Roses and Swords
A Quantum Destinies Side Story

Chapter 2


This is a story set in Jurai-Knight's 'Quantum Destinies' universe, and
you will have to be familiar with that piece of work to follow this story.
The events within take place some time after chapter nine of Quantum
Destinies.

Standard Disclaimer:
The Quantum Destines universe is Jurai-Knight's. Many of the characters
within are not. Revolutionary Girl Utena is also owned by someone else.

Any and all C+C is appreciated. You can contact me at sommer@3rdm.net

Roses and Swords is currently being stored at TH's page at:
http://members.tripod.com/DNyx/index.html

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nanami Kiryuu straightened out her skirt, making certain she showed no
more leg than would befit a girl of her social standing, while still
displaying enough to catch a man's interest. It might not have been
crucial, but every little bit helped. She knew she was attractive. She
might have been a bit on the short side, but her shoulder-length hair
complemented her above average figure perfectly. Her body was in great
shape from the intensive works outs she regularly engaged in. And one
thing Nanami Kiryuu was not afraid of was to show her figure off. Even as
nice as it was now, she still had every reason to believe that as she got
older, her frame would fill out even more, increasing the number of looks
she already received from most men. Iizuka Takanoku, the person she was
going to visit, was an example of such men.

Iizuka Takanoku was a pleasant enough individual. In spite of his obvious
interest in her, he at least tried to maintain the appearance of being a
gentleman. It was charming, in a way. Many of her suitors tended to be a
great deal more forward in their attentions. When Nanami was in the mood,
she would make the pretense of receiving them. If not, she would shoot
them a cold glare or unleash a scathing word. Most of them would have the
sense to go away, rebuked until she would give them a second chance to get
back into her good graces. That would usually be dependent on whether or
not she needed them for some task.

There had been a handful that had even been foolish enough to try to press
the point. Regarding anyone that stupid as being inherently worthless, one
of two things would happen to them. If Touga was around, Nanami would
summon false tears, embellish what had happened, and allow him to defend
her honor by beating up the offender. Those times were the best since
afterwards he would hold and comfort her. The times when he was not
around, she would take matters into her own hands and beat them up
herself. It was easy. Growing up, she had studied under the same martial
arts instructors her brother had. Her parents had not wanted her to do it,
but Touga knew how much she had wanted to learn and had pleaded on her
behalf. After some cajoling on his part, they accepted, and she had
learned martial arts and sword fighting skills at his side. It had been
like heaven. Now it was easy for her to beat up annoying men, especially
with the additional training she had received in one of the Dean's
advanced combat studies groups.

As to her fellow members of the Student Council, that was another story.
Loathe though she was to admit it, the majority of them were better
fighters than her. Of course, most of them were a year or two older, so at
least she had hope for catching up to them. And if it was necessary, her
brother could protect her, since he was the best fighter among them, or
had been until Utena Tenjou showed up.

That was another unforgivable crime Utena was responsible for: usurping
Touga's rightful position as the best fighter among the group. Nanami's
thoughts turned darker as she remembered the one time she had tried to
avenge her brother's loss by challenging Utena herself. It had not been
much of a fight. In the end, the pink-haired girl spanked Nanami with her
own bokken and sent her on her way; that was how easily she was defeated.
Nanami had not been able to sit for a couple of days afterwards.

However, Utena was now going to pay for that and everything else she had
done. And the best part of all was that Nanami was going to keep her hands
clean of the whole matter. It was going to be a manipulation her brother
would have been proud of, if she ever dared to mention it to him.

As Nanami skipped along, she took note that it was a nice day. She was
glad she had chosen to walk to the Takanoku estate. There were other
reasons for going as she did besides the weather. Taking one of the family
cars would have meant one of the drivers would know where she had gone.
And the fewer people who knew about her destination the better. Iizuka was
devoted to her and would keep his mouth shut. So that meant the only
people that would know she had ever visited him would be whatever servants
happened to be there, and he could order them to silence as well. There
was little chance that someone from Ohtori would meet him. He attended
Whitehall Academy, not Ohtori.

In truth, it was only chance that the two had met. Nanami had gone to a
party some middling noble had thrown and her parents insisted that she
attend. As usual, both she and her brother had drawn a large gathering of
admirers; admirers of both their looks and their wealth. It was as the
party was winding down that Iizuka approached her. It had taken less then
five minutes of idle talk for Nanami to determine that his interest in her
was based more on her physical aspects rather than her monetary ones,
especially since the Takanoku clan held as much financial influence as the
Kiryuu.

Iizuka was somewhat attractive, and possessed refined manners that made
Nanami decide she could accept his presence. Besides, someone with that
much influence would be a useful ally to have. She feigned a small amount
of interest in him, just enough to prod him into trying to impress her
more. He had sent flowers the day after the party with a card telling her
what a wonderful time he had. Since then, she had kept in touch with him,
even going with him to a couple of high society functions so as to keep
his level of interest in her high. The few times he tried to take things
farther, she would deftly deflect him away with some excuse that he would
inevitably accept. Now it was her turn to ask a favor of him.

Nanami arrived at the estate and paused in front of the main gate, making
certain her white and blue dress was immaculate. Once certain of that, she
retrieved a mirror from her purse and examined herself closely, adding a
bit of lip gloss to make herself look perfect. There was only one final
touch to add to gain his compliance. She looked closely in the mirror at
her calm and collected face. It was time to bring her rather impressive
acting talents into play. She put on a depressed, almost tearful
expression that made her look as though she had lost something important
to her. It was somewhere between tears and just plain depression.

Iizuka was going to be eating out of her hand.

Nanami was greeted at the main gates by a guard, who immediately escorted
her to the Takanoku mansion. It was the first time Nanami had been there
during the daytime, and she found herself very impressed by it. It was
every inch of what was regarded as the classic Imperial design for noble
families, mixing both traditional and more modern architecture in what
most considered a perfect gestalt. Loathe though she was to admit it, it
was probably more impressive than her own home.

Upon arriving at the entryway, she was greeted by Iizuka himself. He was
wearing a black, silk shirt and loose white pants, appearing quite
dashing, Nanami admitted to herself. She would have been quite taken by
his appearance if her heart had not already been won by her brother.

Iizuka dismissed her escort and gave a formal bow. It was a bit of a
surprise to her that he had not commented on her expression first, but she
figured that he had simply not noticed it yet.

Her guess appeared on the mark as his own happy expression at her arrival
became one of surprise as he at last took note of her 'distress.' "What's
wrong?" he asked.

Nanami cast her gaze downward, using just the right amount of reluctance
as she said, "May I come in?"

