairer rose did bloom, as did you this morn."
"Kuno," Akane said flatly. She placed herself into a favored Kempo
stance.
"Ah, my dear flower. As always, you are prepared for the daily challenge
that I issue to you. But worry not this fine day, for you are not the
one that I seek to challenge. Nay, it is that common cur, known as Ranma
Saotome that I wish to challenge this day." He paused dramatically,
letting the wind blow through the yard, moving the grass and his kimono.
"Accept my challenge, craven coward! Or give up thy claim to the
beauteous Akane Tendo forever more."
"You bet I accept your challenge, Kuno. I'll show..." Ranma started to
respond loudly.
"On Friday, right Ranma?" Akane pinned him with a serious glare.
"Doctors orders. And remember what your father said?"
"What? Oh, right." Ranma turned and faced Kuno with a scowl. "You got
it, Kuno. After school, Friday!" Ranma clenched his fist tightly. He
wanted to pound that sneer right off of his face, right now.
"What? The righteous justice of heaven awaits for nothing!"
Ranma started to growl as he stepped up, until he was interrupted by
Akane and her arm, as she spoke out, "If that is the way you want it,
Kuno, I'll champion him. It's my fault that he's injured and can't
answer the challenge."
"Hey! I can handle my own fights!"
"You're not even supposed to spar for a couple of days, Ranma. And I was
the one who hurt you, remember? So it's my fault."
"Ah, for Akane Tendo to defend him because of her high standards and
honor. The gods must weep at the wonders that still exist in this modern
age. That such honor still exists. I shall counsel myself to patience,
so that I might strike down the true cause of her misery. Until Friday,
then. We shall meet on the playing field, so that all might know of my
glorious victory." And with that, Tatewaki Kuno spun on his heel and
strode with majesty into the school.
"What a moron."
"Whatever, Ranma. Let's get to class."
-
Nabiki drummed her pencil against the piece of paper, columns neat and
organized. This could be fun. And a whole work week to prepare! The
betting has already turned fierce, as many of Kuno's lackeys were
showing their support. And just as many people who had had enough of
Kuno were betting on the new guy who could beat Akane. The same Akane
that never lost!
Nabiki grinned in amusement. I wonder if she realizes how much Kuno lets
up when she's fighting? Her father's other students were nothing
compared to Kuno. Some of the moves that she'd seen him pull during
those fights were startling, even though she knew what Akane was capable
of.
Akane was in for a nasty surprise, as was her cocky fiance. If she
played her cards just right, she could make a bundle.
Nabiki carefully put away the pad of paper and pulled out a shojo that
she'd brought from home. Keeping an eye out for her teacher to make sure
she wasn't caught not following the assignment, she opened up the manga,
transporting her to a simpler time. A time when princesses were always
protected by handsome, dashing men who thought everything of them. A
brave resourceful princess, without a real care in the world.
-
Nanami hummed to herself as she finished cleaning the last dish, placing
it with the rest so that it could dry properly. She dried her hands on
her apron as she walked out into the main room. She glanced around. What
to do now? Ah, there was Mr. Tendo and Mr. Saotome, coming in from the
last morning class.
"It's elementary, Tendo. And I'd feel rude to not help out where I
could."
"Saotome! You are a guest! I would feel wrong with you helping out with
some of the classes."
"Nonsense, we're just about family, now. And besides, it'll give me
something to do. And something to keep me in shape!" He slapped his
belly for effect. Genma said all of this with just a touch of humility,
something he knew almost nothing of. This would allow him to stay in the
best shape to start really training Ranma, once he wasn't injured
anymore. And he would show his old friend how good Ranma really was.
"Hmm, I suppose I could split a couple of the larger classes. Very well,
you've talked me into it, Saotome old friend. But I must insist that you
be paid for your effort."
"Why, that is quite generous! What ever you think is fitting of course."
Soun laughed heartily. "And I'll even let you pick up the bar tab
sometimes!" Hanging around Genma made him feel young and alive again.
"I don't know that you need to be that generous." Genma glared at his
old friend.
"Ha ha! Just checking to make sure that you really are my old friend.
How about a game of go before lunch?"
"Of course! Nanami cooks a wonderful spread!"
"You are too kind, Mr. Saotome." Nanami thought to herself about the
lunch she had prepared to make. Maybe she should make it just a bit
bigger. He was a fairly big eater, after all. She bowed and turned to
leave.
As she started to prepare their lunch, she thought how best to raise
some of her concerns about Nabiki to Soun. The girl was obviously in
need of someone taking control of her life, even if it wasn't her. It
was evident that she was heading towards a bad life. If she wasn't
careful, she might even drop out of school.
But she wasn't their mother. How was she supposed to tell Soun that he
wasn't doing a good job of being a parent? He maintained their lifestyle
and means. It was normally supposed to be the wife's duty to raise the
children with proper respect and care.
Nanami shook her head, saving the dish she was working on from being
scalded. It wouldn't do to burn lunch, after all.
-
Akane stepped into the dojo and up to the shrine. With deft motions that
had become routine through repetition, she lit an incense stick. She
then clapped her hands and bowed her head. She had lost her center and
also her focus. And with her focus, she had almost broken the promise
that she had made to her dying mother. So each day she had rededicated
her life to the promise and to the memory of her departed mother.
Visual imagery danced in her minds eye. Petal blossoms became one with
the swirling wind which traveled through the snow covered mountains to
an ancient hidden valley shrine. Akane repeated the mental steps three
more times, until she had built up her concentration to where she felt
it needed to be for what she planned.
Her bare feet slapped the wood of the dojo floor, her body flowing from
one form to another. She had watched Ranma and his father both, seeing
the movements that guided their strikes, their change in posture that
signaled which directions they could best defend themselves from. She
consciously sought to try and disseminate the basis of their styles.
Most martial artists did this to one degree or another. What Akane was
trying to do here was one step further, to actually try to understand
intuitively what they would do in different situations. So that she
could react and respond quicker to their attacks and parries.
The corners of her mouth twitched slightly. Well and also learn the
particulars about their style. In a dojo style match, it hadn't really
helped Ranma in his fight against her. But, as she had thought about it
later, it seemed to be much more suited to an open and mobile arena.
Such as you would encounter outdoors, in some woods perhaps. And she
would not be at a disadvantage when it came that time.
Ranma blinked in surprise as he stepped into the dojo a few minutes
later. "Huh?" he said to himself. What was Akane doing? He watched for a
second, surprise growing by the second. That was a Saotome Anything Goes
martial arts kata.
Ranma frowned in thought as he noted that she wasn't doing it perfectly.
She was really close, but some of the timing was off, her footing just a
touch uncertain as she leaped higher into the air than she was used to.
He could show her what was wrong, but... he wouldn't. Those were his
families, not hers. An angry, ugly expression flashed across his face at
his jealousy.
No, he had his own practice to do. And when it came time for his rematch
with her, he would win. He'd have to talk to Pop and see what ideas he
had. Maybe some of the moves Ranma had developed against his father
would work even better against Akane than his Pop.
And with that final thought, Ranma slid into a smooth, flowing kata. His
footsteps glided across the floor as he carefully worked his body keep
its limberness and flexibility.
