So I've finally got around to finishing chapter 5.  The first half
remains largely unchanged from the pre-release, but the second half
was almost entirely rewritten, and, IMHO, is much better.

Tales of Ranma and Nabiki 5:
The Martial-Arts Rythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Jeff Rutsch

"So I met this really weird girl today after school.  Called herself
the 'Black Petunia' or something."
"And what happened?"
"Well, she was attacking these girls with a ribbon or something.  So I
stopped her."
"An honorable thing to do, my boy."
"Yeah, whatever pop.  Anyways, I admit she had some nice moves, but I
coulda taken her.  If I fought girls, that is.  And then when I get
back, the girls she was beating up were over here, talking to Akane.
Said they wanted her to take their place at some sports thing.
Martial Arts Gymnastics or something like that.  Look, Akane doesn't
know anything about Martial Arts Gymnastics.  I can do anything that's
got martial arts in it, so I figured I'd help her."
"Son, that's a...nice thing to do, and it's very thoughtful."
"Yeah, it is.  See ya later, pop."
"But I don't want you to do it!"
"What?  Well, why not?"
"Have you forgotten your engagement to Nabiki, boy?"
"That's all your stupid idea!  Besides, that doesn't mean I can't do
anything nice for Akane!"
"Yes...yes it does, my son.  Like it or not, you have to make sure you
don't offend Nabiki.  You know she can't like it when you keep on with
Akane.  You don't want her to hate you, do you?"
"Well...no."
"Ranma, I have news for you."
"What is it, pop?"
"I've received word that your mother is visiting the Tendo residence
sometime soon.  It could be tomorrow, it could be a few months from
now."
"Mom?  That'll be great!  I can't remember the last time I saw her!"
"Foolish boy!  Haven't I told you about how I got her to make my
life's work training you?"
"Uh...I don't think I was paying attention.  Could you run it by me
again?"
"I told her I'd make a man out of you, or together we'd commit ritual
suicide." Ranma clobbered his father.
"What'd you do that for?  Now she's gonna freak when she finds out
about my curse!"
"There's only one solution, Ranma."
"And what's that?"
"When your mother arrives, you must marry your fiance!"
"What?  This is idiotic!  I'm only sixteen!"
"No excuses, boy!"
"No way!  I'm not going to!"
"Then I guess you'll have to commit seppuku.  Pity, such a young life
wasted."
"That's stupid!  Why don't we just run?"
"Uhmmmm...because we can't live like bandits any more, Ranma!"

**

"Hello Nabiki."
"Hello Ranma."
"Did you hear about what happened?"
"Yes."  Nabiki put down her abacus.
"Well..."
"Well what, Ranma?"
"Well...how do you feel about that?"
"If daddy says I'm getting married to you, I guess I am."
"Oh, so it's like that!"
"But I guess it's not all bad."
"Oh, thanks a lot!"
"Ranma..."
"What?!"
"I don't mean it like that."
"How did you mean it then?"
"I meant...well, it's not BAD.  You know."
"No, I don't!"
"Well then, tell me how you feel."
"I feel fine."
"I mean about your mom coming over and...everything."
"Well...I don't know."
"There.  Now do you see my point?"
"No."
"What I mean is, I couldn't say that...I...that...Ranma, you're
impossible!" Nabiki went back to work at her abacus.  After a few
seconds, Ranma left.

