Birthright
-
Nanami shuffled through today's pile of mail. Bill, bill,
junk mail, bill. Hmm. Nabiki's subscription to Nakayoshi has
expired. She would have to remember to renew it for her. A
postcard? Addressed directly to Soun? How odd. She tacked
the subscription up to the wall, put the rest in their place
and carried the postcard out to him.
She pushed an errant strand of her gray hair out of eyes as
she stepped into the dojo. "Master Tendo? There is some mail
for you." She adjusted her apron slightly over her plain
dark brown dress.
The two combatants finished their attacks, placing their
feet back on the ground lightly. Soun turned towards Nanami.
"Ah! Thank you!" He walked his powerful but lithe frame over
to the door and accepted the mail. Akane swept her brow with
her hand and then untied her severe ponytail that she had
her hair up in. Her eyes followed her fathers movements
carefully.
"Wonderful news! Nanami? Could you please get Nabiki and
Kasumi? We'll be having a family meeting in the living
room."
"What's going on, Dad?"
Soun smiled. "I'll explain when everyone is there." He
snagged a towel to wipe the sweat off of his face.
Akane stared at her father in surprise. Had he just smiled?
-
"A fiance'?!" shouted three voices. Nanami was in the
background, preparing tea. Her left eyebrow arched in
surprise.
"Yes. I have engaged one of you to marry the son of a dear
friend, to continue our two family's art and the dojo.
They've been training for a long time and just recently
returned from China."
"Big deal." Akane turned up her nose.
"Father? What about Takchi? He and I, uh..." Kasumi asked
from where she was sitting. She looked quite comfortable in
her slacks and blouse. Her prescription glasses were
smallish and oval with a silver metal frame. She looked up
from her books on the table with a look of worry.
"Ah, he hasn't proposed, has he?"
Kasumi blushed. "No, but we've been dating for six months
and, well, I really like..."
Nabiki piped in suddenly, "She's got the hots for him and
doesn't want to be tied down into an arranged marriage." She
glared at her father and stood up. "And don't even think
about me, Dad!" she spat the words into his face, turning
and starting to stomp up the stairs.
"Nabiki! Come back here this instant!" Soun thundered,
slamming the palm of his hand down on the table.
Nabiki stopped in mid stride. She gave him an unreadable
look and then turned and sat back down.
A loud commotion was heard outside. Nabiki tilted her head
to the side. "Looks like we've got visitors." Nanami took
her cue and walked over to answer the door.
A moment later her scream pierced the air as the poor,
frazzled housemaid came trotting around the corner.
"Now look what you've done! You're scaring them spitless.
Put me down, you old fart!" a voice said as a giant panda
walked into the room. It seemed to be carrying someone over
its shoulder.
Akane and Soun both hopped lightly over table. A tanto
appeared in Akane's hand almost as if by magic as they both
shifted into their favorite attack positions.
The panda stopped suddenly and deposited the struggling
figure on the ground. The red haired individual ducked her
head low after glancing around. "Um, sorry about this."
Soun asked sternly, "Are you Ranma Saotome?" A nod was his
response. Soun swept her into a hug and spun around with his
arm still around her shoulders. A look of surprise appeared
on his face.
Nabiki stepped up suddenly. Her hand zipped out suddenly and
tweaked Ranma's breast, a look of glee on her face. "Ranma
is a girl!"
Nanami's vision wavered as she slumped into a faint. Soun
had a thunderous expression on his face. "Genma! What have
you done?"
-
Everyone was seated around the prone form of Nanami, who was
covered in a blanket, with a compress on her head.
Nabiki poked Ranma's breast again, the smile still present
on her face. "Why, Daddy, you've engaged us to a girl. I
didn't think you were that forward thinking?"
Soun was distracted from answering by the panda. It seemed
to want something from him. What an odd animal it was.
"Would you please stop that?" Ranma asked politely.
A scowl appeared on Akane's face. "Nabiki! She is a guest!"
She turned to Ranma suddenly. "Hi, I'm Akane! I hear you
practice the Art!"
"Uh, yeah." Ranma blinked in surprise at the sweaty, gi clad
girl next to her.
"Would you like to spar?"
Ranma smiled hesitantly. "Sure!"
-
"Tell me if I push you too hard!" Akane smiled in
anticipation.
Ranma barely adjusted her stance. This wouldn't be much of a
fight. Akane was just a girl, after all.
Akane frowned slightly. Deceptive. She adjusted her posture
and her method of attack. A cunning set of punches and kicks
led to a bruising blow to the shoulder that Ranma rolled
with only partially.
"Whoa!" Ranma squeaked out, using her slightly greater speed
to avoid the next set of attacks. Those were good, she
thought to herself.
A look of determination sprang to life on her face. No girl
was going to beat Ranma Saotome. She let loose a flurry of
punches and kicks, trying to get in past Akane's guard.
Akane weaved back slightly, robbing them of all strength and
outright dodging most of them. A look of consternation
flashed across Ranma's face as she was suddenly back on the
defensive.
A punch turned into a grab, snagging Ranma's wrist in an
expert throw towards the wall. Ranma bounced off of it and
snapped a kick where she expected to see Akane on the
ground. Her surprise was evident as she realized that Akane
was above her, dropping a reverse crescent kick onto her
back.
Ranma slammed to the ground and rolled, missing a stomp that
would have disabled her leg. Ranma managed to roll to her
feet awkwardly, trying to block the follow up kicks. Two
snuck through her defenses, slamming the smaller girl back
up against the wall.
A palm in front of Ranma's nose stopped the fight. "Bang.
You lose." Akane smirked. She was pretty good, Akane had to
admit. Not as good as she was, of course.
"Um, hey." Ranma couldn't believe that she had just lost to
a girl.
"You've got a lot of potential, you know that? Just need to
work on you balance and that tendency to pull short with
your punches. You'd be pretty good."
Ranma flushed in anger. Opening her mouth to retort back at
the girl that had just beaten her, she was stopped by Akane
smiling and saying, "Would you like to train here? It'd be
nice to have someone who's really good to spar with. It gets
pretty boring sparring with Father all the time."
"Ah, sure." Boy, she's cute when she wants to be, Ranma
thought.
-
"Akane? Ranma? Would you like to clean up?" Nanami asked as
she stuck her head out of the kitchen.
"Sure! Is everything set out? Come one, Ranma!" Akane said
brightly after Nanami nodded yes. Akane snagged the
reluctant smaller girl and started down the hall. Akane
noted the girl's struggles. With a shrug of her shoulders,
she hoisted the girl and with one hand tossed her lightly
into the changing room.
"Hey! What's the big idea?" Ranma piped up loudly. She
rubbed her shoulder where Akane had squeezed the bruise from
earlier.
"Girl, you stink. You look like you haven't had a bath in
ages." Akane shed her gi top and started to untie her
outfit's pants.
"Uh! Gotta go!" Ranma squeaked out. She found her way
blocked by Akane, so she dodged into the actual bathing
room.
"What is your problem? Are you allergic to soap or
something?" Akane said as she walked in after Ranma, wearing
only her panties and a sports bra.
"What are you? Some sort of bully?" Ranma looked around
frantically for some other exit as she backed away from the
wiry girl in front of her.
Akane laughed. "No, silly." She reached up to undo her
shoulder straps of the bra when Ranma stepped on a bar of
soap. With a yell and the waving of her arms frantically to
try and catch her balance, she slipped into the hot waters
of the furo.
Akane chuckled as she finished taking her bra off, just when
Ranma resurfaced. But Ranma was... different. His hair was
darker and you could see obviously that he was no longer a
she, even thru the clothes he wore. Ranma stared at her in
shock, his eyes wide as he realized that his doom was about
to be visited upon him.
Akane's eyes narrowed. She snarled, a deep bass sound
emanating from her throat. Ranma flipped himself over and
onto the inner edge of the furo, just missing being turned
into a pancake by Akane's massive blow. The same blow that
shattered the furo into its constituent pieces of tile and
splashed water everywhere.
Ranma dived over Akane's head as she was momentarily blinded
by her own attack. He slid into the changing room, changing
directions to run out the room and down the hall.
"Come back here you pervert! I'm going to hurt you so bad
that your children are going to feel it," Akane roared out
as she thundered out of the changing room, pulling on her gi
top as she followed him.
"Uh, uh! No way!" Ranma shouted over his shoulder. He left a
trail of droplets in the air as he skidded into the living
room. He bounded over the table that his father and Soun
were sitting at.
Soun took one look around and sighed. As Akane sailed over
the table, he snagged her foot, which had the effect of
tripping and slamming her to the ground. She let out all of
her breath explosively. "Akane! These are our guests! Please
behave!"
Nabiki and Kasumi trotted into the room to see what the fuss
was about. Nabiki smirked and then said, "Hey, Akane. Nice
outfit. I'm sure the boys all appreciate the view, but don't
you think you might want to put some pants on?"
"Nabiki!" Kasumi scolded. She took in the scene, noting the
man wearing the gi sitting with her father and the boy in
the background who looked like he was going to flee any
moment.
"Boy! What did you do?" Genma yelled at his son.
"It wasn't me! It was Akane! She dragged me into it! I was
just trying to get away!"
Akane had gotten to her feet woozily. "Liar! How did you
sneak into the bathroom and what did you do to Ranma?"
Ranma retreated back a step for each step that Akane took
towards him. "Ah. Would you believe that girl was me?"
Akane growled and hopped forward trying to get a hold of the
bigger boy. Ranma hopped right on back and landed with a
small splash. His foot skidded on the mud on the bottom of
the koi pond, but he managed to keep his footing for now.
Akane pulled her arm back in preparation to unleash a flurry
of attacks at the peeping tom. She stopped as she saw the
boy transform into the busty red-headed girl from before,
right in front of her very eyes.
Akane didn't relax, but said calmly, "Ok, maybe I would
believe you. So why were you sneaking around as a girl?"
"Sneaking around? It rained on me! Stupid curse! Stupid old
man, dragging me to China and getting me cursed!"
"Ranma! You sound like a girl! I thought you would sacrifice
your life for the art!"
Akane's glance twitched to the older, heavyset man wearing a
white gi, glasses and a bandana who walked up.
"My life yes, not my manhood!" Ranma leaped over Akane's
head and started to throw kicks and punches at the older
man.
Genma was holding his own for the moment. "You're whining
like a weak, little girl, Ranma-ugh!" Genma was interrupted
by a kick to his head.
