Categories > Anime/Manga > Ranma 1/2 > Blessed Curse
Blessed Curse
Author: USA Tiger
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi
Author note: okay, 2 years is not my best track record, or my worst. I swear time gets away from me and I don’t realize how long it’s been since I updated this story. Life was getting me down, my job was killing any creativity I had for writing most of my stuff but I recently had a major change. I moved clear across the country to start a new chapter of my life so now I’m working on updating everything I got behind on.
This chapter is currently unbeated.
Chapter 10
Ryoga was nowhere to be seen later that night, he never showed up to the Tendo dojo to help Akane practice for the upcoming match. He didn’t show the next night either, Ranma going as far as to search all around Furinkan for the lost boy but found nothing.
“What do we do then?” Akane groaned as she flopped back on the practice mat in the middle of the dojo. Ryoga had gone over the tools, what they were and how they could be used, so that part Ranma and Akane understood. But Ryoga was supposed to go over techniques and strategies with Akane and he wasn’t here.
“Practice I guess,” Ranma said, her chin in her hand where she sat cross-legged across from Akane.
“Or… you could just watch videos of matches,” Nabiki’s voice said from the doorway of the dojo. Akane and Ranma turned to face the middle Tendo sister. Nabiki shrugged her shoulders carelessly as she added, “not as good as having someone teach you face to face, but Ranma baby here is smart. I bet she can catch on quick and teach you, little sis.” Akane narrowed her eyes as her sister considering the idea.
“How much?” she asked, Nabiki had the only computer in the house one she bought herself with the money she got from her extra… activities. The older girl jealously guarded her computer like a bull dog, rarely letting Kasumi or Akane use the desktop. And when Akane did was to use it, Nabiki usually charged a fee. Not a high one, at least compared to what she would charge anyone else, but still a fee.
“For this? It’s a freebie,” Nabiki said.
“… why?” Akane asked as that was very out-of-character for her sister.
“Because I need you to win this match, so if I have to lend my computer to you to let you watch matches then I will,” Nabiki said. Akane rolled her eyes and sighed. Ranma just tilted her head and looked confused at Nabiki.
“Why do you care so much anyway? To make that bet with that crazy Kodachi girl I mean,” she said. “You in love with Mousse or som’thing?” Nabiki snorted in amusement then started laughing, leaning over with her hands braced on her knees when she saw Ranma was serious.
“In love with him? Are you nuts?” she asked. Nabiki did not believe in ‘love at first sight’ or anything like that and for Ranma to suggest it was just too funny.
“Then… why did you bet with that crazy girl like that if you don’t like Mousse?” Ranma asked confused. Nabiki sighed and wiped away a tear as she straightened.
“I didn’t say I didn’t like him, he’s cute I’ll certainly give him that,” she explained. “I found your friend interesting and I met him first. I also don’t like Kuno’s baby sister too much right now, so I’m counting on you to beat her, sis. Come up when you’re ready to watch the videos.” Nabiki said over her shoulder as she walked back into the house.
“Wow,” Akane said as she watched the now empty door.
“What?” Ranma asked.
“Nabiki,” Akane said. “She’s never really… I guess it doesn’t matter.” Akane shook her head then stood off the floor. “Come on, let’s go what those videos since Nabiki is being so kind to let us.”
“Alright, if you say so,” Ranma said as she rolled backwards and landed on her feet.
“And hey, maybe if she’s distracted we can sneak in a few cat videos,” Akane giggled then realized what she said. “I mean dog! I mean dog!”
“C-c-c-at videos!?!” Ranma shuddered in fear. “Who the hell wants to watch videos of those little demons!?!”
******
The videos of past gymnastic rhythm marital art matches were a big help in letting Ranma come up with techniques for Akane to practice with and try. Akane… was not all together that graceful, in fact at times she could be like a bull in a china shop. But she did have great aim, when Akane threw something she usually could hit what she was aiming at, and Akane was strong. Not as strong as Ranma, Ryoga or even Shampoo, but Akane was far from weak.
Ranma honestly wasn’t sure if Akane would be able to beat Kodachi, the girl was crazy talented from the one time she saw the girl fight and from what she heard the younger Kuno sibling was one of the best, if not the best, of the current generation. Ranma thought that maybe she would stand a chance at beating Kodachi, maybe, but Akane was determine to be the one who went up against the other girl. So all Ranma could do was help Akane train since there was no Ryoga around to do it. At least Akane was getting better at using the hoop, ribbons and all the other stuff.
“Okay, let’s try this again,” Akane said, dressed in the yellow leotard she bought for this match and holding a pair of clubs. This was her last chance to practice before the match tomorrow and was giving it all she had. Taking a deep breath, Akane flipped both of them into the air toward Ranka, currently in her female form, catching them as they came down and slamming then with force into the floor where Ranka had been kneeling a moment before. Akane growled under her breath and abandoned the clubs, instead grabbing the ribbon lying on the floor nearby.
Standing Akane twirled and snapped the ribbon at Ranka who jump and ran all over the dojo, dodging Akane’s attacks.
“Purple sugar missile!” Ranka yelled as she thrust out her arm and Kyandi sprung from the wide sleeve flying at Akane like a tiny bullet. Akane’s pet sugar glider had turned into an excellent tool for training Akane in dodging fast attacks. Akane had of course been hesitate at first, Kyandi was her baby after all, but the purple sugar glider was a lot tougher than she seemed and even seemed to have fun launching herself at Akane. As long as her pet wasn’t hurt, Akane finally agreed to let Kyandi help.
Akane twisted and rolled out of the way, Kyandi gliding past her to the floor, then came up kicking a mid-size ball at Ranka. Ranka leapt up and clung to the ceiling, looking at Akane upside down.
“You’re getting a lot better,” She said. Akane have her friend a frustrated glare and huffed.
“I would do better if you would let me hit you, I’m supposed to be practicing,” she pointed out.
“That’s not gonna do ya any good,” Ranka said as she let go of the rafters and twisting in midair to land lightly on her feet, knees bending to absorb the shock. “Kodachi isn’t gonna just stand around and let you hit her, so you gonna learn how to hit me on the go while at the same time dodging her attacks.”