**

"Nice move, Akane."
"Huh?  Oh, thanks Ranma." Akane noted Ranma's entrance.
"Sorry I couldn't help you train earlier."
Akane didn't say anything, but she scowled slightly.
"So how's your training going?"
"Not so good.  It's hard to train for this on my own."
"Yeah, it's too bad one of the people from the team couldn't help
you."
"Well, I can't blame them.  They got pretty beat up."
"Yeah." There was an uncomfortable pause.  Neither of them knew what
to say, although both wanted to say something.
"So, what kept you from helping me train?"  Akane wished she could
take back the question as soon as she asked it.  It was a bit forward.
"Well, you know.  Father, and the engagement, and everything."
"Oh."  Akane looked a little depressed.  "So how'd your date with
Nabiki go?"
"Well it was really...it was okay.  Nothing too special." Ranma lied.
Akane knew he was lying, and Ranma knew Akane knew.
"Akane, well, I thought I should tell you...my mother's visiting
sometime soon.  And when she does, Dad wants me to...marry Nabiki."
"Are you just kidding with..." Akane never finished her question.  She
turned her back to Ranma, and tears started forming in her eyes.  Only
a few days ago it had seemed like a sure thing.  Like Nabiki and Ranma
would never get along...and now this.  She should have known better
than to give her heart to her sister's fiance.  Akane wiped the tears
off her eyes with as subtle a motion as possible.
"Well, no use talking, let's spar!"  Akane's voice had only the
slightest hint of a crack.
"I'm sorry about this, Akane."
"So you know the rules, right?" asked Akane.  She simultaneously
whipped a ribbon of cloth at Ranma.  Ranma dodged easily.
"Think so.  Gotta use the tools?"
"Yep."  Akane was going to expand, but stopped.  There was no way
Ranma could have missed the pain in her voice.  Ranma knew enough not
to respond, and instead put his attention into the practice.  Without
speaking a word, the two trained methodically for the next three
hours.  Akane reached levels of concentration she previously thought
unimaginable.  To her credit she was keeping up with Ranma, who was in
a similar zen state.
When the two were finally done practicing, they stretched down in the
corner.  It had been a long, intensive training session, and neither
of them could believe how much work they had put their bodies through.
"That was a great workout, Akane."
"Thanks, Ranma."
"Man, if you fight like that on Saturday, no way that Kodachi girl
will be able to beat you."
"It really helps to have someone to practice with."
"Hey, no problem.  I'll be cheering for you."
"Aren't you going to be my second?"
"Well, I'd...I don't think I can, Akane."
"Yes, I suppose you're right." Akane lowered her head.  When she
raised it again, two tears were running down her cheek.
"Now Akane, don't cry.  I'd like to be your second, but I mean pop,
and the engagement...and you know how he's always bugging me just for
talking to you and stuff.  It's not that I don't want to help...just I
can't."
"I didn't think it was going to be like this, Ranma."  Akane's tears
multiplied and soon became a steady stream.
"I didn't think it would be like this either, Akane."  said Ranma,
giving Akane a comforting hug.  Akane buried her head in Ranma's
masculine chest and cried.

**

Akane bathed and went to bed exhausted.  However, right before she
turned off the light she noticed something unusual.  There was a
gymnast in a teal leotard hanging on to the ceiling, for example.  She
hardly had time to analyze this fact when the intruder was jumping
down at her wielding a large mallet.  Akane got out of the way in the
nick of time.  The intruder, who she recognized to be Kodachi, stopped
and spoke to her.
"I am Kodachi, the Black Rose of the St. Bacchus Gymnastics team."
"And what are you doing attacking me in my room?!"
"I just wanted to size up the OOF!"  Kodachi didn't have time to
finish her sentence as a kick sent her flying through the bedroom
window.
"What a dolt.  I just wanted get some sleep."  Akane tucked herself
into bed and turned the light off behind her.