After an hour or so, Akane moved on to one of the practice dummies. She
stood in front of it for a few minutes slowly bringing her breathing to
a specific rhythm. Petal blossoms became one with the wind which
traveled through the snow covered mountains to an ancient hidden valley
shrine, she subvocalized to herself. After a sufficient time of
preparation, Akane pushed her body in a set of faster and faster punches
and occasional kicks at the dummy. Breath became one with each punch and
kick, her whole body straining to move quicker, without losing any
technique.
Ranma also moved over to one of the dummies, beginning his own speed
training. No way was he going to let her have any advantages if he could
help it.
-
Ranma and Akane came trotting into the school yard the next morning,
just like clockwork. Akane blinked in surprise at her loss of 'students'
as no one stepped forward to attack her. Ranma just looked around. The
same boys were there all right, in a line ahead of them, but they seemed
to be crying for some reason.
The baseball player stepped up. "Akane Tendo. We can't stand up against
Ranma's or Kuno's claim. It's obvious that they are the true contenders
for your heart. So we won't harass you anymore."
All of the other boy nodded their agreement.
Kuno suddenly stood forward, blasting them with a withering glare and
his shout. "How dare you put Ranma Saotome in the same lofty position
that I hold, ill bred cretin! She is destined to become my date!"
"Um, actually, I didn't say anything like that, upperclassman. We just
don't want to get in yous guy's way. You're way better than us. You're
the top fighter of the guys."
"Hey!" Ranma exclaimed.
"And the biggest pervert!"
"What? Who said that?" Kuno spun around to glare at the morning crowd.
"I am not going on a date with a clueless jerk like you!"
Kuno took a dramatic pose the back of his hand touching his forehead.
"Oh, that the heavens would weep so. That Akane Tendo would be so
blinded by the evil villainy of Ranma Saotome! How must I repair that
macabre wrongness that vexes my life?"
Ranma just rolled his eyes. What an idiot. "See ya Friday, chump."
"That's upperclassman to you, fiend!"
-
Friday morning dawned, gray and cool. After a round of sparring and
practice with their respective fathers, Ranma and Akane headed off to
school. They lightly bickered a bit about which Bruce Lee movie was the
best, but mostly just to pass the time. Their morning verbal sparring
with Kuno went by with little change, except for the fact that less
students attended. It seemed they were really only interested in seeing
blood.
The day dragged by for Ranma, as he hyped himself for the fight. By the
time of the end of the day, he was primed and ready, filled with energy.
At the last bell, he was out the window and over to the playing field
for Football, or as it was known in America, Soccer.
He tapped his toes, his slight nervousness showing through. Students
started to drift out and sit on the slight incline. Akane sat under one
of the trees by herself, interested to see how Ranma fought someone
other than her or his father.
Several students ran up late, carrying munchies and drinks that they had
purchased. "So who do you think is going to win?" Daisuke asked one of
the two girls sitting next to him.
Sayura tossed her head in uncertainty. "I don't know. I'm betting that
Ranma is. How about you?" she asked in return.
"I've seen Kuno go all out once. Wian never stood a chance when he tried
to join the kendo club. So I've bet on Kuno. Nabiki is giving Ranma
poorer odds to win, too." Diasuke nodded knowingly.
Hiroshi spoke up suddenly, "Yeah, and we all know that Nabiki is usually
on the know about who's best and all."
Yuka sniggered and then piped up, "But Kuno's never beat Akane. Never
even came close."
"You didn't know? Kuno always holds back when he's fighting a girl,"
Daisuke replied to her.
"Well, he can't be holding back that much," Yuka said with a glare.
"Wanna bet?"
Sayura and Yuka glanced at each other. Sayura nodded. With a smile, Yuka
responded, "Sure. How much?"
"Two thousand yen on the bet that Kuno beats Ranma handily, without
hardly getting hit."
"You're on!" both girls chorused.
"What?" Whatever Daisuke was going to say, was interrupted as Tatewaki
Kuno finally arrived, backed by the members of the kendo club.
Ranma tightened his clenched fists and then relaxed. He stood at the
center of the field. "I was starting to wonder if you were gonna show
up, Kuno."
"That's upperclassman to the likes of you, Saotome. Know this, that on
this day, Akane Tendo shall be freed of her unwanted engagement to Ranma
Saotome when I vanquish him on this field of battle. Then she becomes
free to date me again, as she must secretly wish!" Kuno proclaimed
loudly.
Akane's face started to turn an interesting shade of purple. How dare
he? That male chauvinistic creep!
"You're on, Kuno. Like she'd even want to be seen with a jerk like you."
"How dare you! Defend yourself, varlet!" And with that Kuno struck out
in a basic over-handed cut with his bokken, which Ranma sidestepped
easily with a yawn.
Kuno recovered and tried a diagonal swipe, which Ranma flipped over,
spinning upside down to bounce away on one hand. The crowd gaped in
surprise, including Nabiki. Ranma was doing better than she thought he
would.
"Ha, a cowardly way to fight, Saotome. I see that I shall have to
unleash my ultimate technique upon you!"
Ranma smirked in response. Kuno closed again, unleashing a flurry of
attacks, his bokken stabbing the air in a blindingly fast pattern,
almost overtaking Ranma's effort to dodge him. Two tears appeared in
Ranma's shirt before he could back away in a roll.
Twenty feet behind Ranma, the ground was being torn up as if being
struck by an invisible rotor-tiller. Dirt was being kicked up in a
jagged line, causing several people to scamper to safety.
"Wow! Just from the air pressure alone!" a student exclaimed.
Akane gaped in surprise. When had Kuno gotten this good? Wheels turned
in her mind, as she realized that...
"Wow! I guess Kuno's been holding back a lot against Akane! I wonder if
she can beat him when he goes all out like this?" Hiroshi blurted out,
flicking some dirt out of his hair. Akane stared daggers at him for that
comment.
When he took up his stance, Ranma's face showed none of the humor from
before. Kuno was much better than he had let on before. "Not bad, Kuno.
But not nearly good enough, either."
"Ha, so says you! I have drawn first blood! My fighting spirit hungers
to finish this battle!"
"Fine! Hya!" Ranma cried out, lightning punctuating his charge. A
whisper of approaching rain heralded his streaking attack.
Kuno blinked in surprise, bringing his blade up to defend himself.
Droplets of rain seemed to splash in slow motion as the figure in front
of him struck again and again. The punches were easily blocked, but Kuno
only barely saw Ranma right leg lash out in a blizzard of kicks. Kuno
could dimly feel each hit strike as Ranma was suddenly behind him.
The thunder finally crashed, rolling over the field, silencing everyone.
Nabiki yelped in surprise, "What?!?" No way! No freaking way!
The crowd gasped in shock Tatewaki Kuno, undisputed man of the campus,
crumpled onto his face.
They gasped again, as Ranma's figure blurred in the light rain,
shrinking and becoming more feminine.
Yuka managed to stutter out, "Ranma just turned into a girl!"
Ranma's new smile fell as she realized what had just happened.
Uncertainty flickered across her face, until something else grabbed
everyone's attention.