Akane breathed deeply then let it out with a heavy sigh.
“Yeah yeah, I know,” she said, petting Kyandi on the top of the head as the tiny animal climbed up on her shoulder. “But it’s frustrating, just once I would like to land a hit on you. Plus we haven’t seen Ryoga-kun the last couple of days to help me train, all we got is what we came up with.”
“I wish I knew where Ryoga got to, it would be a big help if he was here,” Ranka said sighing. As if answering her, a yip came from the direction of the door. Ranka turned and smiled widely. “Kit-chan! There you are.” The black and yellow fox seemed to smile and started wagging his tail.
‘Ranka-chan!’ Ryoga thought as he yipped again. He had several packages balanced on his back, gifts for both Ranka and his mother that he picked up on his latest trip that he managed to save after falling into the canal. His clothing had been swept away by the current while his travel pack and umbrella had sunk to the bottom of the channel. Thankfully he had left a couple of extra changes of clothing the last time he had been at the dojo, hiding them so no one would throw them away.
“Wow, where did these come from?” Akane asked as she undid the rope holding the packages to Ryoga’s back, causing them to fall to the floor. Each girl picked up a package reading it. “These are Royce chocolates from Hokkaido.”
“Whoa, that’s pretty far north,” Ranka said as she picked up Kit-chan, touching her nose to his. “Did you go all the way to Hokkaido to get some chocolates?”
‘Well not on purpose but still,’ Ryoga thought as he blushed under his fur but that didn’t stop his tail from wagging. ‘But I thought you would like them anyway.’
“Well you can eat them later, let’s get back to practicing,” Akane said as she moved all the boxes out of the way so they wouldn’t get trampled. Grabbing a hoop, Akane turned to face Ranka again. “Okay, let’s start.” Ranka let Ryoga down and moved to the other side of the dojo. Kyandi glided off Akane’s shoulder to the floor beside Kit-chan, Shampoo and Ryoga studiously ignoring each other as they watched the girls. Ryoga wanted to see how Akane did before heading for the bath to change back.
Akane tossed the hop to Ranka and picked up the discarded clubs from earlier.
“Ready?” she asked the other girl, crossing her arms over her chest as Ranka nodded. “Here I come!”
Akane rushed forward, jabbing at Ranka with the clubs while Ranka dodged each strike and blocked with the hoop. Akane hopped back then grabbed the ribbon on the floor with the toes of her right foot whipping it into the air so she could grab it.
“Hyah!” she gave a war cry as she dropped the clubs to hold onto the ribbon with both hands. At the same time, Kyandi noticed the red gymnastic ball on the floor that was right in Akane’s path. Squealing loudly, the purple sugar glider darted forward in a blur and knocked into the ball with her whole body, knocking it out of the way before Akane could trip on it and possibly hurt herself. Unfortunately Shampoo was unable to completely get out of the way in time as Akane’s foot came down on her tail. All movement in the room stopped as Shampoo squealed in pain. Akane tripped over her own feet in her haste to move, dropping the ribbon and catching herself with her hands on the floor. Her left wrist twinge in pain but she ignored it as she quickly turned around.
“Kyandi!” she yelled as she picked up the tiny purple gliding possum, cradling Kyandi in her hands.
“Is she okay?” Ranka asked as she knelt next to them.
“I’m not sure, I stepped on her tail,” Akane said as she tried to look at Kyandi’s tail. “Why did she do that?”
“There was a ball in your way,” Ranka said as she jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the innocent seeming ball. Kyandi let out a pained squeaky wail as Akane jostled her tail.
“Come on, Kasumi will know how to help her,” Akane said as she stood cradling Kyandi close to her chest and headed for the door of the dojo. Ranka swept up Kit-chan on the way out as she followed Akane back into the house.
****
“It’s just bruised,” Kasumi assured Akane as she gently yet firmly wrapped a bandage around Kyandi’s tail. Shampoo, as Kyandi, laid out across the pillow provided by the oldest Tendo daughter as Kasumi examined the sugar glider’s tail. It had been a long time since Shampoo had felt any pain like that, she had broken bones in her youth from both training and getting into fights with older girls in the village. Time and training had toughened up Shampoo and gave her the skills to keep things like that from happening. Still she was glad to hear that is wasn’t a broken tail bone and when she next transformed any damage should be corrected. “What in the world happened?”
“We weren’t paying attention while we trained and didn’t see a ball that was in my path,” Akane said, absently rubbing her left wrist. Kit-chan’s eyes followed the movement for a few seconds, a serious look on his face and a nod to himself as if coming to a decision. He jumped off Ranka’s shoulder and followed the sound of running water into the other room. His departure went unnoticed by the others.
“You got lucky then, Sis,” Nabiki said as she reviewed the video from the dojo on her tablet, she sometimes got the best pictures of Akane training from these surveillance videos. “If you had stepped on that then you could have ended up hurting yourself, maybe even broken something. Which means you wouldn’t be able to fight Kodachi.”
“Well I’m fine, thanks to Kyandi,” Akane said. “I’ll make sure to fight twice as hard for her.”
“And I’ll make sure you’re ready,” Ryoga’s voice said from behind them. Ranka and Akane turned to see Ryoga in the doorway, his hair damp and water dripping onto the collar of his top.
“Ryoga! When did you get here?” Ranka said. Ryoga rubbed the back of his neck.
“Err… just now?” he said.
“Perfect! You can make sure I’m ready then,” Akane said jumping up and grabbing Ryoga’s arm dragging him into the dojo. Ranka quickly followed, watching from the side as Akane explained to Ryoga all that they’ve done to try and prepare.
“Okay, let me see then,” Ryoga said, stepping back and watching Akane go through the routines with the various equipment with Ranka’s help. His eyes narrowed as he noticed her favoring her left wrist, trying to keep from moving it too much. “Okay, I’ve seen enough. I think you’re as ready as you’re going to be.”
“You really think so, Ryoga-kun?” Akane asked wiping sweat from her brow.
“Yeah, why don’t you go get some sleep, rest up for the match,” Ryoga suggested.