Iizuka was next to her in an instant. He placed his arm around her
shoulder and escorted her inside, giving small words of comfort to her as
they made their way into the house.

Nanami saw that he was leading them to one of the spacious living rooms.
That would not do. They needed to be somewhere that eavesdropping would be
next to impossible. "Could we have some privacy?"

"Of course." He changed his destination from the living room to upstairs
and his bedroom, a large room that was twice the size of most apartments
in Tokyo. Still, it would serve Nanami's purposes since it was unlikely
anyone else would be present.

They sat down together on the bed, Iizuka daring to hold her hand, though
it was intended as nothing more than a gesture of comfort. Everything was
working out just as she hoped. She decided it was time to go on to the
next stage of the plan. Nanami gave a soft sniffle, then began her tale.
"I'm sorry. I don't mean to intrude, but I've been so depressed that I
just had to tell someone, and you were the first person that came to
mind."

 "You can tell me whatever it is," he assured her.

That brought  an inward smile to Nanami. Iizuka was obviously moved by her
admission.
She paused for dramatic effect, then continued. "It's just that there's
been this girl at school. She's a new student that just transferred there
a couple months ago. Since she was new, and from only a common bloodline,
I was afraid she might become something of an outcast, so I tried to
befriend her. Well, it worked, or so I thought. We hit it off very well,
and I opened my heart to her, telling secrets I've never told anyone else.
Things I wouldn't want others to know about, but since we were friends, I
trusted her."

Nanami watched Iizuka nod in understanding. No doubt he was already coming
to the conclusion she had hoped he would. Once she 'confirmed' his
suspicions, that would make his agreeing with her plan all the more
likely. "Well, it turned out she was doing nothing more than using me. Now
she's blackmailing me by threatening to reveal the things I told her in
secret. Some of them are about my family too. I don't want them to suffer
for my mistakes."

Gauging the look on his face, Nanami decided it was time to go into the
'breakdown' part of the act. "Oh! How could I have been so foolish?! I was
so stupid!" She began sobbing, only to have Iizuka hold her in an embrace.

"You weren't stupid. Just trusting. I'm not surprised. You're one of the
nicest and most caring people I know. It's sick how that low-born used you
for her own twisted schemes!"

Again, Nanami had to make an effort to keep from smiling. He was reacting
even better than she had hoped. She had been certain she was going to have
to lay on more tears to get him to agree with her.

"Have you told your family?" he asked.

"Oh no!" Nanami shook her head while remaining in his embrace. "I don't
want them to know about my stupidity. I could never live with myself if
they knew what a fool I'd been."

"I understand." Iizuka stood up, almost posing as he moved directly in
front of her. Determination was written on his face as he declared, "You'd
like me to confront her."

"No!" Nanami said quickly. She had to shift him back into her way of
thinking, although he did have the right idea. "She's a thug. She's beaten
people up before. If you tried to talk to, or threaten her, she'd just try
to beat you up. I couldn't live with myself if she hurt you." She latched
onto his hand and gave him a soft, almost lovelorn look for emphasis.

It worked. Iizuka was moved by her concern for his welfare. "All right. I
won't go. What do you think I should do? Whatever you want, I'll do it."

"You once told me there was an ex-Arena fighter in your employ."

"Yes," Iizuka said. "He finished sixth in the Citizen Tournament
twenty-two years ago. He was beaten by Jun Fan Lee. His name's Spirit
Eagle. He's third-in-command of our bodyguards and completely loyal to my
family."

"Spirit Eagle?" Nanami asked.

"He's originally from the western North American Prefectures." Iizuka
didn't bother to mention that although the man was unquestionably loyal to
the family, he was a violent person by nature. There was no need to
unsettle Nanami further with talk of the man's brutality.

Nanami smiled. An arena fighter that good would be able to destroy a
low-born like Utena. "I think he sounds powerful enough to do what needs
to be done."

"You want him to intimidate her?" Iizuka asked. It sounded like a good
plan.

"Actually, could you have him break her arms and legs?"

"WHAT?!" Iizuka exclaimed, looking at Nanami in shock.

Nanami hadn't counted on him being so squeamish. She began to cry in
earnest, hoping to sway him with tears as much as words. "She's an evil
person and very greedy and stupid too! She'll think it's just a threat and
probably tell everyone what I told her! I'll be ruined!" Nanami began
bawling in earnest.

After seeing her cry her heart out, Iizuka sat next to her again and
embraced her. "Don't worry, Nanami. You're right. She's nothing more than
a low-born commoner. I'll make sure she doesn't tell anyone. I'll even
have Spirit Eagle break her jaw, just for good measure."

"Ohh," Nanami's eyes lit up. That would be a nice touch. "Would you do
that for me?"

"Anything for you, Nanami-chan."

Nanami allowed that to slide. He had earned the right to call her that for
a little while, but just in private and certainly never in the presence of
Touga. "You're such a good friend." She even gave him a lovestruck look
for good measure. After she knew she had him, she told him Utena's name
and gave him a picture one of her associates had taken of the pink-haired
girl. She then informed him of some information she had just happened to
'overhear' about Utena going to a duel, and how she'd be easy to beat
after her match. Iizuka happily agreed to it and went about sending for
Spirit Eagle. Nanami thanked him again and, after some small talk, left,
promising they would get together next week when she had an opening in her
schedule.

With her mission accomplished, Nanami practically danced all the way home.
The thorn known as Utena Tenjou was about to be removed from her side for
good.


"So, what's this I hear about you in some sort of challenge match after
classes tomorrow?"

Ranma finished putting his books into his locker and turned to the sound
of the voice, reprimanding himself for not hearing Nabiki come up behind
him. He told himself he was going to have to be more aware of the people
around him. Even with Anji and the rest of his fellow thugs expelled, he
still got the feeling someone was watching him, and that made him uneasy.

"The Dean asked me if I wanted to participate in some sort of challenge
match our school was having with Ohtori Academy," Ranma explained, while
wondering where Nabiki had heard that he was going to be in a fight. He
had just learned about it himself a couple of hours ago.

"I didn't see anything posted about a fight with Ohtori." Nabiki looked at
Ranma suspiciously, her arms crossed as though she was daring him to
contradict her.

"I dunno." Ranma shrugged. "I think it's some sort of special challenge. I
guess they don't want a big crowd or something."

"Why?" Nabiki asked, the role of interrogator coming naturally to her.

Now Ranma was beginning to get upset. What he did on his own time was his
business, and he despised being questioned in this manner. Nabiki wasn't
his mother. "I don't know. He didn't say. He just asked if I was feeling
up to a match and I said yes."