**

"Man, I don't know what I'm going to do."  Sitting on the roof, Ranma
pondered his situation.
"I mean, I'm only sixteen and already getting married...sheesh!"
Ranma stopped to think.
"But what's my option?  I don't want to run away if dad won't go
with me...and if mom would really force me to commit seppuku I
wouldn't want to do that either..."
"But I don't like having my hand forced!  I wouldn't mind being
married so much if there wasn't the chance that I made the wrong
decision.  I don't want to be married without having given Akane at
least a try...if what Akane said is true, I bet if I wanted to, I
could get married to her instead..."
"But what if I don't?  If I don't want to marry Akane, and I've
already cancelled the engagement with Nabiki, there's no way she'd
even want to...huh?"
Ranma heard the crash of glass breaking from Akane's room, and a girl
dressed in blue fell out the window, landing a few feet short of the
pond.  Ranma wasted no time in jumping down to the ground beside her.
"Hey, you alright?"  She didn't look that hurt, just slightly dazed.
The girl was Kodachi, that Black Rose girl Akane was going to have to
fight in a few days.  What was she doing here?  Ranma didn't think
about it long.  The girl focused her eyes on Ranma and spoke.
"Hold me."
Ranma didn't know what to do.  He held Kodachi in his arms.  She held
him back.  Neither of them moved for a few seconds.  The position
seemed to be suspiciously close to...a hug.
"Enjoying yourself, Ranma?"  Nabiki was to Ranma's right.
"Nabiki, it's not like that!"  Ranma panicked and dropped Kodachi on
the ground.  Kodachi didn't seem hurt.  She got up and proclaimed: "Oh
my love, I will come for you again."  Laughing hysterically, she ran
away.
"She seems to have quite a thing for you, Ranma."
"Nabiki, I didn't mean anything by it.  I was just makin' sure she
wasn't hurt!"
"I don't know if I can believe that, Ranma."
"You say you can tell if I'm lying, Nabiki!  Do I look like I'm
lying?"
"I'm beginning to wonder if you're a good liar, Ranma."
"Nabiki!"
"Ranma, you're defined by your actions.  And you seem to be hugging
every girl you can get your hands on...except for me."
"That's not true."
"Oh, isn't it, Ranma?  I saw you with Akane."
"I was just comforting her!  And what were you doing spying on me
anyways!"
"I had this sneaking suspicion you might be...less than faithful.  And
my suspicions seemed to have been confirmed."
"Nabiki...just...it's not like that." Nabiki's eyes didn't soften at
all.  What was he going to do?  Ranma walked up to Nabiki and hugged
her.  It was a clumsy, uncomfortable hug, and Ranma knew it.
"You're quite the Romeo, aren't you Ranma?" Nabiki's voice was an odd
mix of sarcasm and genuine emotion.

**

Akane walked in a daze around the schoolyard, avoiding her friends.
Ranma, side-by-side with Nabiki, passed by her...without saying
anything.  A casual observer may have dismissed it as the chance
encounter of two strangers, but a closer look showed something...a
look in the eye, a turning of the head that showed they wanted to say
more to each other, but couldn't.  Akane briefly continued walking
before her ruminations were interrupted by a shrill voice:
"Akane Tendo, prepare to die!"
"What?"  Akane turned to see Kodachi attacking her, a wooden sword in
hand.
"Stop attacking me, Kodachi!  Be a good sport and wait until the
tournament!"
"You should have thought of that before kicking me out a second story
window yesterday, you hussy!"
"Hey!  You snuck into my room and attacked me!  What was I supposed to
do?"
"Enough excuses!  Prepare to suffer the wrath of the undefeated
captain of the St. Bacchus Gymnastics team!"
"Why don't you stop picking on her?"  asked Ranma.  Kodachi shifted
her attention.
"My love...I'll do anything for you."  Ranma looked uncomfortable.
"Uhh...that's not necessary.  Just stop attacking Akane!"
"Why?  If she stands in the way of our love, I could never honor that
promise!  I shall date with you!"
"What?  No, look, I won't date you."
"You..."  Kodachi looked hurt.
"Now don't cry...look, I mean...I've got a fiance!"
"She is your fiance?"  Kodachi pulled out a ribbon and was about to
whip at Akane when Ranma stopped her.
"No..." Ranma looked at the crowd that had gathered around the scene
and pulled out Nabiki.
"She is.  Isn't that right, Nabiki?" Ranma pulled Nabiki out of the
crowd while at the same time shielding her from any attacks.
"This favor's on the house, Ranma.  Yep, I'm his fiance."
"You?  I shan't allow it!  And then why do you defend this Akane
girl?" Kodachi asked Ranma.
"Because...because she's a friend!"
"I see...a friend."  Kodachi giggled.
"What's it to you anyway?"
"Very well then!  If I defeat Akane, I will date with you, my darling
Ranma!"  Kodachi laughed hysterically.
"No wait!  How's that make any sense?"
"If you love me, I will gladly defeat those who stand in the way of
our love!" proclaimed Kodachi.  Ranma was about to protest, but
Kodachi turned around and ran away.
"What?  What was that all about?"  Ranma looked confused.
Kunou walked out of the crowd and approached Ranma.
"Bear with her weakness, which proceeds
from wayward sickness, and no bounded malice,
I love her well".
"You don't mean to tell me that she's your..."
"My sister she is."
"Somehow I'm not surprised."