“Hmmm… I guess that makes sense,” Akane mused. “Thanks for your help.” She waved with her right hand, heading back inside the house. As Ranka moved to follower her, Ryoga stopped her with a touch on her arm.
“Ranka, I’m not sure if she should compete in the match tomorrow,” he confessed as she turned to him.
“Huh? Why not?” Ranka asked.
“Didn’t you see? She was favoring her left arm,” Ryoga wrapped a hand around his own left wrist showing her what he meant.
“Oh yeah… she was,” Ranka sighed. “She did have that nasty fall so she wouldn’t crush Kyandi, tomboy must have hurt herself. Think she’ll be able to fight?”
“Maybe? I don’t think she should if she’s injured like that but if she ices it and lets it rest, she could still compete,” Ryoga sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “But maybe she should have some backup.”
“What, you mean me?” Ranka asked pointing to herself.
“Yeah,” Ryoga said nodding his head. “You’ve been helping her train, I can help you with what you don’t know. This is just in case Akane can’t get through the match.”
“I guess… don’t really want to lose to that crazy girl, Mousse is counting on us too,” Ranka said with a sigh. “Okay, help me train.”
Ryoga grinned as he got to spend a little one-on-one time with his crush, helping her train until he sent her off to get some rest of her own.
******
DING-DONG
“/At one o’clock in Gymnasium two there will be a martial rhythmic gymnastics match against Furinkan High School,”/ a girl’s voice announced over the school intercom.
“A second?” Kodachi asked looking at the Tendo girl and the red headed girl behind her. She thought the other girl look familiar, it was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t place her. Not yet at least.
“Yes, we’re a team,” Akane said. “If I’m unable to go through with our match, my friend and team mate will take over.” Akane hadn’t been thrilled with the idea at first, after all she was determined to take down Kodachi herself but Ranka had pointed out that she noticed Akane’s wrist was injured. Not too badly, Akane had rested it as much as possible and even now it had a tight wrap around it, but it still ached a little. Ranka assured her that she wasn’t trying to take Akane’s thunder but helping out her friend. And it was still a victory for their school either way. “I know for a fact you have a whole team.”
Kodachi admitted to herself that was true, but she was the one who preformed all the attacks on the other teams to take them out before the match or went up against opponents that she was unable to get to in time before said match. The others girls on the team… well they knew their place and what their role was.
“Hmmm…” Kodachi leaned closer to the red headed girl behind Tendo. “We have met before, have we not?” She could place the girl now, the same one who stopped her attack on the girls from Furinkan High’s team with ease. Kodachi smirked and held her hand out for Ranka to shake. “Well then, let the best girl win.”
“Hold it,” Akane said grabbing Kodachi’s wrist and pulling her hand up so they could see a row of thumbtacks between the other girl’s long fingers.
“My my,” Kodachi said in fake shock, touching her cheek with her other hand. “How did these tacks get between my fingers?”
“Nice try,” Akane said as she shoved Kodachi’s hand away and waited for the younger Kuno sibling to leave. “Come on, our dressing room is this way.”
“Wow,” Ranka said shaking her head as they entered the room they were to use, pulling off her green top and pants to reveal the green leotard with light green sleeves under her outfit. “If you let your guard down for a second with this crazy chick…”
“Hmm,” Akane hummed in agreement, looking around as she removed her dress to strip down to her leotard. She spied a bouquet of black roses sitting on a table next to a fish tank. After hanging her dress on a hanger, Akane walked over to the counter and read the card attached to the flowers.
Good luck from the Black Rose
“What’s that?” Ranka asked as she watched Akane pluck a rose from the bouquet and drop it in the fish tank. Something instantly spread of the dark petals of the rose into the water, the fish inside floating to the top asleep. “Whoa…”
“Sleeping potion,” Akane said as they watched the sleeping fish. “Doesn’t give up does she?”
********
“You’re sure this is St. Bacchus School for Girls?” Ryoga asked the group of girls. “Absolutely no doubt?”
“Ab… absolutely!” the girl in front stammered, shrinking back from Ryoga’s intense stare, her hands up in front of her as if warding Ryoga off. Ryoga turned away from the girls, tears starting to gather in his eyes as he walked away.
“I came without getting lost!” Ryoga sobbed in disbelief. “To think that I, with the world’s worst sense of direction, have come straight to this place!”
“Who… who is that guy?” One of the girls asked the others as they watched the too strange boy. The others in the group shook their heads or shrugged their shoulders.
‘This… this is the power of love,’ Ryoga thought to himself, thinking of the lovely Ranka. It was his love for her that brought him here. Ryoga reached up and wiped the tears on his face off with the sleeve of his shirt then clenched his hand. “But this is no time for emotions! I must find a way to that match!”
“I don’t know why I need to be here, Shampoo,” Ryoga turned his head as he heard another boy whine, seeing a purple hair girl walking through the gate with a tall boy with long black hair following her.
“Stupid Mousse, you need to be here,” the girl said with a roll of her eyes. “Your girlfriend bet on you, yes?”
“That girl is not my girlfriend,” the boy said crossing his arms over his chest. “You know I only have eyes for you.”
“Stupid Mousse,” Shampoo said again rolling her eyes then saw Ryoga. “Aiyah! You are lost boy! You help train Shampoo sister, yes?” She grabbed Ryoga’s arm, surprising Ryoga at how strong she was when she easily pulled him along. Behind him water hit the ground as a girl from a higher floor poured it from a container.
“Do I know you?” He asked as she dragged him along. There was something familiar about her but Ryoga didn’t think he ever met this girl before.
“No, but you help Shampoo sister for this match,” Shampoo said. Ryoga didn’t think Shampoo meant Akane as he met Nabiki and Kasumi, as far as he knew they were her only sisters. That left…
“Do you mean Ranka?” he asked.
“Shi!” Shampoo responded in mandarin, remembering that Ranma liked being called Ranka when in full girl form. “Come, come or we be late for match!”
“Hmmm…” Kodachi watched from the shadows, eyes narrowed at the purple hair girl that her beloved Mu Tsu was fawning over. ‘Another competitor for my beloved’s heart? No matter, I will deal with the purple hair harlot after I win this match against Tendo and the red headed girl. This shouldn’t take long at all.’