Nabiki saw the irritation in Ranma's expression and could not have cared
less. If it was some sort of challenge match with a rival academy, why
hadn't the Dean asked her to participate in it? Of course, Ranma was good,
but she was better. That she was the one slighted and Ranma was getting
angry about it made her temper flare slightly. "You shouldn't take such
things lightly. You've done no research on who your opponent is. Do you
even have his name?"

Nabiki's attitude was getting to Ranma further. As if he needed lectures
in fighting from her. "As a matter of fact I do. Her name's Utena Tenjou."

A scowl creased Nabiki's brow. Ranma's opponent was a girl? That wasn't
good. Ranma already had too many other women in his life, and most of them
were hanging around him far too much already. Akane wasn't much of a
threat, but the new Kuonji girl (who was not really Ranma's fiancee,
Nabiki assured herself) was a growing hindrance. And then the snobbish
Kunou girl was getting increasingly underfoot. The last thing she needed
was the possibility of some strange girl from another school trying to get
her hooks into Ranma as well.

Nabiki tried to think of what to do next. If this had been that other
Nabiki's world, she probably could have talked that version of Ranma into
letting her take the challenge, but her own version of the interesting
youth had proven himself way too stubborn for his own good. There was no
way she could call off the fight. She doubted talking personally to the
Dean would do any good, even if she could convince him she was the better
choice. At the moment, it appeared there was nothing she was going to be
able to do to affect the situation. The most she could do was influence
things slightly.

Nabiki said, "I'll try to get a background check on this girl and see how
tough she is." And try to see if she had any boyfriends. Or was
repulsive-looking. Or was a lesbian. Anything to see if she was a likely
candidate to become interested in Ranma.

Ranma gave a grunt of disgust at her overprotectiveness. What did he have
to worry about? It was only a girl he was fighting. "You're making too big
a deal out of this. I'll fight her tomorrow after school, I'll send her
packing back to Ohtori, and then it'll all be over."

Seeing Ranma was going to be intractable, she left rather than waste time
trying to reason with him. There were times when she really wished the
Ranma of her world had more of the qualities of the Ranma of the
cursed-Nabiki's world. Now there was a boy who pretty much knew his place.
Certainly he wasn't like the willful, stubborn mule-head that she had to
deal with on an almost daily basis. And being obstinate quickly lost what
little charm it might have held early on.

Nabiki's mind turned to other things, like how to get the information on
the Utena girl on such short notice. There was someone she used to know
that had transferred to Ohtori. She could ask that girl for some
information on Utena. And then she could have Sayuri look through the
school's database on the name. Perhaps she could even have time after
classes to go over and see what she could dig up on her own. One thing was
for certain; she wasn't going to miss tomorrow's fight.

Ranma watched as Nabiki left without even saying goodbye. She really was
acting weird lately. Imagine, getting all worked up because he was going
to be in a fight. She was probably just jealous because she hadn't been
picked. It was small surprise since Ranma had proven himself the better of
the two. She did raise a point though, and he wondered what Utena might
look like.


The next day found Utena Tenjou rushing up to the special limousine that
Dean Fuji had sent to take her and her companions to the Imperial Academy.
As she turned a corner, she came upon the vehicle and saw that the others
were already there. Miki and Anthy stood outside while Dean Fuji waved
from the window. Miki appeared only slightly impatient, tapping his foot
on the ground, while Anthy stood there, blissfully smiling.

Miki's finger hit the top of his stopwatch. "You're fifteen minutes and
thirty-seven seconds late, Miss Utena."

Still gasping for air, Utena looked Anthy and Miki over. Like her, both
were in their school uniforms. Anthy was in her regular female Academy
uniform, while Miki wore the more formal white and blue of the Student
Council. Utena herself wore her usual black-colored male cadet's school
uniform. She thought they would present at least an impressive looking
envoy to the Imperial Academy.

"Sorry," Utena said, "I was running a little late from class and had to
stop by my room to pick up my bokken and fighting clothes." She indicated
the items over her shoulder: a small duffel bag contained the clothing,
while the bokken was held by a loop of cord on it. "Then Touga just had to
stop me and give some big speech about me representing the 'pride of the
school'." Actually, it had just been an excuse for him to try to smooth
talk her again. It was flattering -he was quite good at it, after all- but
she was able to recognize it for what it was, which made the whole gesture
on his part futile.

"Well, we'd better get going. We don't want to be late for the match,"
Miki said as he began his stopwatch again.

Utena just smiled as she and her compatriots entered the limousine. As the
car started and their ride began. Once again she found herself becoming
increasingly excited about the prospect of proving herself outside the
walls of Ohtori. Fighting with the other members of the Council was always
interesting, but this was something altogether different. She was plunging
into the unknown, and her heart was racing with the excitement. She hoped
this Ranma Saotome was a good fighter. As excited as she was, it would be
something of a disappointment if he turned out to be a pushover, like
Kozue or Nanami were.

For the last two days the upcoming fight had been preying on her thoughts.
She had even had a dream about standing triumphant over her foe, then
helping him to his feet as he bowed before her in acknowledgment of her
victory. Of course, it was more likely he would be seething in anger at
his loss, like most of her opponents at the kendo and fencing tournaments
ended up doing. It seemed like no one knew how to lose graciously anymore,
or at least they were poor hands at pretending to hide it. If she lost,
she knew she would accept it with courtesy and ask for a rematch. It
seemed as if no one she came into contact with was very chivalrous. Life
was turning out more disappointing than she ever would have believed.

Early in her life, when she was five or so, right after her parents death,
she had been in deep mourning. There were no other family members to care
for her, no aunts or uncles, which basically left her all alone. The
government placed her within an orphanage, where she had problems from the
first day she arrived. Her recent trauma made her standoffish towards the
other children that had tried to become her friend. She simply refused to
warm up to them. It didn't take long for them to ignore her as much as
they could while she dealt with her problems. Life in the orphanage was
miserable.

Utena was like that for several months, until she was looking through the
small library on the premises and stumbled upon a book with a beautiful
cover on it, featuring a handsome man on a big white horse. Curiosity got
the better of her, and she began to read it. The story took place
somewhere in Europe (she couldn't remember the country it had originated
in) it was about a dashing young prince wanting to save a princess. Utena
found herself captivated as the prince went through many tasks and trials
before eventually rescuing the damsel in distress. However, it wasn't the
princess Utena had identified with so much, but the prince himself. Even
though he was a fictional character, he seemed so noble and caring that
she found herself wishing someone had been like that with her when her
parents had first died. If only someone had come along and helped her
through her own situation, instead of her having to deal with her misery
alone.

