Well, like I promised Sunday night, here is part 6.  Part 7 is underway...
though isn't moving along as smoothly as this part did... but I hope to be
done by next Wed. at the latest, provided midterms haven't COMPLETELY
burned me out before then.  C&C's, MST's, even Flames (provided you prove
you actually read the story) are BEGGED for.  Disclaimer and Author's notes
are in part 1.  E-mail me if you're missing a part (though I hope to be
able to put this up on my homepage when this thing is finished) but I have
been hearing that some people aren't recieving all of my e-mail.  If you
send something to me expecting a response and don't hear from me in 3 days,
e-mail me again and I'll try something else (most likely forwarding it via
fellow FFML subscriber) to get it to you.

Anyway, on to the story...
-----------------------
Part 6:

At breakfast the next morning, Akane wasn't showing a glimpse of the
feigned disinterest that she normally showed when Genma and Ranma began
sparring, but only smiled secretly at Ranma.  Nabiki, as usual, was
yawning, a toothbrush stuck in her mouth.  Desaix, also, was yawning, his
hair pointed every which way.  B.B., sitting between him and Akane, was
wearing her leather outfit, but seemed very uncomfortable in it.  Nodoka
and Kasumi were in the kitchen, giggling about something, while Soun was
just trying to ignore everyone and everything by reading the paper.  Akari,
apparently, was still in bed.

"So, B.B., Akane, are you ready for today's part of the tournament?"  Soun,
from behind his paper, asked.

"THAT'S BURIKO!" Buriko cried, pulling out a Mallet o'Chi and smashing Soun
with it.  Then she looked down at her outfit and blushed, covering herself
up.  Even Desaix looked at her in surprise.

"Buriko!?" he asked.  "Why are you wearing... uh... that?"

Buriko blushed deeper.  "Uh, my non-B.B. clothing is... missing.  Kasumi
offered me some of her clothes, but they were both too long and too tight
about the... er... chest... for me to wear safely."  Akane blinked at that.
 "I don't know what happened to my clothes- they were in my bag last night
but not in it this morning..."  Akane noticed Nabiki smirk a bit, but then
return to her usual poker face.  She wondered why Nabiki was so amused by
the mystery.  'Someone probably paid her to steal Buriko's clothes.  But
who?  The only person who might do that would be Happosai, and what other
reason would she have to steal those clothes?'

Desaix was too tired to care abour the mystery, however.  He shrugged,
stood up, and left the room.  While he was gone, Ranma and Genma finished
their practice session (remarkably without winding up in the pool) and
headed off to change into cleaner clothing.  Desaix soon returned, looking
just as unkempt, holding a bundle of clothing.  He tossed it at Buriko.

"There's a spare shinto robe for you, if you want it, Buriko."

She nodded and wordlessly stood up and left the room.  Soun, finally
recovered, turned to Akane.

"Er... are you ready for the tournament today?" Soun asked cautiously, not
wanting to get malleted for unintentionally offending another young girl.

Akane smiled.  "Well, I suppose I am- or I perhaps should say I will be. 
The first part of the the day's contests aren't being held until after
school today, but I should be able to do plenty of catching up today."  

Soun raised an eyebrow, wondering why his daughter was so confident after
having nearly been shut out the previous day, but before he could ask a
question, Ranma came bounding down the steps in his usual red shirt, crying
"Come on, Akane, we've gotta go now or we'll be late!"  Akane looked at the
clock on the wall, and gasped at the time.  She grabbed her bag and
sprinted off after Ranma.  Soun sighed.

Buriko came down the steps a moment later.  She looked at Desaix's ruffled
condition, and sighed.  She really didn't want to wear him down any more
than he already apparently was, and she REALLY didn't want to make him work
on his injured foot any more than was necessary, but... she needed his
help.

"Say, Desaix," Buriko said hesitantly, biting her lip.  Desaix had heard
her sigh, of course, and knew that she was about to ask him something she
really didn't want to ask him to do.  He sighed as well, thinking how much
she must dislike him if she detested asking him for help so much.  Buriko,
hearing HIS sigh, assumed he really didn't want anything to do with her
after the cat fist fiasco, and almost lost the confidence to ask him. 
Almost.  "I... need your help.  Can you teach me a kata for this
afternoon's contest?"  Soun facefaulted- she was going to engage in a
contest determining who could perform kata's with the most style and grace
in several hours, and she wanted to learn a new one for said contest?

Desaix smiled hesitantly.  "Uh, well, I'll have a hard time doing that.  I
don't KNOW any appropriate kata's- I learned my fighting style without
them."

'He doesn't want to help me.  I really messed up, big time... Oh, B.B., you
are going to make me lose this friendship, aren't you?  Well, I need to
keep trying...' Buriko frowned sadly.  "But I've seen you use them
before..."