All around the school courtyard, students and adults alike shivered as Kodachi laughed ‘Hohohoho’ as she headed back inside.
******
“Ryoga! You made it!” Ranka said excitedly, waving her arms to get their attention. “Shampoo! Mousse! What are you guys doing here?”
“Aiyah, came see Akane and Sister kick crazy girl’s butt,” Shampoo said smiling that turned into a smirk as she looked up at Mousse. “Mousse came see his girlfriend.”
“She is not my girlfriend,” Mousse said with an exasperated sigh. Shampoo snickered softly but honestly, she was hoping maybe this would open Mousse’s eyes to how he treated her if he was on the same end of that sort of affection. Shampoo would never love Mousse they way he thought he loved her, but she would like her friend back. She still had no idea where he got the crazy idea where he was in love with her, it just came out of the blue one day when they were kids and it never let up.
“Alright, the match is about to start, all spectators need to sit in the stands,” a girl wearing a St. Hebereke uniform and carrying a clip board said as she walked up, pointing at the stands under a banner that said Furinkan High School above it. Akane and Ranka each grabbed one of Ryoga’s arms making the lost boy blush.
“He’s our coach,” they said at the same time. The girl gave Ryoga a strange look as boys didn’t usually participate in this particular sport.
“Are you sure?” she asked in a suspicious tone, thinking instead that the admittedly cute boy was one of the girls’ boyfriend instead and wanted them by the ring side instead of sitting in the stands. Ryoga scowled, he hated when people got skeptical about male gymnasts who practiced Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics. True they were only a few compared to the female half of the sport but they did exist. He also wouldn’t necessarily call himself one, he didn’t compete or anything, but he did know the art pretty well thanks to his mother. (1)
“My name is Hibiki Ryoga, my mother is Hibiki Ayako,” he growled. The girl’s eyes widened, considering they had one of the best Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics school teams, not to mention an upcoming master in the art in the form of Kodachi, all of the greats of sport was known. And there may or may not be a small shrine to Hibiki Ayako in the training room hidden in the closet. She would think the boy was lying but now that she looked at him, she could see the resemblance to the woman from the poster.
“My mistake then, coaches are allowed ring side. But they still need to go sit in the stands,” she said pointing at the two Amazons. Akane watched Shampoo and Mousse climb up into the stands, Kasumi waving and calling them over to sit by her and her father. Soun was holding up a sign that said ‘Go Akane!’ waving it in the air. Akane didn’t see her other sister at first but a bit a searching found Nabiki with her lackeys taking bets from their fellow students.
Akane sighed, letting herself slump for just a second then straightened up, her eyes gleaming with a determined glint. Her wrist throbbed just a tiny bit but Akane ignored that, nodding to the girl with the clipboard.
“I’m ready,” she said as she climbed into the ring, waiting in her corner.
***
The talking in the school gymnasium died down at the announcers voice came from the speaker above, a girl wearing a white dress shirt and black slacks complete with a little back bowtie standing in the middle of the ring holding a microphone.
“And now… the champions of the schools!” she called, students from both schools yelling in excitement.
Kodachi exited the back hallways, wearing robe covering her leotard, one of the other girls from the team carrying her equipment. She glanced to the side as something caught her attention.
“Well, well. Elder brother,” she said not letting her surprise color her voice.
“Greetings, younger sister,” Kuno greeted back. Kodachi ignored the whispers from her classmates and the boys from the nearby all boy’s school, she knew Takewaki was not here to see her. Her older brother had not come to any of her matches in years, no he was here to see that Tendo girl. She pushed down the hurt she felt that her own blood did not even come to support her and climbed into the ring, undoing her robe and tossing it to the side for her team mate to catch.
“In this corner, from St. Bacchus School for Girls--” the announcer called out, pointing with her hand to Kodachi’s corner. “Kuuuuuno KodachiiiiiI!” The girls from Kodachi’s school and the boys from the all boy’s school went wild cheering for Kodachi as she placed one of her prized black roses between her teeth and struck a pose knowing she looked striking in her black leotard with the rose design across the mid-drift and the end of the sleeves. She spotted her beloved Mu Tsu sitting in the stands for the other school next to the purple haired harlot, taking the rose and tossing it to him. Mousse looked startled as he caught the rose, holding between his fingers carefully avoiding the thorns still on the steam.
A shiver of satisfaction ran up Kodachi’s spine at the look of rage that briefly crossed Nabiki’s face, the middle Tendo sister having joined her family in the stands and was sitting on Mousse’s other side.
“And in this corner from Furinkan High School—“ the announcer girl continued turning to Akane. “Teeeenddddoooo Akkkaaannneee!” The students from Furinkan High School cheered just as loudly for Akane, chanting her name. Akane waved at her classmates, letting the cheers wash over her.
“Go Akane!”
“Yeah! Kick her butt!”
“Wooo! Akane!”
“Champions to the center!” the announcer girl called, waiting for Kodachi and Akane to come to the center of the ring, taking their left hands in her own. “Now shake hands!”
“Look there!” Kodachi said suddenly pointing. Akane gave her an unimpressed look not even turning her head.
“Nice try, but I’m not falling for your tricks,” she said. Kodachi shrugged her shoulders, giving Akane a ‘I had to try’ look then shaking Akane’s hand. A gleam entered Kodachi’s eyes as she noticed that Akane’s left wrist was wrapped in bandages.
“To your corners champions!” the announcer girl said, climbing out of the ring as Akane and Kodachi moved back to their covers, Kodachi picking up a ribbon while Akane picked up a club.
Each had a determine gleam in their eyes, ready to defeat the other.
The match between St. Bacchus School for Girls and Furinkan High School had begun.
*******
(1) It’s never said just where Ryoga learned Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics in either the anime or manga but he seems to have a lot of knowledge of it so I can’t imagine it’s something he picked up on his travels considering he had a problem staying in one place for very long. So I like to head canon that Ryoga learned it from his mother, whom we know very little about as it is so I made up my own history for her. And if the different schools have Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics teams then there could be a professional league that’s only well know to the people who follow the sport that Ryoga’s mother is apart of.