Everyone's sight was riveted to the furiously glowing black-haired girl.
Such was the power of her aura that no one could look away, until Akane
turned on her heel and stalked off. The quiet hiss of the rain was
broken as Akane punched an unoffending tree in two pieces that just
happened to be near her as she walked home.
"Whoa! Is she pissed!" was all Daisuke managed to get out.
That snapped the rest of the students out of their stupor, as a herd of
people headed towards the stunned Nabiki. Her look of consternation was
a salve for many of these same people that she had fleeced in the past.
"Hey! Akane! Wait up!" Ranma cried out, sprinting after her departing
fiancee.
"Oh, by the way, Daisuke. Pay up please!"
"Yeah!" Yuka piped up.
"Well, uh, I didn't thing you were both betting me. Heh, heh. I, uh,
don't have enough for both of you right now."
Yuka and Sayura took up identical 'thinker' poses. Then the same evil
grin appeared on both of their faces. "Don't worry, Daisuke. I'm sure we
can come to some agreement, right Yuka?"
"Right, Sayura."
A deep, hollow feeling filled Daisuke's stomach. He had a very bad
feeling about this now. "Sure!" he responded glibly.
-
"Akane! Wait up! Jeez, what's wrong with you? You're acting more goofy
than normal!"
Akane snapped to a halt and spun around. "Don't start with me right now,
Ranma! I've just found out that Kuno is so sexist that he won't even
really fight me. Like I'm some weak wallflower! I bet you would too, if
it wouldn't make you look bad!"
"Hey! That's not true! You're probably the toughest fighter that I've
run into that isn't my old man."
"Hmphf. So you say."
"Jeez, you can be so obnoxious sometimes!" A thoughtful expression
fluttered across her face. "Say, Akane? What am I going to tell people
when they ask about my curse?"
"Just tell them the truth, jerk. Or are you afraid some boy is going to
hit on you?" Akane turned back towards home and quickened her pace.
"I am not scared! Ooh, gross." Ranma paused a second, looking around.
"I'm a guy, even if I turn into a girl because of this stupid curse. No
way am I gonna ever let some dweeb hit on me." Her trotting figure
showed how female she was.
"Then don't be a weenie. Just tell them the truth and the problems
solved."
"Ah, man. They're all gonna think I'm weird."
"You are weird Ranma."
"You can be soooo uncute!"
"Shut up, dumb ass."
"Ha, make me, you tomboy!"
"Grr!"
-
Nanami heard the sound of Ranma and Akane arguing even before she heard
the door slam shut from their entry. She sighed and then brightened.
They didn't seem to be quite so loud this time. A few times this week
they had come in the door screaming and yelling, their fathers having to
separate them.
As if on cue, Genma shouted out, "Ranma! You should treat your fiancee
with more respect!"
"Akane! Ranma is your fiance! How are the schools going to be joined if
you keep up this behavior!"
"Can it, old man! You're just lucky that I'm not headed back to China
already!"
"Da-ad! Will you stop that! I am not marrying him!"
"Oh, the shame! That my daughter would act so shamefully!"
Two crashes shook the house as both fathers were kicked out into the
side yard, splashing down in the koi pond.
"You're not getting off that easy, Pop!" the female Ranma cried out at
she charged outside.
Nanami sighed. Some things haven't changed, it seemed. So she can be
forgiven for being startled when Akane suddenly piped up from behind
her. "Mrs. Naoka? I'm sorry to bug you, but I kind of need a favor."
Nanami smiled and responded as her hands steadied themselves. "What can
I do, Akane?"
"I need something for tomorrow and I need your help."
"Well, if I can, I'll see what I can do. Why don't you tell Nanami what
you need."
"Thanks, Nana. You're always there to help out."
Nanami rested up against the counter as Akane rattled on. Her old bones
weren't getting any younger. It's a good thing that Akane was almost an
adult. It really was time that she started to think about retiring. This
had been a good idea, eight years ago. She had needed something to get
her mind off of her husband when he passed away.
-
Ranma awoke as he normally did, dodging an attack by his father. Every
since Dr. Tofu's no sparring rule had been rescinded, his father had
been almost merciless as a taskmaster. Their morning sparring matches
had been just more intense. He frowned when he remembered something that
Soun had mentioned yesterday, how Akane's and his training had become
harder too.
He paid for that momentary lapse of concentration as Genma kick plowed
through his defenses, sending him sprawling into the pond.
Genma frowned as he landed lightly on a rock next to the pond. When
Ranma's head surfaced, he went into his full blown ranting mode. "This
is the sort of thing that allowed Akane to defeat you, boy! You might
have managed to avoid my wrath by pulling off a win the next day, but
this is abysmal! To think that you would let a girl defeat you in the
first place. Oh, that my son is so weak!"
Ranma's temper, rarely the best controlled thing to begin with, snapped.
"Ha! I'll show you and everyone else. No way am I gonna take a back seat
to Akane!" Ranma ducked a kick that Genma sent his way. Ranma unleashed
a flurry of punches and kicks at Genma.
Genma rolled away and bounced backwards too fast for her to follow. "Oh,
and how are you going to do that?"
"I ain't been sitting on my duff! I've been training extra hard!"
Genma folded his arms across his chest. "So has she. So?"
"I've got a plan, ok?" Ranma put on a hurt, but determined expression
and stomped back in to the house, dripping water onto the mats.
"Please use the towel, Ranma." Nanami handed Ranma a towel. Nanami
poured some hot water over her head. Then Ranma used the towel to dry
her hair and pat herself somewhat dry. Ranma handed the towel back to
her absently as he plunked down at his normal seat at the table.
Ranma glanced over in surprise at the empty spot where Akane usually
sat. He didn't hear the sounds of anyone practicing in the dojo. Mr.
Tendo was sitting on his side of the table, flipping through the
newspaper. On Saturdays, he didn't have an early morning class so he
could eat with the family.
"Say! Where's Akane?" Ranma asked.
Genma shrugged his shoulders as he sat down. Nabiki continued to slurp
her soup, avoiding looking over at the unwanted houseguest that had cost
her a quite hefty sum of money yesterday. Soun tilted his head, folding
the newspaper a bit so you could see him.
Nanami smiled brightly, "Oh! Akane's left for school already! She said
she had a special project that she needed to work on."
Soun wagged mustache for a second, creases appearing on his brow. "Akane
left for school this early? Usually she's practicing for another twenty
minutes. Was she feeling all right, Nanami?"
"Why, yes, she seemed fine."
Kasumi walked in, taking her seat at the table. She yawned and
stretched. With that she picked up her chopsticks and started eating.
"Huh. Ok, I guess. I'm gonna go take a bath and then head off to school.
See ya around noon." Ranma bounced to his feet and trotted out of the
room, having finished his eating in record time even for him.
Nabiki finished slurping her soup and got up to leave. She snagged her
leather jacket and left. The door slammed in the background, much more
noisily than normal for Nabiki.
Kasumi blinked in surprise, glancing in the doorways direction. "My,
that was odd. I wonder what's wrong with Nabiki?"
Soun just made a humphing sound from behind his paper. His middle
daughter was not one of his favorite breakfast topics.