However, there had been no prince for her, nor for any others, it seemed.
The world was lacking in them. That was when the idea formed in her mind.
Years later, she would look back and wonder how a child of her age had
come up with such an idea, and how it became so important that it ended up
molding a large portion of her life, giving it the direction it now had.
The idea really was quite simple. If there were no princes for her or
others, then she would have to take matters into her own hands and become
one. Not as a boy, of course, but as a girl. Princes could be girls too,
or so she believed.

In pursuit of that childhood dream, Utena went on to read every book she
could get of noble samurai, or foreign lords like the prince she had first
read about, and endeavored to figure out just how she should act. As she
got older, and after much trial and error, she thought she understood the
concept pretty well. She tried behaving in a matter that she thought a
prince would, trying to help others and protected those too weak to defend
themselves. If someone seemed very depressed, or she was aware of some
extraordinary hardship they had endured, she would go out of her way to
try to cheer them up. If someone tried to push other around she would
defend the oppressed. She never liked the accolades that sometime
accompanied her actions, (she really felt uncomfortable being the center
of attention) but understood that people were going to emulate her at
times. The best she could do was accept the attention with grace and hope
others would learn from her by example.

That attitude was why, after being in Ohtori for less than a week, Utena
had to challenge Saionji to the duel. Almost from the instant she had
arrived there, she began hearing others talk about the heartless things he
did to those around him. The worst was when Utena had been looking out a
third story window, only to witness him slap some girl in the face. Even
from high above, Utena heard him laugh cruelly about how foolish the girl
was in believing that he could be seriously interested in someone like
her.

That was all it took. Utena raced down the stairs and confronted Saionji
in front of everyone. It was impulsive on her part, but she could not
tolerate that sort of behavior in anyone. She challenged him, and won. He
then challenged her to a second match and had lost even more quickly.

How ironic it was that shortly after the second incident others dubbed her
'the Prince Ohtori.' After that, something of a fan club for her formed,
in spite of the fact she preferred to wear the boy's style of uniform to
school. She never really thought of it as cross-dressing, even if it
technically was. She just found dresses and most other predominately
female styles of clothing too confining and 'unprincelike'. Even if it
meant being subjected to the occasional nasty rumor, she continued wearing
either unisex or male-styled outfits the majority of the time. Besides,
the boy's uniforms looked closer to what she thought a prince would wear,
and it was not as though there were any explicit rules against it.

It was right after the first incident with Saionji that Utena had been
called to Dean Fuji's office. At the time, she had been certain she was
going to be reprimanded for her behavior, but instead he told her not to
worry about the incident and that she had been selected to participate in
an advanced physical training program. Utena was happy to accept, and
quickly found herself pressed to the limit in physical endurance as she
was worked hard by a variety of special classes and regimens.

It was shortly after the second incident with Saionji that she found
herself slowly drawn into the circle that the Student Council moved in. At
first, she had thought they were approaching her to seek vengeance for one
of their own being defeated at her hands --nobles could be cliquish at
times-- but that illusion was dispelled when it became obvious they were
interested in her for herself, not in what she had done. Utena found that
she too had been drawn to them, almost like a moth to a flame, though for
the life of her she was uncertain why. They were not the sort of people
she had liked to hang around in the past. Still, everything she had read
indicated there was a higher fate, and it moved in mysterious ways.
Perhaps it was some sort of destiny that she remain among them until such
a time as she might be needed.

Or perhaps she would be given the opportunity to meet a prince of her own
instead of acting as one for others.


Spirit Eagle continued stretching out as he prepared to leave for the
Imperial Academy, Iizuka's orders still bringing a frown to his face. Life
did not seem very good to him lately. He had not been in a decent fight in
close to three weeks. It would have been longer, but he had actually found
someone in Downside that had been able to give him a hard time for close
to three minutes before he fell in the fight with Spirit Eagle.

Now he had what was shaping up to be a very boring evening. Spirit Eagle
was being assigned the task of breaking some little schoolgirl as some
kind of message to her. It really was a waste of his talents. The whole
thing should have been given to one of the newer guards that had been
assigned to help protect the Takanoku holdings, but instead his bosses
were wasting their premier armbreaker on some snotty-nosed little kid.

Spirit Eagle broke off his exercises and headed to the one of the
company's garage's to take one of the cars stored there. At least they had
let him learn how to drive. Being taxied around like some fat salaryman
was one of the indignities he could barely tolerate. He had emphasized it
enough that his masters had allowed him to learn to the drive.

Driving was all right, but it made him pine for the days when he rode
horseback in the lands of his youth. There wasn't a single decent horse in
all of the Empire. He began to consider asking if he could take a vacation
in the lands of his youth. True, he had grown up in abject poverty, but
there was something nice about the freedom he had there, and perhaps it
would do him well to go back and remember what his past was like. Besides,
he could brag to everyone about what a tough guy he had become in the
empire, even if he had failed to attain citizenship. He was still a man
all the others back in his old home should respect.

Spirit Eagle gave a long sigh. At times like this he missed the fighting
in the Arena. Sure, it had been tough, exceptionally hard on the body, and
the life on the inside wasn't great, but at least he had been taken to the
limit regularly. Now, he was afraid he was going soft without a decent
sparring partner around. After he incapacitated several of his fellow
bodyguards early on, the Takanokus would not even let him spar with them
anymore. The only place he could occasionally find decent fights was
during the times he spent in the seedier sections of the Empire. And now
he was reduced to being sent after school girls. He supposed there was
some outside chance this Utena girl might actually be able to put up a
decent fight. From what Iizuka said she was supposed to be a fighter of
some repute, but being taught to fight in a school of noble snobs was a
far cry from learning how to fight in the dog pits that led one to the
main arena of the Empire, where only the best fought. That was where you
learned how to spill a man's blood and enjoy it. The only thing this whole
business had going for it was that he wouldn't have to hold back when he
broke the girl's limbs and jaw. Still, it was ultimately going to be a
boring night.

Life just wasn't fair some times.


Nabiki Tendou finished her last class and hurried to find Ranma. With any
luck she was going to have plenty of time to find him before he got ready
for his match. If even half of the things she had heard from her friend
from Ohtori were true, the Tenjou girl was going to be nothing but
trouble. She was pretty enough to have half the male population of her
school panting about her, apparently had several nobles from the most
prominent families practically in heat as they pursued her, and had more
than a handful of WOMEN swooning after her. Worse, she cross-dressed (and
Nabiki began to worry that Ranma had a thing about that after the whole
Kuonji situation came up), was definitely not a lesbian, and the absolute
worst piece of news of all, had nothing resembling a boyfriend.

Oh yes, she was apparently a damn good fighter, too.

