Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. They belong to the wonderful Romiko Takahashi and her licensees (Viz Communications in North America). This work is strictly for the non-profit enjoyment of fans. No copyright infringement is intended. Thought of the Mongoose A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Tom Wrensch Part 6: Ranma Draft June 28, 1999 ================================= "So what training are we going to do today?" Akane asked cheerfully. Ranma dropped to a sitting position on the dojo floor, Akane lowered herself more carefully to sit by him. "Akane, *we* are not going to train today," he said. "What! But our fight is tomorrow, and with Cologne expected back, my fight with her could be any time after that." "My fight with you is why we're not training. I'm going to train by myself. You should too." "But, why?" Akane asked. Even though what Ranma was suggesting made sense, she had gotten used to training with him. It had become important to her, part of how they spent time together. "'Cause I have to beat you tomorrow. It's too dangerous for you to fight Cologne right now, you're not ready yet." Suddenly Ranma moved forward to kneel in front of her. "Hey, Akane. I got an idea," he said. "Ranma, I am *not* giving up!" They'd talked about this too often now, she *was* going to fight Cologne. "Just listen okay?" Ranma took her hands in his and looked at her. "Okay, I'll listen." "I know you want to fight Cologne. Fine, you're right, she won't leave us alone until we stop her." Akane relaxed a little. It sounded like Ranma was finally seeing reason. "I just think that fighting her now, as soon as she gets back from this trip, is a bad idea." Ranma added. "Ranma..." Akane began angrily. He was *still* trying to stop her! Ranma put one finger on her lips and she quieted. She said she would listen to him and she would. She didn't promise to let anything he said change her mind. "Anyway, what if we do this instead. We leave a note for Cologne to meet us in a few months somewhere...anywhere I guess. Then we go on a training trip. You perfect your new technique and as a backup I learn it too. That way if Cologne tries to cheat I'll be able to step in and stop her." Akane frowned. It did make *some* sense, only... "You know I can't teach you the technique yet. I promised Mokoyashi-sensee that I'd only teach it to my husband and children." "Umm, yeah...about that...we could, you know, get married before we left." Ranma said, still looking into her eyes, but with a flush spreading across his cheeks. Akane was stunned. Ranma had just, just...*proposed* to her! Or as close as he was likely to get. "Ranma, I..." Akane started before her voice got too choked up to continue. "Is that a yes or a no?" Ranma asked. "Yes," she whispered. Ranma stood and took her into his arms. It felt so good, she wished she could just let it go and stay in his arms. She couldn't though. If she did she might never know for sure why he wanted to marry her. "After I fight Cologne," she said into his chest. "But Akane..." "No." She said it firmly, pushing back a little and giving him a fierce look. "I have to know that you did this because you *really* want to marry me." "You know I do." Ranma whispered. He let his arms drop from her side and looked down at the floor. "If you want to take it back, I'll understand. If you really want to marry me then you can decide when, as long as it's after I fight Cologne." "What if I beat you tomorrow?" Ranma got out, his voice sounding strange with the strain he was obviously feeling. "Then we'll do it your way." Ranma slid his arms back around her. They were quiet for a time, holding each other, lost in their own thoughts. Ranma pulled back a little to look down at his fiancee. "You're as bad as Shampoo, I gotta defeat you if I want to marry you." Ranma said with a weak smile. Akane giggled. "Except you *want* to marry me. Don't you?" "Yeah, you not-so-uncute tomboy. I still want to marry you." Ranma's eyes turned serious. "I think you're wrong though. You are *not* ready for Cologne. That means I've got to fight you all out tomorrow. That means I've got to go train now." Akane sighed. "I understand." "Let's meet after dinner and find a place for our fight." Ranma suggested. "Huh? Why not at the dojo?" "You've seen my fights. The area can get kinda trashed. I don't think your dad would be to happy about the dojo being destroyed." "Oh." He meant it, she realized. This wasn't going to be like their sparring, or even like the fight with Ryoga. This was for real. She was going to fight Ranma, the guy who had beaten ogres, demons, and