Nanami picked up the dishes that Ranma and Nabiki had left. She paused
just before she stepped into the hallway. "I don't know. She's been
acting upset since yesterday. I forgot to ask Akane if anything bad
happened to her at school."
Kasumi wrinkled her nose at the smell of the soup. "I'm not feeling very
hungry. I'll grab something at school later, all right?"
Soun made a vague noise of acknowledgement as he turned the paper.
-
Ranma trotted along at full tilt towards school. He was actually a few
minutes early himself. As he rounded the corner, he spotted his least
liked acquaintance from school stepping out into his path.
"Hold, Saotome! I understand that you have been spreading lies about me,
that you vanquished me with unseeming ease! I can not let these lies
exist, for they are an afront to the heavens itself."
"Stuff it, Kuno! Take your loss like a man, instead of whining about
it."
"You dare speak to me so! And that is upperclassman to you!"
"Do you want some more, Kuno? I can take you any time of the day." Ranma
let go of his backpacks shoulder straps, dropping into a fighting
stance.
Kuno tightened the grip on his bokken, eyes narrowing.
"STOP!" a voice suddenly called out.
Kuno and Ranma spun face the person who had just interrupted their
fight. He leaped down easily from the ground's wall, tabi boots gripping
the grass easily. The shorter young, lanky man was garbed in the
traditional practice outfit of a kendoist. His gray hakima was gathered
up into his tight boots, his purple kimono was wrapped in such a way
that his sleeves would not be caught up. He wore the traditional leather
breastplate and kendo helmet and leaned a bokken lightly over his left
shoulder with his hand.
"Who the hell are you?" Ranma snapped out. "I'm trying to fight here."
"Indeed, as Saotome so uncouthly asks, who are you?"
"I am Rasika Detsuta, high school kendo champion of Tomobiko. I had
heard of this one's skills," he said, pointing at Kuno, "and wish to
challenge him. Unless he's too busy, of course," Rasika said in a low,
sarcastic drawl.
Ranma just shrugged. No skin off his nose if someone wanted to challenge
Kuno.
"Ah, that my legend has become so widespread, that my challengers should
flock from miles around to fight me! Of course! I shall deal with this
honorless dog after I have defeated you." Kuno took a moment to flick
his bangs dramatically with his fingers. "It is nice to see someone of
culture, who takes the history of our fair country as seriously as I."
Kuno wasn't even slightly ruffled. Obviously someone who relied on the
armor to serve as protection.
"Hah! You are so full of it Kuno!" Ranma sniped.
Kuno snapped a glare at Ranma, but was interrupted by Rasika, when he
called out, "Ready?"
"Ready!"
And with that, the two figures charged each other across the open grass.
Time seemed to stand still as both figures passed one another, blades of
wood striking out.
Kuno stumbled in surprise. His foe's blade was strong enough to
withstand his might! This was a true battle to test his mettle. He
turned back to see his foe already charging him, bokken flickering in a
tight pattern.
He back peddled quickly, managing to block all but a weak blow that
ripped his left sleeve by his shoulder. Rasika stopped his attack,
letting Kuno get a bit of breathing room.
"First blood goes to you, my foe-man! Such a worthy challenge!"
"Fight!" Rasika barked out.
Kuno obliged, sending a series of stunning attacks that Rasika had a
problem blocking. Suddenly on the defensive, Rasika lost ground and took
a small hit. Kuno let him recover, feeling magnanimous.
"That was a weak hit. I thought you were better than that, Kuno." Rasika
changed his posture to a crouch, holding his bokken above his head.
Kuno just glowered in response.
Again they charged at each other, trading strikes and blows that were
caught perfectly. Again and again they would meet one another and then
pull back. But each time, Kuno came out with one new tear in his outfit.
Finally, having enough of this, Kuno used his final attack, speeding up
an already insanely fast battle.
Rasika almost didn't react fast enough and actually missed the first
blow of hardened air. It struck with stunning force, shattering his
breastplate. Through his mask, you could see him grit his teeth,
obviously taking a stunning blow.
But even so, he continued to block the strikes. Kuno's confident grin
failed him, as Rasika retaliated with his own blindingly fast strikes.
The air crackled from the blows, as a sudden wind was generated by their
fierce fighting. The ground in between them was being smashed by the
air.
Suddenly, Rasika took to the air leaping over Kuno's head.
Their fight continued non-stop, even during that leap, as Kuno adjusted
to the odd fighting style. Each one was struck by a blow, Rasika being
knocked savagely with a hit to the back of the shoulders, while Kuno
took a blow to his sword arm. A two foot piece of black rope fell to the
ground behind Rasika as he rolled to his feet.
Both took a moment to recover, but Rasika reacted faster. "Enough of
this!" Rasika attacked one handed with the bokken, fist and feet
blurring, surprising the kendoist. He had just a moment to realize that
he had again been struck in most of his soft spots across his body.
Kuno collapsed onto his face. The crowd behind him broke into a cheer.
Rasika relaxed, his breathing slow and steady.
"He's even better than Kuno, too?" Nabiki stuttered out. This couldn't
be happening again! Several of her friends nodded dumbly in response.
Yuka sighed dreamily. So dashing and mysterious, his features still
hidden behind his kendo helmet. Maybe she could get his phone number!
Ranma whistled softly in appreciation as he walked up to Rasika. "You
could have won at any time, couldn't you?"
Rasika looked at Ranma levelly and responded in her normal voice, "Yes."
She then removed her helmet and wiped her brow.
"Akane? What the? That was you?" Ranma stuttered. Something didn't look
right though. Something about her appearance was different.
"Yeah? What of it? I knew the only way Kuno would fight me all out was
to disguise myself as a boy. It worked. Now no one can say that I can't
beat Kuno fairly." Akane had a very set expression on her face.
Kuno groaned on the ground behind her, catching her attention. She
turned and faced towards him. Slowly, Kuno stumbled to his feet.
"Impossible," he wheezed. "It must be some form of trickery."
"Oh, shut your male chauvinistic pig mouth, Kuno! I beat you fair and
square. Just like Ranma beat you yesterday."
Ranma nodded in approval.
"Akane Tendo? You are garbed as that cad Rasika, who has fled from my
wrath!" Kuno's expression was confused.
"Get a clue, Kuno. I was pretending to be Rasika so that you would
really fight me."
"What? That was you?" Kuno paused again. "Of course it was you! I knew
all along!"
"Oh, brother. Yeah, right, Kuno."
"Hey, Akane! What happened to your hair?" Ranma asked suddenly.
"I just did it up in a braid, Ranma." Akane rolled her eyes.
"Ah." Ranma reached down to pick something off the ground. "I don't
think so."
Akane blinked and then reached up behind her head to check her hair. "My
hair?" It was gone, from just below they neck. She'd been working for a
long time to make it long enough to get Dr. Tofu's attention. He just
didn't seem attracted to her. She had thought that maybe if she looked
more 'womanly' that maybe he would notice her. A foolish hope, she knew.
She had a niggling suspicion that he just didn't see her as anything
other than a patient.
Her attention was dragged back to the present, as the school bell
chimed. She would have to deal with her loss later.
