The teacher
Part 9
Darling Charlotte, a tiger on ice.
"Ryoga! Darling! I'm sorry, I thought you liked pork ramen!" called
Torako as she scrambled across the ice searching for her fianc�e.
"You said it was his favorite." Akane skidded up next to her friend as
they scanned the ice in search of the piglet.
"It was, he used to come over smelling like he ate half a pig, I guess
the curse made him a little sensitive." she looked a little downcast, but
quickly recovered as she skated off to find Ryoga.
Meanwhile, The pig in question was not very concerned with ramen at the
moment. He jumped and turned across the slick surface of the ice in a
desperate attempt to avoid the razor like blades on the bottom of
people's skates as they whizzed by. He found himself sliding across the
ice after a missed jump and slipping directly into a particularly sharp
looking pair.
"KWEEEEEEEEE!!"
Suddenly the skates stopped cold in front of him and he looked up
breathing a sigh of relief; it was short lived.
"Charlotte!" Ryoga backed away in terror from the insanely cute looking
girl towering over him. "Does widdle Charlotte want to go home wif mommy?
Oh Charlotte!" the pig scrambled desperately in her grip as she clamped
down on his bandana; A quick blow to his head and the struggles ceased.
"Your so cuuuute!" squealed the girl happily as she squeezed the
unconscious pig in her arms.
In the small Ramen shop just outside of the rink Ranma sat with his two
friends staring at pictures of his female form at the ringside of the
Gymnastics match. "She's Torako's sister, why come to me?" Ranma looked
annoyed at the moment and it wasn't getting any better as Daisuke and
Hiroshi glared at him.
"Your her friend right? Tell her to introduce us to her!" Daisuke
slammed his fist on the table while Ranma ignored his anger and slurped
at his bowl of Ramen lazily.
"She's Akane's friend, I don't like her."
"But she does her hair just like you and seems to dress the same way!"
said Hiroshi as he clutched the photos to his chest. "She likes you at
least! We don't care just introduce us!"
Ranma had just about all he could take by this point. "Look, you'd
better leave her alone or Torako will kill you, she's..."
The boys cut him off with angry looks and bitter tears on their faces.
"It's bad enough you got to Akane first!" screamed the brunette angrily.
"Yeah! At least let us have this girl!" agreed the other boy.
"Don't hog all the fun!"
"You better leave her alone you perverts, she's only fourteen! Do you
have any idea what Torako will do to you if she finds out about this?"
screamed Ranma as he grabbed the pair by their shirts.
"Fourteen?" muttered Daisuke in shock.
"Hey, you'll keep this just between us right? We don't want to look like
perverts you know." whispered Hiroshi with a fearful look on his face.
"Right, I thought she looked older myself." agreed Ranma as he realized
the pair wouldn't bother him again about it.
"Thanks your a real pal." said the pair in unison as Ranma released them
and went back to his meal.
The door to the shop was slammed open and Ranma almost gagged when Akane
burst in with tears in her eyes. "Ryoga's been kidnapped!" Torako
followed closely behind her friend with a calm gaze and a pretty lazy
stride.
"Kidnapped? Why should I care?!" snapped Ranma as he coughed up a few
noodles and wiped his mouth in disgust. "Pig boy can take care of himself
Akane."
"I told you he'd be a jerk." snorted Torako as she pulled at Akane's
shoulder.
"He probably just wandered off, he can get lost in his own house." Ranma
leveled his gaze on Torako and she flashed a glare at him for a split
second. He knew something was up immediately, he had seen fear in her
eyes.
Two girls who had been with Akane and Torako spoke up suddenly. "The
piggy disappeared at the skating rink." said one of them, Ranma vaguely
remembered her name was Yuka.
The other girl he identified as Sayuri, he had seen them both with Akane
in school all the time. "He was kidnapped, there where witnesses."
A cute looking girl walked into the shop holding a familiar animal in
her arms; Ranma perked up immediately. "Did the victim have any
distinguishing features?"
"Don't play games with me!" snapped Akane, Torako spared him another
angry glance as well.
"What's that over there?" asked Ranma as he pointed Ryoga out to the
pair.
"P-chan!" called Torako as she rushed over to the girl, the pig squealed
as Azusa promptly kissed him on the forehead causing him to realize that
his death was now very near.
Torako was starting to glow a strange red color as she watched the
exchange, Ryoga started to chew on the young girl's hand in a desperate
attempt to free himself from his fianc�e�s rage.
The room became deathly silent as a hand reached down and plucked Ryoga
from the girl's hands. A handsome young boy of about seventeen years in
age stood holding the piglet just out of her reach.
"Oo! You give her back, you...you..." the girl cutely jumped up and down
trying to steal her prize back.