Akane finished up her kick as Genma sailed into the air and
down back into the pond. A panda surfaced suddenly, shaking
its skull, seeing if anything was broken. "Weak, little
girl? This is the modern age, you chauvinistic creep!"
"Yes, as you can see, they were both cursed to turn into
these other forms by cold water. Nanami! Bring that kettle,
please! Luckily, hot water can change them back!" Soun
suddenly splashed Ranma with scalding water from a kettle
that was handed to him.
"Not that hot! Not boiling," he screeched.
Soun ignored him and splashed a widely dodging panda.
Unfortunately, the panda was a huge target and couldn't
avoid all of the water. "Yeow!"
"They weren't like this, until they visited the cursed
springs of hidden Jusenkyo! Their mystery is finally
revealed!" Soun exclaimed.
"Hey? Isn't this a brochure for that place you were talking
about?" Nabiki said suddenly, showing everyone a travel
brochure that had fallen to the ground during the scuffle.
Kasumi read over her younger sisters shoulders. She adjusted
her glasses with one finger. "Hmm. It's all written in
standard mandarin kanji." Kasumi got a shrewd look on her
face. "You can't read it, can you?"
"Why, yes! How did you know?" Genma said, surprise evident
on his face. For some reason, he was instantly dressed in
his clothes again.
"What an idiot! Why would you go visit a place if you
couldn't even read the language?" Nabiki said scathingly.
"But it was only 500 yen! It was a bargain! Besides, I could
make out the words 'training ground' and 'martial arts'."
Everyone groaned at his response.
Soun clapped Ranma on his shoulder. "Well, Ranma! Your
problem isn't that bad after all. These are my daughters;
Kasumi, age nineteen; Nabiki, age seventeen; and Akane, age
sixteen. Choose the one you want to be your new fiance'e!"
"Oh, he wants Akane, definitely!" Nabiki piped up quickly.
Kasumi frowned, but nodded her agreement. "She really would
be the better match." She put her hand on Akane's shoulder
and smiled. "Besides, they are both martial artists."
"Hey! Don't I get some choice here!" Akane had this
incredible feeling that she was being sold off in a meat
market.
"I'm the one who's getting saddled with a psycho! You
dragged me off and tried to force me to bath with you!"
"You were the one that didn't tell me that you were really a
boy! Admit it, you jerk, you're just upset that you lost to
me."
A frown grew on Genma's face as Ranma face turned an
interesting shade of red. "You lost to her, boy? I thought
that I trained you better than that!"
"I only lost because I was in my cursed form! I'd win hands
down now!" Ranma yelled back at his father over Akane.
"Hah, that sounds like a challenge. Put you money where your
mouth is, Ranma!" Akane sniped right back.
"Sure! Right now, in the dojo!"
And with that the two tromped into the dojo. They waited a
moment as Nanami brought in a pair of gi pants so that Akane
was properly attired. Then they lunged at each other in
unison. Nabiki yawned from the sideline with the rest of the
family. She'd seen Akane stomp a lot of would be challengers
into the ground.
Akane noted that Ranma now had a significant reach
advantage, but seemed unwilling to grapple. He used mostly
punches and kicks, with a lot of aerial movement. Akane kept
herself low and steady, only leaping into the air when
needed.
She had to admit that Ranma was far better as a boy than
`she' had been as a girl. His balance was almost perfect,
his movements lithe and sure. His speed was phenomenal, but
only a fraction faster than her own.
Ranma began to suspect that she wasn't going to be a
pushover. He feinted and weaved, trying to draw her into
letting herself become unbalanced, open to attack. She
minimized that almost immediately by keeping low and to the
ground. He suspected that she saw through his tactic. Ranma
had to step back more than once when she almost got a good
grip on him.
Nabiki yawned again and then glanced down at her watch. She
whistled in surprise. They'd been fighting for over twenty
minutes non-stop. "Wow. He's really good. Akane usually
stomps anyone except Dad in two minutes flat."
Soun nodded proudly.
Ranma quit leaping into the air, suddenly. He started to
emulate Akane, keeping low and fast. He started to get
better shots off, catching her off guard. He gave her a
stunning punch to her stomach, grinning as he thought he'd
finally got to her. To say he was surprised when she grabbed
that same punch and followed through with a complex throw,
body-slam and grapple was an understatement.
Ranma found himself pinned and having trouble breathing. He
had surprisingly good leverage and started to push back. It
became a contest of strength. He was sure that he was
stronger.
Akane proved him wrong. For two minutes he continued to
fight, until spots appeared in his eyes. He panicked and
tried to twist his way out, which was a fatal flaw when
being held in the hold Akane was using.
She grinned as she deftly managed to slam his forehead to
ground, stunning him further. Ranma felt that she had become
part python as she adjusted her grip to hold him tightly. He
really started to panic as he realized that he was in a
sleeper hold and couldn't get out.
That was his last thought, just before he passed out.
"He lost?" Genma said weakly. A shocked expression covered
his face.
"Yes. To my true heir of the Tendo School of Anything Goes
Martial Arts." Pride was evident on his face.
"How did she get so good?" Genma stuttered. He had just
spent the last ten years of his life on the road, training
his son for nothing? A girl who had stayed home could best
his Ranma?
"It took an incredible effort, but training for the last
nine years paid off. I couldn't leave for as long a trip as
you, of course. I had to look after Kasumi and Nabiki still.
So I undertook training her intensely at home, with
meticulously planned trips to exotic locales where the most
powerful of techniques could be learned! As you can see, it
paid off handsomely."
"Of course." Genma schooled his face to hide the feelings of
shame and worthlessness that he felt. His son was a failure.
-
Ranma awoke to the sight of a worried girl. "Are you all
right, Ranma? I hope I didn't hurt you?" Akane said quietly.
Ranma rubbed his neck. "Nah, I'm all right." He stared at
the hand that was held out to help him up. He was tempted to
just knock the hand away, but her expression really did seem
sincere. With a sigh, he took her hand and let her drag him
to his feet.
"You were really good, Ranma. Only my Dad can fight me like
you just did!"
Ranma looked at her speculatively. "Really?"
"Come on! Let's get some food. Sparring always makes me
hungry."
That comment won Ranma back over. With a rueful smile, he
trotted after her. He was going to defeat her, he swore
silently.
-
Ranma lay in his bed, eyes open and staring at nothing. He
was replaying the fight, going over it piece by piece. She
was good, he had to admit. She had beaten him after all. Not
that he would ever say that aloud if he could help it.
Strong as an ox and very fast. Her form was pretty near
flawless as far as he could see.
He spent the next hour going over the fight. By the end of
his ruminations, he thought that he had found an exploitable
hole in her defense. It would tricky, but he thought he
could pull it off. It would probably be a one time only
thing, he concluded glumly.
He hardened his jaw muscles suddenly. He would just have to
train harder. He finally fell asleep still planning.
-
Nanami whistled softly as she prepared to make breakfast for
the family. She was quite used to it, as she had been doing
the same thing for almost eight years. A flicker of a shadow
across the window snapped her attention out into the yard.
"Oh, it's just Ranma!" She watched him practice some punches
while twisting in midair. He was silent as he flickered
across the yard in leaps and bounds. She turned back to
making breakfast.
"Ah, good morning, Nanami! Have you seen any of the
students?" Soun asked as he picked up his breakfast.
"Not yet, I've only seen Ranma. He been up practicing before
I got out of bed," Nanami said, smiling at the martial arts
master.
"Ranma?" Soun got a speculative look on his face. "Nanami?
Why don't you wake Akane a little earlier than normal. About
twenty minutes or so."
"I guess I could. Any particular reason, Master Tendo?"
"Just a guess."
-
"Have you seen that worthless son of mine?" Genma asked
presumptuously. He looked in the kitchen, guessing wrongly
that his son would be in there getting an early bite to eat.
"Ranma? Why, I believe he's been up since dawn practicing.
If you will excuse me, I have to wake Akane and Kasumi."
Genma was surprised by that. Ranma, getting up early by
himself? He stepped into the backyard to see him finishing
up a complex kata. "Hey, Pop! What's up?"
"I thought I would start retraining you. That was a
pathetic..."
"Shut up, old man. No way am I gonna lose again."
Nabiki blinked from where she sat at the dinner table. A
vicious smile appeared on her face for just a second. She
quickly schooled her face into a far nicer smile. "Oh,
really? I bet you that you'll still lose, Ranma. Willing to
back up your words with money?"
Ranma looked confused for a second. "What? No way am I
losing! You're on!"
"Two thousand yen. I'll even give you two to one odds."
Ranma looked panicked for a second as he patted around for
some money. Genma put his hand on his son's shoulder and
spoke up suddenly, "Don't worry, Ranma. I'll cover you on
this." Ranma gave him a very strange look.
Akane walked in, stretching out her muscles. She was wearing
her gi in preparation for her morning practice.
"Hey, Akane. Ranma is looking for a rematch. Are you up for
it?" Nabiki said loudly.
Akane blinked. "Um, sure. I guess. Give me a moment to
stretch out."
Ranma ran through a simple kata to keep him limber as Akane
warmed herself up. Behind them, Soun stepped up to the door
of the dojo to watch. Behind him, three high school aged
boys watched in interest. Genma stood on the porch of the
house, the doors open behind him so that the people at
breakfast could watch. In the background, Kasumi walked in
and sat at the table.
Akane finished her warm up and took her stance. Ranma also
took up a stance. Both Soun and Genma dropped their hands at
the same moment.
Ranma didn't wait for Akane to attack him this time. He
flashed forward and pressed the attack with a series of
punches and kicks, almost identical to last nights fight.
Akane returned the attacks with blocks and punches of her
own.
Hitoki snickered to the other students in the dojo. "It
looks like Akane is going to thrash that guy."
Ryu watched intently and then whistled softly. "She's been
holding back on us. Look at them go."
The third in the trio watched intently also. Wian responded,
his voice thick with his Chinese accent. "You're right. I've
never seen her pushed that hard. Whoever he is, he's good."
Hitoki turned a critical eye on the fight. "You're right,
Wian. We're the best students under Sensei Tendo and I know
for a fact that I wouldn't last a minute in that fight."
The other two nodded in agreement. That was moderately
disturbing. They knew they were good. They just hadn't
realized how much better Akane really was. No wonder Kuno
lost every time they dueled.
Akane noted as the fight progressed that Ranma had closed a
few of his holes that she had been using last night. She was
sure that she had too. Ranma launched a new series of
punches that Akane blocked with effort. She saw an opening
in his attack and managed to get a decent hit in to his
chest.
