Subject: [FFML] [Ranma] The Bet - Another Approach, Part 11
From: Jack Staik
Date: 2/3/2000, 9:12 PM
To: ffml@fanfic.com



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-- File: Aa11.txt

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Ranma 1/2: Another Approach
Part 11
By Jack Staik, Bookkeeper-At-Arms
--------------------

Akane mumbled nasty things about her sensei as she got ready
for bed.

Sure, she had improved noticeably since he arrived, and had 
learned several superior martial arts skills (like blind-
fighting, the Ja Jinku defense, and precision throwing 
skills - not to mention her enhanced balance and endurance 
training), but the bastard still pissed her off!

"'You'll be good when *I* say so' - I'm good *now*! Smug, 
superior, self-righteous S.O.B. -"

The sleeping mat was uncomfortable as hell. She missed her 
bed. She could probably get it back ... but no way would she 
let that arrogant sex-changing ass say she was weak or soft!

A quiet chuckle could be heard in the room.

Akane's head jerked toward the ceiling, where a girl in a 
leotard hung, holding a mallet.

Before she could do anything, the mallet connected, slamming 
her out the window, showering the yard with broken glass.

"Hmph," Kodachi remarked. "I heard that she had been trained 
recently by some brilliant Master. Perhaps rumor exaggerated 
her prowess."

Akane pulled her head out of the dirt and headed inside, 
determined to pound that bitch. As she went through the 
laundry room, she noticed something ...

Since her recent re-dedication to the Art, she'd been trying 
to get rid of the excessive cuteness she'd surrounded 
herself with - her Hello Kitty posters, her stuffed animals, 
her frilly clothes ... and those damn cute pajamas with the 
piggies and kittens. As a result, she'd been sleeping in her 
underwear.

There was no way she'd waltz through the house in bra and 
panties! Especially with some weirdo in the house! And Ranma!

(Oh sure, he'd already seen her naked, but that just re-
doubled her determination to never show him anything like 
*that* again!)

She hurriedly went through the clothes hamper in the dark, 
trying to find something by touch. She located a pair of 
shorts and a t-shirt; those would do fine.

 * * * * * * * * * *

Soun was snapped awake by the crashing sound from the other 
room. The thought of something happening to one of his 
daughters brought him to full alert. Hopping out of his 
bedroom window, he saw the broken glass glinting in the 
moonlight.

Opening a nearby window, he climbed in and kicked a large 
panda and young man in the head.

"HEY!"

"Grrrrr..."

"Intruders!"

Ranma and Genma-panda instantly became alert. [You sure?] 
read the panda-sign. Soun nodded.

Ranma headed for the window. "I'll check Akane's room. You 
two check the grounds."

As the two older men hopped off the roof, Ranma went to 
Akane's room - only to find Kodachi Kuno climbing out.

"You!" he spat. "What did you do with Akane??"

"Don't interfere in an honorable martial arts match, 
commoner," she sneered.

"How does attacking someone in their sleep consitiute a 
'martial arts match'?" he asked incredulously.

"We were going to meet eventually - I just struck the first 
blow," she explained. "Is it my fault she was no match for 
the prowess of the Black Rose?"

"'Prowess' THIS!!" Akane cried, launching herself foot first 
from her bedroom door.

Kodachi hardly had time to notice Akane's return before the 
blow landed between her shoulder-blades.

"EEEEEEEE!!!" Kodachi cried, sailing through the air.

 * * * * * * * * * *

Soun heard a feminine cry, then saw a figure sailing through 
the air from Akane's window.

"Akane-chan!" he cried, rushing to intercept. 

With well-honed martial-arts reflexes, he got underneath the 
flying figure and caught her before she hit the ground.

"Are you all right, dear? I - oh, excuse me," he said, 
seeing that this was some strange girl he'd never seen 
before.

Kodachi felt the strong arms around her, and gazed up into 
the darkly-handsome, mature face framed by the waterfall of 
black hair and illuminated by the moonlight. "You - you 
saved me, strange hero! How art thou named?"

"Er ... Soun Tendo, child ..." he answered nervously, 
wondering if he should call Doctor Tofu, despite the 
lateness of the hour.

"A present for you, my savior!" she proclaimed, pulling out 
a bouquet of dark flowers.

"Well ..." he said nervously, "I was just doing my duty - 
ACK!!" A look of shock was frozen on his face as the 
paralysis gas took hold.

Kodachi leaned him against a tree and kissed his lips. "I 
have a little business to take care of, Soun-sama. Then I'll 
return, take you home and - reward you properly." She allowed 
her tongue to linger on his lips before she dashed back 
toward the house.

