Subject: [Fanfic][Ranma] Hearts and Minds Prelude 3 -- Kodachi: The Contest
From: KLEPPE@execpc.com (Gary Kleppe)
Date: 8/11/1997, 10:07 AM
To: fanfic@fanfic.com




		     HEARTS AND MINDS PRELUDE THREE
		       KUNO KODACHI: THE CONTEST

		       Ranma 1/2 manga fanfiction
			     by Gary Kleppe

	The characters of Ranma 1/2 are the creation of and rightful
property of Rumiko Takahashi. They are used here without permission.
This story may be freely redistributed, but it should not be altered
substantially or used for profit in any way.

	SERIES NOTES: This is a prequel to "Hearts and Minds", a series
taking place five years after the end of the Ranma 1/2 manga. There will
be ten of these, each centering on a particular character or two. They
lead into the main series, but each should (hopefully) be readable on
its own as a continuation story.

	For more info on the series, read the Info post I sent to FFML
(archive # 40384), or see the section for this fic on my web page,
http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe/comics#ham

	Please C&C! At least let me know that you've read this, and what
your reaction was. All feedback will be welcomed and responded to, and
all suggestions for change will be seriously considered. Public response
is preferred, but private is fine.

                                 ______


	The Kuno mansion stood on the outskirts of Nerima, as it had for
many generations. It was a reminder of Japan's honorable samurai
traditions; a monument to times gone by, or perhaps merely an
anachronism.

	Tatewaki Kuno had returned to this place that had once been his
home. There was no one here who he wanted to see; it was only his
memories of the place that had called him to visit.

	He walked through the grounds, under cover of the darkness. As a
youth, he had loved his home. It was his connection to the great and
noble samurai history of the Kuno clan. Now, as he looked at it in the
dim evening light, it was a reminder of what he had been and the
mistakes that he had made.

	Perhaps he should not have come here, he thought. Being in the
place posed the kind of danger that a drink did to a reformed alcoholic.
For a moment, he imagined demons lying in the shadows of the darkened
estate, ready to leap out at him during a careless moment and drag him
back to being what he once was. He dismissed the thought as the effects
of insufficient sleep, and walked toward the exit.

	Something from out of the darkness struck Tatewaki, knocking him
down.

	He rolled over, pulling out a bokken as his eyes searched for
the source of the blow. A shadowy figure was barely visible, illuminated
from the side by one of the mansion's lamps. Focusing his gaze, he
identified his attacker.

	"Sister."

	"Brother, dear! I mistook you for an intruder. How careless of
me." Kodachi's voice carried a touch of mockery. "Perhaps you ought to
have announced yourself. Have you only now returned from China?"

	Tatewaki eyed his sister suspiciously, her black leotard and
tights making her nearly invisible in the darkness. "Yes. I cannot stay
here, as I have urgent business at the Tendo dojo."

	"Oh, do allow me to accompany you there. I've only recently
returned here myself. I'd so like to hear what fascinating things you
and the others have been up to during these last few years."

	"What of father?"

	"He has returned to his beloved Hawaii. He mentioned something
about working to aid some native people's movement on that island. What
about you, brother? Are you still pursuing Tendo Akane and that girl
with the pig-tail?"

	"No, for I have pledged my love to Shan Pu of the Amazons."

	"Why, brother!" she said condescendingly. "Not only a mere
waitress, but one from a savage culture? What would mother say?"

	Some instinct took control of Tatewaki. He charged with his
bokken, swinging it at his sister.

	Kodachi moved effortlessly out of the way of the blow, and was
instantly behind her brother. She gave an insane laugh as she paused to
let him turn around. Her ribbon flashed out and snaked itself around his
bokken, pulling it out of his hands and sending it to the ground.

	"You ought to learn to control your temper, brother," she said,
as one might speak to a child. "Shall we go now?"

	Kodachi smiled as her brother led the way off the estate. She
was so looking forward to seeing the others. It was sure to prove most
amusing, especially considering the events that had led to her
departure...