Pain blossomed in her abdomen as Ranma slipped in a hard
blow to her solar plexus at the same moment, robbing her of
precious air. Ranma continued to punch at her as he flipped
inches over her head, spinning in mid-air to continue facing
her without paused. Sweat glistened on Ranma's brow as he
pushed himself even harder.
Before he had even hit the ground he spun a kick in between
his punches that he continued to throw non-stop. A kick that
he spun in the opposite direction that she was spinning to
face him. Akane blocked the punches without pausing a beat,
but the kick surprised her and slammed the side of her head.
That stunned her for just a second.
A moment that Ranma didn't waste. He twisted her arm behind
her and swept her feet out from underneath her. With his
free arm, he caught her in a different sleeper hold than she
used on him and held her to the ground. She'd have no
leverage.
She still almost ripped her trapped arm free. Akane grunted
in exertion. With her free arm she tried to dislodge him for
a moment, but that couldn't get a grip on him. She gave that
up as futile for the short time that she would be conscious.
Her free hand gripped the grass and heaved them both up and
tossed them both at a wall thirty feet away. Ranma grunted
as his shoulder slammed into the wall with stunning force.
Ranma gritted his teeth against the pain. He would not lose
again. He would not.
Akane managed to get a grip on the wall with her free arm
and to slam them both up against the wall with stunning f, Ranma
taking the blow on the same shoulder.
Pain blossomed just as he felt Akane going limp. They both
sagged to the ground, but Ranma was the only one to rise to
his feet. Just a few short moments later, as Ranma had
gotten his breathing back under control, Akane awoke.
She groaned in pain. She looked up in surprise at Ranma who
was holding his left hand out to help her out.
"A really good match, Akane."
"That was a really sneaky move Ranma. It won't work again."
Akane smiled to remove the sting.
"I'm sure."
Nabiki blinked from where she was sitting at the table.
Akane had lost. She glared at Ranma's back for a second and
then grudgingly pulled out the money that he had won. She
wandered out into the yard to give him his winnings. "Well,
Ranma. You really surprised me there. I haven't seen anyone
but Dad beat Akane in years."
Ranma accepted the money. "Thanks! That last move she pulled
really surprised me."
Akane noted that Ranma's right arm was hanging limply. "Are
you all right?"
"My shoulder really hurts," Ranma said with a grimace. It
hurt hugely to even try and shift it around. He'd probably
sprained it pretty badly, though it hurt worse than he
remembered from last time he had done that.
Akane studied him for a second. Ranma was going to hate
this, but it would be better if she didn't warn him. "Let me
take a look. Ok?"
"Sure." Ranma glanced over at the retreating form of Nabiki
as she walked back in to the house. He screamed in pain as
Akane relocated his shoulder. He fell to his knees from the
pain.
"You dislocated you shoulder. It should heal up fine now!"
"Uh, thanks," Ranma said weakly.
"Hey, no problem. Why don't you go in and get cleaned up.
I've got my dad's class to attend yet before school." She
jerked her thumb at the open door and the students that were
standing around. They parted ways as Ranma walked unsteadily
back into the house.
As he passed Nabiki, he saw her pull on a leather jacket and
walk towards the front door.
Akane took a minute as she stepped into the dojo to pay her
respects at the small shrine that was dedicated to her
mother. A renewed sense of determination welled up in her as
she turned back to her father's first class of the day.
Thoughts whirled through her mind. Strategies and counters
formed, practice drills to increase her speed and power.
Akane focused on her training. At that moment, nothing was
more important. She had been unconsciously lax if Ranma
could beat her after only one time of losing to her. That
would not happen again, she vowed.
-
"School? I don't want to go to school." Ranma shifted the
sling his arm was in.
"Quit whining. You need the education." Genma glared at his
ungrateful son.
"I don't even have any school supplies!" His protestations
were cut short as his father threw a backpack at him.
Kasumi smiled as she pulled on her own knit jacket. It was a
pale green with baby blue stripes. "Akane will be able to
show you how to get there. It looks like Nabiki has already
left.'
"Fine! Whatever!" Ranma groused.
He heard some light tapping coming down the stairs that
heralded Akane's approach. She shouldered her small backpack
and looked at Ranma. "Are you ready?"
Ranma was surprised to say the least. Akane looked like an
ordinary, if cute, schoolgirl in her uniform. It was loose
enough that you couldn't see the breadth of her wiry
shoulders. Her long hair was in a loose ponytail. "Um,
yeah."
As Ranma and Akane walked down the road, Ranma saw Kasumi
getting picked up by a man driving a blue Toyota. "Hey,
Akane? Who's that?"
"Hmm? Oh, that's Kasumi's boyfriend. She met him at Hajima
Tech College."
"So that's why she pushed the engagement onto you. So how
about Nabiki?" Ranma asked.
A slight scowl appeared on Akane's face. "Nabiki doesn't
like me much. She's... a bit of a troublemaker."
Ranma thought about that for a second. "So, watch your
back?"
Akane nodded glumly.
Ranma opened his mouth to reply, when he was doused from the
open sky with cold water. She wiped her eyes clear of the
water and looked up. There was a tipped over bucket in the
window of a house. A man's head appeared a second later.
"Sorry about that!"
Ranma sighed and turned around. Akane gave her a speculative
look. Akane grabbed her arm. "We don't have time to go home
and get you some hot water, Ranma."
"I can't go to school like this!"
"We'll get you some hot water when we get there. I'm in
enough trouble from having to miss weeks of school to go on
my training trips. I can't be late." Akane started to drag
her down the street. Ranma tried futilely to stop her for a
second, but realized that it would just create a bigger
fuss.
The red haired girl sighed. She had a suspicion that the
rest of the day wasn't going to get better.
-
Nabiki pulled another drag on her cigarette. She watched the
gates of Furinkan with mild amusement and interest. She and
her friends were in a dimly lit area of the yard, screened
from the school by a few trees. Furinkan's smokers corner
was a haven from the oppression of school.
"So what's so important that's going to happen today?" one
of the girls asked Nabiki.
"There's going to be a new student." Nabiki flicked the ash
off of her cigarette and dropped it to the ground. She
stomped the butt into the ground.
"A new student?"
"Yes. There's going to be a change in the balance around
here."
"I don't see why. Kuno's still pestering your sister, just
like you wanted. He's got all of those boys trying to `date'
her. I can't see how she can stand it every morning."
"She's stubborn. Mule-headed is a pretty good description
for her."
One of the girls shaded her eyes, squinting to see someone
trotting in the gate. "Is that her?"
Nabiki glanced over at the gate. She nodded her reply. A
small vicious smile cracked her lips.
-
Ranma was surprised when about thirty boys dressed in
different sporting outfits charged them as they walked in
the gates. Akane didn't seem surprised as she hopped forward
ten feet. Her hands and feet became a blur to everyone but
Ranma as she moved in between all of them. In moments they
were down and out, laying on the ground as they groaned.
"You'd think they'd learn." Akane flipped her hair back over
her shoulder. A blurred shape was thrown at her. With a
flick of her wrist, she snapped a rose out of the air. "Good
morning, Upperclassman. Are you ready to get pounded again?"
"Nay, for on this day shall I, Tatewaki Kuno the Blue
Thunder of Furinkan High, shall defeat thee and take thee on
a date of Herculean proportions." He made a dramatic pose as
he walked out of the shadow of the tree he had been hiding
behind.
Kuno lunged out suddenly, trying to catch her unawares. She
pivoted on one toe and spun a kick that connected to the
back of his head. Kuno collapsed into an inert lump on the
ground.
Ranma walked up beside her. "What was all that about?"
"Oh, Kuno just made this silly proclamation that if anyone
wanted to date me, they would have to defeat me first."
"Let me guess, none of them even came close?"
"Bingo! Come on, let's go find that hot water." Akane
started to walk off.
"So why do they listen to him? He seems to be some sort of
jerk."
"He's the second best fighter in the school. Ryu and Wiam
are a close third after him."
"Actually, wouldn't he be the third best? You'd still be
second best even with me here."
Akane glared at her. "I don't know about that."
Ranma humphed and then changed the subject. "So why do you
allow it to continue?"
"Hmm? Oh, I'm training them. They are absolutely pathetic
and need all the help they can get."
Ranma started to laugh. "Oh, that is too choice."
-
Ranma tapped away at the book in front of him with the
eraser of his pencil. He couldn't get comfortable enough to
rest, so he was paying fairly close attention to the
teacher. He sneaked a glance over at Akane. She was sitting
at her desk, her face devoid of anything but the intensity
of learning.
Ranma shuddered slightly. She was just a bit spooky. It
seemed like everything she did had to done to a hundred and
ten percent. The door to the classroom slid open suddenly,
as a figure roared into the room.
Tatewaki Kuno shouted out as he slid into the room, "I shall
not stand for this! It must be a lie! Never shall I stand
for this travesty of justice that claims that Akane Tendo
must wed this rank mongrel!"
The class erupted into pandemonium as questions erupted from
everyone's throats, directed at the two hapless teenagers.
Ranma and Akane tried to denounce the truth of the news,
attempting to blunt it with their declarations that they
would never marry.
Ranma barely leaped out of his desk when it was turned into
kindling. "Hey!"
"I thought you might be the one! You had the stink of the
common swine on thee." Kuno smirked. He matched the
description perfectly. He would have to remember to reward
Nabiki later.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing, Kuno?" Akane shouted.
"This isn't the place to fight! Follow me!" Ranma was true
to his words, for he leaped to the window sill, pausing just
a second to make sure that Kuno was following.
"Kuno! Wait! We're on the third floor!" Akane screamed out
as Kuno leaped after the pig-tailed martial artist.
"I follow!"
Ranma bounced on the ground as he slipped his arm free of
the sling. He grimaced in pain at moving his shoulder. He
spun lightly, prepared to take down the kendoist the moment
he touched down.
With a ground shuddering thud, Kuno smacked face first onto
the concrete and didn't get back up. His grip on his bokken
didn't loosen in the slightest.
"Ooh. That has to smart. Actually, I remember it smarting.
Hey, Kuno? You alive?" Ranma turned over the prone figure.
Kuno's entire face was a flat, cross where his eyes should
have been. Ranma surmised that he would be fine, as he was
still breathing and his back didn't look as if it was
broken.
"Ranma! What did you think you were doing? You could have
really hurt him!" Akane yelled from the second floor.
"Hey! I thought he was better than that! It's only three
floors!" Ranma yelled back, as he put his arm back in the
sling carefully. "I mean, he challenges you every day,
doesn't he?"