**

"So what's up, Nabiki?"
"Oh, nothing much.  Since school got out I've been working on
something for my business."
"What?"
"Oh, just seeing how a rise in the federal interest rate would
influence the gross."
"What?"
"Oh...you wouldn't understand."
"So what's Akane up to?"
"Well...I guess she's practicing for this gymnastics tournament with a
friend.  Who cares?"
"Oh, that's nice.  I didn't know any of her friends were gymnasts."
"Oh, she's not, she just knows a little martial arts and is better
than nobody.  But there's got to be more interesting subjects we can
talk about."
"Uhhh...so anything interesting happen at school today?"
"Well, yeah, I heard about this guy who got attacked by some girl.  So
get this: he hides behind his fiance..."
"Hey, that's NOT how it happen..." Ranma stopped and blushed at his
foolishness when he realized Nabiki was only teasing him.  He
desperately attempted to come up with a clever reply.
"Yeah, well, at least my name doesn't rhyme with...with...habiscus!"
Nabiki looked at him quizzically as Ranma realized his comeback made
no sense.  Ranma didn't know what to do, so he did the only thing he
could think of doing, the thing the Anything-Goes School recommended
he do: he tickled Nabiki.
"What are you doing, Ranma?" Nabiki asked in a flat voice.  When she
caught on she continued: "You might as well give up, Ranma.  I'm not
ticklish." The crack in her voice gave her away, however, and Ranma
continued until Nabiki was in hysterics.  She half-heartedly tried to
pull herself away, but Ranma held on to her.  With that method failing
she grabbed the pillow she had been leaning on and swatted at Ranma,
succeeding at bopping Ranma on the head, to which he pretended to be
hurt and fell backwards.  Still laughing, Nabiki pounced at Ranma and,
turning the tables, started to tickle him.  Ranma started
laughing...the first time Nabiki had heard Ranma laugh without a trace
of sarcasm in his voice.
Suddenly Kasumi burst into the room.  "Ranma!  Nabiki!  Come
quickly...Akane's hurt!"  Ranma and Kasumi ran to the dojo, and Nabiki
followed them.
Akane's friend was waiting for them.  "She jumped and landed on the
ball.  She must have sprained her ankle or something."
"Nothing Dr. Tofu can't fix, I hope."  said Kasumi, inspecting Akane's
ankle.
"I just hope I can fight in this gymnastics tournament." said Akane.
"I'm sorry Akane, but there's no way you'll be better in time.  It's
only a day away!"  answered Kasumi.
"But I have to!  The school depends on me!  Where else are they going
to get somebody who knows gymnastics, is good at martial arts, and
looks cute in a leotard?"
Three pairs of eyes wandered over to Ranma.
"What are you looking at me for?" asked Ranma.
"You people are sick!" yelled Akane's friend.  She looked genuinely
shocked.
Kasumi handed Ranma a bucket of water that was conveniently lying
beside her.
"Here Ranma, why don't you turn into a girl?"
"Are you joking?" asked Akane's friend.
"Well, I guess I have to."  Ranma took the bucket of water and dumped
it on his head.  Transformed, he commanded Kasumi: "So get me this
leotard!  I have to start training if the match is tomorrow!"
"Uhmmmm...I have to go now."  Akane's friend stated.  She turned
around, and left.  Running.
"Man, what's her problem?" asked Ranma-chan "Now who am I going to
practice with?"
"Ranma?"
"Yes, Akane?"
"Thanks a lot for taking over for me."
"Oh, it's nothing."
"I know you don't like going out in your girl form...so don't say it's
nothing."
"Well, it IS nothing...at least, to do it for you..." both Ranma and
Akane blushed.  Nabiki looked back and forth between the two with a
cool expression on her voice.
"Shouldn't you be headed towards Dr. Tofu's, Akane?"
"She can't walk there, Nabiki," giggled Kasumi, "I'll have to go get
Dr. Tofu."
"Uhhh...maybe we should send somebody else." said Akane quickly.
"Oh, and why's that?"
"Well...no real reason.  Why don't you go, Nabiki?"
Nabiki looked at Kasumi, looked at Akane, looked at Ranma, and again
looked at Akane.  With a defeated glance she spat out the word "fine!"
and walked out the door.
"So you know what to do, Ranma?" asked Akane.
"Uhhh...yeah.  I mean, how tough can Kodachi be if you beat her so
easily?"
"And what do you mean by that?!"
"Oh...nothing.  I mean...well...our skills are...comparable...and I
know you would've beat her if you had fought, so I guess I can expect
to win!"  Ranma smiled.  He usually wasn't as good at talking himself
out of mistakes.
"Isn't that a nice thing of you to say!" Kasumi said, with a
ridiculously happy expression on her face.