Whether Ranma won or lost his fight was no longer a concern; as
insensitive as he had been lately he deserved to be smacked around a bit.
What concerned Nabiki was not if he would be hit by Utena, but if he would
get hit upon by her. She had to be there to chaperone the fight and make
certain the little hussy did not get any ideas about doing anything with
her opponent other than beating him up. If she even looked longingly at
Ranma, Nabiki would straighten her out as to exactly who Ranma belonged
to.

Nabiki continued racing down the halls until she caught sight of Yohko.
She slowed down long enough to wave as she went past, and was about to
make it around the corner, when someone called out her name.

Nabiki came to a dead stop. The voice was one she would never forget. It
was upperclassman Kenchi Funiyaki: the head of the Academy's Security
Junior Directorate Program, and essentially her class supervisor. He was
close to the bottom of the list of 'people she did not want to run into.'

The two of them had a somewhat strained relationship from the first time
they had met, largely because it was readily apparent Nabiki was smarter
and more perceptive than Funiyaki. What was bad for Nabiki was that,
although he was not as good as her, he was bright enough to realize that
fact. Since then, he had taken what precautions he could in keeping her
from overtaking him in some way. He was ruthless enough that he probably
would have done something really bad to get her drummed out of the program
altogether if he could have, but because of her father's position in the
Directorate, that made such a setup all but impossible. So instead, he
tried keeping her talents from being recognized by others by preventing
her from getting in on any important projects. In turn, she had done
everything she could to get around such blocks, while trying to get back
at him. Lately, she had found herself too busy to deal with him. Likewise,
since she was not butting heads with him, he did not go out of his way to
have any contact with her. Until now.

Funiyaki had on a formal air about him as he approached Nabiki. "I'm glad
I caught up with you. You left class so suddenly, Yurosaka didn't have a
chance to tell you."

"Tell me what?" Nabiki was getting increasingly impatient to get to Ranma.

"There's a meeting of all the members of the Junior Directorate.
Apparently one of the heads of the trainee program wants to see every
member of the corps here in the Academy." Funiyaki's voice was disciplined
and rigid, but there was a slight rolling of the eyes that Nabiki thought
indicated irritation. No doubt it was because the whole meeting was going
to be nothing more than an excuse for a bureaucrat to give a speech and
make himself feel important.

"Ah, look," Nabiki said. "I've got some important things to do, so maybe
I'd better skip the meeting."

"It's mandatory."

Nabiki caught the faint hint of a smile on his face. It figured he would
enjoy upsetting her plans, even if it was nothing more than a coincidence
that allowed him to do it. There really was no choice at all. If the
meeting was mandatory, she would have to attend. Otherwise she would be
immediately drummed out of the program. And knowing how long the
administrators usually took, she was not going to be free for hours.
Still, someone needed someone to keep an eye on Ranma.

Nabiki turned to Yohko. "Look, since I'm going to be busy, I need you to
do something for me."

"Sure, boss. What is it?"

Nabiki gave her a brief set of orders to stay after school to watch the
challenge match, and to keep an eye on Ranma afterwards. Nabiki told Yohko
that the latter reason was so that she knew what shape Ranma was in, and
so she would know what odds to set for his next fight. In reality, it was
nothing more than a spy job to make sure nothing happened between him and
Utena. It was going to be the best she could do under the circumstances.

"And you'd better behave, Ranma, or else," Nabiki muttered under her
breath as she followed Funiyaki to the meeting.


Ranma found himself starting to become anxious as he finished changing and
made his way down to the practice area in the field where the fight was
going to take place. Maybe Nabiki had the right idea in doing a little
background research about his opponent. As it stood now, he had no idea of
what the girl he was going to face even looked like. He found himself
wondering if she would be cute. Most of the girls in both his current and
'other' lives that knew martial arts were very attractive. However, at
some point, his luck was going to run out and he was going to meet someone
that was not going to be quite so...visually appealing.

Ranma noted that Dean Fuyutsuki and Coach Fujinami were already in
attendance at the field. The Dean was looking down from the bleachers
while the Coach stood next to the area where Ranma and Nabiki had their
series of sparring matches. It seemed like only yesterday the two of them
had tried to find out who the better warrior truly was. Of course, he was
the better fighter, as the real match they fought had proven, but Nabiki
was more than good enough to train with him. He still felt himself taken
to the limit each time they fought. Now he wondered if his mysterious
opponent would be the same. Not that he had any doubt he would win, he was
just curious as to how tough she would be.


Coach Fujinami walked up to Ranma. Like the younger boy, he was becoming
excited at the prospect of showing a rival school who the best really was.
After all, Ranma was his prot�g�, and the accounting he gave of himself
would reflect directly on the coach and his training methods. Besides, he
had already met one of the coaches from Ohtori the day before and had made
a forty thousand yen wager that Ranma was going to win. The skills with
which Ranma fought, the perfect coordination with which he moved, all but
guaranteed he would win the fight.

Ranma had damn well better win the fight.

The coach placed a comforting hand on Ranma's shoulder. "Just a few pieces
of advice, kid. Whatever you do, don't get cocky. This girl's won a couple
of kendo tournaments, and some of those fight trainers at Ohtori aren't
too bad. She's probably got at least a couple of moves you should watch
out for."

Ranma's confidence began to swell. So, she was a kendoist. Well, he
certainly knew how to handle those. Kunou was supposed to be one of the
best, and Ranma could take him in under a minute. He began to wonder how
Utena would compare to the bokken-wielding twit.

Coach Fujinami backed off, giving Ranma one last, 'You'd better not lose'
comment before returning to his place outside of the fight circle. He
watched on as Ranma began doing some exercises to loosen up in preparation
for the match.


In his place in the bleachers, Dean Fuyutsuki double-checked his data
recorder unit, intent on showing off the findings at the next meeting,
should Ranma win his match. Having what would be the current number one
Adam and Eve in the project would make him the envy of all the others. He
would be the one they had to pay attention to as Fuyutuski would relate
his findings. He might not have been a glory-seeker by nature, but even he
had his pride.

However, there was a chance he was jumping the gun. If things did not go
as planned, Fuytusuki would be the one sitting down while Professor Fuji
took all the glory and proclaimed the child from his project the best in
the entire program. As much as got along with Fuji, that was still a very
undesirable position. This was a match for bragging rights. Fuji might
have come up with it, but Fuyutsuki was all for it now.

Dean Fuyutsuki thought that, for Ranma's sake, he had better not fail.