"You dummy! I took him out with one kick. He's nowhere near
that good."
"It's not my fault that he followed me! He should know his
limitations!" With that Ranma crouched low and then leaped
up to the third floor window that he had just exited from.
The entire class blinked. "Wow! He's really good!" Diasuke
said in wonder.
Ranma smirked. "I'm one of the best."
"But still second here at Furinkan." Akane glared at him.
"We'll see! I beat you once! I can do it again!"
A shocked murmur ran through the crowd. Someone had defeated
Akane?
"I've beaten you two times to your one!"
"Hey! Ranma can date Akane even with that stupid
proclamation from Kuno!" someone from the back of the
classroom shouted. "What a lucky devil!"
Ranma snapped his jaw closed and stared at Akane in
surprise. Akane blink-blinked as she tried to assimilate
that fact.
"Hey! Who said that I wanted to date her?"
"What! Is there something wrong with me?"
"I didn't say that!" Ranma yelled at Akane.
"No! You're insinuating it! Why you, you jerk!" Ranma saw
the windup a mile away, but for some unfathomable reason, he
didn't dodge the blow.
Ranma spun around three times from the slap and collapsed on
the ground, holding his face with his free hand.
"If you children are done playing, I have a class to teach."
A chorus of, "Yes, teacher!" followed as everyone scrambled
to sit back down.
-
Ranma and Akane walked slowly out of school. When he thought
Akane wasn't looking, he gingerly massaged his hurt
shoulder. It still hurt a lot. He couldn't quite hide his
grimace of pain.
"Your shoulder still hurting you? I know a pretty good
doctor in the area. He's really good with acupuncture and
pressure points. He's been our family doctor for ages."
Akane's face had an unreadable expression.
"I don't need no stupid doctor."
"Fine. Then you can stop me from dragging you there? Right?"
Akane grabbed his right arm and started to haul him off down
the road in the general direction of home.
Ranma struggled briefly to free his arm from her grip. Her
strength was incredible. He really couldn't remember anyone
that he couldn't break their grip almost instantly with one
hand. Finally he sighed, giving up and letting her drag him
down the road.
As they walked down the road, Ranma tried to sort out his
feelings for the strange girl. He was unknowingly trying to
pierce the same mystery many people before, with those they
had an attraction too.
Why did she treat him like she did? One moment they were
bitter rivals and the next, she was trying to help him. She
was at least as competitive as him, but did seem to kind of
like him. Even if she did jump to conclusions like she had
earlier.
And why had she jumped to that conclusion? Ranma was
interrupted as Akane slid a door to a small building open
and dragged him inside. "Dr. Tofu? Are you here?"
A trim looking young man wearing a gi and glasses stepped
into the room. "Why, hello Akane! How are you doing today?
You haven't hurt yourself again, have you?"
"Nope! Well, not much. I did a number on Ranma's shoulder
this morning and it's still hurting him."
Dr. Tofu pushed his glasses back onto his nose and grinned
at Ranma. "Follow me, please." He led the two kids into an
examination room. He motioned Ranma to sit up on the table.
"Take off your shirt." He waited for Ranma to comply and
then started to push and prod at some points on his
shoulder. "Hmm. Looks like you dislocated it and then got
it reset. Something is being pinched. Shouldn't take more
than a moment."
Ranma gritted his teeth and wouldn't let Akane have the
pleasure of hearing him scream out like he had this morning.
Dr. Tofu's hands moved expertly, kneading the flesh and
applying pressure just so. The only reaction that Ranma had
to the excruciating pain was a slight tightness around his
mouth and that he paled a bit.
"There, that should feel a lot better!"
Ranma twisted his shoulder experimentally. It was a bit
sore, but no longer had the shooting pains from earlier.
"Yeah. Thanks!"
"Good! No sparring for at least a few days. When it doesn't
hurt at all, you should be able to do light sparring for a
couple of days. Try to do some slow katas that emphasize
circular motion with your arms. That'll help keep it
limber."
"You knew I was a martial artist!" Ranma let his surprise
show.
"Not many people can control themselves from screaming out
in pain when I dislocate and reset their shoulder." Dr. Tofu
said dryly. He turned to Akane and asked, "So, how did this
happen anyways?"
"I kind of threw Ranma up against the dojo walls while we
were having a match."
"So another victory to Akane Tendo, hmm?" He started to fill
out some paperwork which he then handed to Ranma.
Akane flushed and then swallowed. "Umm. He won. This last
time!"
"Really!" Dr. Tofu looked at Ranma with healthy bit of
respect. He must be an amazing martial artist.
"I'll win next time too!" Ranma gave the doctor a dirty
look.
Dr. Tofu smiled at that. "I'm very impressed, Ranma. Akane
is the undefeated Kendo, Kempo and Karate champion in this
district. She really needs to go to the city wide meets and
try her luck there."
Akane sighed. "Not until I turn seventeen. Then I can
compete in the adult unlimited freestyle tourneys."
Ranma gave her a look of surprise. "Why wait?"
"There isn't really any challenger at my age level. Just
trashing them isn't very sporting."
Ranma gave a look of understanding. "Yeah, I can understand
that." Ranma worked on filling out the last of the
paperwork.
"Just send the bill to the dojo, Dr. Tofu. Nanami will
handle it for him." Akane shrugged a bit.
"A guest of the family?"
Akane paused and then smiled sadly for just a fleeting
moment. "Him and his father are going to be staying for a
while. At least until we get married, I guess." Akane sidled
a glance at Ranma, where his fingers froze as he was
writing.
Dr. Tofu blinked in surprise. "Married? When did this come
about?"
"Last night. It's a matter of honor between our families. To
continue the dojo and our Arts." Akane couldn't help but let
a bit of hopelessness seep into her voice.
Ranma was usually as perceptive as a rock when it came to
someone else's feelings, but even he couldn't miss Akane's
expression. He just didn't know what to say. He handed the
doctor the papers and then stood up.
Akane waved to the doctor as they walked out, her mask of
unconcern back on her face. Ranma tried to think of
something that he could do to cheer her up as they walked to
short distance home.
"Hey, Akane? I was just startled earlier, when everyone
started talking about dating and stuff. I don't mind you at
all." Ranma fiddled with his pigtail, a very small blush on
his cheek.
Akane stared at him for a second as they continued to walk.
Hesitatingly, a small, nervous smile broke onto her face. "R-
really?" Akane thought for a moment. A wistful expression
played across her face for just a second. "So where are you
going to take me?" a hint of hope had crept into her voice.
Maybe someone would treat her like a person, not a trophy or
plaything to be won.
Ranma took a moment to digest that. He hadn't meant that he
wanted to go on a date! He just didn't want to see her
upset. If he turned her down for a second time she would be
unhappy again, he was pretty sure. "Ah, I don't know the
places around here! I haven't ever been here before." Ranma
paused a second. "I think so, anyways."
"There's a Bruce Lee Martial Arts Movie fest at the old
Koshikuri theater this weekend. It's only sixty-five hundred
yen per person. It goes from early Saturday to late Sunday!"
"Really? I guess we could do that," Ranma said uncertainly.
"Great!" Akane didn't realize it, but she had a sunny smile
on her face. She was wondering why Ranma had a slightly
stupefied expression on his face, though.
-
Kasumi finished buttoning up her blouse. With one hand
raised high as she stretched as she slid her glasses on. She
looked over at Takchi with a small smile on her face. He
looked back at her as he raked his dark hair with his hands.
He sat up from his small futon, stretching his trim figure.
He embodied the words `normal looking'.
"I still can't believe you almost got engaged to a kid
almost three years younger than you, Kasumi."
"It's no worry. I managed to convince Father that Akane was
a better choice. I hope she doesn't hate me for that."
Kasumi ducked her head. "I felt like I was betraying her."
Takchi swept her into a comforting embrace. "Shush now. You
aren't trying to hurt her. You're just standing up for
yourself. You've got college ahead of you and your career.
You're going to be a great interior decorator. I can't see
your father really forcing her to wed this guy if it's going
to make her unhappy."
Kasumi smiled at him. He always knew what to say to cheer
her up. "You're right. Akane is everything to him." She slid
her hands up his back.
"Careful, you don't want to start something you aren't going
to be able to finish."
Kasumi giggled. "I thought we just did? Thanks, Takchi." She
glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Oh, no! I've got to
hurry if I'm going to get home on time!"
Takchi laughed and released her. "I'll get you home on time.
Though we had better leave soon."
Kasumi stepped closer to the young man kissed him deeply.
"Of course. Shall we be off?" At his nod, she dragged him
out the door of his apartment.
Takchi just smiled in resignation. That was his Kasumi.
-
"You're late, Nabiki," the dark hulking shadow said. The
room she stepped into was steeped in shadows. Dim light
could be seen in streak of sunbeams coming through the
cracks in the boarded up windows.
"I had to lose that someone that's been trying to follow me,
Mikaru." Nabiki lit up a cigarette. "You have it?"
"Yes. Do you have this weeks profits?"
Nabiki nodded. A sly smile played on her face. "Don't I
always? I'm not Toshi. He was stupid and got caught." And
I've also got enough stashed to cover a week's loss if I do
get caught.
"Toshi didn't start out stupid. He's in prison now. Don't be
like him and get sloppy, girl." He accepted a package from
her while she took a slightly larger from him. It
disappeared into her leather jacket that she wore over a T-
shirt and jeans.
Nabiki smiled and nodded again. "I'll go out the side way,
if you don't mind. I want to make sure I'm not followed
while I've got this much on me."
"I'll meet you next week on Friday night, in the Hypnostyle
Club." At her acknowledgement, he disappeared into the
shadows.
Nabiki didn't let his disappearance fool her. He was
probably still watching her. She went to the side window and
slid the board out of the way. A quick glance showed that
she was clear. In a flash, she was down the fire escape
quiet as you could be. She vanished into the dim alleyways
before any unwanted eyes could follow.
Once she was sure that she was clear, her hand slipped into
her pocket and pulled out a small money purse. It only took
her a moment to dig something out of a hidden pocket and
swallow it. A small giggle escaped her before she could
still it.
A fierce look stole its way onto her features as a memory
flitted through her consciousness, of her father's look of
disapproval. "Screw you Daddy. And your little angel too."
She slammed her fist into a boarded window, bruising her
knuckles and smashing the board. She muttered to herself,
"I'm strong. I'm not weak." With a small shudder, she
renewed her walk out of the dim alleys and back to Nerima.
