Author's note: Hello!
Well, before we get on with the chapter, I'd just like to say: thank you for the criticisms. If you don't already know, the confrontation last chapter was edited a little to make it more believable. If you haven't already seen it, please go check it out.
I'm willing to admit that the characterisation slipped a bit. I blame reading too much of a certain Akane-bashing fic that I shall not mention by name. :P
Anyway, on with the chapter!
Chapter Six: Showdown
Ranma blearily opened her eyes. Where was she? She was lying on something that wasn't particularly soft. She could also feel a warmth around her body and a coolness on the back on her head.
"I still can't believe he did that," a voice said thoughtfully. It was oddly familiar.
"I know," another voice replied. "I had no idea he had such a temper. Miss Sachiko was so mad at him."
"He looked so scary!" a third voice said. "His face was all contorted in fury!"
"Kawaguchi had a right to be mad at him..." the first voice said, "but did you hear the things Ranko said?"
"True..." the second voice replied, "she was pretty ruthless."
"But Akashi was mean first!" the third voice said.
Ranma snapped to attention at the mention of that name.
"Don't forget, though," the first voice said, "Ranko was doing something weird with Daichi first." Ranma groaned and sat up. "Oh, she's awake."
The coolness fell off Ranma's head and she noticed that it was a cloth. Cringing at the pain, she placed a hand on the back of her head.
"Are you okay, Ranko?" the second voice asked.
Ranma rolled over and looked up, noticing that Reina, Rin and Ruka were sitting around her. So that was who the voices had been. It was at that moment that she noticed she was in the nurse's office. Had she really been hit so hard that she'd ended up unconscious?
"Akashi hit you pretty hard!" Ruka said.
Ranma stiffened; it was that name again.
Reina leaned her head on her hand and quirked an eyebrow. "Just what did you do to make him so mad, anyway?"
"Yeah," Rin added, "what were you saying to Daichi?"
Ranma looked down at the blanket that was covering her as she remembered what had happened. She'd been trying to get that guy – Daichi? – to give her his octopus puffs, then Akashi had yelled at her, she'd argued back and...
She scowled deeply. The bastard had hit her with a table. Girly femboy or not, he was going to pay for that! No guy made a fool of Ranma Saotome! She wasn't the heir to the Saotome School Of Anything-Goes Martial Arts for nothing! She wasn't about to let any guy beat her at the one thing she was best at!
She leapt out of bed, startling Reina, Rin and Ruka. "Where is he?" she demanded. "I've got a score to settle with that guy!"
They all blinked at him. "Who?" Reina asked. "Akashi?"
Ranma turned to her. "Who else?"
"Um..." Rin replied, "well, he should still be holding buckets." Ranma hurried out of the room. "Hey!"
"Ranko!" Ruka called out.
Akane continued glaring at the wall. She honestly couldn't believe this. Ranko had been the one to throw around insults, just to piss her off, and yet she was the one holding buckets! So what if she'd knocked the girl unconscious? The bitch had deserved it. Not only had she insulted her, deeply wounding her pride, but she'd been stringing poor Daichi along. These were the first male friends that she'd ever had in her life, so she was rather protective of them, perverts or not.
Besides the buckets, everyone was now calling her a wife-beater, all because one guy had come up with the term and the rest had copied him. Honestly, wife-beater? She could hardly be called that. She wasn't married to Ranko. She barely knew her! The only thing that she did know was that she hated her. They were just assuming that, since her male alter-ego had beaten up one girl, 'he' must beat girls up generally, including any that 'he' planned to marry.
She huffed. That's just stupid, she thought.
"Hey, Akashi!" a pissed-off voice called out.
"Hmm?" She spun her head to look down the corridor, only to see Ranko standing there, cracking her knuckles. Her three female friends were standing some distance behind her. Akane narrowed her eyes. "Oh, it's you."
Ranko smirked. "You and me have got a score to settle, pal."
Akane shifted the weight of the buckets and glared. "What's to settle? You deserved what you got, you know!"
"Hmph." She threw out her arms and clenched her fists. "No guy makes a fool of me!" She pointed at Akane. "I'm gonna make you pay for that!"
Akane's pride spiked. "Oh yeah?" She put the buckets on the floor and took up a fighting stance. "Well, come on, then!"
"Gladly." Ranko came rushing at her. "Hiiiiyah!"
Akane was shell-shocked. How the hell was that girl moving so fast? Before she could even blink, something collided with her face with the speed and power of a freight train. She was on the floor in seconds, knocking over one of the buckets and drenching her dark blue pants. The right side of her face was in agony.
She gently clutched at the sore spot, being careful not to press too hard. "Ow..."
"What was that?" a male voice from inside asked.
"I wanna see!" a female voice cried.
"Me, too!" another male voice replied.
There was a thundering of footsteps before the windows of the classroom slid open.
"Oh, my God!" one girl called out.
"Akashi!" another shrieked.
"Whoa..." one guy said, "did Ranko do that?"
"Huh..." Ranko said. Akane would recognise her voice anywhere. "I would have thought you'd be more of a challenge, Akashi."
"What's going on here?" a loud voice called out down a microphone.