Soun's eyes bugged out as he big-sweated. 

 * * * * * * * * * *

"What's all the friggin' noise?!?" Nabiki protested, 
stumbling into the room.

"Akane's picking fights in the middle of the night," Ranma 
commented.

"Am not!" she protested. "Some weirdo broke in and attacked 
me! But I kicked her out!"

"That was Kodachi Kuno," Ranma explained. "Trying to do you 
dirt."

"Hmph," Akane snorted. "She'll never get a chance to try 
again!"

Nabiki looked her baby sister over. "That doesn't explain 
why you're wearing Ranma's underwear."

Akane's eyes bugged out as she got a good look at what she 
was wearing; one of Ranma's t-shirts and a pair of his 
yellow boxers, exactly like the ones he was wearing at that 
moment.

"YEEK!!" Ranma and Akane both exclaimed.

"They were the first thing I grabbed!" Akane tried to 
explain.

Nabiki looked at Ranma, one eyebrow raised.

"I don't know how she got them!" he protested.

"He doesn't!" she agreed. "I got them in the dark!"

Nabiki put a hand to her mouth in an imitation of prim 
shock. "Oh my! Akane-chan!"

"What's happening?" Kasumi asked as she extered the room.

"Imouto-chan's stealing Ranma's underwear!" Nabiki said.

(Nabiki knew better, of course - it was probably some 
outlandish accident. No way would her sexually-paranoid 
sister and ultra-prude boyfriend do anything like *that*. 
But no way would she allow an opportunity for chuckles-and-
grins like this slide past!)

"Oh my!" Kasumi said, putting her hand to her mouth in prim 
shock. "Akane-chan, that simply isn't proper! Ranma-kun is 
your sensei! *And* your sister's boyfriend!"

Ranma shook his head sadly. "Teishi! I thought you were over 
this silly crush!"

"Wha - huh - no!! No!! It isn't like that!" Akane protested.

"OH-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO!!!" 

Everyone jumped as the demented laughter echoed in the room. 
Black flower petals began blowing through like wind-swept 
snow.

"So, a common trollop like Akane Tendo thinks to crush the 
Black Rose through base trickery?!? You will learn a costly 
lesson, girl!"

"Just a second!" Ranma protested. "Who do you think -"

Kodachi's ribbon wrapped around his neck and hurled him out 
the window. A muted splash was heard.

"Now, since there are no distractions - "

A bucket of water hit Kodachi in the head, then her ribbon 
was jerked out of her grip.

Ranma-onna slammed the bucket over Kodachi's head and hog-
tied her with her own ribbon in less than a second. "It 
takes more than *that* to put down Ranma - er, Ranko 
Saotome!"

"Oh my!" Kasumi exclaimed (Sorry, I had to write it!)

"I was about to take her!" Akane protested.

"Look again, teishi," Ranma-onna commented, pointing to 
Akane's leg.

Akane glanced down, as did the other Tendo sisters. 

Her leg was bleeding freely.

"You re-opened your stitches!" Ranma-onna criticized. "Let 
me take care of that," she said, pulling off her t-shirt.

"I'm all right! It's nothing!" Akane protested as Ranma-
onna tied her t-shirt around her thigh as a makeshift 
bandage. "I'll clean it off and wrap a bandage around it!"

"Nope," Ranma-onna said, lifting Akane off her feet.

"HEY!"

"For re-opened wounds, you get a doctor to look," Ranma-
onna explained. "And since it's too late to see Doc Tofu, 
you're going to the emergency room at the hospital."

Akane's eyes widened; like all the Tendo girls, she'd 
harbored a deep fear of hospitals since her mother died. 
"NO!! I'm fine!! Really!! I'll see Tofu-sensei in the 
morning! I promise!"

"No. Now." Ranma-onna swept up Akane in her arms, brooking 
no more argument from her disciple.

Meanwhile, Kodachi managed to get her ribbon loose and 
pulled the bucket from her head. 

The first sight to greet her was a trembling Akane Tendo 
being held in the arms of a short but athletic red-haired 
girl - one who was naked from the waist up. As a fashion-
conscious girl, she immediately noticed that the shorts 
both girls wore were a perfect match.

"So - the rumors I'd heard about the notorious Akane 
Tendo's romantic preferences were true," she said.

"HEY!!" Akane and Ranma-onna cried together. "It ain't like
that!"

"It matters not, sapphic ones," Kodachi said airily. "Your 
wound is most dire, Akane Tendo. I see no need to battle 
further ... until our match." She smiled a dangerous, 
toothy smile. "I trust you enjoy your lover's healing 
ministrations, for after our match, you'll have to enjoy 
them for a very long time! OH-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO!!!" 
With a twirl of a ribbon and a flurry of black rose petals, 
Kodachi vanished.