A half-hour passed, and the time of the match came and went. Ranma tried
continuing to stretch out to stay loose, but he was quickly becoming bored
with the situation. Both the dean and his coach appeared just as mystified
at the delay. Ranma began looking around the empty field, trying to find
something interesting to see. It was as he glanced back at the Academy
that he thought he caught sight of one of Nabiki's associates hanging
around. Now that he thought about it, it was unusual that Nabiki was not
present for the fight, since she had been so annoyingly insistent upon
attending it. Ranma wondered if Nabiki had changed her mind and thought
the fight would have been boring, and had sent the other girl to watch it
in her place. That got his blood pumping a little bit. He had sort of
wanted to show off again to her who the better fighter was, but now she
was feeling so snubbed by Dean Fuyutsuki's choice of representative for
the school, that she had not even deigned to show herself. How stuck up.

Dean Fuyutuski looked at his watch again. He had been certain he had
copied down the correct time for the challenge. He was about to give
Professor Fuji a call, when he saw a couple of people approaching in a
near run from the near side of the field.

Ranma noticed them too and looked them over as they approached. The first
was a girl whose skin was so dark Ranma thought she might be from India.
She was wearing a blue and white dress with a skirt that came down all the
way to her calves. A pair of glasses were on her face, and from what he
could see of her lower arms and legs, wondered how this could be the girl
he was supposed to fight. She was way too skinny, and her muscle tone was
a joke. Even the way she ran cried out the girl was no fighter. There was
no way she could give him a decent match.

Turning his attention from her, Ranma examined the boy that was walking
quickly alongside her. He was wearing a distinguished-looking white
uniform with blue pants that appeared even more immaculate than the normal
outfit Ranma wore to school. Unlike his female companion, he walked with
the grace of one who knew how to fight, and fight well. Ranma found
himself wondering if some kind of last minute substitution had taken place
and the boy was to be his new opponent. Ranma noted the dark-haired youth
lacked any outward sign of a weapon. The only item he seemed to have was
what appeared to be a stopwatch he held in his hands.

The boy was still looking at the watch when he paused several feet outside
 the ring. As he stopped, his finger hit the button. "We're forty-one
minutes and seventeen seconds late," he announced to the world, the sound
of exasperation in his voice.

The girl next to him said, "Don't worry, Miki. We're not too late."

Ranma was going to ask them what was going on when another girl ran from
the direction the others had come to and towards the combat ring. She was
dressed in a black uniform that was every bit as formal-looking as the
outfit that the boy had worn, and wore red shorts that came down almost to
her knees. A bokken was looped through a strap on the back of a duffel bag
that she had slung over her shoulder. Her form appeared to be somewhat
slender, though it was hard to be certain since the uniform she had on
flared a bit at the top. He could see by the outline of her rather
form-fitting shorts that the muscles on her legs were well developed,
although not too bulky. That, combined with the shorts, accentuated her
long legs. In a way, they reminded him of Kodachi's, save that this girl
was several centimeters taller than her. Ranma figured she had to be his
opponent. He could tell by the way Utena ran that she too was a trained
fighter. There was no wasted motion, and she had a tension to the body
that told one who knew how to look for such things that she could react to
any perceived threat in an instant.

Taking the girl in all at once, he thought the most unusual thing about
her was the long mane of pink hair that went almost half-way down her
back. The first thing that went through his mind was a thought that this
girl might somehow be related to Shampoo. Then he got a good look at the
girl's face.

"Whoa," Ranma found himself saying under his breath. She was actually very
good-looking, even if the outfit she was wearing did look like it was more
suited for a guy than a girl. Still, it did somehow appear appropriate on
her, augmenting her already good looks as opposed to detracting from them.
It was kind of the same way it worked with Ukyou, though he admitted no
one was ever going to mistake the pink-haired girl for a guy. There was no
way her chest was bound, and her looks were obviously feminine.

The girl pulled up to a stop right next to the two that had arrived before
her. "Well," she gasped. "We were only a half-hour late."

"We were forty-one minutes and seventeen seconds late," Miki corrected.
"You were forty-one minutes and forty-eight seconds late."

"Oh? Let me see." The new girl held out her hand towards the watch. Miki
handed it to her. She clicked the top of it once, examined it carefully,
then clicked again. She gave a sigh. "It looks like it's broken to me."

"WHAT?!" Miki snatched the watch out of her hands and began pressing the
button.

The pink-haired girl laughed. "Oh, Miki, I was only teasing. You need to
relax." She watched him test the watch a few times before breathing a sigh
of relief. Once she was sure he had calmed down, and was not going to hold
the joke against her, she turned to look at Ranma. She behaved as though
she had been completely unaware of him up until that point, something
Ranma took note of. "Oops! Where are my manners?" She turned to her
companions, indicating Miki first. "This is Miki Kauru, first year cadet
and member of the Ohtori Academy Student Council."

Miki gave a formal bow to Ranma, which he returned in kind. Ranma took
note that the boy almost seemed to be evaluating him even as he looked the
Imperial Academy cadet over.

"And this is first year cadet, Anthy Himehiya."

The dark-skinned girl bowed before Ranma and said hello. Unlike Miki, she
had a placid look to her that lacked the hint of anything other than a
gentle smile. Ranma bowed to her.

"And I'm Utena Tenjou." The bow might have been formal, but the smile she
gave Ranma was more of a sheepish grin than anything else. It sort of
reminded him of the two versions of Ryouga his other selves knew, and he
halfway expected her to place her hand behind her head and chuckle at him.
The smile though, whereas on Ryouga it looked sort of goofy, on the girl
it seemed just right. It gave her an easy-going demeanor that put Ranma at
ease. He smiled back and was rewarded with an even greater smile on her
part, and he found himself wishing she would keep right on smiling the
entire time. Not only that, but he thought he could detect just the
faintest hint of some scent in the air that excited him. It sort of
resembled the one he could smell around Kodachi, and wondered if Utena
wore the same kind of perfume as his aristocratic friend.

It was as he was enjoying both the sight of the girl, and that pleasant
odor, that her name finally struck. Utena Tenjou. This was the girl he was
going to be fighting. He shook his head free of the warm feelings that had
come over him. There would be time after the fight to admire her. Right
now she was the opponent he was going to have to beat.

Utena's demeanor was still easy-going. "Sorry about being late. I hope you
didn't have to wait long."

"Nah," Ranma said. "It's no big deal."

Ranma noticed the girl's attitude shift slightly. There was a sudden
seriousness about her as she said, "Why don't I get changed and then we
can start the match?"

"Sounds good." Ranma looked after her as she headed for the girl's locker
room. She was more than halfway there when he realized it was more like
Utena's posterior he had been staring at than the girl herself. He shook
his head free of such thoughts again, grateful Nabiki wasn't around to
catch him doing that. Not that it was any of her business who he stared at
and what parts of people's anatomy he chose to look upon.


