Featherbrite's Tale, the Bet. Rough version
by Gregg Sharp based on Rumiko Takahashi's situations/char
other char TM other authors. 
Metroanime@mindspring.com
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com/
Sidestory to chapter 6: Diary Of Akane Tendo
this is just a sidestory dealing with events occurring
elsewhere while the focus of chapter 6 goes elsewhere.
------------------------------------------------------
Dear Diary,
 For a Monday, this has been...well.

 Was ready for the usual fight at school.
Didn't get it. The numbers were down by half.

 Tatewaki Kuno was back. There he was,
dressed normally, grinning like he knew some secret
joke. He still had the bokken, but instead of the usual
fractured prose, what does he say?

 "Good morning, Akane. You're looking well
today."

 Then he just walks past me, like I'm almost 
not there or something. No poetry? No challenges? No
running off at the mouth about destiny and fated loves
and the usual moronic stuff? I was so stunned by the
change that Yoshinori Kitase thumped me on the back
and knocked me over. Started apologizing immediately,
saying he'd only wanted to warn me about how open 
I was.

 After I got done chasing him around the 
schoolyard, ready to beat him to a pulp, I realized that
this juku student type _wasn't_ one of the usual crowd
of would-be suitors. 

 Then came Kuno's announcement. He was
relinquishing his pursuit of me and his "winged goddess."
More, he was recognizing Kitase's "victory over Akane"
as the "judgement of the heavens" and that Kitase-san
could date me. I wasn't the only one that noticed that it
looked like Kuno was going to break up laughing at any
moment. It was almost like he was mocking his own usual
manner of speech.

 Kitase-san, by the way, has been telling anyone
who would listen that he did NOT defeat me. It was an 
accident, blah blah blah, never meant to do it, etcetera, and
so on. It's too late, of course, other people are talking about
him practicing some form of secret martial arts. They forget
that this guy is about as violent as Cheese Whiz and about
as athletically inclined.

 Anyway, school was weird today. Hisagawa-san
was jumping at any little noise today, made Biology class 
quite interesting. English class was a breeze, per usual. 

 Nabiki has delegated a lot of her usual work, she
spends a lot of time with her nose in some odd book she got.
Ryonami is mainly taking over the bookie business, and my
sister is making money "the old fashioned way." Whatever
that means.

 Kasumi, Shampoo, and that Ranma guy are all
still gone. His dad's really upset about how "the ungrateful
boy" has gone and upset "all his future plans" and how
it was "all in the boy's best interests anyway."

 I got the chance to practice my Home Ec stuff
at home, since nobody still here has any interest in that
stuff. Father and Mister Saotome look a little ill, but I'm 
sure it's just a passing bug.

 Speaking of  Dad and Mister Saotome. They
seemed a little nervous when I made that Japanese omelette.
For some reason, it seemed that it didn't quite turn out the
way I planned. They didn't have to turn that shade of green!
Honestly!

 They started talking about the training trip again.
I pointed out that they couldn't leave me alone, it just isn't right.
Father was twitching as I started reminding him of duty and honor.

 Kasumi and Shampoo, out there somewhere with
that...Ranma. All boys are perverts. He turns into a girl, so he's
doubly a pervert. Why can't anyone see that?

 Nabiki seems to miss him. She cares about something
besides money!

 Why am I the only one who notices how weird 
everything has gotten?
-------------------------------------
Dear Diary,

 Yoshinori Kitase. I caught up with him today.
He was saying again how he hadn't intended to beat me, he's
just a juku student trying to get into computer animation as his
chosen field. Certainly he didn't have any interest in an "uncute
girl whose main interest in life was beating up on people."

 I forgot he wasn't a fighter. He'll be out of the 
hospital later today. I vaguely remember him screaming
and trying to get away, but the other details are kinda hazy.
I think I only hit him the once, though. It served the purpose,
though, as this pretty much dispelled the rumors about him
knowing some martial arts or me "being sweet on him" and
LETTING him win.

 Kuno has gotten this really irritating smirk right now.
He's also gotten laid-back. It hasn't affected his kendo skills,
from what I've heard. If anything, he's better than ever. It's scary.

 Still no Kasumi. Father and Mister Saotome told me
not to worry about supper, they were full on some Cup Ramen
they'd been slurping during a game of shogi. They wouldn't
listen to my protests of how that wasn't a balanced meal.

 I'll have to count on Shampoo to protect my sister
from that Ranma. I worry about them, Kasumi is so sweetly
oblivious that she could be in constant danger from that boy.