 * * * * * * * * * *

It was decided to bother Doctor Tofu after Genma-panda 
brought in a paralyzed Soun. In less than an hour, Akane was 
patched up and Soun was recovering from Kodachi's paralysis 
poison.

"I'm gonna kick her ass!" Akane snarled. "I'm going to pull 
her guts out and use them to clean my shoes! How dare she 
break into my house?!?"

"Akane ..." Tofu began, "That probably isn't a good idea."

"He's right, teishi," Ranma concurred. "You did some more 
damage when you re-opened your wound. Just training could 
do permanent damage - never mind a fight with an opponent 
who will use every dirty trick."

The sensible portion of Akane's mind agreed. 

But the other part was in control - the part that never 
backed down, the part that never admitted to being not as 
good or better than an opponent.

"You think I can't do it!" she argued. "Well, not only will 
I face her, I'm going to *win*! I'll start training in the 
morning - with or without your help!"

Ranma and Tofu watched her limp out of the examination room, 
worry on their faces.

"You're going to have to do something, Ranma. She'll hurt 
herself - or get hurt."

"I know, Doc. But there's not a lot I can do short of 
clubbing her and tying her up in the attic. It's an affair 
of personal honor for her, as well as the honor of Furinken."

"Still, try to manage her training. She has a tendency to get 
carried away. When she was younger, she broke her leg and 
rebroke it twice before it healed because she wouldn't stop 
her martial arts training."

"Yeah," Ranma agreed, nodding. "I've gotten a good idea how 
stubborn she is. I'll do my best."

 * * * * * * * * * *

The next day ...

Ryoga looked on in amazement at the Tendo home - He reached 
it within an hour of starting out in Juuban! 

Staying at Nodoka's place had been an education for him 
(especially considering how often the woman walked around 
her home in the nude). He had been especially enlightened 
about the existence of those mysterious things called 
'taxis' - one phone call, and a car would arrive and take 
him *exactly* where he wanted to go! Amazing!

In broad daylight, it was easy to keep the dojo in sight. 
As he approached, he thought about his vengeance - first, 
upon that cheating tomboy Akane Tendo, then upon his true 
enemy - Ranma!

Walking in the door, he noticed Ranma in a white gi and 
Akane in a red sport halter and black bike pants, like a 
skin-tight feminine version of Ranma's regular Chinese 
outfit. Ryoga thought she looked pretty good in it, although 
when he compared her to Nodoka, she came out a distant second.

"Kakuto Shintaiso is almost the exact opposite of Musabetsu 
Kakuto Ryu," Ranma explained. "Where Anything-Goes Martial 
Arts concentrates on improvisation, Martial Arts Rhythmic 
Gymnastics is almost pure form. Anything-Goes concentrates 
on war, while Rhythmic Gymnastics is mainly artistic and 
sport related." 

"I know that, baka-sensei!" Akane protested.

"Well, know *this* - you can't train at full efficiency 
because of your injury, your opponent is highly skilled *and* 
dishonest, and you only have five days left. You have to 
*think*! Outsmart your opponent, don't just bull your way 
through. Tactics are *real*, and if you don't remember that, 
you'll lose."

"Hmph," Akane commented.

"You'll think 'hmph', teishi," Ranma answered. "Since 
Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics is such an artificial form, 
we should be able to make a low-impact routine that will help 
you. Remember, the judge's decision is as important as whether 
you win or lose the combat, so if you look good, you'll do 
well on points."

"And what about weapons training?" Ryoga said loudly.

Ranma and Akane turned. "Hiya, Ryoga," Ranma said in a friendly 
fashion.

"Hi, Pig-Boy," Akane said. "Sorry I can't beat you up right 
now, but I'm in training."

"Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics?"

"You know it?" Ranma asked.

"A bit."

"Perhaps you'd like to help Akane train?"

"Ha!" Akane laughed. "Like *he* could teach me anything except 
how to get kicked across town!"

Ryoga felt his temper rise. "Just because you got in one lucky 
shot doesn't make you a martial artist, little girl!"

As he saw the shadow of the mallet head toward his face, Ryoga 
wondered if he'd made a mistake.

<WHAM!!><CRASH!!><SPLASH!!> "BWEEE!!"

Ranma sighed. "Why don't you practice those Tai Chi katas, 
while I fish Ryoga out of the pond."

"Let him swim a bit," Akane commented as she did the first 
moves. "Perhaps he can work off some of that fat in his head."

Ranma shook his head sadly. "Just because he was your opponent 
once doesn't make him your enemy. He doesn't think of himself 
as a bad guy."