With a shake of her head, she strode off to change before class.
Ranma stared after her for a second, and then down at the rope of hair
in his hands. He couldn't understand why she had a look of sadness when
she looked down at her hair.
Why was it so important?
He was answered by a hushed conversation between Yuka and Sayura as they
walked by him to go to class. "I can't believe her hair! How can she
stand to be in public?" Yuka said quietly.
Sayura responded, "I know I'd be mortified to be caught out in public
with such a bad haircut."
He strained his ears, hoping to pick out a bit more. He looked back to
the hair in his hands. "Maybe it's a girl thing," he muttered. Girls
always seemed to care about their appearance. And Akane was a girl, even
if she was almost as good as me, he thought.
He left that mystery for the future as he dashed into school.
-
The bell chimed for the end of the day, letting loose the throngs of
school children. Most met in twos and threes, plans for the rest of the
weekend already set. Ranma stood leaning up against the wall next to the
school exit. His backpack was one his back, thumbs under his shoulder
straps as he glanced around in seeming nonchalance. Akane had gone to
her home economics for her last class, while he had gone to his normal
woodcrafts class.
Ranma blinked a couple times, as he saw Akane finally walk out, now
wearing her school uniform. She carried her book bag in one hand, the
other toted a tangled pile of clothes and kendo gear haphazardly.
"Ready?"
"Sure. Need to drop that stuff off at home?"
"Um hmm. It's on the way to the theatre," Akane replied as she shrugged
her shoulders. They set off down the road at a sedate pace. Akane tried
to hide her morose expression.
Ranma sneaked a glance, pretending to check the area as he checked out
Akane. Akane saw him, but ignored his looking at her. If he made any
wisecracks about her hair, she'd just pound him.
Huh, must have got her hair cut some time during school. Ranma cleared
his throat silently. "Um, that shorter cut looks good on you." Akane's
hair was now cut evenly just above her shoulders.
Akane arched an eyebrow in surprise. "Really?" Ranma was being nice?
Well, it wasn't like he could be a jerk all the time.
Ranma flushed for a second as he suddenly found his collar too tight.
"Yeah, it makes you look kind of cute."
Akane stopped, flabbergasted. She put her hand to her hair self-
consciously. "You're not just saying that, are you?"
"Ah? Why?"
Akane blushed deeply, embarrassed that Ranma could get that sort of
reaction out of her. A small smile stole across her face.
Ranma grinned to himself, then quickly changing his expression to a much
more studied face. She looked a lot cuter when she smiled. It almost
seemed like smiling was something foreign to her. But it didn't matter.
He still wasn't going to marry her. "It was nothing, really! You just
looked like you needed cheering up."
Akane noted the change, quickly looking away. She shook her head
suddenly. She wasn't going to mope around. She wasn't a weak little
girly girl.
Out of the side of her eyesight, she saw that Ranma was just ambling
along on the top of the fence without a care in the world. Nothing
indeed! She hefted her backpack onto her shoulder and took out her
bokken out of the pile. She walked for another half block, not saying
anything. There, that's where she wanted.
Ranma relaxed. It didn't appear that Akane was going to be doing
anything. For a second there, he'd thought that she was going to hit him
with that bokken or something.
"Oh, Ranma?" Akane piped up suddenly in a too cutesy voice. Ranma
glanced her way, unconcern evident on his face. "Think fast!" And with
that, Akane stabbed out with the bokken in an oddly familiar pattern.
Ranma ducked and weaved, dodging the invisible blows of air. "Ha! That
didn't work when Kuno tried it! What makes you thi-ink, whoa! Agk!"
Ranma suddenly found the top bar of the chain link fence suddenly broken
under his feet, which had been Akane's true target after she had
unbalanced Ranma.
Arms and legs flailing, Ranma landed in the shallow water of the canal.
Sputtering in outrage as she sat in the water, Ranma glared at the
school girl smirking at him through the fence.
"Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Ranma. You're pretty cute too." Akane
started to giggle at the red heads discomfited expression.
"Why'dja go and do that? And I take that back! You aren't cute at all!"
Ranma hopped up on the broken fence, maintaining her precarious perch
easily. She shook her fist at Akane.
"Nyah!" Akane stuck her tongue out and bolted to a nearby rooftop.
"Come back here!"
-
Nanami tilted her head to hear better. That sounded like Akane and
Ranma. And fighting again, of course.
"Stay out of my room!"
Nanami winced as the sound of a slamming door could be heard upstairs.
That's funny, she didn't remember hearing the front door open.
"Like I'd want to go into your room!" Ranma said halfheartedly. She
trudged back downstairs to change and shower, as the furo was being
repaired. Dang she was fast. I didn't catch up to her the whole time
home. Almost did once, though!
About five minutes later, both of them met up downstairs. Their unease
grew as they were set on by their fathers. Ranma was wearing a blue
shirt this time. Akane was dressed casually, in jeans and loose T-shirt.
Ranma tried to remember if Akane had worn any other dresses other than
her school ones.
"Ranma! What did you do this time?" Genma yelled out, sending a quick
punch at Ranma's face.
Ranma ducked and tossed his father out towards the koi pond. "I ain't
done nothing!" Ranma followed up with a bounce kick off of his fathers
head. Genma fell back and splashed into the pond, sending water towards
a frantically dodging Ranma.
"Akane! Of course it's all right for your fiance to go into your room!
How is he supposed to get to know you better?" Soun asked, crossing his
arms across his chest. He still sat at the small shogi table.
"My room?" Akane screeched. "Get to know me better?" Akane's shoulders
started to shake in anger.
"I'm sure it would be a quiet place to study and talk." Soun had closed
his eyes and sat back slightly. "You two need to do something other than
spar or fight."
Akane's anger deflated as her father's words sank in. "Oh. I thought you
meant something... else. Um, actually, Ranma and I were going to go to a
Bruce Lee film festival today." Akane picked her most cutesy expression
and wheedling voice. "Can I have some extra money for food?"
Soun's eyes popped open. "A date?" he stuttered in surprise.
"It is not a date, dad! We're just going to some movies!" Akane said
petulantly.
"Yeah! No way I'd go on a date with some macho tomboy!" Ranma replied,
ducking a sign from the panda that emerged from the pond. Unnoticed by
everyone, the sign had the phrase 'Date?' on it. He trotted back up to
the house, being chased by a slower moving panda.
Akane glared at Ranma. "What did you call me, twerp?"
Soun had had enough. His palm slammed into the table, his eyes alight
with anger. "That is quite enough, you two. Quit acting like squabbling
little children. You shame me and this household," Soun thundered
loudly.
Both of the kids stopped and looked at each other angrily. Slowly the
anger seeped out of them. Flushing in embarrassment, they both bowed and
said, "Sorry."
"That's better. Go on and have fun. I don't want to hear about any
fighting or arguing." Soun took out his wallet and handed Akane a
generous fold of bills.
"Thanks, Dad." Akane nodded her head, face still blushing. She retreated
quickly to the front door and slipped on some heavy sandals.
Ranma was right behind her. "Ah! Bye!"
Soun sighed as he heard them start back up outside.