Author: USA Tiger
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi
Author note: okay, 2 years is not my best track record, or my worst. I swear time gets away from me and I don’t realize how long it’s been since I updated this story. Life was getting me down, my job was killing any creativity I had for writing most of my stuff but I recently had a major change. I moved clear across the country to start a new chapter of my life so now I’m working on updating everything I got behind on.
This chapter is currently unbeated.
Chapter 10
Ryoga was nowhere to be seen later that night, he never showed up to the Tendo dojo to help Akane practice for the upcoming match. He didn’t show the next night either, Ranma going as far as to search all around Furinkan for the lost boy but found nothing.
“What do we do then?” Akane groaned as she flopped back on the practice mat in the middle of the dojo. Ryoga had gone over the tools, what they were and how they could be used, so that part Ranma and Akane understood. But Ryoga was supposed to go over techniques and strategies with Akane and he wasn’t here.
“Practice I guess,” Ranma said, her chin in her hand where she sat cross-legged across from Akane.
“Or… you could just watch videos of matches,” Nabiki’s voice said from the doorway of the dojo. Akane and Ranma turned to face the middle Tendo sister. Nabiki shrugged her shoulders carelessly as she added, “not as good as having someone teach you face to face, but Ranma baby here is smart. I bet she can catch on quick and teach you, little sis.” Akane narrowed her eyes as her sister considering the idea.
“How much?” she asked, Nabiki had the only computer in the house one she bought herself with the money she got from her extra… activities. The older girl jealously guarded her computer like a bull dog, rarely letting Kasumi or Akane use the desktop. And when Akane did was to use it, Nabiki usually charged a fee. Not a high one, at least compared to what she would charge anyone else, but still a fee.
“For this? It’s a freebie,” Nabiki said.
“… why?” Akane asked as that was very out-of-character for her sister.
“Because I need you to win this match, so if I have to lend my computer to you to let you watch matches then I will,” Nabiki said. Akane rolled her eyes and sighed. Ranma just tilted her head and looked confused at Nabiki.
“Why do you care so much anyway? To make that bet with that crazy Kodachi girl I mean,” she said. “You in love with Mousse or som’thing?” Nabiki snorted in amusement then started laughing, leaning over with her hands braced on her knees when she saw Ranma was serious.
“In love with him? Are you nuts?” she asked. Nabiki did not believe in ‘love at first sight’ or anything like that and for Ranma to suggest it was just too funny.
“Then… why did you bet with that crazy girl like that if you don’t like Mousse?” Ranma asked confused. Nabiki sighed and wiped away a tear as she straightened.
“I didn’t say I didn’t like him, he’s cute I’ll certainly give him that,” she explained. “I found your friend interesting and I met him first. I also don’t like Kuno’s baby sister too much right now, so I’m counting on you to beat her, sis. Come up when you’re ready to watch the videos.” Nabiki said over her shoulder as she walked back into the house.
“Wow,” Akane said as she watched the now empty door.
“What?” Ranma asked.
“Nabiki,” Akane said. “She’s never really… I guess it doesn’t matter.” Akane shook her head then stood off the floor. “Come on, let’s go what those videos since Nabiki is being so kind to let us.”
“Alright, if you say so,” Ranma said as she rolled backwards and landed on her feet.
“And hey, maybe if she’s distracted we can sneak in a few cat videos,” Akane giggled then realized what she said. “I mean dog! I mean dog!”
“C-c-c-at videos!?!” Ranma shuddered in fear. “Who the hell wants to watch videos of those little demons!?!”
******
The videos of past gymnastic rhythm marital art matches were a big help in letting Ranma come up with techniques for Akane to practice with and try. Akane… was not all together that graceful, in fact at times she could be like a bull in a china shop. But she did have great aim, when Akane threw something she usually could hit what she was aiming at, and Akane was strong. Not as strong as Ranma, Ryoga or even Shampoo, but Akane was far from weak.
Ranma honestly wasn’t sure if Akane would be able to beat Kodachi, the girl was crazy talented from the one time she saw the girl fight and from what she heard the younger Kuno sibling was one of the best, if not the best, of the current generation. Ranma thought that maybe she would stand a chance at beating Kodachi, maybe, but Akane was determine to be the one who went up against the other girl. So all Ranma could do was help Akane train since there was no Ryoga around to do it. At least Akane was getting better at using the hoop, ribbons and all the other stuff.
“Okay, let’s try this again,” Akane said, dressed in the yellow leotard she bought for this match and holding a pair of clubs. This was her last chance to practice before the match tomorrow and was giving it all she had. Taking a deep breath, Akane flipped both of them into the air toward Ranka, currently in her female form, catching them as they came down and slamming then with force into the floor where Ranka had been kneeling a moment before. Akane growled under her breath and abandoned the clubs, instead grabbing the ribbon lying on the floor nearby.
Standing Akane twirled and snapped the ribbon at Ranka who jump and ran all over the dojo, dodging Akane’s attacks.
“Purple sugar missile!” Ranka yelled as she thrust out her arm and Kyandi sprung from the wide sleeve flying at Akane like a tiny bullet. Akane’s pet sugar glider had turned into an excellent tool for training Akane in dodging fast attacks. Akane had of course been hesitate at first, Kyandi was her baby after all, but the purple sugar glider was a lot tougher than she seemed and even seemed to have fun launching herself at Akane. As long as her pet wasn’t hurt, Akane finally agreed to let Kyandi help.
Akane twisted and rolled out of the way, Kyandi gliding past her to the floor, then came up kicking a mid-size ball at Ranka. Ranka leapt up and clung to the ceiling, looking at Akane upside down.
“You’re getting a lot better,” She said. Akane have her friend a frustrated glare and huffed.
“I would do better if you would let me hit you, I’m supposed to be practicing,” she pointed out.
“That’s not gonna do ya any good,” Ranka said as she let go of the rafters and twisting in midair to land lightly on her feet, knees bending to absorb the shock. “Kodachi isn’t gonna just stand around and let you hit her, so you gonna learn how to hit me on the go while at the same time dodging her attacks.”