                                 ______


	Kuno Kodachi bounced over rooftops and fences, with practiced
ease, toward her home. Life was good. It was her last year at St.
Hebereke. Her gymnastics team was undefeated for the year, with a record
of eight wins by forfeit and no losses. Even better, her dullard brother
had gone off somewhere, and had not been seen for the past few months.

	Only one thing was still as it shouldn't be, and she would soon
be seeing to that.

	Kodachi leapt up onto a taller building, and looked down at the
passers-by on the street below. Many years ago, she had read a story
called "Flatland". It described a people who existed only in a flat,
two-dimensional universe. The people below reminded her of the ones in
that story. They walked along, confined to their two-dimensional
sidewalks and roads, while she was free to go where she wished.

	But it was not merely a matter of physical travel. Some called
Kuno Kodachi insane, but the truth was that she simply thought in
different ways than the Flatlanders, whose thinking was confined to
narrow, predicatble paths.

	Kodachi had something in particular she needed to think about.
Her darling Ranma still eluded her grasp. Kodachi did not quite know why
this was. Perhaps the wicked Tendo Akane was trapping him into marrying
her, pressuring him through their parents. Then again, she thought,
Ranma might just be playing hard to get, or might not even be aware of
his true feelings. There was also the girl in the pig-tail; Kodachi
wasn't quite sure how she fit into the equation.

	It mattered not what problems she had, they would be fixed. Kuno
Kodachi, the Black Rose, would get what she wanted, as she always did;
one way, or another. All she had to do was to think along a different
dimension.

	Kodachi spotted her main rival, obviously on the way to school,
and jumped over to stand in her path. "Tendo Akane, the Black Rose
challenges you!"

	"Excuse me?!?"

	"Perhaps your listening comprehension needs work? I challenge
you. Be at your Furinkan High School at 3 PM on Saturday. Unless you're
afraid, of course. I know that your own abilities are rather...
limited."

	"Afraid? Of YOU? No way! I accept!"

	"Very well. And to the winner will belong darling Ranma!" Before
Akane could react, Kodachi bounced off, her twirling ribbon scattering
black rose petals into the air.

                                 ______


	Ms. Hinako stood in front of the classroom as she delivered the
day's history lesson.

	Akane sat in her seat, not paying much attention to what her
teacher was saying. The scene between her and Kodachi was replaying
itself over and over, as she mentally malleted herself for allowing
Kodachi to provoke her.

	Kodachi was right. Her own abilities *were* limited, at least
compared to people like Ranma, Ryoga, or Shampoo. Not that Kodachi was
in a class with them, either; but she was sure to use every dirty trick
in the book to win.

	Akane could, of course, just call off the fight. That would be
the sensible thing to do, especially since she really had nothing to
gain by winning -- she was already going to marry Ranma. Or she could go
through with the challenge, but refuse to let Ranma be the prize. After
all, Kodachi surely wasn't going to keep away from him if she lost. She
had made a similar bet with Ranma's girl side years ago, and didn't keep
her promise then either.

	Yes, that would be the simple thing to do. But what would Ranma
say? *Akane, you're not even good at being a tomboy. I'm sick of
protecting you all the time. I'm marrying somebody else, somebody who's
not such a weakling.*

	"OOOOHHH!!!!" Akane's fist smashed down on the desk, cracking
the top. "How DARE he call me that?! I WON'T lose to her. I WON'T!!!"

	Then she noticed that Ms. Hinako, and everyone else in the room,
were looking at her.

	The child-like instructor glared at Akane, taking a coin from
her pocket. "Ms. Tendo, I've told this class what would happen to the
next person who made an outburst."

	Hiroshi raised his hand. "Excuse me, Ms. Hinako. I've just found
a couple of Snak Kakes." He held up a cellophane-wrapped package with
two frosted cupcakes inside. "I guess somebody lost them. Could I give
them to you, just until we can find out who the owner is?"

	"Mr. Chappatsu. Do you honestly think you can distract me, or
buy me off, with a couple of Snak Kakes?"