even a god. She swallowed hard. And if she somehow managed to beat him, then she had to fight someone who was even better than Ranma. "Okay. After dinner we look for a good place for our fight," she said weakly. Ranma leaned in for a quick kiss before leaping out the dojo window and away across the rooftops. Akane dropped to her knees, feeling a little too weak to continue standing just then. She stayed there, staring out the window while the fear of what she was going to do slowly seeped into her mind. * * * * Nabiki took off her headphones and carefully erased the tape she'd been making. She had been worried about the fight between her sister and Cologne. After the conversation she'd just 'overheard' between Akane and Ranma she was no longer worried, she was terrified. Someone was going to get hurt this time. Her sister, Ranma, and the rest of her family were all on the list of possible casualties. She was going to have to skip school today, there were arrangements to make. * * * * Ranma looked around the clearing and nodded. It would do. It was a little closer than he liked to some farms and houses, but it would be okay for practice. They'd have to find someplace a bit more isolated for the fight tomorrow. He started by stretching and doing a few kata to get himself warmed up. Once he felt ready he began a simple Tai Chi form and thought about the fight. There was no way around it, he was going to have to fight all out. Akane was just too good to beat any other way. He did *not* want to hurt her, but he couldn't see any way out. If he didn't beat her Cologne might kill her. With Akane's speed now, he wasn't even sure he could beat Akane if he *did* fight all out. Akane actually had a good chance against the old Amazon, at least in a fair fight. Cologne was unlikely to fight fair. Anyone who would use a something like the Cat's Tongue pressure point was likely to have all sorts of tricks up her sleeve. Akane couldn't even complain about it if she lost. Anyone hearing a practitioner of Anything Goes complaining about an underhanded trick would simply laugh. The problem was that Akane didn't really follow the Anything Goes school. Sure, most of her techniques came from the Anything Goes variation of Kempo, but the underlying philosophy seemed to escape her. Anything Goes as a fighting style taught a combination of many different forms. Advanced practitioners developed their own styles based on the forms that worked best for them. That was fine, while Akane's choice of forms was still somewhat limited, she was on her way to developing her own style. Anything Goes as a school...that was where Akane had trouble. Anything Goes meant adapting to your opponent's strengths, exploiting their weaknesses, and winning. Akane approached a fight like it was a belt rating test - little or no improvisation, just perfection in the accepted forms. The mixed forms, the emphasis on exploiting weaknesses, the focus on winning, these had given the Anything Goes school a bad reputation among the more formalized segment of the art. It had also made them respected, and a little feared, among the more...practical practitioners. Akane thought the Anything Goes school was just like any other, just with a somewhat bad reputation. She didn't understand that the reputation was *part* of the school. She was too innocent for her own good, and Cologne would use it against her in their fight. And Cologne would win, not because of skill, but because she was devious. Unless Akane wasn't quite as innocent as Cologne expected. The only way that would happen was for him to give Akane a lesson in dirty tricks that she would never forget. * * * * Nabiki checked the card in her hand against the name on the sign and walked into the large temple. She received some strange looks from the monks, but the trick of looking like you know what you're doing worked even in a place like this. After a few minutes of determined wandering she was about the break down and ask for directions when she heard a familiar voice. "There you go. Just make sure you use the crutches for the next two days." A bit of searching and Nabiki found the door the voice was coming from. After letting a monk hobble out the door she strode in. "Dr. Tofu," she said softly. She knew her voice sounded like her older sisters when she did that. The young man sitting at a desk spun around. When he saw who it was he managed to look both relieved and disappointed at the same time. "You're a hard man to find Dr. Tofu." Nabiki said. "That was intentional. However, since you've gone to the trouble of finding me, what can I do for you?" the doctor