Yuka gasped and blushed at the sight of the newcomer. "Yikes what a
dream."
The boy handed back Torako's fianc�e and she visibly calmed as she took
him away.
"Yours?"
"Yea, thanks." muttered the girl as she avoided looking at him directly.
"I really want to pound her for kissing my Ryoga." her thoughts ventured
towards the violent things she could have done to the offending girl.
"Forgive my companion's rudeness." said the newcomer politely.
"She's just lucky you came along." replied Torako flatly as she glared
at the girl again, she was beating on the strange boy's back angrily.
"I'll say." muttered Ranma under his breath.
The new boy sat in a nearby chair rather dramatically; but the girl
ruined the effect as she continued to pound on him while screaming. "Give
her back! Give her back!" and "Charlotte! Charlotte!"
He ignored her and went into his explanation. "When she finds something
cute she names it on the spot and takes it home." The girl had started to
grab things and beat on him in an attempt to make him steal back the pig;
first an ash tray, then a chair, and finally a table. "Will you cut it
out you idiot?!" screamed the boy as he spun around and faced her.
"Isn't that illegal?" asked Hiroshi as he looked to his friends in
confusion.
The girl growled at Torako and pointed a finger at her. "I challenge
you!"
"A fight?" the tiger girl looked pleased for the first time since the
whole affair started; very bad things she could do to the annoying girl
started to run through her mind again.
"Fight? How nasty! My challenge is to a skating match." the girl lifted
a pair of ice skates up to show Torako.
The disappointed look crossed the tiger girl's face again. "No."
"No?" the girl was clearly not expecting this.
"I'm not a skater, I'm a martial artist; I wouldn't degrade myself or
the art of figure skating and compete for something that belongs to me
anyway."
Sayuri looked surprised all of a sudden. "Aha! Now I remember; I thought
I recognized these two! They're Kolkhoz high school's champion freestyle
skating pair!"
"I'm Azusa Shiratori." said the young girl.
"And I'm Mikado Sanzenin." the boy flicked his hair and smiled.
"Torako, you shouldn't try to out skate these two." Yuka rushed over to
her the girls side.
"They are the best of the best!" Sayuri stepped up next to her friend.
"So? I already declined the match. If you want to have Ryoga, you have
to take him by force, your not good enough to do that, so this
conversation is over. I wouldn't waste my time on a common thief anyway."
Azusa fumed and spun around on her heels as she stormed out of the
store.
Mikado sighed and turned towards the red head. "I'm sorry, my partner
has caused you trouble." he lifted her chin and leaned into the young
girls face. "By way of an apology..."
Yuka and Sayuri squeaked and the three boys just stared dumbly as Torako
allowed herself to be kissed by the boy. Ryoga froze in the girls arms as
he looked up in complete shock as they stayed locked for a moment.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity they broke the kiss and
Torako punched the boy in his gut hard causing him to fall to his knees.
"I accept your apology, but you must understand; No one touches me
unless I say." she turned and walked out of the building.
"I understand completely." said the handsome boy as he stood and watched
her vanish out the door. Behind him Ranma fell to the floor as he froze
up in shock, Akane gawked and said nothing for a long time. Yuka and
Sayuri simply recovered and stared at Daisuke and Hiroshi as they cried
together.
"If that was all we had to do all this time?!" cried one of the boys.
"I would have gladly taken the punishment!" agreed the other.
Akane sat with Torako in her room an hour later scolding the tiger girl.
"I thought you liked Ryoga! Why did you do that?! You just let him kiss
you!!"
"He was trying to be polite Akane, so I let him." Torako lay back in
Akane's western style bed lazily hugging herself with a disinterested
look on her face.
"How could you?! Ryoga was in your arms and you almost killed him with
that girl for cheating on you!" suddenly a comprehending look crossed the
young Tendo girl's face.
"I see your finally starting to understand, maybe it's time Ryoga
decided just how much he likes me." she gave Akane a satisfied looking
smile and rolled over to pull a manga from the girl's bookshelf.
"This is some sort of test?" Akane gasped in shock and gave her friend
an uncertain look.
"Not really, I already know the outcome; it's more of a means to an end.
I'm forcing him to face his feelings and come to terms with the fact that
he'll marry me weather he wants to or not; Now it's time for him to
realize that he wants to, but he won't be able tell me just yet."
"You had this planned from the beginning didn't you?" Akane was
horrified.
"Come on Akane-chan, how could I have set all this up? The best made
plans are laid to waste remember? Besides, I don't have the attention
span to plot something this well anyway." Torako lifted the manga titled
'Ushio+Tora' over her face to hide her smirk from her friend.