Desaix shrugged.  He knew he couldn't help her, and if he tried and failed
she would only be upset at him.  "Well, I do know some VERY basic Tai Chi
forms, primarily for relaxation and meditation, but I don't think they'll
win you any contests because they are so simple..."

Buriko knew how to turn on the charm, though.  Through pouted lips, she
jokingly sputtered "Pweease?  I'll be your best friend!"  Desaix couldn't
help but smile at the face she made, but he still was about to shake his
head no when Nabiki looked at her.

"Actually," Nabiki said, thinking 'Now's my chance to really mess her up!' 
She knew that stealing Buriko's clothes would be a significant distraction,
and she had already come up with some ways to irritate her throughout the
day's contests.  Now, however, was the time to make her think that she was
still trying to help her.  Later, she could also weaken her position by
promoting Akane in her contests.  Something in the back of Nabiki's mind
told her it might be better if she tried to make Azusa win instead, but she
just didn't want to have to deal with that ditz.  "I've seen Ranma go
through all of his kata's dozens, if not hundreds, of times.  I'm pretty
sure that I can remember one good one well enough for you do perform
well..."

Desaix looked at Nabiki coldly.  He might have looked too tired to be very
observant earlier in the morning (he didn't get any sleep) but he hadn't
been so blind as to miss her little smirk when the theft of Buriko's
clothing was discussed.  He knew Nabiki was the one behind the cat fist
incident from both Mousse and Buriko, and he also suspected they'd had a
falling out when he'd heard Buriko moved into Kasumi's room.  To say he
thought she was a danger was an understatement.  'I am her PROTECTOR, so by
the gods I will protect her.'

"Oh, there's no need for that, Nabiki.  I think I'll teach her what I know
after all."  He helped Buriko up from the table quickly and began dragging
her to the training hall before she could protest.

"Hey!"  She cried, nearly losing her balance.  They disappeared before she
could say anything else, however.

'Oh, well, I'll get you later, Buriko...' Nabiki thought.

*	*	*	*	*

Ranma waved to Ukyo as he passed her in Furinken High's hallway.

"Hi, Ucchan!"  He said, then winced.  He forgot their little 'falling out'
since the failed wedding attempt.  She stuck her nose up at him and walked
away as quickly as she could.  He almost reached out for her, but, noting
out of the corner of his eye that Akane was coming up behind him, decided
not to.

Akane looked at the fleeing Ukyo, and walked up to Ranma's side.  "Hey,
what's wrong between you two?"

He looked over at Akane and smiled slightly.  "Oh, I blew up at her for
something stupid... I probably over-reacted a bit, but at the time it
seemed very serious.  Now, she seems to be avoiding me..."

Akane's returning smile was somewhat strained.  "She means a lot to you,
doesn't she?"

Ranma nodded carelessly.  "Well, yeah, I suppose so.  She has played an
important role in my life, and she's been a good friend as long as I've
known her.  She just doesn't understand..."  He caught himself before he
finished his sentence.  Akane looked at him curiously.  It was obvious to
her that Ukyo's anger at him was a great burden for him.

Reaching a decision, Akane looked Ranma straight in the eyes.  "Make it up
to her."

Ranma blinked.  "Huh?"

Akane forced her smile to stay on her face.  "You'll never be happy if she
stays mad at you forever.  You need to make it up to her- at least talk to
her about what you yelled at her about, or WHY you yelled at her about
it..."  For reasons unknown to Akane, Ranma stuck his hand behind his head
in mild embarrasment.

To cover his feelings up, Ranma shrugged and said "Why do you care?"

Akane, of course, got a bit mad at that.  'Ranma, you jerk, can't you see I
care because... because I care about... about you?  About your happiness? 
Are you really that BLIND!?'   She humphed.  "I guess I don't, really.  I
don't know what I was thinking, trying to help you out."

Ranma sighed.  He blew it again.  "Oh, I'm sorry, Akane," he began, much to
her surprise.  "I know I need to talk to her about it- I need to talk to a
lot of people about a lot of things."  When he said that, he couldn't help
but look at Akane with more seriousness than he had ever looked at her
before.  "But... there's just so much I need to take care of that its all
so overwhelming..."  He began massaging his temples with one hand.  "Thanks
for trying to help, Akane, but I need to deal with this alone..."  'And I
need to take care of it today,' he finished to himself.  The warning bell
rang, and he looked at the clock.  "You'd better get to class.  I have some
things I need to think about..."

Akane considered teasing him at that last line, but realized that there was
a time and a place to annoy Ranma, and this was not one of them.  She
turned and left for class.  Ranma disappeared just before an angry Ms.
Hinako walked by.