asked, falling into his usual gentle demeanor. "Two things. To start with there's a problem with Akane. She's going to fight Cologne for Ranma. It's a long story, but if Akane can defeat Ranma in a fight tomorrow she's going to challenge Cologne. Ranma thinks Cologne might kill her. "It doesn't sound too serious, Ranma will beat her and she will never have a chance to fight Cologne. I don't see the problem." Dr. Tofu said. "I said it was a long story. Akane is almost certainly good enough to beat Ranma now." Nabiki said. Dr. Tofu only looked at her calmly for a second before pushing up his glasses. "Interesting. Perhaps, long or not, you should tell me this story." Nabiki did her best to tell the doctor everything. She was painfully aware of the holes in her own knowledge. Things had been fairly quiet for the last month and she had not been paying attention. She hadn't even realized something odd was going on until Akane defeated their fathers and Ranma's team attack. Now she had to tell Tofu everything in the hope that it would be enough to convince him to help. When she finished the doctor just looked thoughtful. "I see," he finally said. "I think I should attend this fight." "That would make me feel much better." Nabiki admitted. Dr. Tofu scribbled on a scrap of paper and handed it to Nabiki. "Any messages sent to this fax number will get to me within a few hours." He said. "Right. I'll let you know as soon as I find out where and when." Nabiki said. "Thank you doctor. I am in your debt." "Not at all. Now you said there was something else you wanted to talk about?" Nabiki narrowed her eyes. "Oh. Yes. Thank you for reminding me." She slapped him, hard. Nabiki was quite gratified to see the shocked and hurt look on his face. "You!" she said angrily. "How could you leave like that! Not a word to any of us on where you were. Did you think we didn't worry about you?" "Well, I..." Tofu began. "And what about Kasumi? She tried not to show it, but she was devastated. She thinks you've abandoned her, that she wasn't good enough for you." "That's not why..." "All you had to do was tell her. At least write a note or leave a message with one of us. But oh no, the great Dr. Tofu was too caught up in his own problems to bother with anyone else, even those who love him." "Now just a minute..." "No. You screwed up big time. If you ever want my sister to look at you again, you better be ready to apologize. None of this going crazy in her presence either, you're a big boy now. You'll just have to accept your feelings." "But she's so young..." he said wistfully. "So what? She's twenty now, more than old enough to get married. She likes older men. She'll try to find someone around your age, but that someone can't be you if you're hiding, can it?" "Umm...I'm sorry?" Tofu tried. "Better, but *I'm* not the one you should be apologizing to." "I'll talk to her." Tofu said. "It had better be soon. If you haven't worked this out with her in two weeks, you better run again. This time make sure it's far enough that I can't find you." "Umm, right. Okay." Tofu said. Nabiki let her voice drop back to normal. "Now walk me out of here. I'll get lost and wander into a dressing room or something otherwise." "Good idea. Some of the monks might not live through it." * * * * Nabiki was a little late, dinner had already started. She quickly picked up her chopsticks and served herself while trying to judge everyone's mood. It wasn't hard to do, there was a tension around the dinner table so thick you could choke on it. She needed to know where the fight would be, but didn't want to complicate matters by bring up Dr. Tofu. Since she had to deal with Ranma and Akane subtlety would be useless. So... "So where's the fight going to be?" she asked. Ranma looked up at her then back down at his plate, ignoring her question. "We haven't picked it out yet, there's a couple possibilities that aren't too far away." Akane said. "Let me know when you decide on one," she said. "I don't think so." Ranma said. "You can find out at the same time everyone else does, when we go there tomorrow morning." Nabiki fumed. Ranma wasn't hard to read, she could tell that he thought she was going to sell tickets or something. Actually that wouldn't be a bad idea if it wasn't so important to limit information on Akane's fighting abilities. Well, he'd just have to shock them into telling her. "A good start on security, but not enough." She said. "I need to know where so I can figure out how we can make sure no one follows us. Are you inviting Mousse?" "Huh?" Ranma said. "I hadn't thought about it," Akane admitted. "You shouldn't let him