 Saw the vampire again today. I ran her off again.
I think she was trying to speak to Nabiki. She denied making
any deals with vampires. Weird the way this vampire girl was
running around in broad daylight, but what else could she be
with red eyes and pale skin like that?

 It's odd though, I mean I've fought her twice. 
As far as I can tell, she hasn't hurt me. I've woken up both
times without any bite marks on me. Maybe she's one of
those "good vampires" that Ranma was talking about that
once, as bizarre as the concept sounds.

 Oh well, time for bed. Big test tomorrow.
---------------------------------------- 
Dear Diary,

 What is it with Kuno anyway? I'm being ignored.
I thought I would love it, but now...

 I'm only fighting a quarter of the usual crowd in the 
mornings. After Yoshi got Kuno's approval, half of what 
remained gave their blessings and moved on. Good riddance.

 The ones that remain are fighting twice as hard.

 Kuno could care less, apparently. The only time
he got angry was when Hattori crushed one of the young
seedlings that had been planted out in the yard.

 I've never seen Kuno so angry, and it was a 
focussed kind of angry. I think  Hattori saw his life pass
before his eyes but Kuno never laid a finger on him.

 There's more weirdness. My hair is growing.
It's got to be two inches longer than it was last week.  It's not
frizzy or anything either, this is silky, healthy looking hair. 
It's gotten so other  people are noticing it. 

 Even Doctor Tofu! Maybe with Kasumi gone...

 So is Nabiki's hair, and on her it is even more noticeable.
When I asked her about it she just smirked and said something
about "elfin magic" or something.

 I had to give up on the cooking. I'm still trying
some, but I wasn't able to eat my own cooking. So I was
telling people about how things are without Kasumi or 
Nabiki around, and Yuka says she can come by a couple
of days a week and help. Sayuri can do one day a week.

 The _big_ surprise was Yoshi. A boy who cooks.
Life is getting entirely too weird. He's trying to stay on my
good side, and for some reason my anger at him has just
gone away. Especially after I tried his chicken cassarole.
He's gonna help out when he can, though he's got a lot of
other things keeping him busy.
 
 When will all this weirdness end? At least it isn't 
affecting me. Other than the hair.
----------------------------
Dear Diary,

 Nabiki is eating elsewhere a lot lately. Dad and Mister
Saotome looked at the stir-fried noodles I made and decided that
they'd go look for Kasumi. Guess they do care.
 
 Yoshi came by. I offered to help him in the kitchen, 
but I guess the rumors reached him. He can move pretty 
quickly on those crutches. I don't know why, but the mad I
had going pretty much evaporated when I saw the panicked
look the baka had.

 We ended up talking for awhile. Maybe ALL boys
aren't so bad. He does make a tasty fried rice sorta dish. Turns
out his mother ran out on him and his dad when he was younger,
and he'd ended up doing like Kasumi and taking over most of
his mom's jobs around the house. Between that, regular school,
and cram school- heck, no wonder he's got no personal life or
hobbies to speak of!

 Hope Dad gets back soon. It's really lonely here by
myself, Nabiki is off somewhere again. Makes sleeping difficult.
--------------------------------
Dear Diary,

 Yoshi was here when the vampire showed up. He
went out to the girl and started talking. I had a mallet and a
stake ready, just in case. Yoshi can't fight very well, and he's
still got the leg in a cast so he doesn't run very fast either.

 The two talked for awhile, and the vampire kept 
looking in my direction. I thought I was concealed but she
seemed to know where I was.

 Yoshi came back and told me about how his 
mother had been Chinese, and he spoke some Mandarin.
Apparently he's better at Cantonese, but he got some
Mandarin because he got interested in Chinese history
at some point.

 Anyway, he tells me that the girl isn't a vampire
but is looking for someone from her village. She was with a
larger group, but they'd gotten separated and she was 
hanging around the dojo because she's not that good a
tracker and figures the others will show up around here
sometime.

 I dunno. She's still got those red eyes and
is awfully pale.

 So anyway, Yoshi is hanging around, trying
to make sure I'm okay. Yuka and Sayuri, the gossips, are
trying to make something out of it that it isn't. Me, I
gotta keep an eye on Yoshi. I mean, what if the baka
goes and gets challenged by one of those guys from
the "you must beat Akane to date her" crowd. He's a
nice guy, but he'd be lunchmeat in nothing flat.

 Not to mention the vampire might get him,
I noticed the way she was looking at him. Yoshi might
have a lot of book-smarts, but he's thoroughly clueless
in other things. That vampire tramp might fancy a light
snack, and I kinda feel guilty that Yoshi's even more
helpless than he usually would be.