-
Nanami shuffled through today's pile of mail. Bill, bill,
junk mail, bill. Hmm. Nabiki's subscription to Nakayoshi has
expired. She would have to remember to renew it for her. A
postcard? Addressed directly to Soun? How odd. She tacked
the subscription up to the wall, put the rest in their place
and carried the postcard out to him.
She pushed an errant strand of her gray hair out of eyes as
she stepped into the dojo. "Master Tendo? There is some mail
for you." She adjusted her apron slightly over her plain
dark brown dress.
The two combatants finished their attacks, placing their
feet back on the ground lightly. Soun turned towards Nanami.
"Ah! Thank you!" He walked his powerful but lithe frame over
to the door and accepted the mail. Akane swept her brow with
her hand and then untied her severe ponytail that she had
her hair up in. Her eyes followed her fathers movements
carefully.
"Wonderful news! Nanami? Could you please get Nabiki and
Kasumi? We'll be having a family meeting in the living
room."
"What's going on, Dad?"
Soun smiled. "I'll explain when everyone is there." He
snagged a towel to wipe the sweat off of his face.
Akane stared at her father in surprise. Had he just smiled?
-
"A fiance'?!" shouted three voices. Nanami was in the
background, preparing tea. Her left eyebrow arched in
surprise.
"Yes. I have engaged one of you to marry the son of a dear
friend, to continue our two family's art and the dojo.
They've been training for a long time and just recently
returned from China."
"Big deal." Akane turned up her nose.
"Father? What about Takchi? He and I, uh..." Kasumi asked
from where she was sitting. She looked quite comfortable in
her slacks and blouse. Her prescription glasses were
smallish and oval with a silver metal frame. She looked up
from her books on the table with a look of worry.
"Ah, he hasn't proposed, has he?"
Kasumi blushed. "No, but we've been dating for six months
and, well, I really like..."
Nabiki piped in suddenly, "She's got the hots for him and
doesn't want to be tied down into an arranged marriage." She
glared at her father and stood up. "And don't even think
about me, Dad!" she spat the words into his face, turning
and starting to stomp up the stairs.
"Nabiki! Come back here this instant!" Soun thundered,
slamming the palm of his hand down on the table.
Nabiki stopped in mid stride. She gave him an unreadable
look and then turned and sat back down.
A loud commotion was heard outside. Nabiki tilted her head
to the side. "Looks like we've got visitors." Nanami took
her cue and walked over to answer the door.
A moment later her scream pierced the air as the poor,
frazzled housemaid came trotting around the corner.
"Now look what you've done! You're scaring them spitless.
Put me down, you old fart!" a voice said as a giant panda
walked into the room. It seemed to be carrying someone over
its shoulder.
Akane and Soun both hopped lightly over table. A tanto
appeared in Akane's hand almost as if by magic as they both
shifted into their favorite attack positions.
The panda stopped suddenly and deposited the struggling
figure on the ground. The red haired individual ducked her
head low after glancing around. "Um, sorry about this."
Soun asked sternly, "Are you Ranma Saotome?" A nod was his
response. Soun swept her into a hug and spun around with his
arm still around her shoulders. A look of surprise appeared
on his face.
Nabiki stepped up suddenly. Her hand zipped out suddenly and
tweaked Ranma's breast, a look of glee on her face. "Ranma
is a girl!"
Nanami's vision wavered as she slumped into a faint. Soun
had a thunderous expression on his face. "Genma! What have
you done?"
-
Everyone was seated around the prone form of Nanami, who was
covered in a blanket, with a compress on her head.
Nabiki poked Ranma's breast again, the smile still present
on her face. "Why, Daddy, you've engaged us to a girl. I
didn't think you were that forward thinking?"
Soun was distracted from answering by the panda. It seemed
to want something from him. What an odd animal it was.
"Would you please stop that?" Ranma asked politely.
A scowl appeared on Akane's face. "Nabiki! She is a guest!"
She turned to Ranma suddenly. "Hi, I'm Akane! I hear you
practice the Art!"
"Uh, yeah." Ranma blinked in surprise at the sweaty, gi clad
girl next to her.
"Would you like to spar?"
Ranma smiled hesitantly. "Sure!"
-
"Tell me if I push you too hard!" Akane smiled in
anticipation.
Ranma barely adjusted her stance. This wouldn't be much of a
fight. Akane was just a girl, after all.
Akane frowned slightly. Deceptive. She adjusted her posture
and her method of attack. A cunning set of punches and kicks
led to a bruising blow to the shoulder that Ranma rolled
with only partially.
"Whoa!" Ranma squeaked out, using her slightly greater speed
to avoid the next set of attacks. Those were good, she
thought to herself.
A look of determination sprang to life on her face. No girl
was going to beat Ranma Saotome. She let loose a flurry of
punches and kicks, trying to get in past Akane's guard.
Akane weaved back slightly, robbing them of all strength and
outright dodging most of them. A look of consternation
flashed across Ranma's face as she was suddenly back on the
defensive.
A punch turned into a grab, snagging Ranma's wrist in an
expert throw towards the wall. Ranma bounced off of it and
snapped a kick where she expected to see Akane on the
ground. Her surprise was evident as she realized that Akane
was above her, dropping a reverse crescent kick onto her
back.
Ranma slammed to the ground and rolled, missing a stomp that
would have disabled her leg. Ranma managed to roll to her
feet awkwardly, trying to block the follow up kicks. Two
snuck through her defenses, slamming the smaller girl back
up against the wall.
A palm in front of Ranma's nose stopped the fight. "Bang.
You lose." Akane smirked. She was pretty good, Akane had to
admit. Not as good as she was, of course.
"Um, hey." Ranma couldn't believe that she had just lost to
a girl.
"You've got a lot of potential, you know that? Just need to
work on you balance and that tendency to pull short with
your punches. You'd be pretty good."
Ranma flushed in anger. Opening her mouth to retort back at
the girl that had just beaten her, she was stopped by Akane
smiling and saying, "Would you like to train here? It'd be
nice to have someone who's really good to spar with. It gets
pretty boring sparring with Father all the time."
"Ah, sure." Boy, she's cute when she wants to be, Ranma
thought.
-
"Akane? Ranma? Would you like to clean up?" Nanami asked as
she stuck her head out of the kitchen.
"Sure! Is everything set out? Come one, Ranma!" Akane said
brightly after Nanami nodded yes. Akane snagged the
reluctant smaller girl and started down the hall. Akane
noted the girl's struggles. With a shrug of her shoulders,
she hoisted the girl and with one hand tossed her lightly
into the changing room.
"Hey! What's the big idea?" Ranma piped up loudly. She
rubbed her shoulder where Akane had squeezed the bruise from
earlier.
"Girl, you stink. You look like you haven't had a bath in
ages." Akane shed her gi top and started to untie her
outfit's pants.
"Uh! Gotta go!" Ranma squeaked out. She found her way
blocked by Akane, so she dodged into the actual bathing
room.
"What is your problem? Are you allergic to soap or
something?" Akane said as she walked in after Ranma, wearing
only her panties and a sports bra.
"What are you? Some sort of bully?" Ranma looked around
frantically for some other exit as she backed away from the
wiry girl in front of her.
Akane laughed. "No, silly." She reached up to undo her
shoulder straps of the bra when Ranma stepped on a bar of
soap. With a yell and the waving of her arms frantically to
try and catch her balance, she slipped into the hot waters
of the furo.
Akane chuckled as she finished taking her bra off, just when
Ranma resurfaced. But Ranma was... different. His hair was
darker and you could see obviously that he was no longer a
she, even thru the clothes he wore. Ranma stared at her in
shock, his eyes wide as he realized that his doom was about
to be visited upon him.
Akane's eyes narrowed. She snarled, a deep bass sound
emanating from her throat. Ranma flipped himself over and
onto the inner edge of the furo, just missing being turned
into a pancake by Akane's massive blow. The same blow that
shattered the furo into its constituent pieces of tile and
splashed water everywhere.
Ranma dived over Akane's head as she was momentarily blinded
by her own attack. He slid into the changing room, changing
directions to run out the room and down the hall.
"Come back here you pervert! I'm going to hurt you so bad
that your children are going to feel it," Akane roared out
as she thundered out of the changing room, pulling on her gi
top as she followed him.
"Uh, uh! No way!" Ranma shouted over his shoulder. He left a
trail of droplets in the air as he skidded into the living
room. He bounded over the table that his father and Soun
were sitting at.
Soun took one look around and sighed. As Akane sailed over
the table, he snagged her foot, which had the effect of
tripping and slamming her to the ground. She let out all of
her breath explosively. "Akane! These are our guests! Please
behave!"
Nabiki and Kasumi trotted into the room to see what the fuss
was about. Nabiki smirked and then said, "Hey, Akane. Nice
outfit. I'm sure the boys all appreciate the view, but don't
you think you might want to put some pants on?"
"Nabiki!" Kasumi scolded. She took in the scene, noting the
man wearing the gi sitting with her father and the boy in
the background who looked like he was going to flee any
moment.
"Boy! What did you do?" Genma yelled at his son.
"It wasn't me! It was Akane! She dragged me into it! I was
just trying to get away!"
Akane had gotten to her feet woozily. "Liar! How did you
sneak into the bathroom and what did you do to Ranma?"
Ranma retreated back a step for each step that Akane took
towards him. "Ah. Would you believe that girl was me?"
Akane growled and hopped forward trying to get a hold of the
bigger boy. Ranma hopped right on back and landed with a
small splash. His foot skidded on the mud on the bottom of
the koi pond, but he managed to keep his footing for now.
Akane pulled her arm back in preparation to unleash a flurry
of attacks at the peeping tom. She stopped as she saw the
boy transform into the busty red-headed girl from before,
right in front of her very eyes.
Akane didn't relax, but said calmly, "Ok, maybe I would
believe you. So why were you sneaking around as a girl?"
"Sneaking around? It rained on me! Stupid curse! Stupid old
man, dragging me to China and getting me cursed!"
"Ranma! You sound like a girl! I thought you would sacrifice
your life for the art!"
Akane's glance twitched to the older, heavyset man wearing a
white gi, glasses and a bandana who walked up.
"My life yes, not my manhood!" Ranma leaped over Akane's
head and started to throw kicks and punches at the older
man.
Genma was holding his own for the moment. "You're whining
like a weak, little girl, Ranma-ugh!" Genma was interrupted
by a kick to his head.