	"Sorry, ma'am."

	"Hand over the whole box!"

	"Yes ma'am." Hiroshi got out of his seat to give the box to his
teacher. On his way back to his chair, he whispered, "It's your turn
next, Sayuri."

	"Mmmm! Yummy!" Hinako wolfed down the food, her intention to
punish Akane forgotten. "I love sweets."

	Akane sat quietly, still fuming inside.

                                 ______


	Meanwhile, in another part of the school...

	"Ey, sista!" The Principal sat in his big desk chair, smiling
his absurdly wide smile. "I know you. You de mudda o' dat wise guy
Ranma. Name Saotome Nobaka, yeah?"

	"That's Saotome NoDOka," she said, without a trace of amusement.
Being in the Principal's office made her uncomfortable. The furnishings
were as chaotic as the man himself, and she had no idea whether anything
would blow up in her face if she touched it.

	The Principal leaned back in his chair as he sipped some dark
colored liquid from a tall glass. "What you wen' comin' here fo',
wahine?"

	"I'd like to ask you about your wife." Nodoka wasn't quite sure
herself why she was still pursuing this line of inquiry. This man's
obvious insanity was more than enough to explain his children's...
problems. Still, she thought, there was a lesson of some sort to learn
here. The Kuno parents had failed to shape their children into proper
young men and women. She wanted to know how they had failed.

	The Principal's expression became somber, and he spoke without
his usual strange accent. "My dear, dear wife...." A tear rolled out
from under his dark sunglasses. Then the smile returned to his face.
"All right, wahine. I be helpin' you!"

	He held up what appeared to be a common coconut. "I wen' puttin'
my wife's old diary in a coconut dat look like dis one. It down
somewhere in de gym. I forget where. You needin' a key to get de t'ing
open. De key you goan' find inside one o' de pineapples over in..."

	Nodoka was already outside by this time, striding forcefully
toward the school's exit gate.

                                 ______


	Akane entered the Tendo household after school. "I'm home!"
Ranma, sitting in the living room, looked up from his latest issue of
Shonen Sunday and waved hello. Genma-panda and Soun turned from their
shogi game and also waved.

	"Why hello, Akane!" Kasumi exclaimed. As usual, her greeting
made it sound as if her sister's return from school were an unexpected
pleasure, not the daily routine that it really was. "You have a
visitor," she added.

	Akane looked into the kitchen to see Kuno Kodachi. "What do
*you* want? Our challenge isn't supposed to be until tomorrow!" Genma
and Soun looked surprised to see the gymnast.

	"I've come so that we may agree on the terms. First of all, the
bet. The winner gets Ranma. Do you agree?"

	"Hey! Waitaminit!!" Ranma put down his manga and stepped toward
the kitchen. "I never agreed to that!"

	"You've fought over me only about a hundred times, Ranma."

	"But that's different! I..." Ranma paused, trying to think of
something he could say without getting the shogi board broken over his
head.

	"Akane." Soun looked up from his game. "Are you sure you know
what you're getting into here?"

	"Yes!" Akane said to Kodachi. "I agree. And I'm NOT going to
lose."

	"Such confidence. Anyway, the second thing we must discuss is
who will judge our competition. Perhaps some administrator from your
school?"

	"Like the one who just happens to be your father? How stupid do
you think I am? If we really need a referee, how about *my* father
here?" Akane tried to match the smug superiority in Kodachi's voice. "A
martial artist like him would be a little better at refereeing a fight,
wouldn't you think?"

	"Fight? How drearily unimaginative," Kodachi said, not to be
outdone in the smugness department. "You are a true Flatlander, aren't
you?"

	"What does that have to do with anything?" Akane asked angrily.
So Kodachi was better built than she was. So what?

	"My dear girl, my challenge was not to a fight."

	"Then what..."

	"It was to a cooking contest."

	"A WHAT?" Akane, Ranma, and Soun cried out in unison. Genma fell
over, scattering shogi pieces onto the floor.

