Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi and whoever she sold the rights to.
Punch.
Kick.
Punch.
Twirl.
Low kick.
High kick.
Jump, side kick then land lightly on toes which immediately goes into a high spin kick-
Akane landed too hard, stumbled and fell forward. She squawked in surprise but caught herself with her hands before her face met the floorboards. Letting out a very unladylike curse, she turned and flopped onto her back to stare up at the repaired ceiling of her dojo.
'That same spot every damn time.'
Rather than come home and recover from her ordeals of acting as Shampoo's date shield, Akane had changed into her gi and started working out. The fight with Kodachi had left her in a fowl mood and she had needed to work off the frustration. After crushing through her current supply of cinder blocks and still not feeling any better, she had moved on to katas. She had gone through her entire routine but that felt lacking too.
It was then that she decided to go through some of what Shampoo had shown her. She still remembered most of it and had managed well enough while she was being taught so how hard could it be to go through it again? Apparently, without Shampoo around to watch her like a hawk and demonstrate the correct way, pretty darn hard. With the current kata Akane was trying to perform, one section was constantly causing problems. She'd either land incorrectly and miss the kick or kick but lose her balance from being off center after touching down with her toes. It was suppose to be a quick and seamless motion.
Akane couldn't remember having this much trouble when Shampoo had made her do it the first few times. In fact, Akane was certain that she had nailed it fairly quickly and had moved on with the rest of the kata. Why was she having so much trouble now? The more she concentrated on it, the worse it became.
Akane blinked as a sudden realization hit her. 'Maybe that's why. I'm thinking about it so much that I'm just not letting my body do it for me.'
It made sense. Shampoo hadn't let Akane stop too often. Once one kata was done it was on to the next. There wasn't time for thought, only reaction. Akane wondered if Shampoo had deliberately done that for this very reason.
Akane's epiphany didn't help her right now though. Working by herself wouldn't fix her balance problems or push her to go beyond her limits. She simply didn't know enough to be able to effectively improve on her own. Akane hated to admit this to herself, but whenever she had improved it was because someone else was helping her.
There were four people she could think of that had had an impact on her martial arts. First and foremost was her father, Soun Tendo. He had started her on this path at a young age and had the most influence in her early and present development. Her father had started with the basics and had added on a little at a time, gradually building her up to her current level. Every time Akane had mastered something, no matter how trivial, Soun had been proud of her and encouraged her to keep working. She had basked in the attention which caused her to work even harder so that she could grow up to be just like him. She discovered early on that martial arts gave her an edge over her friends, especially in sports, which raised and cemented her popularity once she entered school. No one, except perhaps Tatawaki Kuno, was her physical equal. Akane was on top of the world and no one could touch her.
Then Ranma Saotome came to town and she learned just how woefully behind she really was.
Suddenly, it became clear that her father hadn't pushed her nearly as hard as he could have. Soun had the same teacher as Genma Saotome did, both had children, yet the differences in passing on their knowledge couldn't have been more apparent. Ranma and Genma's training regime bordered on sadistic and the more Akane learned, the worst it became. However, she couldn't deny the results. Ranma was, to put it simply, awesome. He was beyond anyone she had ever seen in her age group. Next to him, she was practically a beginner, despite the near decade of work she had put in.
So Akane had pestered her father to train her like he had never before. That's when she realized just how laid back Soun was in terms of her training. He taught Akane at his own pace, whenever he felt that a little father daughter bonding was in order. When pressed, he often looked for excuses to end things before they got too physically demanding. Akane found that Soun just wasn't prepared to put her through what she wanted; what she needed to really get better. Besides, the perfect instructor for Akane in Soun's opinion had literally been delivered to their doorstep.
Which lead to her next teacher, Ranma himself.
Akane snorted. 'Teacher my ass. More like the embodiment of a walking insult machine.'