come," Nabiki said. "Why not? He's on our side," Ranma said. "Just imaging what would happen if Shampoo asked him, nicely, to tell her all about Akane's new abilities." Nabiki said. "Oh," Akane said in a small voice. "Yeah, didn't think of that," Ranma said sheepishly. "I'm not asking so I can invite an audience." Nabiki said, getting right to the point. "I'm thinking in terms of security and nearness of medical help here." "Okay Nabiki, but we really haven't decided. How about coming with us to look over Akane's first choice. If that doesn't work I've got a spot that should be okay." Ranma said, sounding a bit embarrassed. Probably feeling bad about misjudging her. "Sure, that sounds good," Nabiki answered. "Then hurry and finish eating, we should get going before it gets dark." * * * * Kasumi walked down the stairs humming. She loved getting up early in the morning. The house was so peaceful and quiet with everyone else sleeping. Of course the bustle of the day was nice too, but without this quiet time it would soon become overwhelming. Which explains why Kasumi was a little disappointed when she saw a light on in the kitchen. She quickly went to check, the kitchen was her domain and no one should be in there without her knowing about it. Expecting Akane attempting to make breakfast or Mr. Saotome looking for a very-early-morning snack, she was surprised to find Ranma carefully adding pepper to a small bowl. He was so intent on his task he didn't notice her until she was right beside him and peering into the bowl. "Ack! Kasumi! Don't scare me like that." Kasumi looked at the contents of the bowl with interest. It looked like talcum powder and pepper. There were also several small tubes made from rolled up paper nearby. "Oh! How clever. You fill the tubes and blow it in your opponent's face, right?" she asked Ranma brightly. She'd seen something similar in a movie once. "Umm...yeah." "I see. The talcum powder blinds them momentarily, and the pepper will make them sneeze if they inhale it." Kasumi tapped her chin in thought. "Oh dear, you're not going to use those paper tubes are you? They'll fall apart if you have them in your mouth for more than a few seconds," She said. "Oh, I didn't really think about it." Ranma admitted. She thought a moment more, then reached into a cupboard over her head and pulled down some plastic straws. "We'll cut these up. Now I think you could improve this mixture a little..." Kasumi spent ten minutes helping Ranma improve his idea and offered to sew tiny pockets for the tubes into the sleeves of his shirt. She found it was fun getting involved in martial arts again, even indirectly. Maybe she should restart her training. "Thanks a lot Kasumi, you're the best." Ranma said when they had finished. Kasumi beamed. Complements from Ranma were few, but they were always heartfelt and genuine. "You're welcome. Is there anything else I can help with?" "Umm...actually there is. I've been trying to find a good place to hide this." Ranma pulled out a mass of rope and shook it out. "A net?" Kasumi asked. Ranma nodded. "Shouldn't the edges be weighted?" Kasumi asked. "Yeah, I was going to do that after I finished here." He said. "Let me see..." * * * * The morning of the fight was bright and sunny, but hardly cheerful. A tired and worried group trouped out of the dojo gate and headed for the train station. Some of Nabiki's 'friends' trailed along at a distance to make sure they weren't followed. Once they got the all clear they boarded an outbound train. To almost everyone's surprise Tofu Ono was waiting for them when they got off a half hour later. He seemed nervous, but despite Kasumi's nearness he didn't show any signs of his usual craziness. He simply said he was along to provide medical attention if it became necessary and followed the small group to the training ground. Not even Genma and Soun said anything about the way Ranma and Akane were holding hands during the short walk. * * * * Tofu watched Ranma and Akane walk down to the clearing. They moved so they were facing each other and about three meters apart, close enough that either could attack, far enough to give the other time to react. Nodoka was acting as judge. She raised one arm and held it until she was sure both combatants were watching. "Begin," she said loudly, dropping her hand as if to punctuate her words. Tofu kept his eyes on the couple, if what Nabiki said was true, this fight would be over quickly - a contest of speed and skill rather than strength and endurance. There was a moments stillness as the two young martial artists regarded each other, then Ranma was moving toward Akane