Ranma Birthright - 3
Ranma spun and dipped, his movements bouncing him along. He
blocked punches and kicks from his adversary, even as she
followed his movements flawlessly. The students of Furinkan
High barely noted their progress over their heads. It had
become that commonplace.
Ranma couldn't help but smile. Akane was really pushing him
today. His fianc,e returned the feral smile, even as she
snuck in a punch to his chest. In unison, they landed
lightly even as they looked up to see a figure leaping at
them with the sun at his back.
The figure shouted, "Ranma, prepare to die!"
Ranma and Akane's leg muscles spun them away from him in
opposite directions. The boy's umbrella exploded a small
crater into the concrete with stunning violence right where
they had been.
"You!" Ranma exclaimed, pointing at the new boy.
The fanged boy cried out, "You haven't changed. You're still
good at running away, Ranma!" His unruly hair was kept out
of his eyes by a yellow and black bandana. His travel worn
clothes and backpack bespoke of long use on a hard road.
"Do you know him, Ranma?" Akane asked curiously. She was
eyeing the new boy speculatively. Strong, but not terribly
fast. She wondered how good a fighter he really was.
Ranma looked up into the sky, then into his palm as he
focused his mental faculties to remember the challenger.
"Uh, yeah! Sure, he's... he's..."
"He must have been forgettable, huh Ranma?" Akane said
snidely.
Ranma blushed in mortification at that comment. The stranger
interrupted him, "Just tell me one thing, Ranma. Why did you
run out on our fight?"
Akane sniffed in disdain. And he thought he could claim to
be better than her?
"Wait! I remember! You're Ryoga Hibiki, from my old class!
It's been a while!"
"How dare you? I asked you a question!" Ryoga shouted.
Ranma had a nonplussed expression on his face. "I waited for
three days at the place you chose."
Akane nodded to herself, her respect for Ranma went back up
a notch. So he hadn't run out on the fight.
Ryoga clenched his fist angrily. "And you had already left
when I showed up on the fourth day!"
"Ryoga? It was right behind your house."
"I traveled nonstop for those days to get to our duel!"
A hubbub of voices from the crowd in the background could be
heard.
"Bad sense of direction?"
"Really bad."
"You said it."
"For breaking a vow between men and running off to China
with your father, you will suffer!" Ryoga cried out,
swinging his umbrella to club his hated foe.
Ranma bounded over it easily, as if Ryoga were in slow
motion. Even as his opponent landed, Ryoga swept back his
umbrella to open it, when it was suddenly yanked from his
hand. Ryoga spun around, surprised.
"What do you think you are doing?" he shouted out.
Akane calmly closed the umbrella. "You should be ashamed.
Blaming Ranma for running away when you couldn't even make
it to your fight. I wouldn't have waited more than three
days."
Ryoga eyed the girl closer. She had the demeanor of a
fighter. "Blame? This has all been his fault!"
"YOU didn't show up. You just admitted that." Akane's temper
started to flair.
"Hey! This is in between me and him..." Ranma tried to
interject into their argument.
"What would a girl like you know about honor..." his tirade
was broken off as she punched him in the jaw.
"I would think very carefully about what you are about to
say, Hibiki." Akane tossed the umbrella over her shoulder
lightly. It clunked into the ground, cracking the concrete,
much to the surprise of her schoolmates.
"And who are you, anyways?" Ryoga rubbed his jaw
thoughtfully. That had stung.
Ranma's gazed bounced back and forth between the two, like
in a tennis match.
"I am Akane Tendo, heir to the Tendo School of Anything Goes
Martial Arts." She cracked her knuckles in anger.
"Stay out of this, Tendo. This is a matter between men. You
wouldn't understand."
Ranma suddenly cringed. That wasn't what he should have
said.
Akane didn't say anything for a long moment. "I understand
perfectly. For that comment alone, I challenge you."
"You? I don't care about you. All I want is my revenge on
him," he shouted as he pointed at Ranma. "For what he has
done, I will destroy his happiness."
"My happiness? Am I happy?" Ranma asked as he looked over at
his fianc,e.
"Don't ask me," she replied. She spun back on the angry boy.
"You haven't responded to my challenge!"
"After I destroy Ranma, I'll be happy to fight you."
"Really? You don't look good enough to beat him, much less
me," Akane said haughtily.
"Much less? You have a pretty high opinion of yourself."
Ryoga cracked his knuckles.
"Less talk, more fighting." Akane pointed towards the field
where Ranma had fought Kuno so recently. Putting her own
words into action, she walked off into the crowd.
Ryoga took a moment to snag his umbrella. "Heh. She's got
spunk. And a high opinion of herself."
Ranma's face had an ugly expression flicker across it. "Come
on, Ryoga. You want to fight me so bad, let's get to it."
Ranma's leap cleared the crowd in a single bound.
Ryoga headed in what he thought was the right direction. Of
course, with his sense of direction, he ran off in the wrong
direction. In fact, he went in almost the direct opposite of
where he was supposed to go.
"Jeez, there he goes again."
Akane gave her fianc, an incredulous look. "He can't be that
bad, can he?"
"No, he's worse. He can't even find his way out of the
bathroom sometimes." Ranma spun on her. "What did you think
you were doing? That was my fight!"
"I wasn't interfering with the fight, Ranma. I was pounding
it through his thick skull that he forfeited the fight. I
can't stand people that can't admit that they lost."
Ranma threw her a dirty look. She didn't have to rub it in.
-
"So why does he hate you so much, Ranma?" Akane asked on the
way home. She was dashing along the fence top on the
opposite side of the small road.
"Dunno. Maybe it had something to do with school." Ranma
creased his forehead in concentration, bouncing over a gate
on his fence. "We both went to an all boys school. It was a
real zoo at lunch. They always saved a loaf of bread to
throw out. I always got it. Naturally."
"So you fought over food at your school?" Akane asked,
flummoxed.
"Yeah. Everyday. He always cried bitter tears of anger and I
always won, of course. Let's see, there was the chow mien
bread, the seafood bread, curry bread, the meat bread... "
"Gee, Ranma, you don't think you may have overdone it, do
you?"
"What? It was fair game!"