	"My father will be in contact with yours, Tendo Akane. They will
negotiate arrangements for the judging of the contest and any other
necessary matters. Unless you have any objections?" Kodachi noted
Akane's blank look. "No? Good." She departed once again, laughing
maniacally and flinging black rose petals into the air.

                                 ______

	Ranma and Akane sat on the living room floor. It was late, and
the others had gone to bed already. Akane grunted as she lifted her hand
weights up and down, over and over, as Ranma watched.

	He knew there was no way he could talk her out of competing
against Kodachi. He had found that out from the conversation Akane and
Mr. Tendo had had over dinner.

	"It's simple," Soun had said. "Whatever arrangements Mr. Kuno
offers, I reject. If we can't come to an agreement, there can't be any
contest."

	"I'm going through with this, Dad!" Akane replied. "Just make
fair arrangements, and make sure that Kodachi won't be able to cheat."

	Ranma knew then that the cooking contest would happen. Akane was
doing nothing different than what he would have done.

	Akane set her weights down. She looked at her fiance and gave a
long, frustrated sigh. "I have a problem."

	"*We* have a problem. I'm supposed to be the prize, y'know.
So... what're you gonna do?"

	"I'm going to put my cooking up against Kodachi's, and I'm *not*
going to cheat. I'll do the best I can. And I'll probably lose. And when
I lose..." Extreme tiredness was evident in Akane's voice. "... *if* I
lose, I'm going to look Kodachi right in the eye and tell her that I'm
marrying you anyway. I'm marrying you even though I lost the bet,
because that's exactly what she would've done. That is... if you'll
still... if you'll still have me."

	"Are you kidding? I'm proud of you."

	"Maybe you shouldn't be. I let Kodachi play me like a concert
piano. And now I'm going to have to do something dishonorable to get out
of it."

	"Hey, that's not dishonorable, it's just plain sensible. I dunno
if I could handle it if it was me. The thought of losing at anything
just makes me a little crazy. Look, she can't just go around doing stuff
like this. We don't have to play by her rules."

	"I suppose... but it still feels rotten, you know? I guess
that's something I'll have to deal with."

	"I told you... *we*." Ranma inched closer to Akane, and soon he
felt her sleepy head on his shoulder. He sat quietly, holding her with
one hand, slowly running the fingers of the other through her hair.

	It was just one thing after another in this crazy town, Ranma
thought. Just business as usual in Nerima. Maybe it was never his and
Akane's fault that they had all the trouble they did. Maybe if they had
met outside of this nuthouse of a town, things would have gone okay for
them.

	Suddenly, Ranma's eyes opened fully, as he sat straight up.
"I've got it! I know what to do."

                                 ______


	The next morning, Kasumi woke an hour before breakfast, as she
always did. The rising sun shone brilliant orange through her window,
interrupted only by an occasional rolling cloud. The sun gave life, and
life was good. The sunrise always made Kasumi feel good about the whole
world and everything in it. She took a moment to savor the feeling.

	Soon she would have to go help Akane get ready for her
competition against Kodachi. It was wonderful the way Akane was growing
up. She and Ranma were surely going to marry soon, and they could go off
to college together.

	Of course, with Nabiki already gone. that would leave Kasumi
alone with Father. Much of her life so far had been spent looking after
her two sisters. What would she do after they were gone? She was still
only twenty-two, young enough to do something else with her life. But
what?

	She had once wondered if Doctor Tofu would ask her to marry him.
But he always seemed to lose his mind everytime he was in her presence.
Even if he could manage to propose, what kind of married life could they
have with him always like that? Tofu was no longer in Nerima these days.
He had left months ago; to "further his studies", he said. Could it be
that he had really left because of Kasumi, because she was makting his
medical practice impossible?

	Kasumi savored the sun's rays some more. Life. As long as there
was life, things would work out for the best.

	Then there was a scream and a crash downstairs.

                                 ______


	"AAAAAARGGHHH!!!!!!" Akane threw the pot against the wall. "This
one's no good either!!"