*	*	*	*	*

"OW!  That hurt!  Why'd you have to drag me around like that?!"  Buriko
cried.  "She was going to help me, and you were saying you couldn't-"

Desaix was feeling very tired, and didn't really like being shouted at
anyway.  Not thinking about who he was talking to, he shouted back.  "No,
she wouldn't have!  She's mad at you- she's planning something.  Rather
than let her pull off some kind of plan, I figured it was better that I
teach you one of those Tai Chi forms I know than let her mess you up." 
Buriko was shocked.  'He yelled at me.  He's never yelled at me in this
form before- what's going on?'  Desaix, himself, was stunned as well.  He
bit his lip apologetically.  "Sorry.  Didn't mean to yell."

"Okay, so, how do I begin?"  She asked.  She was still shocked, but she
decided it was best to just go on as if nothing had happened.

"Well, first, wait right here."  He left the training hall, returning a
moment later with a yellow kettle.  "First, you need to change.  You know
you'll learn this better in your uncursed form."

"Uh, right..."  Buriko was starting to imagine that Desaix was struggling
to keep from yelling at B.B., and was only promising to teach her so as to
not have to keep his anger all bottled up.  "I'm ready, I guess."

Desaix poured the hot water over Buriko, and immediately she tossed the
shinto robes off of her to reveal her tight leather outfit.  Desaix closed
his eyes in embarrasment, but did little more than that.  Having known B.B.
as long as he had, such things were to be expected from time to time.

"Now, remember what I told you," he said.  "This kata is NOT complex enough
to win you the contest.  It may be good enough, however, that your opponent
can LOSE it, but you'll need to learn to do exactly what I do..."

As B.B. listened, she, too, was a little curious as to why Desaix had been
acting so odd that day.  Her Buriko form had thought that he was mad at her
current form, but he didn't seem very mad to her at all.  But Buriko had
done nothing to Desaix, so why was he snapping at her then but not snapping
at her now she was B.B.?

Shortly, however, she found herself unable to focus on such things and pay
attention to Desaix's lessons at the same time, and so shortly dropped such
lines of thought.

*	*	*	*	*

Lunchtime at Furinkan was always a war.  Battles the tales of which
witnesses would tell with pride to their children, grandchildren, and
great-grandchildren were fought.  Typically, these involved Ranma and
someone out to either kill or marry Ranma.  Today, however, these battles
had nothing to do with him.  Oh, sure, there was always Kuno bashing
members of the chem club, or fellow kendoists, or anyone who got in his
way, while he was desperately searching for his beloved 'pig-tailed girl,'
but these attacks hardly counted as battles.

Ranma was not involved in any of these legendary battles because he was on
the roof, looking desperately for a certain okonamiyaki chef he needed to
talk to.  He nearly jumped off the roof in surprise when she tapped on his
shoulder from behind him.  As it was, he needed to be caught by Ukyo to
keep from falling.

"Uh, thanks, Ucchan..." Ranma said uncomfortably.  He was in a somewhat
awkward position being wrapped up by her arms.  For a brief moment, her
arms seemed to tighten up around him nearly to glomping intensity before
she released him.

"I should have let you drop, RanMA" she said sadly.  "I mean, after you
said you never wanted to see me again-"

"HEY!  That's unfair.  I didn't really mean it, I was just upset- less than
an hour earlier, you and Shampoo had tried to stop my wedding by blowing it
up with bombs!"

Ukyo sighed.  "If I hadn't, you would be married now-"

"So?"

Ukyo blinked.  "Does that mean you WANTED to marry Akane?"

"May- er, well, it doesn't matter if I really did or not.  YOU still
shouldn't be doing things like that."  Ranma sighed.  "You know, I wanted
to talk to you today, to try to make up for shouting at you- that's why I'm
up here on the roof- and I didn't want to get into this kind of argument." 
He sighed again.  "Why have you changed so much over the past few months,
Ucchan?  You've always been my closest friend, but recently you've been
getting more and more aggressive, to the point where you're almost as
annoying as, say... Shampoo!  You've just... disappointed me, Ucchan."

"I'm sorry, Ranchan... so know what do we do?"

Ranma smiled.  "Maybe we could start over... as FRIENDS?  I think the
fiancee thing is really hurting both of us and so we should perhaps
drop..."

Ranma's voice trailed off at the fierce expression Ukyo gave him.  "No!  I
won't allow it!  I love you, Ranma, and I will marry you-"

"NO!"  Ranma's voice caught.  "I never wanted to do this- I've always liked
you, Ucchan, but I've never liked you that way.  I never said anything
before, because I didn't want to hurt you, and because I felt that there
might be a chance my feelings for you could change, if Ak- er, if  certain
things had happened.  Those things never happened, and I hope never will,
but right now, if you keep insisting like this, I don't think I'll even be
able to stand being your friend.  So STOP IT!  I care about you, Ucchan,
but I will never love you, so please let me go!"

Ukyo looked at him defiantly for a moment, and then started crying.  She
fell to her knees.  "B-but..."