**


"So how's your heel, Akane?"  Kasumi looked expectantly at Akane as
she hobbled in to the room.
"Not too bad.  I don't even need this, really," Akane said while
motioning towards her crutch, "Dr. Tofu just lent this to me to be
safe."
"Oh, wasn't that nice of him!  So what was the problem?"
"Riyo was right...just a sprain.  Unfortunately...it does keep me out
of the gymnastics competition."
"Oh, that's too bad.  But I'm sure Ranma will do a great job in your
place."
"Yeah."  Akane paused, looked over towards the dojo, and smiled.
"That was really nice of him, taking over for me." she added.
"You like him very much, don't you?" asked Kasumi.
"Kasumi!!!"  Akane blushed, turned to look at her older sister, and
saw that she had a ridiculously happy smile on her face.
"Well...yeah." admitted Akane, blushing more intensely.
"I think he feels the same way about you."
"You do?" asked Akane happily.  Her expression quickly changed,
however, and it was in an angry voice that she stated "It doesn't
matter, even if you're right.  He's already engaged to Nabiki.  I
can't do anything about that."
Kasumi got out a mixing bowl.  After an uncharacteristically poor
attempt at getting the eggs in the bowl she abandoned the task and
went back to the conversation.
"Akane, if you love him, you need to at least try."
"But dad...and Nabiki..."
"Father just wants one of us to marry Ranma, it doesn't have to be
Nabiki."
"And Nabiki?"
"Nabiki will understand."
"You really think so?"
"I know so."
"But what about the samurai code and everything?"
"If you love him and he loves you, it would be breaking the code for
him to marry Nabiki." Akane thought about that for a second.
"You know...you're right!  Thanks a lot, Kasumi!"  Akane was in
visibly better spririts as she wobbled up to her room.
"God damn, love potions are so much easier than this," said Kasumi,
"but it's nice to do something different every once in a while.
'Specially when the heavens specifically..." Kasumi didn't finish the
sentence.  Her body momentarily fell limp, and she then stood up and
got to work on dinner, perfectly separating the egg whites and egg
yolks into separate bowls.

**

"Akane, I'm glad your ankle is going to be okay." said Nabiki, walking
into Akane's room.
"Thanks a lot, Nabiki."
"But I have a question to ask you."
"What?"
"What are you doing with Ranma?"
"What do you mean?"
"He's my fiance.  You shouldn't be flirting with him."
"I'm not flirting with him!  I can't believe you said that!"
"Oh really?  It seems like you've flirted with him constantly ever
since he got here from China!"
"No I'm not!!!"
"What do you call what you were doing in the dojo?  Then sending me
away to get Dr. Tofu...very clever."
"What was I supposed to do?  If I had sent Kasumi, Dr. Tofu would have
never fixed my sprain!"
"So it was me or Ranma...guess you'd rather flirt with Ranma than with
me."
"That's not how it happened!  Stop being so possessive!"
"Ranma is mine, Akane.  I have every right to be possessive."
"Nabiki, you're being silly!"
"Regardless of your feelings, Akane, keep in mind that he is my
fiance."  Nabiki turned and left the room.