Akane breathed deeply then let it out with a heavy sigh.
“Yeah yeah, I know,” she said, petting Kyandi on the top of the head as the tiny animal climbed up on her shoulder. “But it’s frustrating, just once I would like to land a hit on you. Plus we haven’t seen Ryoga-kun the last couple of days to help me train, all we got is what we came up with.”
“I wish I knew where Ryoga got to, it would be a big help if he was here,” Ranka said sighing. As if answering her, a yip came from the direction of the door. Ranka turned and smiled widely. “Kit-chan! There you are.” The black and yellow fox seemed to smile and started wagging his tail.
‘Ranka-chan!’ Ryoga thought as he yipped again. He had several packages balanced on his back, gifts for both Ranka and his mother that he picked up on his latest trip that he managed to save after falling into the canal. His clothing had been swept away by the current while his travel pack and umbrella had sunk to the bottom of the channel. Thankfully he had left a couple of extra changes of clothing the last time he had been at the dojo, hiding them so no one would throw them away.
“Wow, where did these come from?” Akane asked as she undid the rope holding the packages to Ryoga’s back, causing them to fall to the floor. Each girl picked up a package reading it. “These are Royce chocolates from Hokkaido.”
“Whoa, that’s pretty far north,” Ranka said as she picked up Kit-chan, touching her nose to his. “Did you go all the way to Hokkaido to get some chocolates?”
‘Well not on purpose but still,’ Ryoga thought as he blushed under his fur but that didn’t stop his tail from wagging. ‘But I thought you would like them anyway.’
“Well you can eat them later, let’s get back to practicing,” Akane said as she moved all the boxes out of the way so they wouldn’t get trampled. Grabbing a hoop, Akane turned to face Ranka again. “Okay, let’s start.” Ranka let Ryoga down and moved to the other side of the dojo. Kyandi glided off Akane’s shoulder to the floor beside Kit-chan, Shampoo and Ryoga studiously ignoring each other as they watched the girls. Ryoga wanted to see how Akane did before heading for the bath to change back.
Akane tossed the hop to Ranka and picked up the discarded clubs from earlier.
“Ready?” she asked the other girl, crossing her arms over her chest as Ranka nodded. “Here I come!”
Akane rushed forward, jabbing at Ranka with the clubs while Ranka dodged each strike and blocked with the hoop. Akane hopped back then grabbed the ribbon on the floor with the toes of her right foot whipping it into the air so she could grab it.
“Hyah!” she gave a war cry as she dropped the clubs to hold onto the ribbon with both hands. At the same time, Kyandi noticed the red gymnastic ball on the floor that was right in Akane’s path. Squealing loudly, the purple sugar glider darted forward in a blur and knocked into the ball with her whole body, knocking it out of the way before Akane could trip on it and possibly hurt herself. Unfortunately Shampoo was unable to completely get out of the way in time as Akane’s foot came down on her tail. All movement in the room stopped as Shampoo squealed in pain. Akane tripped over her own feet in her haste to move, dropping the ribbon and catching herself with her hands on the floor. Her left wrist twinge in pain but she ignored it as she quickly turned around.
“Kyandi!” she yelled as she picked up the tiny purple gliding possum, cradling Kyandi in her hands.
“Is she okay?” Ranka asked as she knelt next to them.
“I’m not sure, I stepped on her tail,” Akane said as she tried to look at Kyandi’s tail. “Why did she do that?”
“There was a ball in your way,” Ranka said as she jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the innocent seeming ball. Kyandi let out a pained squeaky wail as Akane jostled her tail.
“Come on, Kasumi will know how to help her,” Akane said as she stood cradling Kyandi close to her chest and headed for the door of the dojo. Ranka swept up Kit-chan on the way out as she followed Akane back into the house.
****
“It’s just bruised,” Kasumi assured Akane as she gently yet firmly wrapped a bandage around Kyandi’s tail. Shampoo, as Kyandi, laid out across the pillow provided by the oldest Tendo daughter as Kasumi examined the sugar glider’s tail. It had been a long time since Shampoo had felt any pain like that, she had broken bones in her youth from both training and getting into fights with older girls in the village. Time and training had toughened up Shampoo and gave her the skills to keep things like that from happening. Still she was glad to hear that is wasn’t a broken tail bone and when she next transformed any damage should be corrected. “What in the world happened?”
“We weren’t paying attention while we trained and didn’t see a ball that was in my path,” Akane said, absently rubbing her left wrist. Kit-chan’s eyes followed the movement for a few seconds, a serious look on his face and a nod to himself as if coming to a decision. He jumped off Ranka’s shoulder and followed the sound of running water into the other room. His departure went unnoticed by the others.
“You got lucky then, Sis,” Nabiki said as she reviewed the video from the dojo on her tablet, she sometimes got the best pictures of Akane training from these surveillance videos. “If you had stepped on that then you could have ended up hurting yourself, maybe even broken something. Which means you wouldn’t be able to fight Kodachi.”
“Well I’m fine, thanks to Kyandi,” Akane said. “I’ll make sure to fight twice as hard for her.”
“And I’ll make sure you’re ready,” Ryoga’s voice said from behind them. Ranka and Akane turned to see Ryoga in the doorway, his hair damp and water dripping onto the collar of his top.
“Ryoga! When did you get here?” Ranka said. Ryoga rubbed the back of his neck.
“Err… just now?” he said.
“Perfect! You can make sure I’m ready then,” Akane said jumping up and grabbing Ryoga’s arm dragging him into the dojo. Ranka quickly followed, watching from the side as Akane explained to Ryoga all that they’ve done to try and prepare.
“Okay, let me see then,” Ryoga said, stepping back and watching Akane go through the routines with the various equipment with Ranka’s help. His eyes narrowed as he noticed her favoring her left wrist, trying to keep from moving it too much. “Okay, I’ve seen enough. I think you’re as ready as you’re going to be.”
“You really think so, Ryoga-kun?” Akane asked wiping sweat from her brow.
“Yeah, why don’t you go get some sleep, rest up for the match,” Ryoga suggested.