Akane finished up her kick as Genma sailed into the air and
down back into the pond. A panda surfaced suddenly, shaking
its skull, seeing if anything was broken. "Weak, little
girl? This is the modern age, you chauvinistic creep!"
"Yes, as you can see, they were both cursed to turn into
these other forms by cold water. Nanami! Bring that kettle,
please! Luckily, hot water can change them back!" Soun
suddenly splashed Ranma with scalding water from a kettle
that was handed to him.
"Not that hot! Not boiling," he screeched.
Soun ignored him and splashed a widely dodging panda.
Unfortunately, the panda was a huge target and couldn't
avoid all of the water. "Yeow!"
"They weren't like this, until they visited the cursed
springs of hidden Jusenkyo! Their mystery is finally
revealed!" Soun exclaimed.
"Hey? Isn't this a brochure for that place you were talking
about?" Nabiki said suddenly, showing everyone a travel
brochure that had fallen to the ground during the scuffle.
Kasumi read over her younger sisters shoulders. She adjusted
her glasses with one finger. "Hmm. It's all written in
standard mandarin kanji." Kasumi got a shrewd look on her
face. "You can't read it, can you?"
"Why, yes! How did you know?" Genma said, surprise evident
on his face. For some reason, he was instantly dressed in
his clothes again.
"What an idiot! Why would you go visit a place if you
couldn't even read the language?" Nabiki said scathingly.
"But it was only 500 yen! It was a bargain! Besides, I could
make out the words 'training ground' and 'martial arts'."
Everyone groaned at his response.
Soun clapped Ranma on his shoulder. "Well, Ranma! Your
problem isn't that bad after all. These are my daughters;
Kasumi, age nineteen; Nabiki, age seventeen; and Akane, age
sixteen. Choose the one you want to be your new fiance'e!"
"Oh, he wants Akane, definitely!" Nabiki piped up quickly.
Kasumi frowned, but nodded her agreement. "She really would
be the better match." She put her hand on Akane's shoulder
and smiled. "Besides, they are both martial artists."
"Hey! Don't I get some choice here!" Akane had this
incredible feeling that she was being sold off in a meat
market.
"I'm the one who's getting saddled with a psycho! You
dragged me off and tried to force me to bath with you!"
"You were the one that didn't tell me that you were really a
boy! Admit it, you jerk, you're just upset that you lost to
me."
A frown grew on Genma's face as Ranma face turned an
interesting shade of red. "You lost to her, boy? I thought
that I trained you better than that!"
"I only lost because I was in my cursed form! I'd win hands
down now!" Ranma yelled back at his father over Akane.
"Hah, that sounds like a challenge. Put you money where your
mouth is, Ranma!" Akane sniped right back.
"Sure! Right now, in the dojo!"
And with that the two tromped into the dojo. They waited a
moment as Nanami brought in a pair of gi pants so that Akane
was properly attired. Then they lunged at each other in
unison. Nabiki yawned from the sideline with the rest of the
family. She'd seen Akane stomp a lot of would be challengers
into the ground.
Akane noted that Ranma now had a significant reach
advantage, but seemed unwilling to grapple. He used mostly
punches and kicks, with a lot of aerial movement. Akane kept
herself low and steady, only leaping into the air when
needed.
She had to admit that Ranma was far better as a boy than
`she' had been as a girl. His balance was almost perfect,
his movements lithe and sure. His speed was phenomenal, but
only a fraction faster than her own.
Ranma began to suspect that she wasn't going to be a
pushover. He feinted and weaved, trying to draw her into
letting herself become unbalanced, open to attack. She
minimized that almost immediately by keeping low and to the
ground. He suspected that she saw through his tactic. Ranma
had to step back more than once when she almost got a good
grip on him.
Nabiki yawned again and then glanced down at her watch. She
whistled in surprise. They'd been fighting for over twenty
minutes non-stop. "Wow. He's really good. Akane usually
stomps anyone except Dad in two minutes flat."
Soun nodded proudly.
Ranma quit leaping into the air, suddenly. He started to
emulate Akane, keeping low and fast. He started to get
better shots off, catching her off guard. He gave her a
stunning punch to her stomach, grinning as he thought he'd
finally got to her. To say he was surprised when she grabbed
that same punch and followed through with a complex throw,
body-slam and grapple was an understatement.
Ranma found himself pinned and having trouble breathing. He
had surprisingly good leverage and started to push back. It
became a contest of strength. He was sure that he was
stronger.
Akane proved him wrong. For two minutes he continued to
fight, until spots appeared in his eyes. He panicked and
tried to twist his way out, which was a fatal flaw when
being held in the hold Akane was using.
She grinned as she deftly managed to slam his forehead to
ground, stunning him further. Ranma felt that she had become
part python as she adjusted her grip to hold him tightly. He
really started to panic as he realized that he was in a
sleeper hold and couldn't get out.
That was his last thought, just before he passed out.
"He lost?" Genma said weakly. A shocked expression covered
his face.
"Yes. To my true heir of the Tendo School of Anything Goes
Martial Arts." Pride was evident on his face.
"How did she get so good?" Genma stuttered. He had just
spent the last ten years of his life on the road, training
his son for nothing? A girl who had stayed home could best
his Ranma?
"It took an incredible effort, but training for the last
nine years paid off. I couldn't leave for as long a trip as
you, of course. I had to look after Kasumi and Nabiki still.
So I undertook training her intensely at home, with
meticulously planned trips to exotic locales where the most
powerful of techniques could be learned! As you can see, it
paid off handsomely."
"Of course." Genma schooled his face to hide the feelings of
shame and worthlessness that he felt. His son was a failure.
-
Ranma awoke to the sight of a worried girl. "Are you all
right, Ranma? I hope I didn't hurt you?" Akane said quietly.
Ranma rubbed his neck. "Nah, I'm all right." He stared at
the hand that was held out to help him up. He was tempted to
just knock the hand away, but her expression really did seem
sincere. With a sigh, he took her hand and let her drag him
to his feet.
"You were really good, Ranma. Only my Dad can fight me like
you just did!"
Ranma looked at her speculatively. "Really?"
"Come on! Let's get some food. Sparring always makes me
hungry."
That comment won Ranma back over. With a rueful smile, he
trotted after her. He was going to defeat her, he swore
silently.
-
Ranma lay in his bed, eyes open and staring at nothing. He
was replaying the fight, going over it piece by piece. She
was good, he had to admit. She had beaten him after all. Not
that he would ever say that aloud if he could help it.
Strong as an ox and very fast. Her form was pretty near
flawless as far as he could see.
He spent the next hour going over the fight. By the end of
his ruminations, he thought that he had found an exploitable
hole in her defense. It would tricky, but he thought he
could pull it off. It would probably be a one time only
thing, he concluded glumly.
He hardened his jaw muscles suddenly. He would just have to
train harder. He finally fell asleep still planning.
-
Nanami whistled softly as she prepared to make breakfast for
the family. She was quite used to it, as she had been doing
the same thing for almost eight years. A flicker of a shadow
across the window snapped her attention out into the yard.
"Oh, it's just Ranma!" She watched him practice some punches
while twisting in midair. He was silent as he flickered
across the yard in leaps and bounds. She turned back to
making breakfast.
"Ah, good morning, Nanami! Have you seen any of the
students?" Soun asked as he picked up his breakfast.
"Not yet, I've only seen Ranma. He been up practicing before
I got out of bed," Nanami said, smiling at the martial arts
master.
"Ranma?" Soun got a speculative look on his face. "Nanami?
Why don't you wake Akane a little earlier than normal. About
twenty minutes or so."
"I guess I could. Any particular reason, Master Tendo?"
"Just a guess."
-
"Have you seen that worthless son of mine?" Genma asked
presumptuously. He looked in the kitchen, guessing wrongly
that his son would be in there getting an early bite to eat.
"Ranma? Why, I believe he's been up since dawn practicing.
If you will excuse me, I have to wake Akane and Kasumi."
Genma was surprised by that. Ranma, getting up early by
himself? He stepped into the backyard to see him finishing
up a complex kata. "Hey, Pop! What's up?"
"I thought I would start retraining you. That was a
pathetic..."
"Shut up, old man. No way am I gonna lose again."
Nabiki blinked from where she sat at the dinner table. A
vicious smile appeared on her face for just a second. She
quickly schooled her face into a far nicer smile. "Oh,
really? I bet you that you'll still lose, Ranma. Willing to
back up your words with money?"
Ranma looked confused for a second. "What? No way am I
losing! You're on!"
"Two thousand yen. I'll even give you two to one odds."
Ranma looked panicked for a second as he patted around for
some money. Genma put his hand on his son's shoulder and
spoke up suddenly, "Don't worry, Ranma. I'll cover you on
this." Ranma gave him a very strange look.
Akane walked in, stretching out her muscles. She was wearing
her gi in preparation for her morning practice.
"Hey, Akane. Ranma is looking for a rematch. Are you up for
it?" Nabiki said loudly.
Akane blinked. "Um, sure. I guess. Give me a moment to
stretch out."
Ranma ran through a simple kata to keep him limber as Akane
warmed herself up. Behind them, Soun stepped up to the door
of the dojo to watch. Behind him, three high school aged
boys watched in interest. Genma stood on the porch of the
house, the doors open behind him so that the people at
breakfast could watch. In the background, Kasumi walked in
and sat at the table.
Akane finished her warm up and took her stance. Ranma also
took up a stance. Both Soun and Genma dropped their hands at
the same moment.
Ranma didn't wait for Akane to attack him this time. He
flashed forward and pressed the attack with a series of
punches and kicks, almost identical to last nights fight.
Akane returned the attacks with blocks and punches of her
own.
Hitoki snickered to the other students in the dojo. "It
looks like Akane is going to thrash that guy."
Ryu watched intently and then whistled softly. "She's been
holding back on us. Look at them go."
The third in the trio watched intently also. Wian responded,
his voice thick with his Chinese accent. "You're right. I've
never seen her pushed that hard. Whoever he is, he's good."
Hitoki turned a critical eye on the fight. "You're right,
Wian. We're the best students under Sensei Tendo and I know
for a fact that I wouldn't last a minute in that fight."
The other two nodded in agreement. That was moderately
disturbing. They knew they were good. They just hadn't
realized how much better Akane really was. No wonder Kuno
lost every time they dueled.
Akane noted as the fight progressed that Ranma had closed a
few of his holes that she had been using last night. She was
sure that she had too. Ranma launched a new series of
punches that Akane blocked with effort. She saw an opening
in his attack and managed to get a decent hit in to his
chest.