-
Ranma tapped his foot on the ground impatiently. Behind him,
on the edge of the grass, Akane sat calmly reading an
ancient scroll, unconsciously tensing muscles as she tried
to visualize how to actually do the move it explained.
Voices murmured in the background, rising in volume. "There
he is!"
"He's only a week late this time!"
Ryoga growled at the hecklers. He turned back to Ranma even
as he hefted his umbrella while dropping his pack. "Ranma, I
hoped you are prepared to die today!"
"You made it finally! Here! Take this!" he cried out in
reply, tossing a small roundish package at the lost boy.
A snap of his wrist and it landed neatly in his hand. "What?
Bread?"
"Fine, be that way!" Ranma retorted, flinging more loaves of
bread that Ryoga caught. "Jeeze, talk about greedy."
"Is this some sort of joke?" Ryoga looked confused and
irritated.
"Isn't this about those bread fights?"
"You think this is merely about bread? Ranma Saotome, for
what you have done to me, I will destroy you!" Ryoga glanced
at the bread quickly. "Besides, these are all past the sell
dates!"
"You kept me waiting for a week, you know."
Ryoga flung the bread away and charged at the slightly
smaller rival. "Enough! I attack!" he yelled out even as he
flung himself forward, stabbing at his hated foe.
Almost casually, Ranma ducked and weaved, hopping backwards
when he had to. "Hey! What's this all about then?" They both
bounced into the air casually, taking the fight to a new
level.
"Thanks to you, I have seen hell!" the fanged boy yelled out
in anger, overextending even as Ranma twisted over the
sloppy attack.
"Huh?" Ranma asked intelligently as they both landed over a
dozen feet apart.
"Mere words can not convey my suffering!" Ryoga opened his
umbrella and spun it at Ranma like a top.
Ranma sidestepped it casually, keeping one eye on it and one
eye on Ryoga. He felt more than saw Ryoga charge at him
while lashing out with another piece of cloth. His bandana?
Ranma twitched his hand out of the way and blocked Ryoga
openhanded grab. "So tell me..." Ranma quipped even as he
used his other hand to redirect Ryoga's kick over his head,
" ...how many bandanas are you wearing?"
"You won't make light of this..." Ryoga blustered, flustered
that Ranma had so easily dodged his bandana snatch and
follow up attacks.
"Ranma! Quit playing with him!" Akane cried out angrily.
Ryoga's eyes twitched in anger, a scowl growing on his face.
His umbrella spun to a halt, narrowly missing some male
students. "Playing with me?"
Ranma's eyes narrowed, even as his fianc,e's words stung
him. "Fine."
Ryoga kept trying to get his grasping hands on him, missing
by the barest margins. He barely saw Ranma lash out in a
puzzling combination of punches under his guard, striking
him squarely in the gut.
"Jeez, Ryoga. I thought you were better than that."
Ryoga didn't have the breath to respond. Where had he gotten
this good? He started blocking punches, getting clocked in
the side of the head by a spinning kick for his efforts. He
lunged at his hated foe, trying to get him in a bear hug,
where his greater strength would prevail.
Ranma twisted in and under his guard again, spinning to put
his back to Ryoga while he slammed his elbow into his
stomach. Ryoga grunted even as the pigtailed martial artist
open-palmed his chin as he stood up, putting his entire body
into the motion.
Ryoga almost blacked out as he was flung straight up into
the air. Ranma dropped into a one handed stand, catching
Ryoga by his head with his feet. With a quick spin, he
twisted Ryoga fall to make him land heavily on his face,
making a small crater from the impact.
For a moment, he didn't move. With a groan, Ryoga staggered
to his feet. He shakily raised one hand in defense, even as
his other wiped the blood from his mouth. "Y-you still hit
like a weakling."
Compassion was all he could see in Ranma's face. "Ryoga,
you've lost. I don't want to hurt you no more."
"Yeeeearh! Die, Ranma!" Ryoga screamed as he charged,
adrenaline and anger giving him a second wind. He swung his
punches wildly, faster than he ever had before. All he had
to do was strike him once. He could win and wipe that smug
grin off of his face.
Ranma crouched, ducking in between punches like Ryoga was
throwing them in slow motion. His bunched leg muscle flung
him over his foe faster than his eyes could follow. Blinding
pain erupted from the back of his head as Ranma's backwards
spin kick, with 180 degrees of motion behind it, slammed him
into unconsciousness.
Akane walked over, checking to see if he was all right. "Out
cold. Hmph. He probably won't even remember that I
challenged him either."
"Probably not. Better wake him up," Ranma commented. "Still
need to find out why he hates my guts."
"Ooh! Let me!" cried out a girl. Akane thought her name was
Sayuri, but she couldn't be sure. She came running back a
minute later with a bucket full of water. Akane might have
Ranma, but this guy wasn't bad. Well, except for his getting
lost.
Without any fanfare, she dumped the water over him,
eliciting an unexpected response.
"SQWEEE!" the little piglet cried out, even as it looked
around.
The shocked expression of the people surrounding him told
him that they knew. They knew!
"Ryoga?" Ranma cried out in shock. "You went to Jusenkyo? I
mean, you followed me all the way there?"
Akane's eyes narrowed appreciatively. "That could be why he
hates you so much."
"But it's not my fault!"
Ryoga growled and launched himself at Ranma. The same girl
who had interrupted their previous fight unexpectedly
brought him up short, her hand snapping out and snagging his
bandana.
"Is that why you hate him?" she asked forcibly, shaking him
by his bandana.
The little piglet managed to nod yes even as he struggled to
break free.
"You do know that Ranma has a curse too, right?"
He stopped struggling, looking at the girl who held him. He
shook his head in negation.
"He turns into a girl when splashed with cold water. So he
knows what it's like. Even if he's whiny about it. Keeps
blaming his girl side for losing our fights," Akane said
smugly.
"I ain't done that in weeks! I agree with you that I need to
train my cursed form up to speed!" Ranma protested. Akane
had nagged him incessantly until he'd agreed to do so.
"So what are you going to do if it rains during one of your
fights, Ranma? Lose and whine because your girl curse made
you lose? Even if it's to a girl?"
"Come on. We'll get you changed back." Akane hefted his
backpack with one hand, slipping it over her shoulder.