"That's true, but still this is mean! What about that poor boy?!" Akane
turned away and forced herself to study a textbook that lay on the desk
in front of her.
"He's a notorious womanizer and pervert, besides; The best martial
artist will use any given situation to her advantage no matter how sudden
or unexpected it might be."
"But you let him kiss you!" screamed Akane in shock.
"Yes." agreed Torako, "But that wasn't my first kiss."
Akane gasped again and looked at her in shock. "You mean?"
"My engagement wasn't arranged Akane, I have kissed Ryoga before;
besides, I think it's time he kissed me back. I know he enjoyed it, but
he isn't sure about us; I want him to be." The tiger girl got a sort of
wistful gaze as she peered beyond the manga in her hands towards the
window.
"And you think this will do it?" Akane didn't realize she was crying
until she felt the tears fall down her face.
"I hope so." Torako answered but she wasn't really speaking to Akane.
"We've grown up already haven't we? Engaged and soon to be married. Who
am I kidding? We aren't even out of school yet; besides, I can't marry
Ranma! Can I?." the Tendo girl rested her head in her arms on the desk as
she tried to understand the confusing flood of emotions she had found
herself drowning in lately; strangely she took some comfort in the fact
that Torako seemed to have the same look on her face. She stood from the
chair at her desk and lay next to her best friend taking her into her
arms.
"It's scary isn't it Akane-chan?" said the girl as she returned the
embrace.
"Yea, Tora-chan, it is."
"I didn't think that anything could scare me, but when I saw my Ryoga in
that woman's arms I just snapped. I almost lost it when we couldn't find
him, I really got scared when someone said he was taken." Akane felt a
wetness on her neck as the tiger girl nuzzled her and realized that she
had stopped crying herself; Torako's grip suddenly became tighter as she
clung to her friend desperately.
"Is that why you turned down that girls challenge?" Akane suddenly felt
a small fear in her own heart.
"Yea, I would have killed her Akane." answered the girl simply as she
let her tears fall freely down her face. "I could deal with that, I can
always go back home to China; but I'd lose you and Ryoga-kun, that I
can't deal with."
"You won't lose us I promise." Akane smiled suddenly, she realized that
what she had said was true. "No matter what I'll always love you
Tora-chan." She looked down and found the girl asleep in her arms; rather
than grow angry she sighed and relaxed back into the bed again. "You
never could pay attention could you?"
Ryo Kagome sat in his home inside the dimly lit living room in his
female form, he bowed before the shadowy figure that sat before him on
the ground. "Well, it seems that Akane Tendo has passed this test.
Torako's interference was unfortunate, but Akane was unaware and took
advantage of the situation quite nicely."
"I thought you might say that." Ryo smiled darkly and bowed slightly.
"Very well then, I accept. You have seen to Saotome as well?" the shadow
cackled to itself a little.
"Long ago, she belongs to us as well; Genma's fear of his wife was
enough to persuade him easily." Ryo frowned a little when the embers of a
long tobacco pipe burned in the shadows for a moment as the figure smoked
as it thought.
"Shampoo will fail then." she snorted and puffed a few rings of smoke
into rays of light that peered through the blinds on the windows.
"There is no guarantee, she will be persistent no doubt. I do believe
everything has been taken care of; I will see to the training of the son
in law personally, so I may not be able to divert my full attentions to
the matter."
"Yes, I understand, as long as things progress smoothly. Family comes
first I suppose; besides, we do not want to seem to eager in this
matter." she vanished in a wisp of smoke and the room was silent. In the
center of the room a small scroll lay where the small shadowy form had
left it. Ryo pulled it open and examined it before placing it in her
robes.
"I must get this to Akane soon, but I must remain in this form while I
carry it. It would be preferable if Torako was unaware at first as well.
We don't want to ruin all of the surprises do we Ryo-samma?" she chuckled
to herself softly as she stood and opened the door letting in the last
vestiges of light from the setting sun.
Ranma sat at the table eating an orange while Nabiki read a manga and
Kasumi served tea; the relative silence was broken however when Ryoga
charged into the room with a bucket of bath supplies in his arms.
"Ranma!" he snarled as he found the boy.
"What the heck do you want Charlotte?" snorted the pigtailed martial
artist as he popped a section of fruit into his mouth.
"Who are you calling Charlotte?" roared the boy as he punched Ranma in
his face.
"Whatever, do you want to fight or something? Give me a minute ok? I'm
eating." Ranma ate another piece with relative disinterest as Ryoga
grabbed him by his collar.
"Take me back to the skating rink!!"
"What? Why Ryoga, are you askin me out or somethin?" Ranma gave him a
sly smile as the boy turned red with anger.
"No! You know why I want to go back you jerk!!" Ryoga turned away with a
large blush on his face. "I've got to kill that guy for what he did!"