at that incredible speed of his. Akane seemed to blur as she blocked his attack. The two exchanged blows too quickly for Tofu to follow, then Ranma broke off the exchange by leaping into the air. Tofu frowned. That seemed like a dangerous move, Akane's speed would let her position herself for a counterattack before Ranma landed. Ranma had effectively sacrificed his maneuverability just to break off an exchange. At the peak of his jump, Ranma reached under the edge of his shirt and pulled, coming away with a something that he immediate threw straight down to where Akane had positioned herself. It was a net! Tofu was impressed, a carefully thought out and executed ploy. Akane wouldn't expect Ranma to use weapons, and certainly not a net, which was normally used on slower moving targets. As usual, Ranma had adapted to deal with his opponents strengths and weaknesses. This would be an interesting match. * * * * Akane looked up at Ranma, who seemed to be moving slowly through the air. She thought. She didn't think he'd be foolish enough to use his aerial techniques. Not after what happened the last time he tried one when they were practicing. She shouldn't get too confident though, Ranma wasn't likely to make that mistake again. She'd have to make this one count. She realized there was something coming down ahead of Ranma, something that was spinning and extending itself as it went. She moved away from Ranma's landing point. Getting tangled in the net would slow her down too much, take away her biggest advantage. That was it, he was trying to fight like Cologne would. This wasn't just a match, it was training too. If Ranma couldn't beat her using some of Cologne's style, then it would mean she had that much better of a chance against the ancient amazon. She cut off that line of thought as Ranma touched the ground and snapped a quick punch to her arm. She was too distracted by her thoughts to block it, but he was to extended to put any power into it. Before she could recover and react he did a low, fast flying leap away from her. She'd never seen him use a move like that before. He must have developed it just for this fight. She'd lost the initiative. She should have tried to use the net against him, or at least move so he'd be facing away from her when he landed. Instead she'd just stood there, lost in her own thought. Very well, less thought, more action. Ranma wasn't the only one with some tricks. Akane poured ki into her body and sprinted to spot to the left of where Ranma's leap would take him. A sprint like this was tiring, but she knew it was so fast that she effectively disappeared from view, moving too fast for even a trained martial artist to follow. She reached her chosen spot just as Ranma landed and charged in, hoping to catch him before he could figure out which direction she was coming from. The baka didn't cooperate. Instead of protecting from the front where she was most likely to be or leaping away - hopefully in the wrong direction - he spun around, flailing his arms and legs in a pattern that covered any approach. There were holes she could use, but she lost her chance at an unopposed attack. Akane had the choice of either moving back or trying to get past his guard. She wasn't about to back off and lose this chance, so she slipped a punch to his side. It was partially deflected, but still must have hurt. Suddenly he did another of those fast low leaps, directly away from her. He'd waited until she attacked so he'd know which way to jump. Sneaky, very sneaky. Akane started after him, walking this time. The run was a good trick, but Ranma had figured out an effective counter. It was to tiring to use more than once or twice in a fight anyway. She need to figure out a way to close with him. Once in close she could use her superior speed to block anything he could throw at her while slipping in enough punches and kicks to wear him down quickly. As Ranma landed he lifted his left hand, his *glowing* left hand. Akane muttered a curse and backpedaled. She could probably dodge a ki blast, but wanted room to maneuver just in case. Ranma didn't use one of his normal blasts. Instead a swarm of small points of ki came at her in a wide cone. She wasted a moment staring at the mass of tiny lights coming at her before deciding she really didn't want to get hit by *any* of them. By then she had no chance to dodge and tried to block them the way she had blocked the pressure waves Kuno had created with his bokkan in an earlier fight. It didn't work well. It was like blocking a candle flame: effective but painful. Akane pulled her hands back and tried to dodge the remaining