"This is all your fault, Ranma!"
"My fault? What did I do?"
Genma sat back down at his side of the table, looking over the game.
They'd have to start over, it looked like.
"They seem to enjoy fighting, don't they? Each other, us and the
engagement. I'm sure it will work out in the end. They do really seem to
like each other."
Genma nodded in response. He then whipped out a sign that had scrawled
over it, 'You're turn!'
-
Nabiki stormed home after parting ways with her 'friends' not much
later. The door slammed, its wood cracking slightly from the force of
the blow.
"Damn him. Damn her!" Nabiki muttered to herself. The thudding of her
footsteps could be heard all through the house as Nabiki went to her
room. She took a moment to lock her door and sit down on her bed.
She reached under a set of magazines that lay strewn across her floor,
extracting her account books. She had her wallet out and a small
notebook, with a list of IOU's circled in red. Unfortunately, those were
people she owed. She knew she was fairly lucky that some people had
actually bet that Kuno was going to win in the Ranma/Kuno match.
Now she regretted harping up the fight for the whole week, as the actual
amounts that had been bet had been fairly high. It took her a few
minutes to calculate and figure out her balance. The amount was fairly
unsettling. She had been so sure that Kuno would have been able to beat
Ranma handily. That's why she had given Ranma such decent odds. She
whistled in awe for just a second as she finished up.
She had just lost eighty-nine thousand yen in one betting pool. She was
very thankful that she'd had that reserve, just in case. Nabiki
extracted the shoebox out from under her bed and counted out the money.
She looked down in discouragement at the small amount of bills left
over.
"Gah! I can't believe that jerk cost me that much money!" Nabiki
exclaimed. Her head throbbed, signaling that a headache was on its way.
She listened carefully, hearing the sounds of cooking downstairs and her
father talking to someone. Stuffing the money in her wallet, she shoved
the shoebox back under the bed.
She slid open the drawer on the nightstand next to her bed, pawing
through the different bottles of vitamins until she came to one in the
back. The label was torn and ripped up. With a furtive glance around,
she pulled out a pill and noted that she was going to need to buy some
more for herself. Only four left.
She grimaced at that expense. She was not a junkie. It was just very
nice to have some sort of escape from the stress in her life and her
family. Maybe she should go easy for a while. Just to show that she
could.
She popped one pill and closed up the bottle. She grabbed her latest
stack of magazines and shojo's off the nightstand and started to thumb
through them.
Pretty soon the sounds of giggling wafted out. How the heck did the
princess get into that sort of problem, any ways?
-
"It's your fault we're late!"
"Why's it always my fault! You were the one that had to drop of that
stuff at home!"
Akane tried to find some flaw in that logic. "Well, you didn't need to
buy such a big thing of popcorn."
"I like popcorn! It ain't my fault they have highway robbers behind the
counter!"
"Considering your dad didn't give you any money! Some people!" Akane
fumed. She really wasn't in that bad of a mood. But appearances had to
be maintained. No way was she getting married to anyone any time soon.
Ranma was enjoying himself. Akane was fairly nice to be around when it
didn't deal with martial arts. Sure they argued, but Ranma didn't
remember a time when he hadn't argued with his father and friends. It
was just part of life. "My Pop just started to teach at the dojo. He
ain't even been paid, so how can he give me any money?"
Akane growled in mock anger. She had actually been quite surprised to
find out that Genma had taken up some of the teaching chores around the
dojo during the day. She was interrupted by the start of the second
movie.
Ranma just munched on some of his popcorn. He had always liked Bruce
Lee. He set the huge bucket of pop corn on his armrest so that Akane
could reach over and get some if she wanted any.
Pretty soon they were enmeshed in yet another struggle of good against
evil, where good was, of course, the best martial artist. Evil criminals
and assassins fell to the hero as he struggled to free his kidnapped
love.
Akane slowly reached out and put her hand in to grab some popcorn. She
and Ranma both jerked their hand out of the popcorn in surprise.
"Ah."
"Um," Ranma replied dumbly. For some reason he was blushing as hard as
Akane. It must be from embarrassment. That's got to be it.
Right.
They went back to watching the movie, sneaking glances at each other the
entire time. They caught each other looking over at them at different
times. Neither one was sure of what to make of it. Did it mean that the
other one really did kind of care? Or was it just an unwanted touch?
They spent the next two movies trying to decide that. It was an
agonizing, trying to figure this sort of thing. Ranma wondered why there
wasn't a martial arts dating technique.
Ranma tried to get just a little more soda from his depleted drink. He
wrinkled his nose and swallowed. Boy his mouth was dry.
Akane thought about it a second. She decided to see was would happen.
Without appearing to look at him, she held out her drink in a silent
offer.
Ranma stared at the cup for a second. His eyes darted to Akane for a
second and then slowly took the cup and a quick sip. He handed the cup
back immediately.
Akane set her drink back in her holder, slouching a bit more to get
comfortable. The edges of her mouthed fought not to twitch into a smile.
This was nice, she thought to herself.
Ranma was now doubly confused. She shared her drink with him, but now
seemed to be ignoring him. He wasn't terribly sure of what to do in this
situation. He moved the popcorn out of the way. He gulped inaudibly.
Akane sighed later on that morning. The next movie was one that she
owned on video tape at home. She was going to be bored to death watching
it. She leaned up against Ranma's shoulder and closed her eyes. "Wake me
up for the next movie, ok? I've seen this one a dozen times." She tried
to will herself to relax.
Ranma nodded absently. After about fifteen minutes his eyes began to
droop too. He carefully slouched a bit into the seat and leaned back
into Akane.
They were both startled awake by a flashlight from one of the chaperones
about a half an hour later. "Hey, no sleeping, kids!"
"Ah, sorry!" Ranma babbled out.
Akane just ducked her head. What would the attendant think of her?
They scrambled out of their chairs to go buy some more drinks and
stretch. They just stood out in the lobby for a minute, just stretching.
"Wow, it's morning already. I don't know if I want to watch any more
movies. Ten is a lot."
Akane nodded. "Why don't we head back and get a nap. Then we can spend
the rest of the day sparring."
Ranma frowned for a second and then smiled. "Sure. Why not?" Ranma
opened the door for Akane and stepped into the pale predawn mist.
Akane stepped out and then looked over her shoulder for a second. She
had a questioning look on her face. Should she? Her fingers twitched for
a second. Akane decided that that might be a bit too forward. She tucked
her hands into her pockets and started to walk home.
Ranma walked up besides her, breathing in the cool air. They just ambled
along in peace and quiet, not wishing to disturb the tranquility that
existed between them right then.
-
The warm wood of the dojo was softly illuminated by the late morning
sun, coming in though the doors and open screens. Ranma and Akane were
wearing their gi's, swinging punches and kicks at a furious pace. They
broke apart suddenly to take a breather.
"So, any idea why our fathers got so drunk last night?"
"Nope. Probably my old man talked yours into it. He drinks like a fish
if he gets the chance."
Akane frowned. "Doesn't that dull his reflexes at all?" She stretched
her shoulders.
"Nah, not really. He can still beat me, even when slightly drunk. And
you never can be sure with him when he's really drunk. Pop's sneaky that
way. Everything is training to him."