	"Akane!" Kasumi ran into the room, clad in her pajamas. "Have
you been here all night?"

	"I... I can't make anything good! Everything comes out wrong!"
Some sort of black residue covered part of Akane's face, as well as most
of the stove and several dishes that were scattered around the kitchen.
"I've even cooked this recipe before, and it turned out okay then!"

	"I'll help you," Kasumi said reassuringly. "First you need a
bath, and some rest." She led her sleepy sister toward the kitchen door.
"This contest is really important to you, isn't it?"

	"I don't want to lose to that... that psycho!"

	Kasumi left the kitchen and climbed up the stairs, with Akane
leaning on her shoulder. "You were probably too young to remember, but I
tried to cook when I was little. No matter how hard Mother tried to
help, everything always turned out wrong. I was awful."

	Akane looked up through droopy eyelids. "Really?"

	Kasumi reached Akane's bedroom and opened the door. "Then mother
passed away. Suddenly it came to me. I could cook just fine after that.
Isn't that strange? Sometimes I think it was Mother's last gift to the
family that she loved so much. Or maybe I just learned because somebody
needed to."

	Akane wasn't listening any more; she was lying on her bed, sound
asleep.

                                 ______


	A nap and a bath later, the two sisters were back together in
the newly-cleaned kitchen.

	Kasumi handed Akane a piece of paper. "This is a recipe for
cookies. All you need to do is follow what it says on this paper. Now
let's practice."

	"Right! Three cups flour!" Akane quickly grabbed a cylindrical
box and poured its white powdery contents into a measuring cup. The box
was empty before the half-cup mark was reached. "There isn't enough! How
are we supposed to do this!?" She tapped the box bottom vigorously, as
if trying to get more out.

	"Akane, that's not flour, it's baking powder. And the flour
doesn't get added until later. You're reading the wrong column."

	"AAARRRGH!! How am I supposed to do this?!?" Akane crushed the
now empty box in her fist.

	Kasumi scooped the baking powder into another container. "You've
got to calm down. It's when you get upset like this that you make
mistakes."

	Akane didn't seem to be listening. She was busy ripping the
baking powder box into shreds.

	"Akane!!" Kasumi's tone was unusually firm. "Do you want to lose
this contest?"

	Akane dropped the remains of the box she had been destroying.
She paused, as the anger in her expression slowly gave way to
helplessness. "No," she finally admitted, though it looked like she
wouldn't have any choice in the matter.

	"Then you have to calm down. You need to be able to follow this
recipe, step by step, without getting angry, just as if it were not at
all important. That's the only way you'll have any chance at all. Can
you do that?"

	Akane's emotions receded. "I'll try."

	"Good!" Kasumi's normal cheerful expression returned, as if it
had never left. "Let's practice, okay?"

                                 ______


	"Let's practice, Ranma! HI-YAA!!" Genma shouted as he launched a
flying kick at his son.

	Ranma deftly dodged his Pop's strike. A sparring session was a
good idea right now, he thought; just the thing to work off a little
tension. Akane and Kasumi hadn't come out of the kitchen for hours, and
there was nothing else for the rest of them to do but wait.

	Nodoka sat outside next to the carp pond, the cool autumn air
brushing past her face. She turned her attention from the two fighting
men to a letter that she had just opened. It read:


		In response to your request for information on Mother 
	Kuno, I've come up with the following. It's a copy of the last 
	known communication from her.

		Please send a check for four thousand yen at your 
	convenience. Affectionately yours, (signed) Tendo Nabiki.


	That's a relief, Nodoka thought; she had what she wanted without
having needed to deal with that insane Principal or his even more insane
daughter. She switched the two papers so that the enclosed photocopy was
on top, and began to read, paying little attention to the sounds of
blows being exchanged between her husband and her son.


	Husband,

		When we were wed, your promise to me was that our 
	children would be raised in a way befitting their rightful
	status as members of a great Samurai clan.

		In this duty, you have failed. Your daughter has been
	defeated several times this year in her martial gymnastics, and
	your son has not fared better at his kendo. They have also been
	dating those who are far from suitable for their status, in
	terms of both status and appearance.