swarm. There were too many to dodge and a dozen of the tiny ki points hit her. Only two did any noticeable damage, one on the right side and one on her left shoulder. She looked down and saw why there wasn't more damage - her cloths had stopped most of the hits, and been pretty much destroyed in the process. She'd really liked this shirt too. Akane let her ki flow out of her body, leaving her feeling like she was suspended in amber. She needed to think about this, and she'd already used up too much ki in this fight. This was a conservation technique she'd been developing. Somehow she had to block all the tiny ki balls and using her hands was *not* a good idea. Her cloths seemed to have stopped most of the damage, but were destroyed in the process. What else could she use? Metal...maybe, but she didn't have any. Wood? There were plenty of branches around. Only one way to find out. She let the ki flow back into her body and moved toward Ranma, bending to scoop up two branches in the process. She had to extend her ki a little to cover them before trying to pick them up - a trick she'd learned when she fought Ukyou and had to grab those throwing spatulas out of the air. If she didn't cover them with some ki they felt like they weighed a ton. Ranma was ready for her, his hand coming up before she'd moved half the distance between them, glowing with yellow light again. She saw his lips move slightly, he must have kept the trigger phrase short to deliver it so fast. She saw the tiny points of light flow from Ranma's fingertips. More of them this time and in a somewhat tighter cone. The baka was adapting the technique for maximum effect even as they fought. She swatted the leading stings as they got within reach of her impromptu shields. It worked, but hitting them head on damaged the stick badly. Getting them from the side seemed to dissipate them without doing much damage at all. Catching them from behind did some damage, but not as much as from the front. This time only one got through, but was blocked by her cloths. Akane dropped the branches, they were little more than smoking stubs now. She scooped up another pair and headed for Ranma. She still had to close with him and he couldn't keep doing ki blasts forever. He did another of those low fast jumps and repeated the new ki attack. This time Akane took out everything without getting touched, though she had to replace one of the branches. The fourth time he tried it he paused before firing it off. Akane figured he'd used up his ki and was trying a bluff. She moved in to take him on close. That was a mistake. If she had dropped the branches she would have been hit badly. As it was two more hits got through, one catching her on the leg, the other hitting her now hopelessly damaged shirt. As soon as possible Akane used her power run to get behind Ranma. He wasn't going to leap away *this* time. Somehow he managed to spin around in time to block her initial attack. As he spun he crossed his arms in front of his face. She didn't know if it was supposed to be a block or the beginning of some new technique, but it gave her a chance at his chest and stomach. She used it, moving in close and getting a half dozen good punches in before he stared blocking at chestnut fist speeds. Finally she had him were she wanted. If he tried another of those leaps she was close enough to take advantage of the momentary opening, she was too close for the ki attach, and he certainly couldn't use a net. He was out of tricks and she was going to win. * * * * Ranma blocked everything he could, but even at chestnut fist speed far too many of Akane's blows were getting through. He needed to break this off, get some distance, recover, and maybe figure out a way to hold Akane off until she ran out of steam. He had only one trick left, hopefully it would be enough. He shifted the tube Kasumi had helped him with that morning from his cheek to his mouth. He bit down gently to weaken the wax seals and pushed it around with his tongue so it stuck out of his mouth slightly. He looked into Akane's eyes, though they were blurred from her high speed, or maybe from all the hits he'd taken to his head, they were the most beautiful thing he could ever remember seeing. He thought. Then he blew the blinding mixture into her face. He got just a glimpse of her face twisted in pain before she was gone, moving back too fast for an immediate follow up. He leaped forward, trying to close with her so he could get a disabling blow in before she recovered. He saw her, kneeling on the ground with her hands over her eyes. her body had lost that blurry, shimmering quality it