"Yea, yea. She let him kiss her ya know." muttered Ranma as he turned
away.
Nabiki perked up instantly, and Kasumi promptly forgot about serving tea
and seated herself at the table with a cheerful smile.
"Damn you Ranma! Are you going to take me there or not?!!" Ryoga fumed
and threw Ranma to the floor.
"Geeze! I'll take ya, just calm down will ya? We can't go until
tomorrow, it's closed for the night anyway." Ranma dusted himself off and
pulled Ryoga by his collar. "You'll just have to stay here tonight or
somethin."
"Can't we just wait outside the rink or something?" whined Ryoga.
"No! Geeze, your such a pain! Do you even know how to skate?" Ranma
stopped and looked at the boy.
"Why would I care? I'm gonna pound his face in, not dance with him!"
Ryoga snarled angrily at Ranma's implications.
"Jerk! What are you gonna do? Walk up to him on the ice?" snorted Ranma.
"Yes!"
"You'll fall on your butt the instant you set foot in the rink! I'll
teach you how to skate." Ranma puffed up his chest suddenly and posed for
a moment before leading the boy to his room.
"You'd really do that? Your, such a good friend Ranma!" Ryoga cried
tears of joy and companionship into his sleeve. "It's a shame I have to
kill you for being an arrogant jerk!"
"Yea yea, you'll just have to stay with me and pop so don't wander off."
The next day at the rink...
Akane stood on the ice and watched as Ranma and Ryoga stepped out onto
the ice and fell in perfect unison, each slamming his head into the
pavement as they slipped and fell back. "Why don't both of you start by
practicing standing."
Akane sat at a table beside the ice rink as Ryoga and Ranma disappeared
slid by clumsily screaming various obscenities at one another, Ranma
happened to be in his female form and looked amazingly cute in her
fumbling. The youngest Tendo had other concerns at the moment though, Ryo
sat across from her with a cheery looking smile on her face, she was
dressed in a rather formal looking Kimono.
"You came here to find me?" Akane was surprised, but her auntie simply
smiled warmly.
"I need you to sign something for school, but I need it early in the
morning so I figured I'd get it out of the way now; you know, so I don't
have to wait for you to come in the morning."
"What is it Auntie?" Akane scrawled the bottom of the scroll she was
handed without looking at it.
"Nothing much, just something to do with attendance records." the woman
smiled as she quickly removed the form and tucked it into her robes.
"Shouldn't you be instructing the boys?"
"Yea, neither one of them could skate. That Sanzenin guy Ryoga is
looking for hasn't shown up in a while anyway, so I told them I'd give
them lessons."
"Strange that Torako would not help you." Ryo looked genuinely
interested in that fact.
"I think she's playing hard to get or something." Akane waved the
question away and turned to watch Ranma drag Ryoga down with him as the
pair slammed into a wall on the opposite side of the rink. "I'd better go
get them before they kill somebody."
"Yes, you do that. I'll tell your sister how things are progressing with
them." Ryo smiled as she stood and bowed politely.
Akane looked at him in confusion and wondered why Nabiki or Kasumi would
be interested in the first place. She pushed the thought away and
scampered out onto the ice.
"That was too easy." Ryo chuckled to herself as she exited the building.
"Perhaps I will stick around a little while and see how things progress
here?" she turned back and approached the counter; the boy standing there
smiled and puffed out his chest.
"How can I be of service?"
"First, you can stop staring at my chest; I'm old enough to be your
mother boy. Second, you can rent me some ice skates." the boy turned away
quickly blushing and pulled up the skates.
"Uh, what size?" he asked.
Ryo simply glared at him for a moment.
"N-no! What size shoe!" said the boy defensively.
Ryoga slammed into a woman's chest as he skid clumsily across the ice
with a frightened look on his face. He stared at her in terror stammering
weakly as he attempted to apologize. "I-uh...I'm...I didn't..." Akane
skated up next to the boy with a flailing Ranma in tow.
"Auntie? What are you still doing here?" the girl let go of Ranma's hand
long enough to help Ryoga to his feet.
"I'm here to help train my son-in-law of course." said the woman
cheerfully; Ryoga's expression went from bad to worse.
"Your Torako's mother?" he looked away in shame and embarrassment.
"You could say that son-in-law, come now I'll show you how to skate so
Akane can teach her fianc�e. It's easier that way." the woman pulled a
pale looking Ryoga away with the same motherly smile she always seemed to
have. "Akane go catch your student."
The girl turned and saw Ranma zooming away backwards towards a wall. She
was caught in the nick of time by a familiar pair of hands. "Are you
alright?" asked Midkado as he lifted her into his arms lightly.