“Hmmm… I guess that makes sense,” Akane mused. “Thanks for your help.” She waved with her right hand, heading back inside the house. As Ranka moved to follower her, Ryoga stopped her with a touch on her arm.
“Ranka, I’m not sure if she should compete in the match tomorrow,” he confessed as she turned to him.
“Huh? Why not?” Ranka asked.
“Didn’t you see? She was favoring her left arm,” Ryoga wrapped a hand around his own left wrist showing her what he meant.
“Oh yeah… she was,” Ranka sighed. “She did have that nasty fall so she wouldn’t crush Kyandi, tomboy must have hurt herself. Think she’ll be able to fight?”
“Maybe? I don’t think she should if she’s injured like that but if she ices it and lets it rest, she could still compete,” Ryoga sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “But maybe she should have some backup.”
“What, you mean me?” Ranka asked pointing to herself.
“Yeah,” Ryoga said nodding his head. “You’ve been helping her train, I can help you with what you don’t know. This is just in case Akane can’t get through the match.”
“I guess… don’t really want to lose to that crazy girl, Mousse is counting on us too,” Ranka said with a sigh. “Okay, help me train.”
Ryoga grinned as he got to spend a little one-on-one time with his crush, helping her train until he sent her off to get some rest of her own.
******
DING-DONG
“/At one o’clock in Gymnasium two there will be a martial rhythmic gymnastics match against Furinkan High School,”/ a girl’s voice announced over the school intercom.
“A second?” Kodachi asked looking at the Tendo girl and the red headed girl behind her. She thought the other girl look familiar, it was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t place her. Not yet at least.
“Yes, we’re a team,” Akane said. “If I’m unable to go through with our match, my friend and team mate will take over.” Akane hadn’t been thrilled with the idea at first, after all she was determined to take down Kodachi herself but Ranka had pointed out that she noticed Akane’s wrist was injured. Not too badly, Akane had rested it as much as possible and even now it had a tight wrap around it, but it still ached a little. Ranka assured her that she wasn’t trying to take Akane’s thunder but helping out her friend. And it was still a victory for their school either way. “I know for a fact you have a whole team.”
Kodachi admitted to herself that was true, but she was the one who preformed all the attacks on the other teams to take them out before the match or went up against opponents that she was unable to get to in time before said match. The others girls on the team… well they knew their place and what their role was.
“Hmmm…” Kodachi leaned closer to the red headed girl behind Tendo. “We have met before, have we not?” She could place the girl now, the same one who stopped her attack on the girls from Furinkan High’s team with ease. Kodachi smirked and held her hand out for Ranka to shake. “Well then, let the best girl win.”
“Hold it,” Akane said grabbing Kodachi’s wrist and pulling her hand up so they could see a row of thumbtacks between the other girl’s long fingers.
“My my,” Kodachi said in fake shock, touching her cheek with her other hand. “How did these tacks get between my fingers?”
“Nice try,” Akane said as she shoved Kodachi’s hand away and waited for the younger Kuno sibling to leave. “Come on, our dressing room is this way.”
“Wow,” Ranka said shaking her head as they entered the room they were to use, pulling off her green top and pants to reveal the green leotard with light green sleeves under her outfit. “If you let your guard down for a second with this crazy chick…”
“Hmm,” Akane hummed in agreement, looking around as she removed her dress to strip down to her leotard. She spied a bouquet of black roses sitting on a table next to a fish tank. After hanging her dress on a hanger, Akane walked over to the counter and read the card attached to the flowers.
Good luck from the Black Rose
“What’s that?” Ranka asked as she watched Akane pluck a rose from the bouquet and drop it in the fish tank. Something instantly spread of the dark petals of the rose into the water, the fish inside floating to the top asleep. “Whoa…”
“Sleeping potion,” Akane said as they watched the sleeping fish. “Doesn’t give up does she?”
********
“You’re sure this is St. Bacchus School for Girls?” Ryoga asked the group of girls. “Absolutely no doubt?”
“Ab… absolutely!” the girl in front stammered, shrinking back from Ryoga’s intense stare, her hands up in front of her as if warding Ryoga off. Ryoga turned away from the girls, tears starting to gather in his eyes as he walked away.
“I came without getting lost!” Ryoga sobbed in disbelief. “To think that I, with the world’s worst sense of direction, have come straight to this place!”
“Who… who is that guy?” One of the girls asked the others as they watched the too strange boy. The others in the group shook their heads or shrugged their shoulders.
‘This… this is the power of love,’ Ryoga thought to himself, thinking of the lovely Ranka. It was his love for her that brought him here. Ryoga reached up and wiped the tears on his face off with the sleeve of his shirt then clenched his hand. “But this is no time for emotions! I must find a way to that match!”
“I don’t know why I need to be here, Shampoo,” Ryoga turned his head as he heard another boy whine, seeing a purple hair girl walking through the gate with a tall boy with long black hair following her.
“Stupid Mousse, you need to be here,” the girl said with a roll of her eyes. “Your girlfriend bet on you, yes?”
“That girl is not my girlfriend,” the boy said crossing his arms over his chest. “You know I only have eyes for you.”
“Stupid Mousse,” Shampoo said again rolling her eyes then saw Ryoga. “Aiyah! You are lost boy! You help train Shampoo sister, yes?” She grabbed Ryoga’s arm, surprising Ryoga at how strong she was when she easily pulled him along. Behind him water hit the ground as a girl from a higher floor poured it from a container.
“Do I know you?” He asked as she dragged him along. There was something familiar about her but Ryoga didn’t think he ever met this girl before.
“No, but you help Shampoo sister for this match,” Shampoo said. Ryoga didn’t think Shampoo meant Akane as he met Nabiki and Kasumi, as far as he knew they were her only sisters. That left…
“Do you mean Ranka?” he asked.
“Shi!” Shampoo responded in mandarin, remembering that Ranma liked being called Ranka when in full girl form. “Come, come or we be late for match!”
“Hmmm…” Kodachi watched from the shadows, eyes narrowed at the purple hair girl that her beloved Mu Tsu was fawning over. ‘Another competitor for my beloved’s heart? No matter, I will deal with the purple hair harlot after I win this match against Tendo and the red headed girl. This shouldn’t take long at all.’