		Your children have dishonored me with their failure. I
	will not stay with you and them. Farewell, husband.


	Nodoka frowned as she considered the meaning of the words. They
were not what she had expected. Had Mother Kuno failed by pushing her
children too hard, rather than by being too permissive? Still, it was
hardly the same as...

	"Pathetic, boy!" Genma blocked Ranma's arm as it was about to
strike. "Concentrate! Your attacks have no power behind them! It's like
being hit by a little girl!"

	Suddenly, Ranma launched an intense flurry of punches and kicks.
"You *take that back!!* I'm a MAN!!!" he shouted, as his father blocked
frantically. The force of the blows pushed Genma back. A final strike
from Ranma sent him flying, to land squarely in the middle of the carp
pond.

	Nodoka folded up the letter. She had much to think about.

	Kasumi came from the kitchen, bearing a plate of cookies. "Would
you all like a little snack?"

	Ranma greedily attacked the cookies, along with his panda
father. "Leggo, Pop! This one's mine!" His stomach hummed in grateful
joy as it digested one after another of the tasty treats. "Just the
thing to y'know, get back my energy. Thanks, Kasumi!"

	He noticed Akane, leaning against the wall behind her sister,
saying nothing as she just grinned. It was the kind of smile that made
her look irresistably cute. What was...

	"NO WAY!!" Ranma's jaw dropped in surprise. He took the last
half-eaten cookie from his mouth, sniffing at it, tasting it slowly, as
Akane just giggled demurely. There was no mistake. It really was good.
It really was hers.

	Akane's eyes flared with determination, the same determination
that pulled Ranma through a hundred fights in which his opponent seemed
the only possible victor.

	"I can win." For the first time, she believed this herself.

	But she knew it wouldn't be easy. Kasumi wouldn't be able to
stop her from making mistakes during the contest, as she had done while
she was making these cookies. They would have to practice again and hope
that that would be enough. Kodachi was also certain to try to cheat. It
was a slim chance, but it was a chance. At this point, that was what
they needed.

                                 ______


	"Alooooooha, evahbody! Welcome to our luau!" The Principal
stood, along with Soun and Ranma, on a makeshift wooden platform in the
lot behind Furinkan High. He spoke into a microphone. "Today we havin'
de biiiiig competition, between dis kahuna's own daughter, Kuno Kochi,
and de school's honor student, Tendo Akane! Yeah!"

	The two contestants each wore the uniform of their respective
school, blue for Furinkan and black for St. Hebereke. They stood on the
ground, in front of and on opposite sides of the platform, shooting
hostile looks at each other.

	A sizeable crowd of students and neighborhood residents had
gathered, and was milling about while listening to the Principal.
Vendors sold various kinds of food from portable carts; Shampoo was one
of them, the only one whom Ranma was able to recognize. She gave him a
quick wave hello, which he returned.

	Soun took the microphone. "The rules are simple. The Principal
and I have agreed on a judge for the contest, whose identity will remain
our secret for now. Our daughters will each do their cooking in the home
ec rooms. The judge will then choose the one that he or she likes best."

	Ranma felt Soun's elbow nudge him, a reminder that it was his
turn to speak. "Oh yeah. Um, any contestant who attempts to interfere
with the other's food, ingredients, or person will automatically lose.
Oh, and there's gonna be a change in what the prize is for the winner."

	Surprised looks greeted this last revelation. "Y'see, I don't
trust that everybody is planning to go along with the terms of the bet
if they lose." Ranma gave Kodachi a dirty look. "So I'm changin' 'em.
The new bet is that the loser has to leave town. Whichever one of you
loses can't be seen around here for the next four years. Everybody agree
to that?"

	"That is acceptable to me," Kodachi said. "I don't intend to
lose."

	"Neither do I," Akane retorted. "I agree too."

	"Son," Soun whispered to Ranma as the Principal took the
microphone back, "You better have some way of making sure Akane wins
this."