Pain blossomed in her abdomen as Ranma slipped in a hard
blow to her solar plexus at the same moment, robbing her of
precious air. Ranma continued to punch at her as he flipped
inches over her head, spinning in mid-air to continue facing
her without paused. Sweat glistened on Ranma's brow as he
pushed himself even harder.
Before he had even hit the ground he spun a kick in between
his punches that he continued to throw non-stop. A kick that
he spun in the opposite direction that she was spinning to
face him. Akane blocked the punches without pausing a beat,
but the kick surprised her and slammed the side of her head.
That stunned her for just a second.
A moment that Ranma didn't waste. He twisted her arm behind
her and swept her feet out from underneath her. With his
free arm, he caught her in a different sleeper hold than she
used on him and held her to the ground. She'd have no
leverage.
She still almost ripped her trapped arm free. Akane grunted
in exertion. With her free arm she tried to dislodge him for
a moment, but that couldn't get a grip on him. She gave that
up as futile for the short time that she would be conscious.
Her free hand gripped the grass and heaved them both up and
tossed them both at a wall thirty feet away. Ranma grunted
as his shoulder slammed into the wall with stunning force.
Ranma gritted his teeth against the pain. He would not lose
again. He would not.
Akane managed to get a grip on the wall with her free arm
and to slam them both up against the wall with stunning f, Ranma
taking the blow on the same shoulder.
Pain blossomed just as he felt Akane going limp. They both
sagged to the ground, but Ranma was the only one to rise to
his feet. Just a few short moments later, as Ranma had
gotten his breathing back under control, Akane awoke.
She groaned in pain. She looked up in surprise at Ranma who
was holding his left hand out to help her out.
"A really good match, Akane."
"That was a really sneaky move Ranma. It won't work again."
Akane smiled to remove the sting.
"I'm sure."
Nabiki blinked from where she was sitting at the table.
Akane had lost. She glared at Ranma's back for a second and
then grudgingly pulled out the money that he had won. She
wandered out into the yard to give him his winnings. "Well,
Ranma. You really surprised me there. I haven't seen anyone
but Dad beat Akane in years."
Ranma accepted the money. "Thanks! That last move she pulled
really surprised me."
Akane noted that Ranma's right arm was hanging limply. "Are
you all right?"
"My shoulder really hurts," Ranma said with a grimace. It
hurt hugely to even try and shift it around. He'd probably
sprained it pretty badly, though it hurt worse than he
remembered from last time he had done that.
Akane studied him for a second. Ranma was going to hate
this, but it would be better if she didn't warn him. "Let me
take a look. Ok?"
"Sure." Ranma glanced over at the retreating form of Nabiki
as she walked back in to the house. He screamed in pain as
Akane relocated his shoulder. He fell to his knees from the
pain.
"You dislocated you shoulder. It should heal up fine now!"
"Uh, thanks," Ranma said weakly.
"Hey, no problem. Why don't you go in and get cleaned up.
I've got my dad's class to attend yet before school." She
jerked her thumb at the open door and the students that were
standing around. They parted ways as Ranma walked unsteadily
back into the house.
As he passed Nabiki, he saw her pull on a leather jacket and
walk towards the front door.
Akane took a minute as she stepped into the dojo to pay her
respects at the small shrine that was dedicated to her
mother. A renewed sense of determination welled up in her as
she turned back to her father's first class of the day.
Thoughts whirled through her mind. Strategies and counters
formed, practice drills to increase her speed and power.
Akane focused on her training. At that moment, nothing was
more important. She had been unconsciously lax if Ranma
could beat her after only one time of losing to her. That
would not happen again, she vowed.
-
"School? I don't want to go to school." Ranma shifted the
sling his arm was in.
"Quit whining. You need the education." Genma glared at his
ungrateful son.
"I don't even have any school supplies!" His protestations
were cut short as his father threw a backpack at him.
Kasumi smiled as she pulled on her own knit jacket. It was a
pale green with baby blue stripes. "Akane will be able to
show you how to get there. It looks like Nabiki has already
left.'
"Fine! Whatever!" Ranma groused.
He heard some light tapping coming down the stairs that
heralded Akane's approach. She shouldered her small backpack
and looked at Ranma. "Are you ready?"
Ranma was surprised to say the least. Akane looked like an
ordinary, if cute, schoolgirl in her uniform. It was loose
enough that you couldn't see the breadth of her wiry
shoulders. Her long hair was in a loose ponytail. "Um,
yeah."
As Ranma and Akane walked down the road, Ranma saw Kasumi
getting picked up by a man driving a blue Toyota. "Hey,
Akane? Who's that?"
"Hmm? Oh, that's Kasumi's boyfriend. She met him at Hajima
Tech College."
"So that's why she pushed the engagement onto you. So how
about Nabiki?" Ranma asked.
A slight scowl appeared on Akane's face. "Nabiki doesn't
like me much. She's... a bit of a troublemaker."
Ranma thought about that for a second. "So, watch your
back?"
Akane nodded glumly.
Ranma opened his mouth to reply, when he was doused from the
open sky with cold water. She wiped her eyes clear of the
water and looked up. There was a tipped over bucket in the
window of a house. A man's head appeared a second later.
"Sorry about that!"
Ranma sighed and turned around. Akane gave her a speculative
look. Akane grabbed her arm. "We don't have time to go home
and get you some hot water, Ranma."
"I can't go to school like this!"
"We'll get you some hot water when we get there. I'm in
enough trouble from having to miss weeks of school to go on
my training trips. I can't be late." Akane started to drag
her down the street. Ranma tried futilely to stop her for a
second, but realized that it would just create a bigger
fuss.
The red haired girl sighed. She had a suspicion that the
rest of the day wasn't going to get better.
-
Nabiki pulled another drag on her cigarette. She watched the
gates of Furinkan with mild amusement and interest. She and
her friends were in a dimly lit area of the yard, screened
from the school by a few trees. Furinkan's smokers corner
was a haven from the oppression of school.
"So what's so important that's going to happen today?" one
of the girls asked Nabiki.
"There's going to be a new student." Nabiki flicked the ash
off of her cigarette and dropped it to the ground. She
stomped the butt into the ground.
"A new student?"
"Yes. There's going to be a change in the balance around
here."
"I don't see why. Kuno's still pestering your sister, just
like you wanted. He's got all of those boys trying to `date'
her. I can't see how she can stand it every morning."
"She's stubborn. Mule-headed is a pretty good description
for her."
One of the girls shaded her eyes, squinting to see someone
trotting in the gate. "Is that her?"
Nabiki glanced over at the gate. She nodded her reply. A
small vicious smile cracked her lips.
-
Ranma was surprised when about thirty boys dressed in
different sporting outfits charged them as they walked in
the gates. Akane didn't seem surprised as she hopped forward
ten feet. Her hands and feet became a blur to everyone but
Ranma as she moved in between all of them. In moments they
were down and out, laying on the ground as they groaned.
"You'd think they'd learn." Akane flipped her hair back over
her shoulder. A blurred shape was thrown at her. With a
flick of her wrist, she snapped a rose out of the air. "Good
morning, Upperclassman. Are you ready to get pounded again?"
"Nay, for on this day shall I, Tatewaki Kuno the Blue
Thunder of Furinkan High, shall defeat thee and take thee on
a date of Herculean proportions." He made a dramatic pose as
he walked out of the shadow of the tree he had been hiding
behind.
Kuno lunged out suddenly, trying to catch her unawares. She
pivoted on one toe and spun a kick that connected to the
back of his head. Kuno collapsed into an inert lump on the
ground.
Ranma walked up beside her. "What was all that about?"
"Oh, Kuno just made this silly proclamation that if anyone
wanted to date me, they would have to defeat me first."
"Let me guess, none of them even came close?"
"Bingo! Come on, let's go find that hot water." Akane
started to walk off.
"So why do they listen to him? He seems to be some sort of
jerk."
"He's the second best fighter in the school. Ryu and Wiam
are a close third after him."
"Actually, wouldn't he be the third best? You'd still be
second best even with me here."
Akane glared at her. "I don't know about that."
Ranma humphed and then changed the subject. "So why do you
allow it to continue?"
"Hmm? Oh, I'm training them. They are absolutely pathetic
and need all the help they can get."
Ranma started to laugh. "Oh, that is too choice."
-
Ranma tapped away at the book in front of him with the
eraser of his pencil. He couldn't get comfortable enough to
rest, so he was paying fairly close attention to the
teacher. He sneaked a glance over at Akane. She was sitting
at her desk, her face devoid of anything but the intensity
of learning.
Ranma shuddered slightly. She was just a bit spooky. It
seemed like everything she did had to done to a hundred and
ten percent. The door to the classroom slid open suddenly,
as a figure roared into the room.
Tatewaki Kuno shouted out as he slid into the room, "I shall
not stand for this! It must be a lie! Never shall I stand
for this travesty of justice that claims that Akane Tendo
must wed this rank mongrel!"
The class erupted into pandemonium as questions erupted from
everyone's throats, directed at the two hapless teenagers.
Ranma and Akane tried to denounce the truth of the news,
attempting to blunt it with their declarations that they
would never marry.
Ranma barely leaped out of his desk when it was turned into
kindling. "Hey!"
"I thought you might be the one! You had the stink of the
common swine on thee." Kuno smirked. He matched the
description perfectly. He would have to remember to reward
Nabiki later.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing, Kuno?" Akane shouted.
"This isn't the place to fight! Follow me!" Ranma was true
to his words, for he leaped to the window sill, pausing just
a second to make sure that Kuno was following.
"Kuno! Wait! We're on the third floor!" Akane screamed out
as Kuno leaped after the pig-tailed martial artist.
"I follow!"
Ranma bounced on the ground as he slipped his arm free of
the sling. He grimaced in pain at moving his shoulder. He
spun lightly, prepared to take down the kendoist the moment
he touched down.
With a ground shuddering thud, Kuno smacked face first onto
the concrete and didn't get back up. His grip on his bokken
didn't loosen in the slightest.
"Ooh. That has to smart. Actually, I remember it smarting.
Hey, Kuno? You alive?" Ranma turned over the prone figure.
Kuno's entire face was a flat, cross where his eyes should
have been. Ranma surmised that he would be fine, as he was
still breathing and his back didn't look as if it was
broken.
"Ranma! What did you think you were doing? You could have
really hurt him!" Akane yelled from the second floor.
"Hey! I thought he was better than that! It's only three
floors!" Ranma yelled back, as he put his arm back in the
sling carefully. "I mean, he challenges you every day,
doesn't he?"