Akane turned over to glare at Ranko, her face still hurting like hell. "Urgh..."
Ranko smirked at her. "But I guess not." She started laughing. "Not only are you a butt-ugly femboy, but you're a weakling, too!" She pulled down the skin of her eye and stuck out her tongue. "Nyeh!"
Akane fumed. Not only was Ranko insulting her again, but her ability as a martial artist now, too? She wasn't about to stand for this.
Jumping to her feet, she charged at Ranko. "Just you wait, Ranko!" She skidded to a stop at the last second and swung out her leg, but Ranko jumped over it. This took her by surprise. "Wha-?"
She felt Ranko's hand push down on her head as the girl somersaulted over her. She froze in shock. Ranko wasn't just good, she was the best that she'd ever fought before.
"Whoa!" one guy cried. "Did you see that?"
"Ranko's awesome!" another said.
"You go, girl!" one girl said.
"Poor Akashi..." another said.
"What's happening?" Miss Sachiko called out down her microphone. "I can't see!"
"The wife-beater's getting his ass handed to him!" another guy said.
Growling in frustration at both the situation and the comment, Akane spun to face the onlookers. "Enough with the wife-beater stuff, okay?" she snapped. The crowd flinched and shut up.
"I think I get it now," Ranko said.
Akane spun to scowl at the red-head. "What?"
"You're pathetically weak and use tables to compensate."
Akane's anger boiled over. She was so furious at that comment that she couldn't speak. "Urgh!"
Ranko smiled. "I'm right, aren't I? Tables are your strength." Her smile melted into a smirk. "That's probably why... " She slid into a fighting stance. "You can't handle..." She shot towards her again. "Attacks like this!"
Akane only had time to gasp before Ranko's foot caught her chin in a fierce uppercut. Before falling over, she cracked open her eyes to glare at the girl, but paused when she noticed something odd. It was then that her back collided painfully with the floor. God, now she was in serious pain all over.
Looking up, she tried to glare again, but paused when she saw that same peculiar sight; Ranko's leg was suspended in its high kick, the owner of the leg smirking victoriously, and, clearly visible underneath her skirt, was...
Boxers? she thought, too stunned to speak. She's wearing boxers?
Ranko lowered her leg. "Heh... like I said..."
It took a few moments for Akane to regain her fury at being kicked around like a ragdoll and mocked for it. She gritted her teeth, then flinched at the pain.
Ranko put her hands on her hips. "Had enough now, femboy?"
Akane supposed that the nickname was supposed to annoy her. It didn't, with her actually being a girl and all, but it didn't have to. She was far too pissed off with everything else about the red-head for that stupid nickname to matter.
"Why, you..."
"You're way too easy, you know that?"
Akane stiffened. "What was that?"
Ranko, still smirking, folded her arms behind her head. "I said you're too easy. Fighting babies would be harder than fighting you."
Akane gritted her teeth so hard, she thought they might break. Her jaw was also throbbing, but she was far too furious to care now. "Excuse me?"
Ranko turned around. "You heard me. Now, be a good little boy and get back to your buckets, okay? I have class to get to."
Her pride simply refused to let Ranko get away. "Hey, you! We're not finished yet!"
"Yes, we are. You're really not worth the effort."
Akane continued to seethe. This girl was making a mockery of the Tendo School Of Anything-Goes Martial Arts... and she was not about to let her get away with it! Not by a long shot!
"Ooh..." one girl said, "Akashi looks mad..."
"No kidding," another replied. "If he fumes any longer, steam will come out of his ears."
"He's gonna blow a gasket!" one guy cried.
"Eh, I ain't worried," Ranko replied. "He's too weak to be of any real threat."
Unable to take any more, Akane looked around for something to throw at the red-head. Spotting the remaining bucket of water, she stood up and picked it up.
I'll show her! she thought.
She tossed the water all over Ranko, completely drenching her and making her shriek in protest. Just for good measure, she threw the bucket too. It smacked her in the back of the head.
Ranko grabbed her head. "Ow!" She whirled to glare at Akane. "What'd you do that for?"
"Why'd you think, you...? Huh?"
Akane stared in disbelief at the water-soaked girl in front of her. She honestly couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"... What? What are you staring at?"
Ranko was wearing a thin white shirt, that was now dripping wet, so it was only natural that she'd be able to see through it now, but...
Akane's eye and mouth both twitched in revolted shock. "You... you're not..."
Ranko blinked at her. "Hmm?"
She had a perfect view of the chest underneath her shirt. She pointed a shaky finger at her. "You're not..."
Ranko frowned. "I'm not what?"
"She's not wearing a bra!" one guy yelled.
Akane glanced over at the onlookers and saw that many of the girls looked horrified, whereas the guys were all staring. Benjiro's cheeks bore a light blush, Chikao was practically drooling and Daichi's face was bright red. A few of the guys even had nosebleeds.
She looked back at Ranko, who was looking down at her chest. After a few moments, the red-head looked back up again and shrugged. "So?" she asked.
"Urk!" Akane replied, startled. She couldn't believe this. The girl knew? She knew that she was exposing her chest to the whole class and she didn't care? Her fury returned and she clenched her fist. "'So'? 'So'? What do you mean 'so'?"