	"Hey, even if she doesn't, that'll be okay," Ranma whispered
back. Seeing Soun's head about to grow to demonic proportions over this
last remark, Ranma beat a hasty exit. "Uh, I gotta go use the bathroom."

	Shampoo merely carried out the business of selling her wares.
She knew that if Akane were to lose, and be forced to leave town, it
would put her one step closer to marrying Ranma. She had conflicting
feelings about that. It didn't matter anyway; Great-grandmother had
forbidden her from interfering with the competition, so she wouldn't.

                                 ______


	Akane and Kodachi relocated to the home ec room. The room was
filled by rows of old model stove/oven combinations. The two women went
to opposite corners of the room, where each had various ingredients
piled on a table. Akane's friends, Yuka and Sayuri, sat near her corner,
keeping a watch on her ingredients to prevent tampering. Two of
Kodachi's friends from St. Hebereke were likewise there, keeping an eye
on hers.

	"As the one challenged, the choice of dish is yours," Kodachi
called from across the room, "but cookies? Really! Why not something
more challenging?"

	"It's cookies," Akane said decisively. "Hope you can handle it."

	"My dear girl," Kodachi said as she moved nonchalantly over
towards Akane, "I hope you have somewhere to go for the next four
years."

	Kodachi surveyed her opponent's territory. Her two little
friends were keeping a constant vigil, one watching the oven and the
other the raw materials. It would be difficult to sabotage either of
them. Perhaps she could distract one of the girls in some way?

	Then she noticed the piece of paper next to Akane. Looking
closer, she saw that it had some sort of instructions on it. A written
recipe! That *cheater*!!

	An idea came to Kodachi. She stifled the tremendous urge to
laugh over her brilliant inspiration. There was no need for her to
sabotage her opponent's cooking. Akane would do that for her.

	"Oh dear!" Kodachi pointed at Akane's ingredient table. "Is that
a cockroach?"

	Akane's gaze turned. Kodachi's pen flashed out of her pocket. A
numeral that had been a three on the recipe was instantly transformed
into a nine.

	Sayuri examined the situation. "It's a chocolate chip," she
concluded.

	"My mistake. Please excuse me, I shall use the facilities before
cooking." Kodachi had to get away to where she could laugh; the
temptation was unbearable. She felt as if she had been holding her
breath for hours.

	Akane took a large bowl and some measuring cups from the
cupboard and set them down on the table in front of her. She took a
stick of butter, verifying twice that it was in fact butter and was the
amount specified in her recipie, and began to work it with her spoon the
way she had practiced with Kasumi. Yuka and Sayuri kept their assigned
watches and remained quiet, forbidden by the rules to help Akane with
her cooking.

	Kodachi's voice came abruptly from the hallway. "You?!"

                                 ______


	Ranma had decided that, while this was Akane's fight, giving her
a little edge wouldn't hurt. Kodachi wasn't exactly noted for her mental
stability. If he could unnerve her enough, she might crack. Maybe then
she'd drug her food, or do something else stupid.

	He had thought of this earlier in the afternoon, and come up
with a plan to provoke Kodachi. He didn't tell Akane what he was going
to do, thinking that she might get mad at him for not trusting her to
win on her own. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, he just figured that
a little extra insurance couldn't hurt.

	So, after a quick splash of water and change to some more
feminine-looking clothes, out from the bathroom came the...

	"Pig-tailed girl!"

	Ranma gave a very good imitation Kodachi-style laugh. "Foolish
girl, you've played right into my hands! Don't you know that it is I who
loves Ranma most of all? By removing Tendo Akane from the scene, you
leave dearest for me!"

	Akane stuck her head out of the room. "Ranma!" She sounded
annoyed.

	Uh oh, Ranma thought.

	"Next time ask before you borrow my clothes!" She went back to
her cooking.

	Whew.

	"I shall deal with you in due course, pig-tailed one." Kodachi
walked past Ranma, back toward the home ec room.