"Mikado Sanzenin." gasped Ranma in shock.
"Eh? Oh, your the girl from the ramen shop! I had hoped we'd meet again,
no doubt you felt the same way?" he flicked her chin lightly and smiled.
"Actually that was my older sister..." Ranma noticed Ryoga on the other
side of the rink with Ryoga and smiled. "Hey P-chan! Over here you stupid
jerk!" the boy didn't seem to notice as he conversed with Ryo in her
female guise.
Azusa flew by the boy's head taking his face with her knee and ending
his confusion. "Please do your girl chasing later; We have to practice
the 'Assault of a hundred foes'."
Akane caught up with Ranma and stopped cold as she overheard the
conversation. "Assault of a hundred foes? In skating?" She looked around
and noticed most of the rink was cleared, a hundred boys in hockey gear
stood around the pair of skaters.
Mikado handed Ranma over to Akane. "Please stay out of the way; It
wouldn't do to have you get hurt."
Azusa signaled the boys with a single word. "Strike!"
The hockey clad men dashed forward and attacked; Mikado and Azusa spun
around elegantly and struck with amazing speed as they crushed all of the
opponents easily. One of the men sat up after the last man fell holding a
stop watch. "Nine seconds flat." he called out to the
Ryo smiled as his student floundered pathetically in her presence, he
wasn�t sure how to act with her. �You don't even know who I am do you?"
"Your Torako's mother right?" Ryoga looked confused as always and Ryo
smiled at his naivete.
"No, I'm her father. She is not the only one with a Jusenkyo curse boy."
the woman smiled at Ryoga's shocked face.
"Master?! But I..." he tried his best to stand up straight and promptly
ended up on the floor.
"I know what's going on here boy, you have to challenge Sanzenin and
defend your fianc�e�s honor." Ryo smiled as a few people passed by on the
ice.
"It's not like that at all!" protested Ryoga.
"It had better be for your sake boy, Torako is taking an awful chance on
you with this kind of stunt." Ryo lifted him up and forced him to stand.
"Now is not the time for you to face him, I'll set up a challenge. Don't
worry, I'm sure you'll find a skating partner in time, in the mean time
you'll stay with me and I'll train you to skate."
"Y-yes master." fumbled Ryoga as he bowed and almost fell over again.
"But, I can't just let him get away with that."
"I think this is something she would want to see herself son-in-law,
don't you agree?"
Ryoga only nodded in response.
"Good." said the woman as she turned and skated gracefully around him.
"We'll start your training tomorrow; I'll speak with Sanzenin before he
leaves the rink tonight and set up your match with him. One more thing
Ryoga, your getting slow...you and I will be training together again now
that you must carry on my family style."
Ryoga looked at the man in confusion and was about to thank him when
someone emptied a cup of water out onto the ice as they left and caught
Ryoga in the splash.
"See?" Ryo giggled to herself in a rather feminine manner before she
slid away.
The piglet scurried across the ice squealing madly as he searched for an
exit; after a moment he had a large procession of girls following him and
squealing about how cute he was. He spotted Ranma and Akane and turned
towards them desperately. Much to Ranma's annoyance the girl let go of
her and dashed towards Ryoga in an attempt to rescue him.
"Ryoga jump!" cried the girl as she spread her arms out, apparently the
girls didn't realize that they would trample the animal if they caught up
with it. Ryoga sailed through the air and was promptly scooped up by
Azusa as she slid in front of Akane easily.
"Charlotte! Here's a widdle present from Azusa" with a quick motion of
her wrist she removed the pig's bandana and slipped on a collar with a
small heart shaped medal that had Charlotte engraved into it. "Ooooooh!
How cute!"
Akane snatched the pig out of her grip and snarled at her. "A collar?
What a horrible thing to do! Don't worry I'll get this right off Ryoga!"
the piglet looked grateful for a moment, until Akane tugged at it and
strangled him in the process.
"It's useless, I locked it; if you want it off; that girl has to compete
with me!" Azusa flashed a small key and giggled as she put it into her
busom.
"I think it's an excellent idea, in fact why don't you make it pairs
skating? Her boyfriend is quite upset with your partner for stealing a
kiss." Akane turned to see Ryo standing behind them with a strange smile
on her face.
"Oh, he does that sort of thing all the time." the skater waved her hand
and smiled cutely. "She'll probably end up going out with him in a week
or so."
"You think Torako will agree to it?" asked Akane weakly.
"Who said anything about Torako?" Ryo smiled and looked over to Akane.
"You?" the Tendo girl was shocked. "But?"
"I might be persuaded, if a replacement can't be found..." the woman
turned her nose up and tried to look uninterested.
"But, your so old." replied Azusa with a dumb look.