Ranko put her hands back on her hips. "I don't get what you're so worked up about."
Akane growled. How stupid was this girl? "It's not bad enough that you're wearing boxers..."
"Boxers?" one girl asked.
"But you don't even have the decency to wear a bra?"
Ranko scowled deeper and walked over, until she was right in Akane's face. "Hey, what's it to you, anyway? It's nobody's business, but mine, what I like to wear. As long as I'm in uniform, what does it matter, huh?"
Akane scowled deeper. "You, you..."
As far as she was concerned, boys and girls were different species. Any girl who was fine with flashing her chest like a boy was an instant nemesis of hers. She raised her hand and slapped Ranko across the face.
There were a few moments of shocked silence, where Ranko held her cheek and stared at her. This was soon followed by a few gasps from the onlookers.
"Akashi!" one girl yelled.
"Ranko!" one guy cried.
"Fine..." Akane said, turning away from Ranko, "if you wanna be shameless, then go ahead. See if I care."
"... Hey, what's with you, anyway? You're a guy!" Akane stopped where she was and stiffened. "Shouldn't you be happy that you can see my chest? Not slapping me, like some girl?"
She turned to glare at the red-head, choosing her next words carefully. "Some of us have enough common sense to know that you're making a mockery of girls everywhere!"
Ranko blinked in confusion. "I'm what?"
Akane growled. "And the fact that you don't even know you're doing it is even worse!" She picked up the buckets, one at a time, and starting walking towards the bathroom. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to fill my buckets back up."
Akane stood over the sink, watching the cold water from the tap slowly fill her second bucket. Honestly, she really hated going to the boys' bathroom – as she'd seen far more than she ever would have liked in there in the past week – but it wasn't like she had a choice. If she ever dared to set foot in the girls' bathroom, she'd likely be labeled a pervert and pummeled to dust by girls who actually valued their dignity and had feminine modesty, crush or no crush.
Immediately thinking of Ranko, she tightened her grip on the sink. God, she hated that girl. Since the red-head was so much like a boy already, with her boxers and bare chest, she'd be willing to bet that she'd be perfectly comfortable with going to the toilet in the boys' bathroom.
Personally, she'd only just gotten used to it. She sure as hell couldn't use the urinals, not to mention didn't want to be anywhere near those who were using them, so she'd simply hide in a cubicle, use the toilet and wait until the other guys were gone.
Once the bucket was finally filled, she turned the tap off and hefted the bucket out of the sink. To be perfectly honest, she normally wouldn't mind the idea of being beaten in a fight by a girl. At least then it wouldn't be a boy. God, she didn't think she'd be able to stand the thought of being beaten by a boy.
This was Ranko Saotome that she was talking about, though. That girl deserved a few hundred bruises for mocking her, calling her names and, on top of that, handing her such humiliating defeats. Not to mention, Ranko was so much like a boy anyway that it felt as though she'd been beaten by a boy.
She picked up the other bucket, tightening her grip on both handles. She would defeat her. So help her, one of these days, she would hand Ranko's ass to her on a silver platter, extra crispy and seasoned with herbs. She would defeat her in a fight if it killed her.
Ranma wasn't really paying attention in class. She was too busy grumpily leaning her head on her knuckles and staring blankly out the window, past the empty seat next to her. She knew that Reina, Rin and Ruka were staring at her, as she'd caught them at it a few times, but she wasn't really interested in talking to them about the recent events.
Just what was Akashi's deal, anyway? All she'd wanted was some measly octopus puffs. Why did he have to get so worked up about it? Nobody got between Ranma Saotome and her food. That was just the way it was. How could he accuse her of whoring herself out, of all things?
Well, on the plus side, he'd turned out to be much weaker than she'd thought he'd be. She was able to beat him down without breaking a sweat, although the guy seemed to be quite good with blunt objects, like tables and buckets. He threw them around with wild abandon and even she could get caught off-guard by that, loathe as she was to admit it.
She had to wonder about that final attack, though. A slap? Really? In her fourteen years of travelling and training, she'd never come across a guy who slapped when fighting. Heck, even female Amazon warriors, like Shampoo, used fists and weapons. What the hell was the problem with Akashi? God, he was such a little femboy.
When he'd slapped her, she'd seen a surprising amount of femininity in his face. It had stunned her and she'd been unable to respond. If it had been any other guy, she'd have probably punched him. Akashi, however, was far more girly than any other guy. It was weird. He even had emotional outbursts that made her suspect he was... PCMing, or whatever it was called. Her father had never gone into much detail about matters like that. Anyway, the fact that he'd looked so feminine had almost made it feel like she'd been slapped by a girl. Since she didn't hit girls, she'd completely lost any desire to hit back. She felt frustrated with herself for that.
A book suddenly bounced off her desk, startling her. "Yargh!" she yelped.
"Miss Saotome!" Miss Sachiko's booming voice called out down her ever-present microphone. "I understand that you've been through a lot today, but, please, play attention!"
She shrunk in her seat. "Yes, Ma'am..."