"Let me carry him!" Sayuri asked, taking the cursed martial
artist when he was proffered. "You're so cute!" she cried
out as she hugged him.
-
Ranma, Ryoga, Akane and Sayuri were all sitting around the
dinner table at the Tendo's. Sayuri had tagged along,
feeling she deserved to know something. The young girl had
also been trying to drag Akane out of her shell of martial
arts for a long time. She had sighed dramatically during
Ryoga's explanation of how he had followed Ranma all the way
to China and had been knocked off a cliff into the pools of
sorrow.
"Oh, that's so sad," Sayuri cried out heartfeltly.
Ryoga continued his story, getting angrier by the moment. Of
the horrors that arose on his harrowing trip back, of almost
being eaten several times.
"The path of a true martial artist is truly fraught with
danger," Akane quoted from memory, verbatim. She glanced at
Ranma, thinking of having his curse (in reverse, of course.)
Ugh.
"That's what my dad always says. I feel for you, man. At
least I'm not going to get eaten or nothing."
"I don't need your pity! I just want my revenge, Ranma
Saotome!" Ryoga cracked his knuckles in preparation to
continue his war.
"And lose again? You aren't good enough to beat him and you
definitely aren't good enough to defeat me. And since he
lives in my house, I will defend him also." Akane pinned him
to his spot with her gaze alone.
"Oh, yeah. You challenged me, didn't you? I'll get back to
you after I teach your girlfriend a lesson in respect,
Ranma!"
Ranma stood up and gestured in the direction of the dojo.
"Your funeral. And she isn't my girl friend!"
"What do you mean?" Ryoga asked suspiciously.
Ranma and Akane both ignored him as they walked into the
dojo. Ranma sat on the sidelines, interested to see how
Akane fought versus someone else.
Akane stood calmly across from Ryoga, still wearing the blue
slacks and blouse combo that she'd worn earlier to see
Ranma's match. Ryoga casually walked up to within five feet
of her. Without warning, she leaped at him as fast as Ranma
had earlier. She snapped a kick at his head that he blocked
with both arms, using that platform to rocket away to the
wall.
"Damn!" Ryoga muttered. He fell into a defensive posture. He
lashed out several punches as she skittered off of two walls
and dropped under his attacks.
"Ha!" she yelled out, scissoring his legs out from
underneath him.
The lost boy fell backwards into a back flip, his hands flat
on the ground. Before he could flip to his feet, two
punishing kicks were slammed into his back, sending him
sprawling. He managed to roll to the side, hearing the
splintering of wood from the missed punch.
Just as he was about to regain his feet, another snap kick
from the girl knocked him back ten feet. He bounced
painfully off of the wall, raising his hands against an
attack he could see, but not defend against. That same set
of unusual punches pierced his defenses, hitting his already
hurt stomach. Roaring, he snapped out his fastest grab
without pause, snagging her shoulders in a painfully tight
grip.
"I've got you now!" he yelled out.
Her leg blocked his knee even as her hand chopped into the
insides of his elbows, her other hand snapping his grip
almost effortlessly. Ryoga's eyes widened in surprise at her
strength!
"KYA!" the girl cried out, striking him in several painful
places on his chest, sandwiching him in between the wall and
herself. Ryoga's eyes widened in pain, pain that slowed him
down. Akane took a step back even as she spun on one heel.
She snapped out a kick with a full revolution behind it, her
heel catching him just above his ear.
Ryoga skittered across the wall, his face bouncing off of
the corner. He turned to see Akane walking slowly towards
him. "Y-you're good. Almost as good as Ranma." He moved out
of the corner, his hands up defensively.
Akane snorted. "I'm better than he is, jerk."
"I'll show you!" Ryoga cried out, trying to punch her
instead of grabbing her.
She spun in and under his reach like Ranma had earlier,
using her elbow just as effectively. Running on pure
adrenaline, he rocked his head back to avoid the palm to the
bottom of his jaw. That attack never materialized, as Ryoga
felt his legs twist out from under him. The last thing he
remembered was her tennis shoe coming towards his face.
Still spinning, Akane landed on one foot while falling into
a preying mantis stance. She snorted and relaxed into a
normal standing posture. "Hmph. Guess that's that."
-
Ryoga awoke to more pain than he thought he'd ever have to
endure. What had happened? Oh, yeah. He'd been defeated not
once, but twice.
"So, are you going to continue attacking Ranma?" Akane asked
seriously from where she knelt just a few feet away from
him. Ranma and an unfamiliar lady also knelt there.
"Not until I get my revenge!" Ryoga snarled, attempting to
sit up. Failing that, he fell back to the floor.
"Your revenge? For not accepting the fact that you forfeited
the match by not showing up? For you following him to China
and getting yourself cursed? What kind of martial artist are
you? A pretty poor one by that standard! Blaming him for
your problems!"
Ranma just stared at Akane in surprise.
Ryoga lay there staring at the ceiling. "Is it true?" he
murmured to himself. The crushing defeats that he had
endured this day had shaken his foundation of anger.
"I think he needs to sleep. He can stay in the downstairs
guest room tonight. I'm sure your father won't mind," Nanami
said, a look of worry on her.
Akane and Ranma nodded. They all stood up and walked out,
leaving Ryoga to rest.
-
The next morning, Ryoga woke up to the sounds of fighting
off in the distance. Rousing himself to motion, he trotted
across the living room to see what the fighting was. In
front of him, in between the house and the dojo, blurs
rocketed around like insane jumping beans. His trained eye
finally discerned the four figures; Ranma, Akane and two
unknown older men.
He whistled in appreciation at their movements. It was like
some sort of free style mid air war. It seemed to be Ranma
and Akane versus the two older men at this point. Amazingly
enough, even though they weren't winning, they weren't
losing to the teachers either. Ranma and Akane snagged each
other's hands as they passed by spinning them into perfect
kicks that their elders barely blocked.
The older men landed slightly winded, even as their children
tag teamed them, Ranma versus the man in the brown gi, Akane
versus the man in the white gi. All four were sweating
profusely. Ryoga didn't quite catch what the man with
glasses did to send Akane flying, but he watched in awe as
the longhaired man just tapped Ranma's hands out of the way
while snapping his own unbelievable punch into the younger
man's chest, sending him sprawling.