"Ucchan, please."

Ukyo sighed, still crying.  "I suppose I should have guessed as much.  You
and Akane have been getting closer recently, and since she was the one who
told me you were looking for me, I..."

Ranma blinked.  'Akane sent her?'  He shook his head to clear it, and
offered Ukyo a hand.

"Hey, Ucchan, come on.  If you are willing to let me go, we can still be
friends... can't we?"

Ukyo looked up, and smiled through her tears.  She let Ranma help her stand
up, and turned to leave the roof.  "I suppose so, Ranchan.  I suppose
so..."

*	*	*	*	*

It was finally time for the first contest of the day, the singing contest,
and there were a couple hundred spectators in Furinkan High's auditorium. 
The previous events weren't exactly spectator sports, but today the events
were such that Nabiki was able to sell tickets, and so the crowds from the
Akane Tendo Fan Club had all shown up.  For some reason, no-one from
Koholtz High had shown up, and there were no fans for B.B. other than
Desaix, who didn't have to buy a ticket because he was part of her 'team.'

"WELCOME to the Second Charlotte Cup Contest, Day 2," Nabiki's voice
appeared over the speakers.  "Here are the Standings.  Buriko 'B.B.'
Bakamoto is in first place with eight points," There was some polite
clapping and a smattering of boos.  "Azusa Shiratori is in second place
with five points," There was more polite clapping, with a few catcalls and
some whistles mixed in amoung those who had booed, "And Akane Tendo is in
last place with two points..."  The audience erupted into a furious cry of
support for Akane.  Nabiki had to wait a full two minutes before she could
continue- of course, she had been expecting that, since she had only sold
tickets to Akane's most enthusiastic admirers.  "Today's first event is the
singing contest, with our special guest judges of the Furinkan High School
Glee Club.  Each contestant will sing a song of their choosing,
unaccompanied, and the judges will evaluate them.  The best singer will get
three points, second best will get two points, and last will get zero
points."  Azusa appeared on stage.  "The first singer will be Azusa
Shiratori singing... uh... you can't be serious... singing the western
childrens song, 'Three Blind Mice.'"

In her most annoying and childlike voice, Azusa sang "Three blind mice,
three blind mice, see how they run, see how they run..." as an entire
auditorium full of Akane Tendo fans heckled her.  Even if they hadn't,
Azusa probably still would have grated on the judges nerves, but as it was,
the judges gave her very low marks.

Backstage, Ranma was waiting with Akane for Nabiki's signal for her to go
on.  Ranma noticed, for some odd reason, Akane was blushing quite deeply,
and was shifting nervously.  Ranma sighed- she was probably a little
stagefright.  After all, he'd never heard her sing before, he didn't know
anyone else who had heard her sing before, and she had already told him she
normally only sung by herself.  He decided to try to calm her down a bit.

"Ah, don't worry about this one, Akane.  You've got at least two points-
there's no way you could sing worse than Azusa just did.  And if you're
nervous about singing in front of such a large audience, well, all you're
doing is acting in a musical in front of them.  You've acted before, so
this shouldn't be too big of a deal..."

Akane looked at him oddly.  'That isn't why I'm nervous, Ranma... but
you'll know why in a minute.'  She glanced at the sheet on which the words
she was about to sing were printed and gulped.  Then she looked back up at
Ranma and smiled for him.

"Now, performing a traditional Chinese love song, Buriko 'B.B.'
Bakamoto..." the loudspeakers blared behind the two of them.  Shortly
thereafter, a beautiful melody drifted through the entire auditorium.

"So," Ranma whispered to Akane after a minute of listening to B.B. (Buriko
would never sing so erotic a song, even if no-one understood it but her and
Desaix), trying to keep her worrying about how good the current competition
was doing.  "What song are you going to sing?"

Akane's eyes widened in near fright when he said those words, and he got a
little nervous as to what was scaring her so much.  "Er," she blushed even
deeper.  "I'm singing a song I wrote... well, several months ago.  I've
written a lot of songs, in that time..."

Ranma blinked in surprise.  "Uh, YOU wrote it?  Akane, for once, I am not
asking you this question to tease you, but, are you SURE that's a good
idea?  Wouldn't a professionally written song work better?"

Akane smirked despite her nerves.  "Oh, probably, but I wouldn't have been
able to learn it as well in as short a time.  Besides, this one is... um...
unique."  Buriko finished singing her song in the background.  Before Ranma
could ask what she meant, Akane looked at her clock as the polite applause
came from the audience.  "You'd better go take your seat... I'm on in a
minute."

"Uh, good lu- er, wait, this is a stage, isn't it?  Break a leg!"