 Yeah, like my dad said once, it is the duty
of the martial artist to protect the weak.

 Now if Dad & Mister Saotome would show
back up...
---------------------------------------
Dear Diary,

 Well, it happened.

 Yoshi tried to tell Hattori of the Sumo club
to lay off me. He was giving the spiel of how it ain't no
way to treat a lady, etc. So Hattori made him a deal, a
bet witnessed by Ryonami. If Yoshi beat me, with
me actually ready, then Hattori would step aside and 
would convince the others to likewise abandon the
morning ritual of group combat.

 If, however, I beat Yoshi, then it would be
recognized that he had no claim on me and that it was
open season on Akane Tendo.

 I could have died from embarrassment. I mean,
there I am in gym class when the news makes the rounds.
So, if I beat an anemic juku student who sort of acts like my
elder sister, and has one leg in a cast, I get to return to the
daily mob scene. If I lose, I have to put up with the rumors
of me and this guy who isn't actually interested in me.

 Problem is, I can't just throw the fight. The honor
of the dojo is made off of the fighting skills of its heir, and
that is me. I hope I can avoid hurting Yoshi-kun too badly.
-----------------------
Dear Diary,

 That idiot!

 There I am all ready for a fight, when Yoshinori
Kitase comes out and takes a seat at a table that he's set up
in front of the school. Everybody's just looking like they're
still trying to figure it out when Yoshi starts talking.

 He was saying that Kuno never specified in the
original speech exactly HOW someone had to beat one 
Akane Tendo. That chess is based on strategy and battle, 
and therefore that this should be an effective substitute for
a hand-to-hand fight. Not that he was trying to date me, as
he insisted, he was just tired of his new study partner getting
mobbed in the morning.

 Kuno, of all people, approved of it. Said it was
an honorable way for an injured warrior to resolve an issue.
Kuno still had that smirk, by the way.

 I took the white pieces so I could move first. It
was a battle, for all that it took place on a checkerboard, so
I was determined to seize any advantage I could.

 Yoshi started talking more about this idea,
saying that there was a town in Arizona where two guys
played a game of poker to determine who owned the
place. Started giving other examples too. Then started
talking about metaphors, saying that while the game of
chess was derived from battles, that it was like life itself.
You had to plan out your moves, make sure of your 
resources, that there were times for sacrifice and times
for conflict, and that when an opportunity came your
way, you should make sure it actually was opportunity
knocking and not just temptation. If it was opportunity,
then you should go for it with everything you've got.

 And he moves a knight forward, looks into
my eyes, and says checkmate.

 I smiled sweetly at him and told him he was
a dead man as soon as the cast came off.

 Hattori didn't like any of this and started 
getting all in Yoshi's face about this not being what he had
in mind and their bet was off.

 Kuno beat the snot out of Hattori for being
a "dishonorable little pig." 

 Kuno never lost the smirk, and he HAS gotten
a lot better since last week.

 As for Yoshi, I'll let him make it up to me for
dragging me through all this. Starting with some more of
that chicken cassarole stuff he made the other night.

 I'll have to get the recipe from him, so when Dad
and Mister Saotome get back I can fix it for them. It doesn't
look that difficult.

 Nabiki came by for a little while today, looked at
where Yoshi was cooking, and immediately started laughing
about something. 

 Things are just too weird around here lately.

 Something else I noticed. One of those "always
in the background" people transferred out the same day that
Yoshi transferred in. Hikaru something. Guess he didn't have
any friends here. Only noticed him cause the teacher made
a remark about people just up and disappearing...

 Like Kasumi. Like Ranma and Shampoo.

 Oh well, all for now. Yoshi's coming over tomorrow
to help me study! 
----------------------------------------------------
NOTES: this takes place during the events in chapter 6.
yes, yes, i know. anime continuity. i'll also get a large 
number of comments about how:
 a) Akane isn't "a violent maniac" and doesn't
get that angry except with Ranma.
 b)Akane is entirely too laidback and thoughtful
in this sidestory, she's not violent enough.

in defense: one, Akane ate some of the enchanted food
at the party. She's being affected, though she's really good
at denial and missing the obvious, so she doesn't think she's
being affected.
 Yoshinori Kitase, cram student, is kinda obvious.
He's meant to be. yes, Gosunkugi using magic to alter himself
to become a better boyfriend for Akane....
      it's certainly a different approach for a cast member, ne?
gregg