And that was the signal for the end of the training. Ryoga
caught the eyes of the three other students, standing in the
dojo's door. They were shaking their heads in amazement,
even as they turned to begin their own practice.
"Good morning!" a cheerful voice behind Ryoga said,
startling him out of his reverie.
"Wah!" he cried out, spinning and landing on his but. He saw
a young lady sit at the table.
"You must be Ryoga Hibiki! Akane talked about you last night
at dinner." Kasumi adjusted her bowl and started filling it
with food.
The older lady from last night walked in with more bowls.
"Oh, you're awake. Would you like some breakfast?" She
turned to the open door. "Breakfast is ready."
Kasumi flushed as she took in the partially dressed young
man in front of her. He was quite muscular.
Ryoga noted her gaze and realized his state of dress, or
lack thereof. He ran to the guest room to grab his shirt.
"Um, excuse me, that's the closet."
Ryoga gave a big toothy grin as he walked out of the closet.
"I knew that."
"Yeah, right!" Ranma crowed even as he slid into his seat.
"Ranma!" Akane cried as she slid in next to him.
Ryoga's widened in surprise as they started what looked like
a duel with chopsticks, their fathers just nodding in
approval as they sat down.
"Good morning? I hope you slept well," the man with long
hair said. "I am Soun Tendo. Welcome to my home." He
casually snapped a piece of meat back from his daughter's
chopsticks.
"Ah, pleased to meet you." Ryoga gestured at the couple.
"Are they always like that?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes. Very competitive those two."
"They're freaks, Dad. Get it right," Nabiki sniped as she
walked in and sat down.
Ryoga tended to agree. If this was how Ranma and Akane
trained, no wonder they were so good. They suddenly finished
their food and simultaneously charged up the stairs to go
change. Ryoga blinked as he noted that they were actually
throwing and blocking punches even as they ran.
The oldest girl, rushing out of the room while holding her
mouth, suddenly distracted him.
"Oh, dear. I'd better go and see what's wrong!" the
housekeeper said as she trotted after her.
"So, have you decided what you plan to do now?" Soun said, a
dangerous glint in his eye.
"I, uh, think I need to go on a journey of self discovery. I
need to seek purpose again."
"That is good to hear. I am always on the lookout for
promising students. You have a lot of potential."
Behind him, the other man nodded his head. "Just being able
to hold your own against Ranma or Akane is an amazing
thing."
"You would still accept me as a student?" Ryoga asked,
startled.
"Of course!"
"I... I'll have to think about it." If the same person that
trained Ranma trained him, he could defeat Ranma eventually.
"Mr. Tendo? Kasumi isn't feeling well. I think she needs to
go see the doctor this morning," Nanami said as she walked
back into the living room.
"Later," Ranma and Akane cried out as the charged out the
door, headed to school.
"Of course, Nanami. I'll take her. Saotome, you can handle
the classes this morning, can't you?"
Genma nodded his affirmative.
-
"We're home!" Ranma and Akane greeted as they walked in the
door.
"Oh, hello!" Nanami called out from the kitchen.
"I'm going to change, Ranma," Akane called out as she zipped
up the stairs.
"Sure." He shrugged as he thought for a second. He walked
into the kitchen. "Say, Nanami, do you know if there are any
vitamins around?" He needed something beyond training for an
edge.
The older woman smiled as she looked up from her cooking.
"There should be. Let me take a look." She opened a cupboard
up above her head. "Hmm. That's odd. There should be several
here. Nabiki must have taken them up to her room. She takes
a lot of vitamins, you know."
Ranma blinked. "I think I saw them, now that I think about
it. Thanks!"
"Ranma, wait! Oh, drat. Nabiki hates it when someone goes
into her room." Was he getting faster?
Ranma had already entered said room by the time that Nanami
had finished calling after him. Yep, there they were. A
slightly open nightstand's drawer of pill bottles revealed
over two dozen varieties of pills. Ranma started to take one
of each, thought about it for a second and grabbed two of
each. He dry swallowed them and then glided down the hall to
stairs to get a glass of water.
A wave of vertigo suddenly struck him as he started down the
stairs. His limbs started to feel rubbery, even as his eyes
drooped. The last thing he remembered was thinking, my, how
high up he was from the bottom of the stairs.
Akane attention was jerked to the sound of someone crashed
down the stairs heavily. The only one she could thing that
could be was Ranma, of course. She slammed her door and
charged towards the stairs to see what he'd done now.
The sight that greeted her shocked her to her core. It had
been Ranma, but the sight of him lying on the ground,
twitching scared her almost speechless.
"Nanami! Call 119!"
-
Soun walked by his daughter's side, looking at her
carefully. He sighed. It must be the price of a modern
world. "Don't worry. I'm sure he will be fine about this."
Kasumi sniffled loudly. "Father!"
"We'll call him tomorrow. I'm sure his family will be
amenable to reason." Soun cleared his throat. "He is a
responsible boy, right?" Obviously not that responsible, he
grumbled to himself.
Kasumi nodded her head frantically.
"Mr. Tendo! Thank God you're home!" Nanami said, bustling
out of the house. "Something terrible has happened!"
"Nanami? Get a hold of yourself! What is going on here?"
Soun called out.
"Ranma was taken to the hospital. He had a seizure of some
sort. Mr. Saotome and Akane went with him."
"Ranma?"
-
"Are you Genma Saotome?" the officious voice asked from
behind the stout martial artist.
"That's me. Can you tell me what happened to my son?" The
older Saotome looked like he had aged years in the mere
hours since he'd arrived. He turned to the man in the white
lab coat.
"I'm Dr. Takauchi. It appears that you son is suffering from
some form of drug overdose. Has he ever exhibited any
tendency to use drugs or signs of suicidal thoughts?" the
balding doctor asked. His eyes tried to read what he saw in
the middle-aged man.
"Ranma? You must be joking! He's a true martial artist. He
would never pollute his body with such things."
"Our tests don't lie, Mr. Saotome. I suspect that he tried
to commit suicide, using a wide variety of street drugs."
Dr. Takauchi frowned. He seemed earnest about his stance.
"My son is a paragon of a martial artist. He would never
think such thoughts."
"Is he the heir of your school?"