Ryo was on her in an instant, she grabbed Azusa by her cheeks and pulled
hard. "What was that?"
The girl was in shock, she hadn't even seen the woman move. "Gack!
I-mean, skating is for teenagers..." her captor pulled harder with a
crazed look on her face. "Arrggg! I wouldn't want to compete against such
an..." Akane was beginning to think her 'Auntie' was about to rip the
girl's face off. "Beautiful young twenty year old skater! Who is
obviously out of our league!"
The woman smiled and blushed, "Your right, it would hardly be fair; I
suppose I could try and talk my daughter into it."
Ranma slid by the scene again, no one had noticed she was not there any
longer for some time. "Yeow!! Akane, if you don't catch me I'm gonna fall
down!!" She noticed her fianc�e twitch for a moment before looking back.
Before anyone could react she found herself in the hands of Mikado
Sanzenin once again. "I could teach you to skate."
Ranma felt herself sicken at the boy's attempts to hit on her. "Thanks
but no thanks; Leggo of me!"
"You mean it? Too bad...but at least, you can thank me for my earlier
rescue." the boy leaned over and pulled Ranma close forcing a kiss before
anyone could react.
Akane and Ryoga stopped cold and stared at the scene in disbelief. The
two of them looked at one another as Ranma found herself in total shock;
for a long moment she stayed in Mikado's arms; finally, she managed to
stand and skate away in tears.
Akane felt something pull at her heart. "Ranma..."
"Ah to weep like that! What a pure and innocent girl!" the boy sighed
with longing and at his own manliness.
Akane had a slightly different perspective to the affair. "I guess he
would feel like crying; after being kissed by a boy."
Ranma dashed down the street grinding her teeth as she turned towards
the public bath house that sat just beside the ramen shop. He didn't get
far though, Ryo stood before him in still in her female form with her
palm held out. "Ranma, tell me something; do you really want to humiliate
and defeat Mikado Sanzenin?"
The pigtailed girl stopped cold in front of her and grit her teeth
again. "If you truly want to hurt Mikado Sanzenin..." she trailed off and
turned away from the angry girl.
"What?!! Tell me!!" she spat as she grabbed the woman's arm and pulled
her back.
"I'll tell you, if you'll calm down for a moment." Ranma visibly relaxed
and stepped away from Ryo. "All right then, if you really want to
humiliate Mikado Sanzenin, take away his title."
"How am I supposed to do that? I can't skate!" spat the girl angrily.
"Simple, you can fight better than he can; fight with Ryoga, become his
partner and destroy Sanzenin on the ice and take away his title." Ranma
stepped back and looked at her.
"That's what this is about? I knew you wanted something from me."
"Circumstances have made us allies Ranma, we can destroy our enemies
easily now. We would both benefit and I thought I'd bring this to your
attention, I have no intention of stopping you this day boy, but think of
what he just did to you; the humiliation, the theft of your innocence!
Will you let him get away with only a beating?!"
Ranma stared at her for a long time, she looked off to the side and
snorted. "All right, I'm in."
"Excellent, take your payment for today Ranma, but do not forget our
discussion. I can help you in so many more ways than you can imagine."
Ranma stepped back in uncertainty at the smile she was getting; finally
she dashed into the bath house leaving the woman standing alone outside.
Ryo stood humming to herself for a moment before starting towards her
house. "This manipulation stuff is fun! No wonder Cologne sticks around
here so long! I'm starting to understand the appeal of being an elder in
the tribe; it's a shame I'm barred from leadership."
Ranma dashed through the male side of the bath buck naked in his female
form; the men stared in shock as she dove into one of the hot water furos
and came up male. "That lousy! How dare he? How dare he? How dare he? In
front of Akane yet! He won't get away with it!"
"Ah, making her weep for joy with just a kiss; I'm ashamed of myself."
Mikado stood in the rink still amazed with himself despite the fact
several minutes had passed. Suddenly an ice skate blade planted itself
deep into the ice in front of the boy.
"Sanzenin!" roared the now male Ranma, as he fumed and glared at the
boy. "We'll fight here and now! I can't let you live!!"
Akane gasped, she had never seen Ranma angry before now. "R-Ranma!"
"What's this about? You come out of nowhere and..." Mikado was
interrupted by the angry pigtailed boy as he slammed his fist into the
ice creating a large crack.
"For the first time in my whole life, I'm really mad!!"
The ice skater sighed calmly. "I don't know what your so angry about,
but for the sin of damaging the sacred rink, you must die! Lead on!"
Ranma burned with anger and Akane cleared away carrying an even angrier
Ryoga with her. "Great, I'll make you pay for that with your life!!