	"Oh, my heart goes pitty-pat just thinking of it!" Ranma smiled
cutely, eyelashes fluttering, head resting on clasped hands. "Little me,
in the arms of my big, strong darling! Tee hee!"

	A voice came from behind. "Ranma." It was Nodoka's voice.

	"GYAAAAA!!" Visions of decapitation ran through Ranma's mind.
"Mom! I-- I--"

	"Ranma, we must talk."

                                 ______


	A quick change of clothes and gender later...

	"Mom, I can explain..."

	"Ranma, I've come here to tell you that I am declaring your
father's promise null and void. Your manhood is now in your own hands.
You will not be asked by me to commit seppuku, now or ever."

	"Huh? Why..."

	Nodoka turned to go. "I shall be out with the crowd, awaiting
the results of the competition."

	Ranma started to say something, then stopped. He bowed to his
mother. "Thank you, mother. You honor me with your faith and trust."

	Nodoka returned the bow, then turned and walked down the school
corridor. As she approached the exit, she heard a yell from behind her.

	"YAAA-HOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

	Nodoka smiled.

                                 ______


	Later, the contestants had resumed their original positions
outside. The Principal, once again on the platform with Soun and Ranma,
addressed the crowd. "Now de big moment, yeah! We goan see who da
winnah!"

	A school secretary brought out two plates of cookies, numbered
one and two, and a piece of paper, all of which she placed in front of
the three men.

	Soun picked up the paper. "The decision has been made. The judge
reports that 'item one was very good. Item two, though, was one'..."
Soun started to cry; whether it was joy or sadness, no one could tell.
"...'was one of the best things I've ever tasted!'"

	Akane's heart fell. She had tried her best, but it didn't turn
out the way it had with Kasumi. She could tell when she put the cookies
into the oven that the dough didn't feel the same as it had before.
Kodachi was an expert cook; if anyone's food was the best someone had
ever tasted, it would be hers.

	"It says that! Right here!!" Soun sobbed. "It really does!"

	"Get on wid' it, brudda!" The Principal snatched the paper. "De
winnah is numba two... Tendo Akane! Tendo Akane wen' winnin' de match!"

	The crowd cheered. Kodachi did a double take. WHAT? HOW?!? There
should have been more than twice too much sugar in Akane's entry. Did
they cheat? Perhaps by switching the entries?

	She watched as Ranma leapt from the platform down to Akane. The
two jumped into the air together, with triumphant yells. Soun cried even
harder. 

	Kodachi took a cookie from the plate marked number two and bit
into it. Her eyes bugged out as the overpowering taste of sugar, sugar,
and more sugar assaulted her mouth. How? Who would think that *this*...

	The Principal spotted someone coming from the school. "'Ey, 'ere
come de judge!"

	Kodachi looked to see who her father was looking at. It was... a
little girl?

	"Ms. Hinako? You were the judge?" Ranma asked.

	"You bet!" Hinako started eating from the cookie plates. "I love
sweets. They're so yummy!"

	"I'm glad you won, Akane," Ranma said. "Even though if you
hadn't, it would've been okay."

	"How can you say that?!?" Soun cried, suddenly angry at Ranma.
"Akane would have been forced to leave town!!"

	"Yeah," Ranma answered. "But nobody said I wouldn't be able to
go with her."

	Akane looked at Ranma and smiled, the irresistably cute smile.
"Thank you, Ranma."

	Kodachi exited silently. She was nearly sick to her stomach. The
moment she had just watched had been far more nauseatingly saccharine
than the cookies.

	She would have disregarded the results of the bet in a second.
What are promises to flatlanders anyway? But *they* had tricked *her*.
They had set it up so that Kuno Kodachi wouldn't get what she wanted.

	She left, as promised. But she knew that would be back.

	Now she had returned. And the intervening years had given her
some surprises, that Akane and the others would find out about in due
time.


	NEXT: Ryoga/Akari; hopefully sometime next week.


Gary Kleppe
kleppe@execpc.com, Home page http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe
My fanfics and the FFML map are on my comics/manga page,
       http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe/comics