had when she was using her speed technique. If she'd gone back to normal speed, he had her! Ranma stepped forward, aiming a blow at the back of Akane's head, just hard enough to knock her out. Just before the blow landed she blurred. was Ranma's last conscious thought before Akane spun around on the ground, her feet hammering his stomach and chest dozens of times in a fraction of a second. * * * * Akane blinked hard, here eyes still streaming from whatever Ranma had done. Another trick, but it hadn't been enough, she'd won. She *knew* she'd won, she'd felt the way Ranma had gone limp with that last set of kicks. Hopefully he wasn't hurt too badly. She blinked again to clear her eyes and searched the sky. There! There he was, still moving in a slow arc through the sky, his body outlined against the bright morning sky. She lurched to her feet and stumbled to the spot where he would land. Somehow it seemed wrong that it was still a bright, beautiful morning. She should be happy that she'd won. She'd expected to feel... triumphant, happy, proud. Instead she just felt tired. Ranma settled into her arms and she carried him toward the small rise where her family waited. She should release the mindset, keeping it up was starting to be a real strain, but she knew she wouldn't last long after she relaxed it. Akane reached the small group and let her mindset drop with a sigh of relief. She handed the limp Ranma to Dr. Tofu. "Take care of him," she said. Dr. Tofu nodded. She then turned to Nodoka. "I won," she said quietly, almost sadly. Nodoka just nodded too. Looking at their faces, she realized they all looked a little wide eyed and pale. "H-How did..." Nodoka began. Whatever the older woman was going to say was lost to Akane as the fight took its toll, her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed. * * * * Akane woke on a futon on the dojo's back porch. She still felt weak, but her ki was well on the way to recovering. She sat up and looked into the yard. The sun was high in the sky, so it must be noon or maybe a little after. She could hear some clattering from the kitchen, so hopefully lunch would be ready soon. Then she heard a small noise directly behind her. She spun around. Ranma was on a futon right behind her, eyes closed and faced relaxed. He was covered with bandages and had a couple of bruises showing on his face and the few patches of chest that weren't covered with bandages. She crawled over and gently took his hand. "I'm sorry Ranma, I didn't want to hurt you." "Hey, I've had worse." Ranma said with his eyes still closed. "You're awake?" Ranma opened his eyes. "Have been for hours, though I *was* starting to drift off again." "Are you okay?" Akane asked, not even trying to keep the worry out of her voice. "Dr. Tofu says I'll be fine in a few weeks, and that long only because of a few cracked ribs." "Good, I was worried." Ranma took a deep breath. Well, half a deep breath, then winced. "Look," he said. "I want you to think about our agreement. I know you won, but I did get a hit in." "Yes, more than one." "Only one that mattered, the first time I hit you with my fist." "So? That happens in a fight." "If it had been Cologne you would have lost right there. She would have hit some pressure point and you would have been paralyzed or something." Ranma said seriously. "Honestly Ranma! Do you expect me to give up because of that? You said yourself that you're faster than Cologne now. She won't get a chance to use a pressure point." "I didn't hit you because I was fast, I hit you because I pulled a trick. Cologne might not be as fast as me now, but she's a lot sneakier." "But..." "Let's go." Ranma interrupted her. "Please? You're not ready yet." Ranma sat up with some difficulty and leaned in close. So close their noses were almost touching. "Besides," he breathed. "It'll be nice, just the two of us." Akane was tempted, *very* tempted. But... "No," she said. "I have to do this." Ranma sighed and carefully lied back down. "I knew you would say that. We're gonna have lunch in a little bit, as soon as Nabiki gets back. After than you and I are going to plan your fight with Cologne." "Plan?" "Yeah, plan. If you just walk into the fight like you did with me your gonna lose." "Umm...okay." Akane said. It couldn't hurt. "I'm going to get some sleep. Wake me up when Nabiki gets back, okay?" "Sure. You look like you could use some rest." Ranma closed his eyes. Akane watched him relax, watched his breathing even out and slow. She thought. Akane realized she was still holding Ranma's hand and caressed it. * * * * Nabiki handed Mousse a tiny black box, featureless