Almost every time that Akane could remember, the sessions between Ranma and herself degenerated into an insult match rather than a sparring match. Rarely was anything ever accomplished, other than one or both of them storming off. Whenever Ranma tried to show her something, he'd explain it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. When Akane tried to replicate what he'd shown and fail, he would get frustrated that she couldn't get something so simple. He'd go on and on how when he was learning the same thing he'd pick it up and master it in record time. Akane would often point out that each person learned at a different rate and that not everyone was as perfect as him. Naturally, he would agree that he was perfect which would anger her at his arrogance and things would spiral from there. Often ending with Akane clubbing Ranma over the head with the nearest blunt object or kicking him through the roof of the dojo.
Sparring was the worst, by far. Try as she might, Ranma would dance around her blows with the nonchalance of someone crossing an empty street. Sometimes he would even bring a manga to read while he effortlessly countered anything she could throw at him. And never once would he attack back. Other than the occasional degrading comment, that is. It usually ended with Akane stomping off at his sheer gall or falling to the ground in exhaustion.
Prodigy that he was, Ranma Saotome was not what Akane considered a good martial arts teacher. It didn't help that their fathers thought differently, constantly trying to get the two to work together despite how either of them felt. The joining of the Anything Goes schools was their first priority; their kids, second. It was almost enough for Akane to consider disowning herself.
With all the men in her life, from her father to Kuno, trying to get her to do what they wanted, Akane's opinion that boys were all perverted idiots was in no danger of being disproven. Her constant misunderstandings with Ranma wasn't helping. That is, until she met Ryoga Hibiki.
At first, Ryoga was just like any boy that she'd met. Dumb and violent. The near severing of her neck that had claimed her hair nearly sent her over the edge. However, since then, Ryoga had made tremendous efforts to make it up to her. Gifts from far away lands, helping her deal with Ranma and generally being someone nice to talk to had lightened her thoughts on boys. Just a tad too shy and needy though for Akane's tastes.
However, Ryoga's biggest contribution to her life had been when he had helped train her in Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics. His patient and encouraging pace was such a breath of fresh air from the pungent stink that Ranma set off. Ryoga's style was very similar to Akane's father, but Ryoga would push Akane just enough that she was able to improve. And improve she did. In less than a week, her fumbling attempts with the gymnastics tools became much more graceful and her attacks with them far more affective. It made Akane realize that with the proper instruction, she could learn anything.
Unfortunately, Ryoga just wasn't around enough for a regular training buddy and when he was around, he was usually involved in the latest goings on that happened in Nerima. It was both disappointing and frustrating that the best hope for Akane's advancement in martial arts wasn't a more permanent fixture in her life.
That is, until her last and most recent trainer. Akane scrunched up her features. She honestly didn't know what she was thinking when she had asked Shampoo to help with defeating Natsume and Kurumi. The best that she could come up with was that she was desperate and Shampoo was the only one around.
At first, Shampoo's methods had been very similar to Ranma's and Akane was certain that she would strangle Shampoo in her sleep before they could finish. However, after an intense emotional argument that had come to blows, both girls had somehow managed to come to some sort of understanding which had allowed them to get through the ordeal. Shampoo had stopped with the taunting and the severe workouts but the intensity didn't stop. Honest to god efforts had been made to correct the deficiencies in Akane's fighting style along with new moves to get just enough of an edge over the new Tendo sisters.
Akane wasn't sure what surprised her more. That Shampoo had actually agreed in the first place or that the Hell that Shampoo had put her through had produced results far beyond Akane's expectations. In three days, Akane had gone from the bottom of the barrel to the height of Mt. Fuji. She had fought Kurumi to a standstill and had ultimately won back her dojo. With a little help from Ranma, of course.
Four teachers to choose from that could get her past the block in the road that she had come up against on her path to martial arts mastery. Despite the choices, it was easy to make a decision. Soun would never agree to a harder training regime, Ranma was too aggravating and stuck up and Ryoga couldn't be counted on to be there to help.
'It would have to be the one that I like the least,' Akane sighed to herself. 'At least Ranma and I get along at other things.'
Akane spent a few more minutes weighing all the pros and cons of having Shampoo continue teaching her. Eventually, the count came in and it was an even tie. Disgusted, Akane finally got off the floor and began searching for one specific person.