B.B., walking by heading off stage, looked at the two of them.  "Break
who's leg?"  She laughed as she left the stage.  The tension, for Akane,
was broken.  Ranma, on the other hand, was a little annoyed, but was
sensible enough to head to his seat in the auditorium, sitting in the front
row, dead center to where Akane would be singing.  'Well, its all or
nothing now,' Akane thought.

Desaix was settled down in seat to Ranma's right, and was snoring softly. 
Ranma got a little annoyed, and elbowed him.

"Hey, wake up!" Ranma whispered furiously.  Desaix blinked sleepily.  "You
already missed B.B. sing, but I'm not going to let you miss Akane!"

Desaix looked at Ranma worriedly.  "I missed B.B. sing?  Oh, god..."

Backstage, out of sight from everyone, B.B. was crying.  'Why am I crying? 
He was just some nuisance who always insisted on tagging along with me
because I'm also Buriko!  But now, for some reason, he doesn't even like
Buriko either, and so now he doesn't even care enough to listen to me sing
in this contest!  I never really liked him, anyway! I probably never liked
him, either- he's the only man who's ever refused my advances, I probably
just hung out with him because it was a challenge to me, so why should I
care if he doesn't care about me?  Why should I care if he's only staying
with me because of his sense of 'honor' and his 'job' to protect me? 
Why...'

Desaix, meanwhile, was seriously regretting having been kept up all night
by the dozens of people who had wanted to talk to him.  Ranma noticed his
faint a faint blue aura, but only he noticed that he had crushed the arm
rest of the chair he was in.  He absentmindedly started pulling the
splinters out of his hand.

As Akane walked into the circle the spotlight led for her, she took a few
deep breaths.  Nabiki's voice once again came over the speaker system. 
"Now, performing a song she has written herself, Furinkan's very own Akane
Tendo!"  The cheers erupted from the crowd as Akane took the mike.  The
cheers died down, and Akane started to sing.

(Author's note:  If you've seen the Viz version of the anime, then you
PROBABLY should recognize this song.  I had a hard time deciding on this
song, but... I figured this would work.  I've seen it in a couple of other
fanfics as well, and decided I might as well use it myself... Besides, I
had the lyrics lying around (I have no idea where I got it from) and said,
ah, why not?)

"Yappa paa, yappa paa- don't know what to do
My heart is not a game- it's mah-jongg to you.
Yappa paa, yappa paa- feel like such a shrew
Who needs boys?  Don't you dare-
Make me wild like you."  

Akane had her eyes closed, and the entire Akane Tendo Fan Club sighed at
her sweet voice.

"Before you, boys got on their knees..."  

Her voice cracked as she continued, a fact which the judges quickly noted. 
Nabiki had done her best to select a panel of judges which would favor
Akane, but she didn't want to bribe them when she didn't think she had to. 
It was a rare mistake of Nabiki's to misjudge people, but the Glee Club had
decided to judge fairly.

"Ranma, Ranma- it's me you always tease.
Since the day I ran into you
Ranma, Ranma you-
Stole my heart and you-
Don't you dare go and-
Make me wild like you."

The entire audience blinked at the same time, Ranma included.  The sound of
several hundred eyelashes flashing nearly drowned out Akane's voice, which
cracked again on certain words.  Nabiki groaned in her sound booth- the
judges would NOT like that.

"Somebody tell me why it's so hard
To say those three words... 'I love you?'
If I let myself give into you,
I'll become just as wild as you!"

Ranma might have been thinking about the consequences with his and Akane's
parents if it weren't for the fact that the powerful force of several
hundred battle aura's from the Akane Tendo Fan Club was starting to be felt
on his back- though the heat from that failed to match the heat in his
cheeks.  Still, he wasn't able to bring himself to turn and see them,
instead looking straight at Akane, who had opened her eyes when she had
said that 'I love you' and was now staring straight into his eyes.

"Before you come in like a breeze
Won't you stop and ring the bell, please?
Why not let me love you on my own?
I'd be better off without you,
But just tonight it's all right...
Until tomorrow, all right."

Desaix, meanwhile, had noticed the angry crowd starting to move in on
Ranma,  pulled his walking stick out of nowhere, and was now trying to fend
the horde off.  Akane and Ranma continued to look into the other's eyes,
while Ranma had lost track of the powerful force of angry chi directed at
him.

Every time your eyes turn to me
Ranma, Ranma you-
Make me feel dizzy.
Someday we may be more than 'friends'
Ranma, Ranma you've
Gone and done it true-
Can't you see that you've-
Made me wild like you."

Akane and Ranma continued to stare at each other.  "Akane, I-" Ranma
started to say.

"RANMA!  GET OUT OF HERE!"  Desaix cried, blocking the broken back of an
auditorium chair with a blow from the telescoping portion of his walking
stick.  "I can't hold them off long!"