Professor Fuji, the dean of Ohtori Academy, made his way up the bleachers
to sit next to Fuyutsuki. "Sorry about how late we were. There was a good
bit of road construction on the way over, and we got caught in the rush
hour traffic."

Fuyutusuki nearly hit himself in the head for such a glaring oversight. "I
should be the one apologizing. I forgot to warn you about that."

"Well, think nothing of it. We're here and the match is about to start.
That's all that matters." Fuji pulled out a portable data recorder that
was identical to Fuytsuki's own. Fuji gave it a test run to make certain
it was working properly. Once he was convinced it was, he settled down and
waited for Utena to make her appearance so that the match could start.

The wait was brief as Utena came out of the building and approached the
fighting area. She had changed into a very informal-looking white T-shirt
and black shorts that were only slightly shorter than the pair that she
usually wore with her school outfit. The usual red and black Chinese-style
outfit Ranma wore was not exactly formal either, so seeing her in normal
attire for this somewhat impromptu match-up relaxed him a bit.

Utena began stretching out, preparing for the fight. Ranma found himself
comparing her to Nabiki, remembering how his 'rival' would stretch out in
a similar manner right before the two of them sparred. Although what Utena
wore was a tad tighter than most of the things Nabiki tended to wear. Once
again he was glad she wasn't present to harass him about the way he was
sizing up the competition, which was all that he was doing.

Really.


As Utena stretched out, she finally took a moment to examine her opponent
closely. Before, she had been too nervous at having arrived late to do
anything other than feel embarrassed, but now that she had a chance to
warm up, she took full advantage of the opportunity to look her opponent
over. Ranma was only a few centimeters taller than her, though he had an
obvious weight advantage which, if Utena wasn't mistaken, was all muscle.
It was hard to tell since the red top and black pants he wore were
slightly loose. There was no weapon around him, meaning he was probably a
hand-to-hand fighter. That also meant she would have a reach advantage,
but would need to avoid him trying to grapple with her. She was willing to
wager that he would underestimate her wiry strength, like most of her
opponents did. That might give her a trump card to play on him later,
though if he was any good, a sudden burst of strength on her part to break
out of a hold would only work once.

Utena watched as Ranma began to limber up. He was flexible, that was
certain, and he had a face that was pleasing to the eye. Not that she did
not know a lot of good-looking guys, but Ranma's was different. There was
a lot of confidence there, but not in the manner that the nobles held.
Even Miki possessed that haughty look of 'noble superiority', although to
a much lesser degree then the others. She supposed it was something they
were taught as children.

To Utena's eye, Ranma did not look like that. He displayed a kind of
easy-going confidence that lacked the arrogance the nobles possessed.
Utena wondered if he was sort of like her. At the very least, he
represented a change of pace from the amount of formality that usually
accompanied both the duels and the duelists she regularly fought. And he
had the cutest butt she had seen in a long...

It was her turn to shake her head clear of such thoughts. She had to
mentally prepare herself to beat the hell out of the guy to prove herself,
and her school, superior to his. Now was a time for action, not
admiration. Even if he did look awful cute. She'd have to try to avoid
hitting him in the face.

Utena finished warming up and moved to the side of the circle opposite
Ranma. He stopped stretching out as well and stood, facing Utena. She had
her bokken drawn, holding it in her right hand while keeping it pointed to
the ground. Ranma was not fooled by the relaxed posture she had. That
bokken could come up in a flash and block any attack aimed at her. He had
enough familiarity with kendo to recognize that.

The coach moved in-between the two and gave them a brief version of the
rules of the fight. Victory was gained by either knockout, submission,
when one foe was rendered insensate, or if the coach called a stop to it.
After both acknowledged the rules and bowed, he got out of their way and
told them to begin.

Ranma brought up both fists and held them before him while Utena held her
bokken in front of her, the tip pointed ever so slightly towards the
ground. He watched Utena's eyes intently, waiting for her to make the
first move. Most of the people he fought, both in his life and that of the
duplicates in his mind, always seemed to throw the first punch. However,
he was the one that always threw the last one.

Surprisingly, Utena remained where she was, watching Ranma even as he
watched her. When it became obvious neither was going to launch any sort
of attack right away, they began to move, circling one another as each
looked for some sort of opening in their opponent.

They made a complete circle twice before Utena made the first move. She
tested Ranma's defenses with a quick double thrust meant to gauge his
reaction time. He easily got out of the way of the first one, and the
second that followed on the heels of that. It was his turn to
counterattack as he lashed out with a fist towards her head. She read the
move correctly as a feint and cut to her left, avoiding the kick that was
the real attack.

Ranma evaluated her as being superior to Kunou, not that that was going to
make a difference in the end. All it meant was that he was going to have
to be more cautious. The two traded feints and attacks until Ranma at last
saw Utena extend herself too far on a blow aimed for his head. He found
himself inside her guard and connected lightly with a fist to her
shoulder. There was no chance to follow up the attack as she surprised him
by landing a strike to his head with her elbow, then followed up with a
reverse thrust kick into his midsection. His reaction was more out of
instinct than cognizant thought as he thrust upward with his palm and
landed a solid blow to her jaw. A loud crack met his ears as her neck
snapped back and teeth slammed together. She backed up, keeping her bokken
up and at the ready.

Both opponents looked at each other with new respect. There was not going
to be a quick victory to be had on this day.


In their seats in the stands, Fuyutsuki and Fuji looked on. Both opponents
were locked in combat, neither one giving quarter as the number of  blows
began to mount up on both sides.

"This is turning into everything I had hoped it would be," Fuji said as he
kept one eye on the fight and one on his readings. Even in his prime, he
could never have hoped to match either one of them. His, and the others',
creations were nearly perfect.

"Indeed," Fuyutsuki said. He was not quite as excited at the closeness of
the fight, having seen both Ranma and Nabiki in action on several
occasions. Utena's style was certainly different from either of the other
two, but what really had him anxious was to see Ranma victorious over the
Tenjou girl. The number one male and female child in the project would be
his, at least for a little while. Even he was susceptible to desiring the
top children of the project being under his observation, and to a lesser
degree, control.

"Your Ranma is turning out to be quite a surprise," Fuji added. "Is the
Tendou girl as gifted a fighter?"

"Naturally." Fuyutsuki winced as Ranma took a nasty blow to the kidneys,
courtesy of Utena's bokken. His follow up kick to Utena's chest evened it
out, though.

"I might want Utena to fight Nabiki sometime. After she beats Ranma, of
course."

Fuyutsuki's eyebrows darted up at that. "I wouldn't be so sure of that if
I was you."

Fuji brushed off the warning. "Nonsense. You forget, I have the trained
eye of a fighter. She's better than him. And unless she slips on a banana
peel, she'll come out on top."