It was time to get some advice.
"I can't believe you forgot to tell me this!"
"Ah...oops?"
"Oops? Oops?! Is that all you can say?!"
"Ranma need calm down. Was honest mistake. Lot happen when got back and forgot, okay?"
"Forgot, she says," Ranma mumbled none too quietly. He and Shampoo were now heading to the Cat Café. After Shampoo had explained everything she could remember about the man that had won the boys' side of the tournament that Shampoo had entered, she recalled that Cologne had a newspaper that had listed all the people that had participated. They were on their way to see if that article had any more information on the man that had taken Ranma's name.
"Might not mean anything," Shampoo said, trying to keep Ranma in a pleasant mood. This was not how she wanted to end her date with him. "Could be lost relative or big coinses...ah, coindens...no, coincideses..."
"Coincidence?" Ranma irritably corrected for her.
"Yes, that."
Before Ranma could say how coincidences never worked out for him, a figure dropped down into their path.
"I new waiting for you to slink back this way would allow me to find you," Kodachi Kuno announced. She held a gymnastics pin in one hand and what looked like a bottle of pills in the other. She gestured her pin towards Shampoo in a threatening manner and said, "Shampoo, for coercing my Darling Ranma into this despicable act of depravity, prepare to die!"
Shampoo uppercutted Kodachi into the sky.
Turning back to Ranma, Shampoo continued, "It could be. Much people in Japan. Could be two men with same name."
"That just so happens to know martial arts?" Ranma countered while they resumed walking. "Sorry, not buying it."
Shampoo huffed in defeat. They remained silent the rest of the way and reached the restaurant without incident. Just as Shampoo was about to slide open the door, it burst open itself.
"I knew you would force my Shampoo out with you, you cad," Mousse gritted through his teeth. "Ranma Saotome, for the crimes you committed against my beloved, prepare to die!"
Ranma punted Mousse into the sky.
"I hope your granny hasn't thrown out that paper yet," Ranma said as he and Shampoo headed inside.
The place was packed. Cologne's business strategy to hire more local, and available, girls to waitress was a huge hit for the school and business crowd. While Shampoo herself drew in plenty of admirers, she was decidedly a looky but no touchy type of girl. Plus there was the fact that she could crush a man's hand like a tin can.
Even for two martial artists, it took some time for Ranma and Shampoo to make their way to the back. Ranma was in no mood to be patient so when he finally reached where Cologne was working the register, his first words were, "Alright, ghoul, where's that newspaper with the tournament stuff in it?!"
Female indignation prompted Cologne to flatten Ranma into the floor with her staff.
"Care to repeat that a little more politely, son-in-law?" Cologne said icily. Shampoo just tsked at Ranma's brashness. Would he ever learn?
Ranma peeled himself from the floor and stood back up, albeit a bit wobbly. He'd forgotten how much of a punch the little old woman could pack. Regaining his senses and forcing himself to calm down, he asked again, "Granny, could I please see the paper that has the tournament info that Shampoo was in?"
"I don't see why not." Cologne reached under the register, pulled out the newspaper and handed it to Ranma. "I was actually going to frame that part as a little incentive for Shampoo to keep up with her studies. Third place for a Joketsuzoku, indeed."
"Great-grandmother!" Shampoo screeched, mortified.
Ranma didn't hear the byplay as he was too busy scanning the article that was circled in red. It wasn't hard to find the boys' section and, sure enough, his name was displayed right at the top under the sixteen to eighteen bracket. Unfortunately, there was no picture and no other information available.
"How can this be?" Ranma muttered to himself. His grip tightened on the paper, threatening to tear through it.
"What's all the fuss about?" Cologne asked.
"This!" Ranma jabbed his finger at his name.
Cologne read through the section quickly and commented, "My, my, that completely slipped my notice. You never told me you were there as well."
"I wasn't! Someone else used my name!"
"What makes you think that? It could be someone with the same name."
"Oh, come on! Do you really believe that?!"