"Sounds like my father. Pushing me to be the best and all."
"Nah! That's me and my pop."
Akane snickered silently. "Oh, I don't know. I've still got two wins to
your one."
Ranma's brow creased in concentration. "Whatcha talking about? You only
beat me once. I can beat you anytime. Look at how fast I beat Kuno in
comparison to you."
"Yeah, right! Besides, I beat you twice the first day you showed up. And
I was stringing Kuno along to learn that air pressure trick."
"Huh? That first fight doesn't count. I was in my cursed form."
Akane scowled at him as she wiped her forehead. "Why not? What does
being a girl have to do with anything? Or are you going to lose any
fight if you happen to get wet? It's your own fault if you don't train
your girl side up to speed." Slacker.
"That isn't true! Besides, I'm weaker when I'm a girl!" Ranma yelled
back.
"Guess all anyone has to do is to fight outside in the rain to get a win
out of you. Besides, I'm better than you. And I'm a girl," Akane
retorted.
"I can beat you, any day!" Ranma's face was contorting into an ugly
mask.
"Why? Just because I'm a girl?" Akane yelled straight back in his face,
stepping into his personal space. Her face was flushed.
"I didn't say that!"
"No, you're insinuating it!"
"Well, you've led a pampered life. I mean, look at the nice home you've
got here. Not like me and my pop, living on the road for the last ten
years."
"I'm not pampered! I've gone through a lot for the art!" Akane shouted
into his face.
"Hah! Like you'd know hardship if it bit you in the ass."
Akane's fiery anger fanned into a cold rage. "I challenge you, Ranma
Saotome. Back up you're words, wussy boy," Akane said in a tightly
controlled tone. She stepped back into a fighting stance, hands raised
defensively.
Ranma gulped, trying to get a hold of his anger. "Fine!" he spat out
finally. "I accept, you butch tomboy."
They circled each other warily. They tested out each other's defenses,
slowly increasing the speed and the tempo of the fight. Punches and
kicks flickered back and forth. They each upped the ante, striking
harder and faster. Blows traded back and forth as they moved from one
side of the dojo to the other, Akane giving ground slightly, leading the
fight in a slow circle.
Ranma pushed himself, adrenaline singing in his blood. He'd managed to
catch Akane unawares a couple of times with those counters to the
Saotome Anything Goes style that he had worked with his father on. He
grimaced in pain from a couple of particularly painful punches to his
abdomen. She must have managed to find a couple of holes in his defense.
Genma was going to push him even harder for that.
Akane ignored the trickle of blood coming out of her lip. Ranma had
planned for this fight, she saw. A couple of those counters only worked
on someone who used his family's style. Some of her training seemed to
be working, as she'd managed to effectively second guess him a couple of
times to get clean, hard blows in.
This continued for minutes, blows, grunts and heavy breathing being the
only sounds in the dojo. Throws followed punches and grabs. Rolling
bodies bounced to their feet, leaving no opening for attack.
Akane's world focussed down to just Ranma while expanding to encompass
the immediate area. Her breathing changed rhythm as subconsciously, her
mind went into a mantra.
Petal blossoms became one with the swirling wind which traveled through
the snow covered mountains to an ancient hidden valley shrine.
Pain became cold nothingness, her movements retook a sureness from the
beginning of the fight. Memories of ice and the sounds of a crashing
snow storm flittered by her consciousness. She could almost hear the
sound of a raging bull bellowing.
Ranma grunted in exertion, struggling to maintain his defenses as
Akane's form smoothed out and sped up slightly. He was suddenly on the
defensive. Akane's face had become flat and expressionless. Minutes
passed, stretching longer and longer as Akane started to inflict serious
hits upon Ranma.
Ranma gritted his teeth in anger. No way was he going to lose to her
again. His muscles started to burn as his gi stuck to his sweaty body.
Ranma noted, in the back of his mind, that Akane's form was starting to
suffer a bit, too.
But not as much as his form was. More and more holes were developing in
his defense, each one sounded out with a punishing attack. Ranma's
grunts of pain accompanied each strike. He was beginning to become
unnerved by Akane's almost perfect silence when he managed to strike
her. All he could hear was her breathing and the slap of her feet on the
boards.
Finally, Ranma bounced off the ground and lay still on his stomach for a
second. Slowly he pushed himself back to his feet. His breath ragged and
tearing at his lungs. He pushed his body to attack Akane clumsily,
managing to bull through her defenses and strike her several more times.
Akane narrowed her eyes in surprise. She wouldn't have believed that he
could still stand, much less attack effectively. She twisted his
overextended arm into a pivot throw over her hip, paying for that with a
weak punch to her side and passing kick to her head.
The floorboards shuddered and vibrated from Ranma's impacting into it
with the full force of Akane's body and momentum behind it. Ranma tried
to gasp and breath, making coughing noises as his hands trying to come
up in his defense.
Akane's view narrowed, her fists letting loose a staccato torrent of
punches to his torso and face. Breathing hard, she rolled backwards and
then to her feet, wavering unsteadily.
Slowly, over a minute or two, her breathing came under control as she
weaved less and less on her feet. She dimly noted that Ranma's breath
coming out less harshly. After a minute or so, she went to the outside
water tap to splash herself and get a bucket of ice cold water.
Limping back in to the dojo, she splashed Ranma, triggering the curse.
"Wake up. You lost." Akane rubbed her split lip.
Glaring at him lying on the ground, she thought to herself, Why? Why
could he be so mean at one moment and then so nice the next? It was like
Ranma was almost two different people at times.
Ranma tried to sit up, her head hitting the floorboards hard from her
effort. She gritted her teeth while making a noncommittal grunting
sound. Slowly she turned on her side and managed to get her self to her
feet. Ranma attempted to stand for a minute, before collapsing to her
knees. Her face showed her pain, teeth gritted to stop the cries of pain
that begged for release.
"Stupid macho jerk," Akane muttered under her breath. Limping over, she
managed to help Ranma stand up. She slipped Ranma's one arm over her
shoulder, grabbing her under the other one to help Ranma stagger towards
the house.
Ranma thought about struggling, but finally decided against it. She was
just in too much pain. By the time she had walked to the house, she was
feeling a little bit better.
Nanami looked up from setting the table for a late lunch. She had been
busy adding an extra placemat. Nanami shrieked and cried out, "Akane!
Ranma! What happened?" She ran up and helped sit Ranma down on some of
the mats.
Grimacing in pain, she settled down next to her. Akane mulled that over
for a second. How to say what? She was interrupted by two fathers coming
from different sections of the house.
"Ranma!"
"Akane!"
Akane glanced at both of them for a second. Her mouth opened as she
started to answer.
"Akane! Did you and Ranma get in another fight?" Soun said grimly.
Genma frowned. Ranma looked pretty poor off. At least she was in her
cursed form. It wasn't quite so embarrassing when Ranma lost that way.
Akane's face set into a grim expression as she sat kneeled down next to
Ranma. "It was an honor challenge. Ranma accepted and we fought. I won."
Ranma turned her head and tried to look anywhere but at her father or
anyone else for that matter.