Mikado Sanzenin, the humiliation you've given me, I'll give back a
hundred fold!" Ranma launched himself into the air at the skater in a
suicide strike that was easily side stepped sending him face first into
the ice and shattered the cold surface.
On the sidelines Akane watched with the remains of the hundred foes. "He
hit that with his head!" commented one of the boys.
Out on the ice Mikado smiled at his easy victory. "The fool, going
straight into a suicide strike like that." he froze in place as Ranma
stood up directly behind him and lashed out in a lightening fast punch
that he barely dodged.
The pigtailed boy continued in his forward momentum from the blow and
landed face first on the ice again; he didn't stop there though, he skid
across the cold surface on his nose and slammed into the spectators
crushing the wall on the side of the ring in the process.
Mikado gave the boy a hard look as a cut appeared on his sweater. "I
hate to use this move on an amateur but..." Ranma had already recovered
and was charging forward again.
The skater had begun to spin in place weaving an elaborate pattern of
defense.
"Whoa! What a move!" commented one of the hockey player looking boys
next to Akane.
"The unbeatable Dance of Death!" said another boy who was wearing
fencing gear.
"Dance of death?" inquired Akane, she turned back to the fight and saw
Ranma being pounded by the move as he spun around Sanzenin seeming to
only defend inside the deadly circle created by the boy's move.
"No one's ever escaped that spin before! Sanzenin has him completely at
his mercy, he's dancing him into unconsciousness; this truly is a dance
of death!" the spectators gasped as one of the foes explained the move.
Finally Ranma was thrown from the spin into the air, he landed face
first and did not move; Sanzenin stood unmoving in the final stance of
the move.
"I-it's all over." said one of the hockey players.
Akane ignored the boys and skated over to her fianc�e. "Ranma? Can you
stand up?
The pig tailed boy pushed on the ice and managed to jump up and spin
around in the air in an attempt to right himself, he promptly slipped
when he landed and knocked himself out on the ice.
The foes where all in shock. "That guy took Sanzenin's best, and he's
still moving!"
Azusa skated up next to Akane and giggled. "Looks like a draw hmmm?"
"Ranma won." the girl pulled her fianc�e across the ice and exited the
rink.
The boys stood around Sanzenin and Azusa in shock. "Ha ha! I'll doodle
on him." said the girl as she drew whiskers on her partner with a marker.
The hundred foes where quick to follow her example as a crowd formed
around the unconscious boy.
Back at the Tendo dojo, Akane watched Ranma as he patched himself up
with a first aid kit. "What terrible form! You couldn't have won without
throwing 518 punches?"
"Shut up!" replied Ranma. "You'd think I'd put the guy who did that to
me out of his misery with just one punch?!"
Kasumi gasped in her usual shock. "What on earth did he do?"
Both Akane and Ranma avoided the subject. "Nothing special."
Suddenly the door slammed open and an angry Ryoga stormed into the room.
"Ranma! How dare you defeat Mikado Sanzenin before I get my hands on
him!"
"Shut up pig! All he did to you was kiss your stupid girl friend!"
retorted Ranma as he stood up to face the newcomer.
"All he did?! I should kill you! I get to kill the boy who touched
my...er...Tora-ch...ko!" the boy looked away from his rival and blushed.
"All he did?" Nabiki was suddenly very interested in this conversation;
Kasumi would never be interested in anything so scandalous, so she sat
quietly so she could hear all the details.
Ranma looked at Ryoga and smiled slightly. "You'll get your chance, just
wait until that match next week."
"I don't like it, but I have no choice; I won't be able to catch him at
the skating rink since you destroyed it; if I don't fight him there I
won't be able to find him." the lost boy leveled his gaze on his new
partner and frowned. "Besides, you should be happy." Ranma looked up at
Ryoga in confusion. "It's not every day that one is kissed..."
"Don't you dare!" screamed Ranma as he stood up and turned completely
red.
"Well really? You where kissed Ranma?" asked Kasumi with a sweet smile.
Nabiki almost jumped up and down in her eagerness. "By who, by who?!"
"...by such a handsome boy." finished Ryoga; the room suddenly became
silent.
Kasumi smiled again. "You shouldn't let it bother you."
"If it was a boy, it doesn't even count." agreed Nabiki. "Of course if
had been your first kiss, that would be a tragedy!"
"But that certainly wasn't the case was it, Ranma?" Kasumi giggled as if
the very idea was absurd.
Ranma simply stood in his place and shook with anger before storming out
of the room towards the dojo.
Later that night Ranma still sat in the dojo alone; he muttered to
himself angrily as he played with the polish on the wooden floor. "Feh,
laughing stock of the whole town; Nobody cares how I feel, just..."