"How did you guess? He and Akane are the heirs to the
Anything Goes School of Martial Arts!" He gestured to the
said young lady behind him.
"Saotome! How is Ranma?" Soun asked as he entered into the
room, spotting his old friend.
"This... doctor seems to think that Ranma tried to commit
suicide by taking drugs," Genma almost spat out.
"What? I don't think that Ranma even knows what the word
quit means." The Tendo patriarch brushed his mustache. Ranma
had seemed too alive for such thoughts.
"Mr. Tendo, I hate to bring this up, but Ranma asked me
about him getting some vitamins. I... mentioned that Nabiki
had taken most of them into her room." The flustered
housekeeper wrung her hands nervously.
Kasumi looked at the housekeeper in surprise. "Oh, no. She
didn't, did she?"
"Nabiki." A freezing wind chiseled the Tendo patriarch's
face into stone. "This matter will be dealt with. Tonight."
The door suddenly flapped back and forth, signaling that
someone had exited the room at high speeds.
"Eh?" Soun looked around, trying to see who had left. "Oh,
drat. Akane!"
-
Nabiki pulled a drag off of her cigarette. She and her
friends were hanging around the local mall, trying to figure
out something to do.
"We don't got the money to go see a flick, Lita. Just give
it up," one of the girls said with an angry scowl on her
face.
"What do you say, Nabiki? You good for a loan?"
"Not with you. You still owe me... two hundred and fifty yen
from last week. I'm not loaning you nothing until you pay it
back." Nabiki gave the girl a hard look, a look that told
her in no uncertain terms that was the way it was.
"Damn, no reason to bite my head off..."
"Nabiki! You are coming home. Now!" Akane barked out loudly.
Her face was flushed with anger, her fists shaking. She
stood just down the sidewalk from them. Her mere expression
had cleared her a small clearing in the throngs of people.
"Buzz off, Akane. I don't want to."
"I didn't ask." Akane turned her head to one of Nabiki's
friends trying sidle sideways around her. "Don't even think
it."
"What's poor Daddy dearest upset about this time?" Nabiki
sneered down her nose at her younger sister.
"You've gone too far this time. I can't believe that you're
into drugs."
Nabiki's breath caught in her throat. "That's a pretty
serious accusation, sis." Her friends rustled around her in
nervous movement.
"It put Ranma in the hospital. He thought he was taking
vitamins."
"Ah, did poor widdle Wanma get sick? You can't make me come
home." Inside she was shaken. This could be very bad indeed.
"Yes, Nabiki, I can. And I will." Akane's voice spoke of the
chill wind that drifted from the artic regions.
"Did your poor little lover boy fail to come home so you
could go fuck in the dojo?" Nabiki put a brave face forward
as she stood. "Go home. Daddy's little precious girl.
Daddy's little bitch." Nabiki palmed her switchblade.
Akane dipped her head to the side, her hand unerringly
grabbing fist that tried to strike her from behind. A simple
toss threw the hapless girl thirty feet, sending her
tumbling. "I warned you." It was hard to see whom she was
talking to.
The crowd around them parted back even farther. Normally,
six on one odds, they'd be betting on the street rats. But
the single girl seemed more than capable of taking on them.
Including all of them in the crowd. Mall security was
pushing their way to them, trying to get through the press
of the crowd.
"Go to hell, bitch," Nabiki said through clenched teeth. As
if that were a signal, the rest of her friends charged at
her sister.
Akane became a blur of motion. Two punches robbed the
closest two girls of their breath, causing them to collapse
and lose their latest meals before they could even swing a
single punch. She barely swayed, left then right to dodge
the last two girls. A simultaneous palm strike to a sternum
and a kick to another girl's jaw saw the last of Nabiki's
girls drop.
Nabiki licked her lips as she snapped out her blade. She had
little illusions about the outcome of this fight. But she
couldn't not fight. She'd be happy if she even marked the
girl in front of her. She wicked out her blade, so fast that
it almost whistled, a snarl on her lips.
She may as well have been trying to hit a shadow. She felt a
flurry of strikes numb her arm from the shoulder on down.
The knife clattered to the ground. Nabiki didn't even see
the punch that knocked her out.
"Does anyone else have a problem with me taking my sister
home?" Akane asked coldly, scanning the crowd for
dissenters.
Even the security guards took an involuntary step backwards.
With that pronouncement said, she picked up Nabiki's prone
body and vaulted to the closest two story building. Almost
instantly she was out of sight.
-
Ranma groaned, stirring awake. His eyes opened to an
unexpected sight. The room he was in was sterile and smelled
of chemicals.
"Ranma?" a soft voice called out to him.
"Yeah," he croaked.
"How do you... feel?" asked the voice.
"Fine, I guess. A little woozy, that's all." Even as he
spoke, he started to take control of his bodily processes,
speeding the process of healing. He looked over at the girl
sitting next to his bed.
Akane smiled wanly. "You accidentally took some drugs. The
doctors didn't think that'd you wake up for days." Stubborn
jerk, she thought fondly.
"How long was I out?"
"About sixteen hours."
Ranma took a good look at his fianc,e's face. "Are you all
right?"
Akane bit her lip for a second. "Daddy had Nabiki admitted
to a drug rehab this morning. It was her drugs that you
took."
"Oh."
"She didn't want to come home. She said some really mean
things when I told her I was going to make her come home."
Even Ranma couldn't miss the tears that were threatening to
pour from her eyes. Akane suddenly latched onto Ranma in a
death tight hug, her sobs muffled by his chest. Ranma could
do nothing except pat her on the back.
-
"So why are we doing this again?" Ranma asked the next day,
her mop of red hair slipped under a green Chinese communist
hat, which went along perfectly with the green outfit she
wore.
"Because our fathers thought that we needed to do something
other than practice. You were the one that decided that
going out for ice cream sounded good." Akane was miffed at
Ranma pulling the cutesy act to get more free eats on the
way home. Had she no shame?
"Ah, you're just upset that I can be cuter than you when I
want to be!" Although Ranma did have to admit that Akane did
look pretty cute in that sundress. Ranma took a quick
vicious bite of her dumpling to distract herself. Akane was
the foe, to be defeated at any cost.