Genma frowned and then finally muttered, "Well, at least he lost in his
cursed form."
Akane heard that and snarled out, "What are you talking about? I beat
him fair and square when he was a guy."
Genma face darkened. "Oh, that I have such a worthless son!"
"Saotome, be quiet for a moment." Soun stared at the two for a second.
"I think that is enough. You two have been fighting these 'challenges'
too often and taking them too far. This is starting to affect how much
you can learn. Unless I miss my guess, you both aren't going to be in
any shape to spar for days."
Genma nodded reluctantly. "Tendo is correct. Pushing yourself to the
edge is commendable, but this is starting to become foolish. When these
challenges interfere with you learning the art, that is when they have
gone too far. You are not enemies."
"But..." Ranma started to say something, starting to sit up.
"What?" Akane piped up.
"SILENCE!" Soun blasted out. "You are living in my house and you will
abide by my rules. No more of these challenges unless I deem that it is
a matter of honor. From now on, you will only spar under mine or Genma
Saotome's supervision." He glared at the two teenagers for a moment. "Is
that clear?"
Akane bowed her head stiffly. "Yes, Father."
Ranma nodded slowly with a very set expression on her face. "Yes, Mr.
Tendo."
"And you will not find excuses to make it an honor duel. Understood?"
Two reluctant nods answered. "Very well. The matter is settled. Nanami?
Can you get some of that special ointment that I bought from Dr. Tofu?
They both look like they are going to need it."
Genma cleared his throat. "I would also suggest that they soak for a
while in the furo. That should help with some of the stiffness."
Soun nodded appreciatively. "Splendid idea, Saotome."
-
Ranma struggled over to the furo, after having stripped off her clothes.
Wincing in pain, she scrubbed herself off. She then fought for a minute
to open the jar. Slowly she started to work in the ointment to the
places she could reach, which wasn't as much as she normally could.
"Damn," Ranma muttered loudly.
"Is there a problem?" Akane called out from the other side of the door.
She sat on the counter, waiting her turn in the furo and for the
ointment.
"Just can't reach a spot."
Akane turned her eyes to the sky as if to ask why all of the idiots came
into her life. She stood up and walked into the bathing room.
"Hey! Whatcha think you're doing?" Ranma cried out, turning to face away
from Akane.
"Oh, quit being so childish." Akane winced when she remembered what her
father said about both of them. "Let's just try to deal with this
maturely."
Ranma sat there for a second and then finally nodded. "Yeah, I guess.
Could you get my back?"
Akane wrinkled her nose in disgust at the smell. They'd have to clean
out the furo later. "Only if you promise to do mine, later."
"What?"
"It's not like you don't know what a girl looks like."
"Er, yeah." Ranma grinned after a second. "And we aren't exactly that
great looking right now, are we?"
"I don't think there's a foot of skin on you that doesn't look like
there's going to be a bruise on it."
"All right. As soon as you're done, I'll do your back."
"Done."
Ranma sat up and sat on the edge of the furo as Akane stripped out of
her gi and underwear. "Don't you dare stare at me, Ranma!"
"Like I'd want to stare at your body, any ways!"
For some reason, that comment stung her. Akane cleaned up quickly and
efficiently, movements stiff and unsure. She snagged the ointment and
rubbed it into the bruises that she could reach. Numbness spread over
the pain a bit, making life a little more tolerable.
She turned her back to Ranma when she was done, sliding the jar towards
her. Ranma took the hint and finished up her back. Akane stood up after
that and turned towards the furo.
"Huh? You want to share the furo?"
"I am not waiting for you to finish soaking for my turn." Akane slid
into the waters with a sigh and closed her eyes. Heaven!
"Oh, that kind of makes sense." Ranma shrugged her shoulders and sank
into the waters himself. For a long while nothing was said, as they just
concentrated on the warmth.
"What do you think of our dads proclamation?" Akane asked finally.
"I guess I can see what their talking 'bout. But I can't prove I'm best
now." Ranma said belligerently.
Akane cracked her left eye to look at him. Anger simmered in her for a
second. She counted to ten backwards silently. "Ranma, take your loss
like a man and stop whining." Let's see if he remembered where that came
from, jerk.
Ranma snapped his eyes open in anger. He was just about to unleash a
fusillade of unkind comments back on her, when he remembered where he'd
last heard that turn of phrase. He bit off his retort and looked away.
He really didn't have a good comeback to that one.
She saw that and nodded to herself. Ranma was starting to see how
hypocritical he was, by his own words. Akane stood up and toweled off,
wrapping the towel around her. "I think lunch is ready."
Ranma glanced up from the water morosely. "Um, sure. Thanks." Damn, now
what was he supposed to do?
Ranma continued to stare at the water for a while, trying to see
something in his reflection. She could be so nice and then make him so
mad it wasn't funny. What was he supposed to think? And throwing his own
words in his face. That hadn't been pleasant.
But maybe that had been the point.
-
"And this is Genma Saotome, a friend of the family and Ranma's father. I
told you about him, didn't I?" Kasumi said brightly.
Takchi nodded silently. "The kid who's engaged to you kid sister,
right?" Both of them sat on one side of the table, Genma, Soun and
Nabiki sat on different sides.
Soun nodded proudly. Takchi was a fairly decent example of what a
Japanese young man should be. He fingered the present that he had
brought. Perhaps he should be thinking of another marriage first. It
wouldn't hurt to set up the omai and see what happened. "So you are
going into engineering, you say?"
"Well, I probably won't be hired for at least four years, if then. But
I'd like to help design airplanes. That adds a few years."
Genma tried to keep up appearances, but his thoughts kept drifting to
his son. Obviously, he needed to find another secret technique.
Something to make Ranma better than he was currently.
Nabiki tried not to yawn in the couples faces. Takchi wasn't bad
looking, but he was so ordinary. She had absolutely no idea what Kasumi
saw in him. Akane and Ranma took that moment to walk into the room
stiffly and sit down, a cloud of discontent hanging above their heads.
Takchi nodded a greeting to the two new kids at the table.
Kasumi smiled and introduced them to him. She gave Takchi a look.
He smiled nervously and bowed to Soun. "Uh, Mr. Tendo. May I have your
attention?" Soun nodded. "I would like to take this opportunity to thank
you for your hospitality." He smacked his lips suddenly, trying to quell
the butterflies in his stomach. "I would also like to take this
opportunity to ask if I may woo you're daughter, with the intention to
become formally engaged."
A sad smile broke across Soun's face. "Of course. I'm sure it is just a
formality, but we'll set up the meeting between the correct parties.
When would you like to look at getting married?"
Kasumi blushed as she answered, "We've talked about it a bit. We're
thinking next year, about this time."
Takchi took Kasumi's hand and nodded his agreement.
Nabiki just gave Takchi a look of morbid curiosity. She gave him a cocky
smile. "Welcome to the family, I guess."
Akane just kept blinking in surprise. Her big sister was going to get
married? She really shouldn't be surprised, they were obviously in love.
Her face took on a wistful expression. She wished that she could be that
in love.
"Nanami! Bring out a bottle of sake! We have some celebrating to do!"
Soun called out.