"Hmph!"

Ranma left his student and went to fish Ryoga-buta out of the 
koi pond. "She has *got* to learn not to hold grudges."

A few minutes (and a kettle of hot water later), Ryoga and 
Ranma were sitting in the Tendo's dining room. Ryoga wore a 
bathrobe while Kasumi washed his clothes.

"So, what brings you by, buddy?" Ranma asked cheerfully.

"To challenge you - and defeat you! To take revenge for you 
destroying my life!"

"I didn't destroy your life! And I already told you - if my 
student can beat you -"

"Yeah, yeah. I understand that." Ryoga sighed. "And I can't 
fight her until her injuries have healed."

"And she'll probably get new ones in the Rhythmic Gymnastics 
match."

Ryoga looked irritated. "Why are you letting her fight?"

"It's not a question of 'letting' her," Ranma answered. 
"She feels an obligation to her school. Besides, after her 
opponent tried to ambush her in her bedroom last night, she 
needs to get some payback."

Ryoga nodded. He could understand payback.

"And if I train her, I can help her minimize her injuries."

"If she had some more ki training, she could heal up, not 
to mention the enhanced abilities."

"She never had any training before I came along."

Ryoga looked surprised. "But - her battle aura, that 
ballistic kick -"

"All natural talent," Ranma explained. "The Tendos and 
Saotomes all have a natural inborn gift for harnessing 
battle aura. That's why our families are the only 
practitioners of the higher forms of Anything-Goes; we can 
learn ki-abilities much earlier than most people."

"Oh," Ryoga said. "And what about her ki-training?"

"I've started her on the basic exercises, and Doctor Tofu 
helped align her chakras, but she's still months from 
harnessing her abilities." 

Ryoga looked thoughtful. "Do you know about the Tibetan 
Crystal technique?"

"Yeah, but we don't have any Tibetan golden quartz."

Ryoga pulled over his backpack and began rummaging around. 
"Lessee ... socks, cole slaw, the skull of Brian Boru, a 
portable hole, boxers, pickled eggs, the French Royal 
Jewels, spare bandanas ... here it is!" An he pulled out a 
chunk of smoky yellow crystal the size of a man's fist.

"Thanks anyway, but that still takes two weeks, and the 
match is in five days."

Genma walked into the dining room, munching on leftovers. 
"Hello, boys. What are you discussing?"

"Akane's ki training," Ranma said.

"Well," Genma suggested, "You could teach her the way I 
taught you -"

"NO WAY!" Ranma yelled, jumping up. "This is just a school 
match! I won't put her through *that* hell for something 
so trivial!"

"What way did you learn, Ranma?" Ryoga asked.

"I taught him myself, in the Manner of the Touched Soul," 
Genma said prouldy.

"NANI?!?" Ryoga yelled in shock. "The Horrible Secret 
Technique?? The one that kills half the people that try 
it and leaves the rest babbling madmen??"

"A mild exaggeration. My son turned out alright. I'm sure 
Akane-chan could do quite well -"

<WHAP!!>

"Ite ..." Genma groaned from inside the hole in the floor.

"That's for even *thinking* something that stupid, Oyaji!"

 * * * * * * * * * *

Kodachi had spent much of the day thinking about the 
previous night; her opponent, Akane Tendo; her uncouth-but-
handsome sensei, Ranma; the cute girl who was so obviously 
Akane Tendo's lover ... and the gorgeous Soun-sama.

She had inquired of her imbecilic brother, and had learned 
that Ranma was dating Nabiki Tendo, the girl was Ranma's 
sister, and that Soun was Master of the dojo, as well as 
Akane's father. And that the girls were indeed lovers. (At 
this point, he went off on one of his monologues about how 
he would 'free' them from their perversion, and Kodachi 
tuned him out.)

So, her opponent had another weakness besides her injury ... 
her lover. That could be useful.

And she knew what she must do.

"Sasuke!" she snapped. 

The tiny ninja hopped up to her and stood at attention.

"What is your wish, Mistress Kuno?" he asked nervously.

"I require ten thousand - no, a *hundred* thousand! - 
fliers printed up and ready as soon as possible!" She 
handed him the paper with the statement on it. "When 
they are ready, hire a plane to drop them all over 
Nerima!"

Sasuke bowed. "At once, Mistress!"

As he departed, a faint mumbling could be heard; " ... 
crazy bint ... can't just buy commercial time ..."

"Soon, Soun-sama!" she cried out, twirling in place. 
"You will see that I am your perfect mate! And you 
will be mine *mine* *MINE*!!! 
OH-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO!!"




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