A commotion dragged their attention to a fight. Two quick
hops took them to the wall next to an abandoned field. A
stunning young woman in a brown school uniform was snapping
a ribbon at three others mercilessly. The three men being
attacked were unrecognizable because of
Ranma charged off immediately, snagging the ribbon on the
back swing. "That's enough!"
"You are not an ordinary girl, are you?" the attacker
exclaimed.
"You could say that," Akane said dryly.
The unknown woman took Akane's appearance in one quick
glance. "Good, because that means I do not have to extend
ordinary greetings." Her toe flipped up baton-like club into
her hand, even as she lunged at him. The attack almost
seemed to connect, until she realized that Ranma had ducked
faster than her eye could follow.
A blindingly fast leg sweep knocked the unknown girl from
her feet. Moving with trained grace, she fell into a forward
cartwheel to regain her feet. Halfway through her move, two
kicks slammed into her, sending her sprawling.
"Heh." Ranma smirked even as she kept her guard up.
The girl rolled to her feet. "You are very good! Perhaps as
good as myself. Know this, wench, that I am the rising star
of St. Hebereke's school for young ladies, Kodachi the Black
Rose." Kodachi held up a signature rose for just a second
before throwing it at her foe. With heartfelt laughter, she
leaped to the wall and then out of sight.
Akane hopped down to the sobbing figures that were
recovering from Kodachi's vicious beating. "Oh, dry up."
"You don't understand! We've been so humiliated!" one cried
out.
"Jeez. You're giving guys a bad name," Ranma said as she
walked over. "Be men! Not crybabies!"
"Ranma!" Akane growled.
"We're not men! We're the Furinkan High Gymnastics Team!"
one of the girls said, unwrapping her bandages to show that
this was true. A small bandaged still adorned her nose,
which looked like it had been broken recently.
"What happened to you?" Akane asked in surprise.
"We were attacked by Kodachi! She decided to take us out
before our match, instead of meeting and defeating us fairly
in the Rhythmic Gymnastics Martial Arts meet!" another girl
cried out. Her eyes widened in surprise as she noted who she
was talking about. "Akane Tendo? You could enter into the
match and bring justice on Kodachi for her actions!"
"Yeah! You're sure to win!" the third and final gymnast
cried out.
"Well, I suppose. I've never heard of Rhythmic Gymnastics
Martial Arts before." Akane had a thoughtful look on her
face as she considered the different prospects of this
endeavor.
"Well, if she enters, so will I!" Ranma declared, a
determined expression on her face.
"Ranma. You are not a girl!" Akane espoused angrily. "This
is for girls only!"
"Do I look like a guy right now?"
"Actually, guys can enter, you know. Gymnastics isn't just a
girls sport. Well, entirely," the leader of the Furinkan
High team explained. "There are a couple of guys in the
region."
"So who's being a chauvinist now, Akane?" Ranma heckled.
"Oh, shut up. You're right. This time."
-
"We're home!" Ranma and Akane cried out as they entered the
house. They were burdened down with various gymnastics
tools, for their training. Their parents accosted them in an
eye blink when they walked in the door, leaving the
gymnastics tools to clatter to the ground.
"No time to argue, son! Come with me!" Genma said, dragging
Ranma up the stairs at a trot. "Nanami, I'm going to need
that kettle!"
"You too, Akane! You need to get ready and help Kasumi get
dressed!" Soun said from right behind, pushing her up the
stairs at just a little less than a trot.
Akane found herself shoved into her oldest sister's room.
"Kasumi?"
"Oh, Akane! You need to get ready. Did father explain to you
what's going on?"
Ranma nearly jumped through the roof when he heard Akane
yell out, "WHAT! NEVER!"
"Jeez, what's her problem?" Ranma asked his father as he
patted his hair dry.
"I think that you had better ask her about that, boy."
"Why do I have to wear this get up?" he groused, tugging
fitfully at the ornate kimono and hakima.
"Ranma, I want you to be especially polite. Takchi has
brought his parents over to formalize the engagement to
Kasumi. I would be very disappointed if you disrupted this
solemn event." Light glinted off of Genma's glasses,
reminding him for just a second that his lazy old man could
still give him a thorough beating if he did truly upset him.
"Uh, sure." Now why did he think Ranma would disrupt the
event?
Soon everyone had gathered at the dinner table. Genma and
Soun were at one end, an older couple at the other. Ranma
and Takchi were sitting one side, waiting for Akane and
Kasumi, who had gone into the kitchen. Everyone present,
excluding Nanami, was dressed in formal kimonos. There
seemed to be a high level of tension in the room.
Kasumi and Akane entered the room, carrying trays with tea
fixings. They knelt across from their respective mates.
Ranma noted that Akane seemed to be watching what Kasumi was
doing, mimicking her as closely as possible. There seemed to
be an almost ritualistic feel to the events. Ranma wasn't
terribly sure of the significance, but he thought he had a
good idea. As he took the cup of tea from his fianc,e, he
noted that she looked like she had cried recently.
Soun cleared his throat. "I am pleased to meet you and your
lovely wife today, Mr. Riaku. Even though this is an
unexpected event, it is not an unhappy one. With the change
of plans, I am willing to offer Kasumi and her husband a
place to stay until they finish college, as our house is
much closer and is an easier commute. These and gifts for
your son's education are from my family to your family."
Mr. Riaku nodded. "These are generous, indeed, for my humble
son. We are both agreed that the wedding will occur in six
weeks time?"
"Yes. That will give us two weeks after Akane and Ranma's
wedding to prepare."
Ranma's heart seemed to thud to the bottom of his stomach.
What? His eyes met Akane's, seeing her pained expression and
a small curt shake of her head when he started to open his
mouth. Why was she willing to go along with this?
"I look forward to this occasion."
-
"What the heck is going on?" Ranma cried out, after the
guests had departed. He folded nearly in half as Akane
unexpectedly punched him in the stomach.
"There isn't a choice, Ranma. Kasumi has to be married soon.
And if I don't want to lose my inheritance, I have to be
married before her."
"Eh? Whatcha talking about?"
"What she is saying, is due to how inheritance taxes work,
she has to be married before I am or she might not inherit
the dojo. This is all my fault," Kasumi said, blowing her
nose as emphasis. She had started crying almost the moment
that the Riaku's had left.