Ranma looked at Desaix, then back at Akane, then back to Desaix, then back
to Akane.  Akane smirked, and pointed to the exit.  "Go on, we'll talk
later," she said.  Ranma really didn't want to leave right then, especially
when he was abandoning a friend to fight alone, but he really didn't want
to ruin the moment that he and Akane had just shared, and so ran out the
side door.

Meanwhile, the judges ranked B.B. just a fraction of a point ahead of Akane
in the singing competition, awarding them first and second accordingly. 
Desaix took quite a beating before deciding he had given Ranma enough time
and running himself- he wasn't really able to take on two hundred people by
himself inside a building- and disappearing around a corner.  Nabiki locked
the fan club up, not wanting them to meet up and tell the judge of the next
event what just happened.

*	*	*	*	*

Nabiki had quickly organized the second contest of the day, placing it on
the athletic field instead of on the auditorium stage like she had
originally planned.  In fact, she had started things a bit too quickly for
the participants- all three of them were complaining about something or
another.

"Azusa no like this contest.  Doing Mikado's Dance of Death kata make Azusa
dizzy!"  Azusa complained as she strapped on her roller blades.  Her words,
however, were ignored by everyone, unlike the complaints of the other two
participants.

"Where did Desaix go?" B.B. asked worriedly.  "He was supposed to be here
to watch me perform!"

Mikado, the only 'second' around for the match, answered.  "He went to the
doctor's.  He's getting his arm taped up after badly spraining it helping
Ranma to escape from the crowds.  He could be back here before you start,
if Azusa does her kata for the proper length of time- it is meant for the
long program after all..."

Akane, meanwhile, was ticked off at Nabiki.

"I thought I'd have enough time to talk to Ranma before this event!"

Nabiki turned an angry eye on Akane.  So far, little she had planned had
gone right, and so her usual patience was being severely challenged.  She
did not need her little sister angry with her.  "Well, sorry, but I figured
that it was best that I do this before the judge of this contest hears
about that little stunt you pulled, and I'm not going to be able to keep
your admirers locked up in the auditorium for very long."

"Who IS this judge, anyway?"  Akane demanded

"When I do count the clock that tells the time,
And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;
When I behold the violet past prime,
And sable curls all silvered o'er with white;
When lofty trees I see barren of leaves,
When erst from heat did canopy the herd,
And summer's green all girded up in sheaves,
Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard;
Then of thy beauty do I question make,
That though among the wastes of time must go,
Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake
And die as fast as they see others grow;
     And nothing 'gainst Time's scyth can make defence
     Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.
I hope I am not too late to judge your competition, Nabiki Tendo," Kuno
approached from behind the stands.
(Author's Note:  The proceeding Shakespearian sonnet was taken off of page
1400, Volume IV, of 'The London Shakespeare' published by Simon and
Schuster in 1957)

"Not at all, Kuno baby, you're right on time.  Azusa, you're up first." 
Nabiki pointed to the young girl, who was stretching in preperation.

She stood up, and began the fast-paced spinning kata.  The kata was moving
so fast, in fact, that Kuno couldn't see what was going on.  He wasn't
really familiar with the kata anyway, so when Azusa just spun herself into
a laying position he just assumed she was doing it correctly, as it was
smooth a set of movements.

"Well done," Kuno said.  "A remarkable display, though there is no way your
performance could match one that I, Tatewaki Kuno, might undertake.  That,
however, is an unfair judgement, as NO-ONE could perform as well as I." 
Mikado bit his tongue.

'Hmm,' B.B. thought.  'He's kind of cute, even if he does have an ego the
size of the moon.  I wonder how well he really does 'perform?'  Maybe I
should try him out tonight...  It would be good practice, after all- I
haven't tried to seduce anyone since I started looking for Happy-chan, and
I don't want to lose my touch.  Besides... it'll annoy Dez!  I know he
doesn't like it when I try something...'

"Oooooh, Azusa is SO DIZZY!"  Mikado walked over to the poor dazed martial
figure skater and picked her up, shaking his head disbelievingly.  'Some
judge,' he thought.

"And next up," Nabiki announced, "Is you, Buriko."

B.B. turned on Nabiki.  "THAT'S B.B., YOU... YOU..."  Nabiki cleared her
throat exageratedly.  B.B. looked around, and noticed that everyone was
looking at her strangely.  B.B. giggled femininely to cover up her anger. 
"Okay, my turn, I guess."  

In the middle of her performance, Desaix showed up, his swelled arm wrapped
up tightly in an ace bandage.  'There's no hiding this injury,' he thought
to himself sadly.  His sudden appearance caused B.B. to miss a step- a fact
which Kuno, who was very familiar with the particular kata B.B. was
performing, could not ignore.

"Sometimes the simplest solution is the best," Kuno said in his evaluation,
"But I fear, even though all of your moves were precise and well executed,
you made a single mistake which may cost you the match."  Desaix lowered
his head sadly.  He knew he was the reason for B.B.'s failure.