"Don't underestimate Saotome," Fuytsuki insisted. "He finds a way to win.
Besides, I might not have served in the Security Directorate, but I have a
fair eye when it comes to evaluating hand-to-hand. Your girl's good, but
Ranma will be the one standing at the end."

"How about a little wager on that? Say, the loser bows out of the
competition for the Yurisoko Memorial Competition?" Fuji's eyes fairly
gleamed in challenge.

Fuytusuki considered that. The Yurisoko Memorial was a recent monument the
Emperor was having erected in honor of those soldiers whose lives had been
lost abroad and their bodies never recovered. One school was going to be
allowed to present an honor guard at the opening ceremony. The competition
for the event was going to be cut-throat, given the prestige of the
occasion and that the Emperor himself was going to put in a rare public
appearance there. One less competitor would only improve the Imperial
Academy's position.

"You're on."


Ranma found himself becoming increasingly excited as the fight progressed.
The struggle between them was becoming more intense, and his desire for
victory matched the increase in tempo. The girl was coming almost as close
to pressing him to the limits as Nabiki did. It quickly became obvious
that she had training that far extended past simple kendo. She was
well-versed in several forms of hand-to-hand as well, and had incorporated
them into a rather unique style of combat. It was no Anything-Goes, but
still the style served to challenge him.

Curiously, he was finding himself also becoming aroused the longer he
fought with the pink-haired girl. Something similar happened to him when
he had fought both Akane and Nabiki, and he wasn't quite sure what to make
of it. He knew he had never felt it with any of the guys he had fought.
Kunou, Mikado, the Wolf Pack. Nor had it ever happened in either of his
counterparts lives. None of them had sent the sort of tingle through his
being that was present when he had fought the girls. It wasn't that he
enjoyed fighting them, but it was more like a heightened degree of
excitement that encouraged him to victory. It was probably something that
had to do with them giving him the hardest fights, although Akane was only
difficult in the beginning.

A bokken thrust came close to his head and he backed off slightly. Utena
was very good. She was also intense, but he thought he saw a smile during
several slower moments in the fight. It was not a smile that was cruel,
but rather one that seemed to hint that she was enjoying the fight, as
though she was having fun at being taken to the limit by him as well. That
was an unusually empathic feeling on his part, but any further thoughts on
that subject were dismissed as Utena attacked him in a blinding flurry of
bokken thrusts that he was forced to temporarily retreat from.

Utena was surprised herself as the first hint of feelings, similar to
those she had when she fought the guys back at Ohtori, started to assert
itself. It was a sort of arousal, she thought, but not one so intense that
it affected her ability to fight. It was exactly the opposite; her
thoughts became more focused as she sought victory over her opponent.
 She was surprised at the burning desire to defeat the youth in front of
her, especially since he had done nothing to offend her and, unless she
was a poor judge of character, seemed to be a nice guy. There was
something about the smile he had given her when they were first
introduced, one that made her instinctively think he was unlike most of
the guys she knew. Perhaps afterwards she would approach him and see if he
was going out with anybody. Aside from that, talking with him would give
her a chance to see if he really was a nice guy, as she suspected, or an
egotistical jerk like Saionji was. After she knocked his butt out, of
course.


The fight continued on for several more minutes. They began to sweat and
their breathing became more rapid as they continued to attack and defend
against one another. Several times each landed a number of blows on their
opponent, but neither one was able to capitalize on it as the other would
defend themselves too well and find a way to recover. The fight continued
on with neither fighter gaining a clear advantage.

Then Ranma thought he saw an opening. It was small, but might make the
difference in the fight. The tip of her bokken was pointed away, and, if
he moved fast enough, Ranma would have one good shot at her head. He
raised his fist back and aimed for Utena's head. The opening in her
defense remained as she drew back her bokken and prepared to swing. Like a
blur, he brought his fist forward and...

...suddenly found it stopping in mid-motion. He was in shock, trying to
figure out who had stopped his arm, but a side glance showed there was
nothing there. No hand, foot, or even wire. It was some sort of invisible
force that was so powerful he could not even bring his fist one millimeter
forward, despite having the full use of his muscles to him.

That stop was the only opening Utena needed. She was on him in a split
second as her bokken found its way into his stomach, doubling him over.
The force that had prevented his fist from going forward left just as
quickly as it came, but he had no chance to recover his bearings as a knee
followed the bokken thrust. It found its way into his lowered chin, making
stars swim before his eyes. Blindly, he lashed out with a fist, connecting
with Utena's shoulder. However, the previous two blows had taken their
toll, and there was very little force behind the punch. Utena was not even
slowed down as she brought her bokken crashing down onto his back,
bringing Ranma to his knees. He tried to get up, but a last blow to the
back of his head from the hilt of Utena's weapon knocked Ranma
unconscious.

It was over.


Professor Fuji stood up and applauded as Dean Fuyutsuki sat there in
shock. Ranma had lost? How had that happened? He had been certain that
Ranma was going to win. He had seen the young boy in combat with Nabiki
Tendou on a multitude of occasions, yet he had managed to fight Utena for
just over five minutes before falling to her. And she had made it look
easy too. Now he was going to have to put up with Fuji's cooing about
having one of the top two children in the project. And the absolute worst
thing about this was going to be the withdrawal from the Yurisoko Memorial
Competition. It was a disgrace Fuytusuki would not tolerate. The whole
situation was Ranma's fault. The boy was going to be training extra hard
in the days to come to make up for what had obviously been a poor
performance.


The intensity of Coach Fujinami's scowl would have been enough to scare
off even a hungry tiger. How dare Saotome humiliate him that way by
falling to the Ohtori girl in less than six minutes. It was a slap in the
face to Fujinami and all of his training. He was now out a considerable
sum of money and would have to put up with the bragging of his associate
at Ohtori for months now. It was all Ranma's fault, and Fujinami was going
to make him pay by toughening him up even further. No one stayed soft
under the tutelage of Masato Fujinami. No one.


Utena raised her bokken to the sky, victory at last hers. She did not
remain that way for long as she came down from her emotional high and
began to relax. Fuji applauded from the stands as Anthy and Miki came over
to congratulate her. Having a moment, she looked Ranma over. His breathing
was regular and he didn't seem too badly pounded on. When she had hit him
with the last blow and knocked him out, she had made certain it was
neither too hard nor vicious. It was obvious he could not take any more
and she would never be excessively violent. Ranma might have seemed to be
a nice guy, but even that was no defense against falling to her superior
might. No one beat Utena Tenjou. Not even Ranma Saotome.


And Ranma just laid there, slowly breathing face down in the dirt.