"How can it be your fault?" Ranma asked, quite confuse now.
"Well, unless I want to be a single mother, I have to be
married soon." Kasumi laid her hands on her stomach, looking
like she was going to start crying any time.
Soun rubbed the bridge of his nose. "This has forced us to
move faster than expected, that's all. Ranma and Akane have
been engaged for a while and this only formally engages
Kasumi. I only wish that we weren't having this problem with
Nabiki right now."
"Oh," Ranma replied eloquently. Maybe this wasn't just his
old man messing with his life, like normal.
"Father? Ranma and I have to practice for a match this
upcoming Saturday. So if we could be excused."
Soun nodded, letting them run off. He sighed. "Well,
Saotome, it looks like things are really moving along now."
"That you're right about, Tendo."
-
"This is trickier than I thought," Ranma muttered to
herself. She watched as Akane twirled and snapped a ribbon
like an odd whip.
"Squeee!" a small black piglet cried out.
"Ryoga?" the two martial artists cried out in surprise.
And indeed it was. The small black piglet had a package that
he had dragged with him.
"Oh, cookies from Hokkaido!"
"Why are you bringing this to us?" Ranma asked suspiciously.
"Say, do want us to get you some hot water?"
Ryoga squealed happily at the second question.
"Don't worry, Akane. I'll handle it." Ranma snagged the
cursed boy and ran out of the room. In moments she deposited
him in the furo, waiting for him to change.
"Ha. Thanks, Ranma," Ryoga said once his now human head
broke the surface. "As for why I brought those cookies,
they're an apology for my behavior from before. To Akane."
Ranma squinted at the lost boy suspiciously. He wasn't
trying to hit on his fianc,e, was he? "I don't know if..."
"Hey, what are you doing with those Rhythmic Gymnastics
tools?" Ryoga asked, sliding to sit comfortably in the
water.
"Me and Akane got a challenge in Rhythmic Gymnastics' meet.
So we're practicing. We don't have any really good teachers
tho'."
"I'll give you a couple of pointers. You probably just need
some practice and you'll be able to handle just about
anybody."
"I always can anyways!"
-
Ranma and Akane lay panting on the ground, leaning back to
back. Ryoga stood behind them, just shaking his head. After
only three hours of training, they were as good as any
professional Gymnasts. "If you keep this up for until
Saturday, whoever you face isn't going to know what hit
them."
"That's the idea!" Akane replied in between huffs and puffs.
"Say, Ryoga? Whatcha going to do now?" Ranma asked, fanning
herself.
"I'm taking Mr. Tendo up on his offer to be one of his
students." With a real tutor, Ranma wouldn't know what hit
him! Ryoga started to laugh maniacally.
"Jeez, what's up with him?"
"I don't know. He was your friend, after all." Akane
stretched and stood up.
"Akane, Ranma! It's time for bed," Nanami called out.
Akane started walking toward the house. "Come on, we can
practice some more in the morning."
Ranma really wished their fathers hadn't stepped on any
practicing after Nanami's bedtime call. She was sure that
she could surpass Akane if given enough practice. Sighing,
she headed towards the bathroom to change, in more ways than
one, before heading to bed.
Absently, she noted that Ryoga was setting up a camp in the
back yard. Must be afraid of getting lost before his lesson
tomorrow.
Akane walked passed her, already changed into her pajamas.
Other days they would sometimes stay up and talk, but
neither felt up to it this time. A quick jog up the stairs
and she was in front of her door. Just as she was reaching
for the doorknob, she stopped. There was a definite
presence, an unfamiliar one at that too.
She also hadn't been in her room since this morning, so the
light being on was a serious giveaway. She opened the door
forcefully, taking in the room in one snap of a glance.
"What are you doing?" she asked Kodachi, where she hung on
the ceiling ninja-like, a large wooden mallet held behind
her.
Kodachi's eyes opened wider. How had she managed to spot me
so easily? And how dare she treat me as no threat, standing
casually like that. She dropped to the ground, still holding
the mallet behind her. Her free hand took the black rose
that she'd had clamped in her teeth, holding in elegantly
before her. She sniffed the rose as if she were in her own
house and not an intruder.
"I am here to extend my greeting before the match. Please,
do accept them graciously." And with that swung as hard as
she could with her mallet. She blinked in astonishment as an
open palm stopped the weapon's head easily.
"Certainly! After all, I'm just returning as good as I get,
right?" Akane said with snarling smile.
Kodachi didn't even see the punch that rocketed her out
through the closed window. The cool air managed to revive
her just before she crashed painfully into the ground,
rolling to a stop.
"Curse you, Akane Tendo! I'll have my revenge!" Kodachi
swore as she stood up. She grimaced in pain at her injured
leg. "But another night."
-
"Ah, Akane Tendo! My fierce love of my love! I must wisk-
urk!" his tirade and attempt to grab Akane was stopped by
her fist in his face.
"Get lost, Kuno!"
Shaking off the stunning blow, Kuno spoke up again, "Nay! I
must protect you against my villainess sister! Her depths of
depravity and cunning know no limit or boundaries."
Akane pursed her lips. "I knew she attacked people before
her matches. Is there more?"
"Aye! She uses uncanny weapons and her skill with poisons is
not to be trifled with!"
"Hmm. Thanks, Kuno," Akane said in passing as she headed
into the school.
Moving with surprising quickness, Kuno enfolded her in a
crushing bear hug from behind, looking like he was grabbing
her breasts. "Oh, my goddess! I knew that you would show
your true-gack!"
Ranma removed his foot from the back of Kuno's head. "She
said get lost!" Ranma said seriously to the slumped over
figure.
"Why did you interfere?" Akane screamed at him.
"What, I'm supposed to let him grope you?"
"I didn't... I can defend myself, you know!"
"You weren't doing that great of a job, were you?" Ranma
said snidely.
"Would you like to see how well I can protect myself?"
The warning bell rang. For just a moment they continued to
stare at each other.
Finally Ranma smiled widely. "Tonight!"
"You've got it!" Akane's smile was just as wide.
-
"I wish Ryoga would have been able to make it," Akane mused
aloud.
"Yeah! That way I can show him that I've gotten better than
him." And you, Ranma added silently. Though she did have to
admit that her skills with a wide variety of weapons had
surprised her. She had explained that a great part of the
Tendo School of martial arts included them.