B.B., on the other hand, was thinking that Desaix was disappointed in her
performance, and sighed as well.  She wouldn't have minded losing, if only
she could have made Desaix proud of her.  'What am I thinking?  He doesn't
care anything for me, and I never cared anything for him.  What do I care
if he's proud of me or not!'  She raised her head with forced pride and
walked past him towards Azusa and Mikado.  Desaix followed her, sighing as
he wondered what revenge B.B. would have planned for him for ruining her
match.

"And the final contestant is Akane Tendo."

As Akane warmed up, Kuno began spouting poetry which everyone (now that
they were prepared for it, unlike when he made his entrance) was able to
ignore.  'I wish Ranma was here,' she thought.  She'd gotten used to his
little pep talks, and she was, of course, quite interested in his reaction
to her little song.  'Though, probably, its for the best that he's not here
with KUNO as the judge.'

Akane was unaware that Ranma actually was around.  He, once again, was on
the roof, and he was watching the competition.  'Gods, how do I respond to
her now?  I do l... love her, but I never knew how she felt about me.  Know
that I do, what do I say to her?  How can I tell her?  I mean, she was so
sweet about it, there's no way I could do something as nice as that. 
AAARGH!  If only I understood women better.'

Akane assumed her starting stance.  Ranma, from his hiding place, smiled-
he recognized that stance, as he and Akane had learned that Kata at the
same time (Soun had insisted on them both being present when he taught
Ranma, and so he had reluctantly agreed).  

Kuno, on the other hand, frowned.  He wasn't completely unfamiliar with
that stance, but he didn't know it himself and couldn't remember where he
had seen it before.

Akane began her kata, making crisp precise movements.  As she performed,
Kuno began to ignore the unusual stance.  'Ah, the power of her kick!  The
precision of her movements!  The beauty of her motion!' and such drivel
were what replaced that curiousity.

When she finished, Kuno stood up.  "I have made my decision!  Akane Tendo,
you are truly Aphrodite on the hunt, and it shows in your kata.  I award
you first place!  To congradulate you, I shall allow you to date with me!"

Akane rolled her eyes, and pounded Kuno into the ground with a Mallet
o'Chi.  "Get real, Kuno."  She turned and started to walk away.  Nabiki
approached the wreckage which once was the kendoist.

"Kuno-baby, you promised to judge this contest, and that includes naming
who came in second place, so who is it?"

"Urk... the figure skater... ohhhhhhhh."  Kuno collapsed into
unconsciousness.  Nabiki sighed, pulling out the first aid kit she always
kept around her to deal with Kuno's injuries, and was about to apply the
bandages when another feminine hand stopped her.

"Mind if I take care of him?  I... uh... could use the practice?"  B.B.
asked, smiling insincerely.

Nabiki shrugged.  "Sure, but he's not allowed to change his decision..."

B.B.'s devilish smile grew wider.  "Oh, I wasn't expecting to win anyway. 
Like I said, I want some practice..." 'seducing people, that is.  Its been
a while since I tried to seduce anyone but Happy-chan or Dez...'

*	*	*	*	*

"Hey, Akane," Ranma said, dropping out of a tree into her path.  He was
blushing slightly.  "Uh, I think we should talk about that song you sang
earlier."

Akane jumped back at his sudden appearance, but blushed when he spoke. 
"Yeah, especially now that there isn't much out there to interrupt us-" She
began.

She was interrupted by an army of Akane Tendo Fan Club members mobbing
Ranma.  "Aaagh!" He cried, taken by surprise.  

As the two of them were driven apart by the wave of people, Akane sighed. 
'I guess we'll talk about this later,' she thought.  'I wonder how Kuno
will react once he hears the news.'

*	*	*	*	*

"SHE DID WHAT!"  Kuno cried so loud the ground itself trembled.  He shook
off B.B., sending her flying.  Desaix caught her before she fell,
unconscious.

"We told you, she sang a love song to Ranma.  There's no denying that it
was to him, as she was using his name in it," a Akane Tendo Fan Club member
repeated.

"IMPOSSIBLE!  SHE MUST HAVE BEEN BEWITCHED BY THAT SORCERER SAOTOME!  IT IS
TIME FOR THE BLUE THUNDER TO CRY HAVOC AND LET LOOSE THE DOGS OF WAR UPON
HIM!  I REFUSE-"

He was cut off by a hard kick to the stomache.  A bewildered Kuno turned to
face his attacker.

"Kuno, you can do whatever you wish to Ranma, but first you must answer for
hurting B.B."  Kuno saw the collapsed form of the comatose girl, being
surrounded by a number of drooling males.  "And you must answer to ME!"