He was surprised as Akane smacked him on the back of his head. "Your
back's wide open; your completely off guard! How long do you plan to
pout; and you call yourself a man?" Ranma turned away from her.
"If you think it's funny go ahead and laugh!" Akane sat down next to him
and laughed out loud. "What's so funny!" demanded Ranma as he spun to
face her.
"Was that really your first kiss?"
Ranma turned away again, "What difference does that make?"
"Oh foo, it doesn't make any difference at all; but really, to let
yourself get kissed so easily!" she opened the small first aid kit she
had brought and placed a bandage over the boy's nose. "You haven't
trained enough; You talk a good match, but you leave yourself open a
lot."
Ranma's hand tapped her shoulder and he swept with his other arm tossing
her into his lap. "Who are you to talk?" instantly they both realized how
close they where and the scooted away from one another quickly.
"D-don't get the wrong idea! It's not like I was gonna kiss you or
anything." said Ranma as he ran.
"I know that, you wouldn't have the guts to do that, anyway." replied
the girl with a smug look on her face.
"Keep talking like that and I might!" snapped the boy angrily.
"Oh yea! Go ahead and try it!" challenged the girl, they both stared at
each other for a few seconds.
"O-okay, but close your eyes!" Akane obeyed and kept the scowl on her
face despite the moment. Ranma looked at her and tried to approach
several different ways before giving up, "I guess this is something you
have to do with someone you like."
Akane's eyes flew open and she somehow managed to look even angrier.
"Your the one who wants to play the dutiful fianc�e!!"
"That's not what I meant! I want to..." Ranma froze as he searched for
the other half of his phrase. "If you don't mind...then I don't..."
Akane looked surprised and embarrassed as all signs of anger vanished
from her face; they sat there for a long moment together saying nothing
before Akane spoke up. "I...don't."
Ranma leaned in with an apprehensive look in his face and edged closer
to Akane with each passing moment, finally after a long awkward silence
their lips met. Akane closed her eyes and leaned into her fianc�e
slightly, but not so much as to do any more than to keep Ranma from
pushing her back; they broke the kiss and gasped for air.
The first thing Akane did was cry out in fright, Ranma spun around
expecting to see his father standing there; instead Ryoga and Torako
where both sneaking by behind them.
"Wh-we weren�t" stammered Ranma as he backed away from the pair in
terror.
"Relax dolt, your secret is safe with me." snorted the tiger girl as she
led her fianc�e over and sat down with the embarrassed couple. "I just
pulled a little crowd control at the house, I was trying to sneak by so I
could get him home without taking the street and getting him lost."
Ryoga looked strangely silent and embarrassed by the moment. "It's
nothing I haven't seen before anyway."
"You mean, you two..." Ranma got a sick look on his face and was
promptly belted by Akane.
"We are engaged doofus." Torako hugged up against Ryoga's arm and
smiled. The lost boy looked away as best he could as he blushed even
deeper. "Unfortunately that's all daddy will let us do, I envy you two
really."
"Tora-chan!" screamed Akane in shock, Ryoga suddenly went limp and the
tiger girl smiled brightly.
"We just made up, I forgive him for being an idiot and promised I
wouldn't kiss any more boys; Akane, to be honest you two are getting
along so well I'm surprised you two haven't given each other a peck or
two in private."
"Tora-chan, I'm not so sure if I can talk about this right now." Ranma
was sitting by himself with his back turned ignoring the conversation
completely. "Does it really seem like we are getting along well?"
"You bet, I don't get it though. You two hardly ever fight, and when you
do it's because he's an idiot." the girl stood and helped her fianc�e to
his feet. "I'll leave you two love birds in private; I've got kissing of
my own to do." Ryoga struggled for a moment and allowed himself to be
carried away.
The moment was ruined and Ranma and Akane walked out of the room looking
embarrassed, they stopped cold when they reached the porch however when
they found some one had tied up the other members of the Tendo family,
and one Saotome; Kasumi had her hand tied to the support beam for the
porch with a pretty green ribbon. "Don't just stand there gawking son!
Cut us down!" said Soul looking almost as embarrassed as they where.
"I wonder if this is what she meant by crowd control?" muttered Akane as
she stepped into the house in search of a knife.
Meanwhile, Mikado Sanzenin is overcome with chargin. "Ranma Saotome, the
day of our match will be the day you die!" he stands covered in graffiti
shaking, in anger in the remains of the ice rink.
TBC....
Next time!!! The Martial arts Figure Skating match begins! It's a
different story as Ryoga and Ranma team up to face Mikado Sanzenin and
Azusa Shiratori in a no holds barred battle. Can they put aside their
differences long enough to beat the Golden Pair without the interference
of the girls?! Also find out how Akane and Torako will deal with their
two love's rivalry!
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