It was supposedly an ancient tradition of the family. Mr.
Tendo even had a full suit of samurai armor. That had
surprised Ranma, when he'd started practice one morning in
it with a practice spear. Ranma was still sporting bruises
because of that encounter.
Ranma thought to herself that he'd never seen such an
intense match between Mr. Tendo and her father after she and
Akane were done. It had taken his pop ten minutes to finally
get the spear away. It took another ten minutes for Mr.
Tendo to finish the fight, close as it had been. The
protection of the armor had balanced with its
cumbersomeness, but the punishing hits with the spear that
it had allowed him to inflict on his father had been
amazing. And the telling point of the fight.
The pigtailed martial artist had to frown at the words of
his father about weapon users being very dangerous, in their
own way. He'd then laughed as he remembered the other father
going after him for something long forgotten. Mr. Tendo had
nodded while smiling wryly and explained that weapons had
many advantages and disadvantages.
Ranma's train of thought was broken as they entered St.
Hebereke Academy. The door opened and a round, black ball
rolled out, a fuse burning down merrily.
"That can't be..?"
"...a bomb?"
Instincts took over, sending them to dive back down the
stairs, away from the bomb. "Wagh!" they cried out. With a
thundering boom, it took out the door and a figure that had
been hiding behind the door. Said figure, blackened and in
obvious pain, collapsed unconscious.
"Isn't this taking things a little far?" Akane asked,
looking over at Ranma.
"You're asking me? I just hope that's the last of it."
Ranma's words seemed to fulfill some perverse law of
coincidence, as more bombs rolled out of the shattered
doorway. With a quick glance to each other, they ran to the
side of the building. Behind them, explosions rocked the
building.
"Look! A way in!" Ranma cried, pointing to an open window on
the second floor.
"Right!" Without a second thought, they bounced up and in.
"Ready! Aim! Fire!" a girl in a leotard called out, dropping
her hand. The other four girls released their arrows,
pulling back and shooting again and again.
Akane's foot slipped a classroom desk up, blocking the
arrows coming at her. Her other foot lashed out, sending a
row of desk-chairs at the girls. Ranma had rocketed up to
the ceiling and pancaked up to it for a long moment. With
quick scurrying motions, she ended up above them.
The pigtailed girl landed on them at the same time as her
fianc,e bounded off a wall and smashed into their front
line. Feminine shrieks and cries of pain were the only
noises that escaped the dust cloud of the fight.
Twin sounds of unfeminine pain broke through finally. The
cloud settled for just a second to show Akane and Ranma,
fists imbedded in each others faces. The other girls were
collapsed on the ground with lumps and contusions.
"Oops. Sorry!" Ranma called out.
"Uh, no problem. It's an honest mistake, right?"
"Right! Let's go!"
They opened the door and peeked through. Not spotting
anything, they started to walk down the hallway carefully. A
strange zinging noise came from around the corner. Several
more girls in leotards came around the corner on skates or
skateboards, the lead one blaring out with a trumpet. All of
them brandished clubs and hoops.
Both of their targets flipped up to stand on the walls on
either side of the hallway, defying gravity and avoiding the
wheeled charge. Fists lashed out at the surprised attackers.
More feminine shrieks were heard, even as the skateboards
continued down the hall.
"Feh. They didn't have much, did they?"
"Nope," Akane agreed. "We'd better hurry! I think Kodachi is
trying to disqualify us because a no show."
"Hmm. I don't even know which way to the gym."
"We'll ask her!" Putting actions to her words, Akane hefted
one of the more semiconscious girls. She shook the girl
lightly to wake her all the way up. "Which way to the gym?"
"You'll never make it in time! It's all the way down this
hall and downstairs! Every inch is trapped!" The unknown
gymnast wasn't quite so sure of her own words. These two
were unstoppable!
Akane dropped the girl unceremoniously. She looked over to
Ranma with a hard grin on her face. "Race you!"
"You're on!"
The race down the hallway turned into an obstacle course
with traps, more bombs and leotard wearing girls attacking
with every weapon they could throw at the pair.
-
Kodachi looked on in triumph, she had a mere sixty seconds
to go and she would still be undefeated. Suddenly, the door
crashed open, admitting smoke and two bedraggled figures.
Steadily and confidently, they walked up to the ring,
stripping the ragged remains of their outer clothing off to
reveal their only slightly smudged leotards.
"No!"
"You're Akane Tendo? And Ranma Saotome?" They nodded in
response. "All right, take your corner!"
"Ah, my fierce tigress! You astound me with your
determination. But hark, who is that lovely damsel that
walks at her side so confidently. My eyes do not deceive me,
this can not be that fiend Ranma Saotome. I must pontificate
more on this matter, lest I make a rash judgment." Kuno sat
up in the bleachers, lost in thought.
"You can't be here!" Kodachi screeched, literally shaking in
anger.
"Why not?" Akane asked seriously. She flipped up into the
ring, snapping two clubs out of the air.
Kodachi gulped, trying to overcome her anger. "I... I am
unable to compete this day. My shoulder has a hairline
fracture and my doctor has warned me that I may hurt myself
and never be able to compete again." She removed the jacket
stiffly she'd been wearing. It had hid her bandages. Her
eyes were narrowed in fury. How had they managed to defeat
all of her traps? Her cunning plans and loyal followers?
The crowd oohed in shock. Kodachi was having to forfeit? In
the middle of them, Kuno almost noted something unusual, but
slid back into his ruminations.
"Kodachi has forfeited! Being the only entrant for St.
Herebeke, that means Furinkan High wins!"
"Hey! You mean we don't even get to fight?" Ranma asked
incredulously. That wasn't fair!
"Yeah!"
"The only matches today were between the schools!"
"No!" they cried out, but the referee was already walking
off.
-
An hour later, after everyone else had left, the two
Furinkan martial artists sat gloomily on the benches.
"We never got to see who was really better," Ranma groused.
"I know already. But without a referee, we'll never agree to
a winner."
"It's kind of funny how Kodachi had to forfeit though.
Serves her right."
"She was hoisted by her own petard, wasn't she?"
"Uh huh. Let's go home."
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