Kuno held his sword in a ready stance.  "Is it not proper for one to
introduce oneself before engaging in hostilities?  VERY WELL!  I am the
rising new star of the High School fencing worl-"

The telescoping portion of Desaix's walking stick smashed into Kuno's
chest.  "I don't care who you are.  All I know is you harmed the one I am
supposed to protect, and so you must be punished."  Kuno gasped, and backed
up, evaluating his opponent.

"Very well, sir."  Kuno charged in with his speed attack, forcing Desaix to
block with his staff.  If Desaix had been paying attention to such things,
he would have noticed that one of the sword slashes cut halfway through the
staff on the opposite side of Ranma's claw marks.  Instead, he just sent
out an iron palm from his good arm to Kuno's chin, seeing a wide opening. 
Kuno went flying into the wall, unconscious.

Satisfied, Desaix gently picked up the fallen B.B., and sped as fast as he
could back to the doctor's office from which he had come.

*	*	*	*	*

People were getting impatient waiting for the cuteness contest to start.

"Hey, what's the delay!"  Hiroshi, one of the judges for the event, called
out.

"Yeah, we want to see the girls!"  Daisuke chimed in.  Other people in the
panel were similarly out of sorts.

Nabiki, meanwhile, laughed.  For the first time in this tournament, random
events were helping her obtain her goals instead of going against her.  She
calmed herself to step in front of the judges, taking Akane with her, and
smiled.  "Sorry, people.  There will be no contest, as the other two
participants have been forced to forfeit."

Akane, who was herself surprised at this, said "Forfeit?  Why?"

Nabiki smiled again.  "For once, it was not of my doing.  Azusa has been
unable to recover after getting so dizzy in the kata contest, and Kuno
accidentally knocked out B.B., so they are unable to appear tonight. 
Tomorrow will decide the winner of the cup!"

'Oh, well,' Akane thought.  She hadn't seen Ranma since the mob of boys had
seperated them, and wasn't really too interested in competing anymore.  'At
least I got to say what I wanted to say... The contests are basically over,
and I'm not sure if we'll even have the kissing contest tomorrow... that'll
ruin my hopes of forcing Ranma to kiss me, but I'm not sure that'll be
necessary- if Ranma feels anything for me, I'm pretty sure I can come up
with some way to get that first real kiss...'

Ranma was standing in the shadows, too far away to be seen.  There were way
too many enraged members of the Akane Tendo Fan Club still roaming the
streets, looking for his head, and several of them were at this part of the
competition.  While he could easily handle all of Furinkan put together, he
prefered not to fight that many people at once, as it generally tired him
out and drained him for the rest of the day.  Besides, he wasn't in the
mood for a fight.

Mikado was walking towards the group, and spied Ranma.  "Hello, Ranma, what
are you doing hiding in the bushes like a thief?  Too scared to confront
your fiancee after she so eloquently told you of her feelings for you?"

Ranma was not in the mood to be interrupted like that.  "Ah, what are you
doing here, Mikado?"

"I have come to tell the fair maiden who has been administering this
competition that Azusa is withdrawing.  She's not so stupid as to know that
she cannot win this."

Ranma's eyes widened.  If she did that... "Wait!  If you do that, then the
contest is over and Akane can't win!  I... can't let that happen.  Suppose
there was a way to give her an equal chance to win tomorrow- making the
winner of the kissing contest the winner of the whole competition?  Would
she be willing to participate then?"

Mikado shrugged.  "I suppose so, why?"

"You seem indifferent.  Knowing you, I would think you'd WANT the kissing
contest to be held.  To tell you the truth, you've been acting real wierd
this whole time- you haven't once threatened to kiss Akane, you haven't hit
on any women... what's going on?"

Mikado smirked.  "Yes, girls are my life, but right now I've got a steady
girlfriend."

Ranma's eyes widened.  "Who, Azusa?"

Mikado laughed.  "Are you kidding?  AZUSA?!  No, she's my figure skating
partner.  I'm willing to kiss her for this contest- kissing is sometimes
part of our figure skating act (it adds a 'romantic element' many judges
like) but no, we couldn't form that kind of a relationship.  No, I met a
girl when St. Hebereke's Girl's Rhythmic Gymnastics team performed an
exhibition at Koholtz..."  Ranma's eyes widened.  "Her name is Kodachi-"

"Kuno, the Black Rose.  Yes, I know.  I've met her before."

Mikado smiled.  "A beauty, isn't she?"  Ranma bit his tongue, hard. 
"Anyway, why are you so interested in Azusa joining tomorrows competition?"

"Because, while I could care less whether Akane keeps that stupid pig or
not, I... want tomorrow's... uh... kissing contest to... uh... still...
be... held?"

Mikado thought about it.  "Oh, very well.  Do you have some way to give
Azusa a chance at winning?"

Ranma smirked.  "Yes, I do..."

*	*	*	*	*  (End Part 6)
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