All around the school courtyard, students and adults alike shivered as Kodachi laughed ‘Hohohoho’ as she headed back inside.
******
“Ryoga! You made it!” Ranka said excitedly, waving her arms to get their attention. “Shampoo! Mousse! What are you guys doing here?”
“Aiyah, came see Akane and Sister kick crazy girl’s butt,” Shampoo said smiling that turned into a smirk as she looked up at Mousse. “Mousse came see his girlfriend.”
“She is not my girlfriend,” Mousse said with an exasperated sigh. Shampoo snickered softly but honestly, she was hoping maybe this would open Mousse’s eyes to how he treated her if he was on the same end of that sort of affection. Shampoo would never love Mousse they way he thought he loved her, but she would like her friend back. She still had no idea where he got the crazy idea where he was in love with her, it just came out of the blue one day when they were kids and it never let up.
“Alright, the match is about to start, all spectators need to sit in the stands,” a girl wearing a St. Hebereke uniform and carrying a clip board said as she walked up, pointing at the stands under a banner that said Furinkan High School above it. Akane and Ranka each grabbed one of Ryoga’s arms making the lost boy blush.
“He’s our coach,” they said at the same time. The girl gave Ryoga a strange look as boys didn’t usually participate in this particular sport.
“Are you sure?” she asked in a suspicious tone, thinking instead that the admittedly cute boy was one of the girls’ boyfriend instead and wanted them by the ring side instead of sitting in the stands. Ryoga scowled, he hated when people got skeptical about male gymnasts who practiced Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics. True they were only a few compared to the female half of the sport but they did exist. He also wouldn’t necessarily call himself one, he didn’t compete or anything, but he did know the art pretty well thanks to his mother. (1)
“My name is Hibiki Ryoga, my mother is Hibiki Ayako,” he growled. The girl’s eyes widened, considering they had one of the best Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics school teams, not to mention an upcoming master in the art in the form of Kodachi, all of the greats of sport was known. And there may or may not be a small shrine to Hibiki Ayako in the training room hidden in the closet. She would think the boy was lying but now that she looked at him, she could see the resemblance to the woman from the poster.
“My mistake then, coaches are allowed ring side. But they still need to go sit in the stands,” she said pointing at the two Amazons. Akane watched Shampoo and Mousse climb up into the stands, Kasumi waving and calling them over to sit by her and her father. Soun was holding up a sign that said ‘Go Akane!’ waving it in the air. Akane didn’t see her other sister at first but a bit a searching found Nabiki with her lackeys taking bets from their fellow students.
Akane sighed, letting herself slump for just a second then straightened up, her eyes gleaming with a determined glint. Her wrist throbbed just a tiny bit but Akane ignored that, nodding to the girl with the clipboard.
“I’m ready,” she said as she climbed into the ring, waiting in her corner.
***
The talking in the school gymnasium died down at the announcers voice came from the speaker above, a girl wearing a white dress shirt and black slacks complete with a little back bowtie standing in the middle of the ring holding a microphone.
“And now… the champions of the schools!” she called, students from both schools yelling in excitement.
Kodachi exited the back hallways, wearing robe covering her leotard, one of the other girls from the team carrying her equipment. She glanced to the side as something caught her attention.
“Well, well. Elder brother,” she said not letting her surprise color her voice.
“Greetings, younger sister,” Kuno greeted back. Kodachi ignored the whispers from her classmates and the boys from the nearby all boy’s school, she knew Takewaki was not here to see her. Her older brother had not come to any of her matches in years, no he was here to see that Tendo girl. She pushed down the hurt she felt that her own blood did not even come to support her and climbed into the ring, undoing her robe and tossing it to the side for her team mate to catch.
“In this corner, from St. Bacchus School for Girls--” the announcer called out, pointing with her hand to Kodachi’s corner. “Kuuuuuno KodachiiiiiI!” The girls from Kodachi’s school and the boys from the all boy’s school went wild cheering for Kodachi as she placed one of her prized black roses between her teeth and struck a pose knowing she looked striking in her black leotard with the rose design across the mid-drift and the end of the sleeves. She spotted her beloved Mu Tsu sitting in the stands for the other school next to the purple haired harlot, taking the rose and tossing it to him. Mousse looked startled as he caught the rose, holding between his fingers carefully avoiding the thorns still on the steam.
A shiver of satisfaction ran up Kodachi’s spine at the look of rage that briefly crossed Nabiki’s face, the middle Tendo sister having joined her family in the stands and was sitting on Mousse’s other side.
“And in this corner from Furinkan High School—“ the announcer girl continued turning to Akane. “Teeeenddddoooo Akkkaaannneee!” The students from Furinkan High School cheered just as loudly for Akane, chanting her name. Akane waved at her classmates, letting the cheers wash over her.
“Go Akane!”
“Yeah! Kick her butt!”
“Wooo! Akane!”
“Champions to the center!” the announcer girl called, waiting for Kodachi and Akane to come to the center of the ring, taking their left hands in her own. “Now shake hands!”
“Look there!” Kodachi said suddenly pointing. Akane gave her an unimpressed look not even turning her head.
“Nice try, but I’m not falling for your tricks,” she said. Kodachi shrugged her shoulders, giving Akane a ‘I had to try’ look then shaking Akane’s hand. A gleam entered Kodachi’s eyes as she noticed that Akane’s left wrist was wrapped in bandages.
“To your corners champions!” the announcer girl said, climbing out of the ring as Akane and Kodachi moved back to their covers, Kodachi picking up a ribbon while Akane picked up a club.
Each had a determine gleam in their eyes, ready to defeat the other.
The match between St. Bacchus School for Girls and Furinkan High School had begun.
*******
(1) It’s never said just where Ryoga learned Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics in either the anime or manga but he seems to have a lot of knowledge of it so I can’t imagine it’s something he picked up on his travels considering he had a problem staying in one place for very long. So I like to head canon that Ryoga learned it from his mother, whom we know very little about as it is so I made up my own history for her. And if the different schools have Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics teams then there could be a professional league that’s only well know to the people who follow the sport that Ryoga’s mother is apart of.
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