"You dummy! I took him out with one kick. He's nowhere near
that good."
"It's not my fault that he followed me! He should know his
limitations!" With that Ranma crouched low and then leaped
up to the third floor window that he had just exited from.
The entire class blinked. "Wow! He's really good!" Diasuke
said in wonder.
Ranma smirked. "I'm one of the best."
"But still second here at Furinkan." Akane glared at him.
"We'll see! I beat you once! I can do it again!"
A shocked murmur ran through the crowd. Someone had defeated
Akane?
"I've beaten you two times to your one!"
"Hey! Ranma can date Akane even with that stupid
proclamation from Kuno!" someone from the back of the
classroom shouted. "What a lucky devil!"
Ranma snapped his jaw closed and stared at Akane in
surprise. Akane blink-blinked as she tried to assimilate
that fact.
"Hey! Who said that I wanted to date her?"
"What! Is there something wrong with me?"
"I didn't say that!" Ranma yelled at Akane.
"No! You're insinuating it! Why you, you jerk!" Ranma saw
the windup a mile away, but for some unfathomable reason, he
didn't dodge the blow.
Ranma spun around three times from the slap and collapsed on
the ground, holding his face with his free hand.
"If you children are done playing, I have a class to teach."
A chorus of, "Yes, teacher!" followed as everyone scrambled
to sit back down.
-
Ranma and Akane walked slowly out of school. When he thought
Akane wasn't looking, he gingerly massaged his hurt
shoulder. It still hurt a lot. He couldn't quite hide his
grimace of pain.
"Your shoulder still hurting you? I know a pretty good
doctor in the area. He's really good with acupuncture and
pressure points. He's been our family doctor for ages."
Akane's face had an unreadable expression.
"I don't need no stupid doctor."
"Fine. Then you can stop me from dragging you there? Right?"
Akane grabbed his right arm and started to haul him off down
the road in the general direction of home.
Ranma struggled briefly to free his arm from her grip. Her
strength was incredible. He really couldn't remember anyone
that he couldn't break their grip almost instantly with one
hand. Finally he sighed, giving up and letting her drag him
down the road.
As they walked down the road, Ranma tried to sort out his
feelings for the strange girl. He was unknowingly trying to
pierce the same mystery many people before, with those they
had an attraction too.
Why did she treat him like she did? One moment they were
bitter rivals and the next, she was trying to help him. She
was at least as competitive as him, but did seem to kind of
like him. Even if she did jump to conclusions like she had
earlier.
And why had she jumped to that conclusion? Ranma was
interrupted as Akane slid a door to a small building open
and dragged him inside. "Dr. Tofu? Are you here?"
A trim looking young man wearing a gi and glasses stepped
into the room. "Why, hello Akane! How are you doing today?
You haven't hurt yourself again, have you?"
"Nope! Well, not much. I did a number on Ranma's shoulder
this morning and it's still hurting him."
Dr. Tofu pushed his glasses back onto his nose and grinned
at Ranma. "Follow me, please." He led the two kids into an
examination room. He motioned Ranma to sit up on the table.
"Take off your shirt." He waited for Ranma to comply and
then started to push and prod at some points on his
shoulder. "Hmm. Looks like you dislocated it and then got
it reset. Something is being pinched. Shouldn't take more
than a moment."
Ranma gritted his teeth and wouldn't let Akane have the
pleasure of hearing him scream out like he had this morning.
Dr. Tofu's hands moved expertly, kneading the flesh and
applying pressure just so. The only reaction that Ranma had
to the excruciating pain was a slight tightness around his
mouth and that he paled a bit.
"There, that should feel a lot better!"
Ranma twisted his shoulder experimentally. It was a bit
sore, but no longer had the shooting pains from earlier.
"Yeah. Thanks!"
"Good! No sparring for at least a few days. When it doesn't
hurt at all, you should be able to do light sparring for a
couple of days. Try to do some slow katas that emphasize
circular motion with your arms. That'll help keep it
limber."
"You knew I was a martial artist!" Ranma let his surprise
show.
"Not many people can control themselves from screaming out
in pain when I dislocate and reset their shoulder." Dr. Tofu
said dryly. He turned to Akane and asked, "So, how did this
happen anyways?"
"I kind of threw Ranma up against the dojo walls while we
were having a match."
"So another victory to Akane Tendo, hmm?" He started to fill
out some paperwork which he then handed to Ranma.
Akane flushed and then swallowed. "Umm. He won. This last
time!"
"Really!" Dr. Tofu looked at Ranma with healthy bit of
respect. He must be an amazing martial artist.
"I'll win next time too!" Ranma gave the doctor a dirty
look.
Dr. Tofu smiled at that. "I'm very impressed, Ranma. Akane
is the undefeated Kendo, Kempo and Karate champion in this
district. She really needs to go to the city wide meets and
try her luck there."
Akane sighed. "Not until I turn seventeen. Then I can
compete in the adult unlimited freestyle tourneys."
Ranma gave her a look of surprise. "Why wait?"
"There isn't really any challenger at my age level. Just
trashing them isn't very sporting."
Ranma gave a look of understanding. "Yeah, I can understand
that." Ranma worked on filling out the last of the
paperwork.
"Just send the bill to the dojo, Dr. Tofu. Nanami will
handle it for him." Akane shrugged a bit.
"A guest of the family?"
Akane paused and then smiled sadly for just a fleeting
moment. "Him and his father are going to be staying for a
while. At least until we get married, I guess." Akane sidled
a glance at Ranma, where his fingers froze as he was
writing.
Dr. Tofu blinked in surprise. "Married? When did this come
about?"
"Last night. It's a matter of honor between our families. To
continue the dojo and our Arts." Akane couldn't help but let
a bit of hopelessness seep into her voice.
Ranma was usually as perceptive as a rock when it came to
someone else's feelings, but even he couldn't miss Akane's
expression. He just didn't know what to say. He handed the
doctor the papers and then stood up.
Akane waved to the doctor as they walked out, her mask of
unconcern back on her face. Ranma tried to think of
something that he could do to cheer her up as they walked to
short distance home.
"Hey, Akane? I was just startled earlier, when everyone
started talking about dating and stuff. I don't mind you at
all." Ranma fiddled with his pigtail, a very small blush on
his cheek.
Akane stared at him for a second as they continued to walk.
Hesitatingly, a small, nervous smile broke onto her face. "R-
really?" Akane thought for a moment. A wistful expression
played across her face for just a second. "So where are you
going to take me?" a hint of hope had crept into her voice.
Maybe someone would treat her like a person, not a trophy or
plaything to be won.
Ranma took a moment to digest that. He hadn't meant that he
wanted to go on a date! He just didn't want to see her
upset. If he turned her down for a second time she would be
unhappy again, he was pretty sure. "Ah, I don't know the
places around here! I haven't ever been here before." Ranma
paused a second. "I think so, anyways."
"There's a Bruce Lee Martial Arts Movie fest at the old
Koshikuri theater this weekend. It's only sixty-five hundred
yen per person. It goes from early Saturday to late Sunday!"
"Really? I guess we could do that," Ranma said uncertainly.
"Great!" Akane didn't realize it, but she had a sunny smile
on her face. She was wondering why Ranma had a slightly
stupefied expression on his face, though.
-
Kasumi finished buttoning up her blouse. With one hand
raised high as she stretched as she slid her glasses on. She
looked over at Takchi with a small smile on her face. He
looked back at her as he raked his dark hair with his hands.
He sat up from his small futon, stretching his trim figure.
He embodied the words `normal looking'.
"I still can't believe you almost got engaged to a kid
almost three years younger than you, Kasumi."
"It's no worry. I managed to convince Father that Akane was
a better choice. I hope she doesn't hate me for that."
Kasumi ducked her head. "I felt like I was betraying her."
Takchi swept her into a comforting embrace. "Shush now. You
aren't trying to hurt her. You're just standing up for
yourself. You've got college ahead of you and your career.
You're going to be a great interior decorator. I can't see
your father really forcing her to wed this guy if it's going
to make her unhappy."
Kasumi smiled at him. He always knew what to say to cheer
her up. "You're right. Akane is everything to him." She slid
her hands up his back.
"Careful, you don't want to start something you aren't going
to be able to finish."
Kasumi giggled. "I thought we just did? Thanks, Takchi." She
glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Oh, no! I've got to
hurry if I'm going to get home on time!"
Takchi laughed and released her. "I'll get you home on time.
Though we had better leave soon."
Kasumi stepped closer to the young man kissed him deeply.
"Of course. Shall we be off?" At his nod, she dragged him
out the door of his apartment.
Takchi just smiled in resignation. That was his Kasumi.
-
"You're late, Nabiki," the dark hulking shadow said. The
room she stepped into was steeped in shadows. Dim light
could be seen in streak of sunbeams coming through the
cracks in the boarded up windows.
"I had to lose that someone that's been trying to follow me,
Mikaru." Nabiki lit up a cigarette. "You have it?"
"Yes. Do you have this weeks profits?"
Nabiki nodded. A sly smile played on her face. "Don't I
always? I'm not Toshi. He was stupid and got caught." And
I've also got enough stashed to cover a week's loss if I do
get caught.
"Toshi didn't start out stupid. He's in prison now. Don't be
like him and get sloppy, girl." He accepted a package from
her while she took a slightly larger from him. It
disappeared into her leather jacket that she wore over a T-
shirt and jeans.
Nabiki smiled and nodded again. "I'll go out the side way,
if you don't mind. I want to make sure I'm not followed
while I've got this much on me."
"I'll meet you next week on Friday night, in the Hypnostyle
Club." At her acknowledgement, he disappeared into the
shadows.
Nabiki didn't let his disappearance fool her. He was
probably still watching her. She went to the side window and
slid the board out of the way. A quick glance showed that
she was clear. In a flash, she was down the fire escape
quiet as you could be. She vanished into the dim alleyways
before any unwanted eyes could follow.
Once she was sure that she was clear, her hand slipped into
her pocket and pulled out a small money purse. It only took
her a moment to dig something out of a hidden pocket and
swallow it. A small giggle escaped her before she could
still it.
A fierce look stole its way onto her features as a memory
flitted through her consciousness, of her father's look of
disapproval. "Screw you Daddy. And your little angel too."
She slammed her fist into a boarded window, bruising her
knuckles and smashing the board. She muttered to herself,
"I'm strong. I'm not weak." With a small shudder, she
renewed her walk out of the dim alleys and back to Nerima.