**

"Hey Ranma.  Figured you'd be a bit thirsty, so I got you something to
drink.  Take it...it's free."
"Oh, thanks a lot Nabiki." Ranma took the glass of guava juice and sat
down, leaning against the walls of the dojo.  He chugged the glass of
juice.
"So what are you doing in here, anyway?"
"Oh...you know...the usual...just practicing my martial arts."
"So doing a lot of punching and kicking?"  Nabiki let loose a few
kicks and chops in her best Bruce Lee imitation, while making random
gutteral noises.  Ranma snickered.
"No...it's not like that."  Ranma picked up the ribbon.  "Martial arts
rhythmic gymnastics is a really unique form of martial arts...you
can't just punch or kick the other person, you have to use your
tools."
"So it's a whole different ballgame."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well...I don't know too much about martial arts...but usually you
punch and kick, and in this you use a ribbon..." Ranma shook hid head.
"Martial arts isn't just about punching and kicking, Nabiki, it's
about training your body to an awareness of everything that surrounds
you.  It sharpens your hearing, your sight, your reflexes...So sure,
you can't punch and kick in this thing tomorrow, but that's all just
part of martial arts.  A small part."
"Sounds intense."
"You could say that."
"Say Ranma?"
"Yes?"
"I guess I came down here for something else."
"What?"
"What I was wondering...was..." suddenly Nabiki's voice changed from
hesitant to hostile: "How do you feel about Akane?"
"What...what do you mean, Nabiki?  I....I don't know what you're
talking about." Ranma was nervous under Nabiki's intense gaze.
"You have...feelings for her, don't you?"
"No...no, of course not!  We're just friends!  Not even friends,
really!  I just try to be nice because she's your sister and
everything..." Ranma looked back at Nabiki...she briefly looked hurt,
but her face then returned to its normal, cold expression.
"You can't lie to me, remember?"  Nabiki turned around to leave.
"Wait, Nabiki, it's not like..." Nabiki closed the door ahead of
Ranma, causing him to collide and fall down.  "...that."

**

"So, how'd it go, Ranma?" asked a smiling Kasumi.
"Oh, great, I won.  The Black Rose turned out to be only a minor
threat." Ranma sat down.
"Then why do you look so depressed?"
"Oh...no reason, I guess...well...Nabiki didn't even show up at the
tournament."
"Oh my, that's unfortunate!"
"Yeah.  I guess...I don't know."
"Well, I think you did a great job, and you should be happy with how
you did." said Akane.
"Oh hello, Akane!  I'm glad to see you walking without a crutch!"
Kasumi flashed a smile at Akane.
"Well, it's a minor miracle, with the way she fell over the ribbon so
hard!" laughed Ranma.
"Hey!  I only fell over the ribbon because YOU had to use it as a
lassoe to stop her attacks, and then let it fly out into the
audience!"
"Well, I wouldn't have had to do that if my second had maybe told the
ref that the razor-edged katana Kodachi was using wasn't a legal
tool!"
"Shut up!  I tried to, but the ref wouldn't listen!"
"Yeah right.  They really thought a sword was a legal tool."
"Shut up Ranma!  Why do you have to be such a jerk NOW, when I've been
working up the nerve all day to tell you...to tell you that..."
"To tell me what?" asked a curious Ranma.
"To tell you that..."
"Yes...Go on..."
"To tell you...to tell you...to tell you that I love you!" Akane
couldn't believe she had said it.  She wanted to run away from the
whole situation, but she knew she couldn't.  Not after having gone
this far.
"Oh my!" said a startled Kasumi.


**

This concludes chapter 5 of Tales of Ranma and Nabiki!  It's about
time I finished it ^_^...if you liked the story, or have any comments or
suggestions, I'd appreciate a response at:
     jdrutsch@ucdavis.edu

Many thanks to all those to commented on the pre-release, especially
White Wolf and Don "D'Artagnan" Ho.

Next chapter will be out soon, hopefully before New Year's.  This
chapter took two months or so to finish due to evil forces conspiring
against me.

Hmmm...still haven't posted this to rec.arts.anime.stories, so if any
last minute revisions are necessary please tell me.  Thanks!


****jdrutsch@ucdavis.edu***********************Jeff Rutsch************* 
"Ranma's not a boy...he's a girl!"
"Akane is MY fiance!  You TOUCH her, and I'll KILL you!"
"Ranma, change back into a boy while I buy you some time."
"But if I seem to act unkind/it's only me, it's not my mind."
"Ranma [sic],/give your heart to Akane [sic]. /Soon,/right away."
**^_^*****^_^*****^_^*****^_^*****^_^*****^_^*****^_^*****^_^*****^_^**