except for a single button on one side. "Here. Put this in your robe or wherever you keep all that stuff you lug around. Push the button as soon as you see Cologne. Mousse examined the small box carefully. "And what does this do Nabiki Tendo?" "It sends a radio signal, which will trigger this," Nabiki held up a somewhat larger box with a speaker grill and antenna. "They're used in banks to signal an alarm if someone tries a holdup." "Do you have another of these?" Mousse said, holding up the tiny transmitter. "Yes, I was going to give it to Ranma in case Shampoo stops to see him before they come here." "It might be better if you were to give it to me." Mousse said. "One isn't enough?" Nabiki asked dryly. "Perhaps not. I'll put the other in the cage Cologne uses to trap my duck form." Nabiki raised an eyebrow at him, then nodded. "A good idea. Ranma would probably forget or be too obvious about using it. Subtlety is not his strong point," she said. Mousse grinned at Nabiki, something she hadn't seen him do before. He was normally so serious, the uncharacteristic display surprised her. "Nabiki, a word of advice. You have never fought Saotome, so you do not know. It is not that he is unsubtle, only that he has not learned to apply it outside the art. Nabiki shrugged. "Same thing." "No." Mousse said firmly, his face becoming serious again. "Saotome has grown since I first met him. Due in part to your sister, he is learning that there is more to the world than martial arts. Once he starts learning to apply his skills outside the arts..." "Come on Mousse, that only works for things that are similar to martial arts." "Similar to, say, Martial Arts Takeout? Or Martial Arts Figure Skating? What about Martial Arts Tea Ceremony?" Mousse said, his grin back. "Those...are special cases." Nabiki said defensively. "Very well. After our current problems are over, shall we test it?" You choose an area of endeavor or study and we will convince Saotome it is a form of martial arts. If I am right then he will master it." Nabiki grinned back at Mousse, this sounded like fun. Of course they could make it more interesting. "And if I'm right you'll be at my beck and call for...a month?" Nabiki shot back. "Agreed. If I win you will agree to be my pupil." Mousse countered. "And you will teach me...?" "Hidden Weapon Martial Arts, of course." "Deal." They shook hands on it. Nabiki dug out the other transmitter and handed it over, then headed for the door. A feeling, a need to add something to what had been said, caused her to stop at the threshold. "It's nice to find that not *all* martial artists are dumb jocks." She said over her shoulder. "Now Nabiki-san, you should know better than to overgeneralize, especially about a group of people who can put you in the hospital in less than three seconds. "Hmm, good point. See you Mousse." Nabiki walked home slowly. Lunch would be waiting on her, but she had a lot to think about. * * * * Cologne sat at the prow of the small freighter, staring at the waves and thinking. It had been a reasonably profitable trip. Shampoo had brought back important news from her meeting with the village council, and the altar Mousse had mentioned had been quite interesting. While the altar itself was of no immediate use, careful study had suggested several lines of investigation. Now she had to return to Nermia. There was much she had left undone in her excitement. She had to look into those reports of Akane Tendo becoming a formidable fighter. There was also the restaurant owners association meeting she was to host. She stood and moved back to the cabin she shared with Shampoo. She needed rest, they would arrive in the small hours of the morning, and she needed to get the restaurant opened as soon as possible. One report Shampoo brought back suggested they would again need to spread bribes to government officials to keep the village's independent status. The money from the restaurant would be desperately needed. They might have to sell it to raise sufficient cash. She'd have to make sure son-in-law was ready to return to China with them before that happened, her clan's honor depended on it. The laws of the tribe were not as absolute as she let Shampoo think, but there was a cost to breaking them. She did not want her family to pay the price of breaking this one. Especially not over some outsider male, even one as skilled as the Saotome boy. === END PART 6 === C&C *very* welcome, flames ignored. Please send comments to twrensch@geocities.com. My completed stories and relatively complete drafts are posted at http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Dojo/5201/.