Cologne thought it over and was forced to admit that it was too unlikely that it was a mere coincidence. "I suppose you're right. What now then?"
"I'm going to find this guy and demand to know what the hell he's using my name for!"
"How?"
That brought Ranma up a bit short. He began stuttering, trying to come up with a way to locate this impostor, when his attention was caught by Shampoo raising her hand and jumping up and down.
"Oh! I know! We use same magic that great-grandmother use yesterday to help sisters find father!"
"I don't think that would work in this case," Cologne stated. "You need a very high amount of desire for that magic to work. I used that method with those two sisters because I could see that they wanted to find their father more than anything."
"Hey, I want to find this twerp too!" Ranma butted in.
"And Shampoo wants to help," Shampoo added. "And I see what other Ranma looks like. That help, yes?"
Cologne didn't look convinced. However, now that Ranma knew of a way that she might be able to help, he would pester her until he got what he wanted. Or until she bludgeoned him to death. Somehow, she didn't think that would endear him towards her great-granddaughter. "Fine, we'll give it a try."
Cologne hailed one of the waitresses to take over the register and led Ranma and Shampoo into a back room. She quickly set up a table, placed down a baking sheet and then placed a drop of the strange liquid from her vial onto the sheet. As before, the single drop expanded until it covered the bottom of the sheet.
"Now what?" Ranma eagerly asked.
"Just place your finger in the fluid there," Cologne answered.
"Don't we need blood, great-grandmother?" Shampoo got in before Ranma could proceed.
"It's very unlikely that either of you have a blood relation to this boy. The blood would only dilute the magic's power."
"Whatever," Ranma said then dipped his finger in. He waited a few second for something to happen but nothing did. "Ah, what's suppose to happen now?" He raised his finger and placed it back in but still got no reaction.
"As I thought," Cologne sighed. "You simply don't have the desire or the connection necessary for this to work."
"Let Shampoo try." So saying, Shampoo put in her own finger. Other than creating a few ripples to appear in the liquid there was no other affect.
"Ah, man, work dammit!" Ranma began jabbing his finger to near Chestnut Fist speeds in his frustration. All this caused was for the liquid to begin spraying all over the place.
"Enough!" Cologne commanded. She reached forward and snatched the sheet away from them. She then carefully poured the remaining liquid into her vial and placed it away. She turned back towards the teenage pair and said, "It's not going to work. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to find another way, son-in-law."
Ranma growled in anger and began heading out. Shampoo chased after him, leaving her great-grandmother behind. She caught up to him just as he exited the building. "Ranma, wait!" Ranma stopped but the look he gave her indicated he was in a hurry and wasn't going to wait long. "Ranma not even going to say, 'Thank you?'"
Ranma began scowling but his features quickly softened. Sighing, he said, "Sorry, Shampoo. I guess this thing's got me more bent out of shape than I thought. Thanks for the help." He turned to go but was stopped by Shampoo grabbing his arm.
"What about date? We still on it, yes? Can go someplace and forget about this for a bit."
"Shampoo, I won't be able to rest until I've found this guy and put him in his place. Until I do that I won't be able to focus on anything else. Sorry."
"But Ranma had fun? Want to do again?"
Grimacing in an effort to keep from showing how much in a hurry he was, Ranma admitted, "I guess I did have a good time for a while there. Better than most other times. I suppose I can make this up to you. But later, all right?"
"Yes!" Shampoo squealed in agreement. Unable to stop herself, she lunged forward and gave Ranma one of her patented glomps. Before Ranma could begin trying to squirm his way out, she let go. "We have even better time, next time!"
"Right," Ranma said, a little flustered. "See ya around." He then turned and bounded away.
Shampoo happily waved good-bye to his retreating form. Things were definitely looking up for her, if she did say so herself.
Surprisingly, she found him alone. Usually around this time, Genma Saotome was playing Shogi with her father. It was perfect for what Akane needed.
Genma was in panda form, lounging on the back porch and fanning himself. Akane didn't know why he didn't just change back into a human if he was so hot but decided that it wasn't important enough to ask. "Uncle Saotome?" she called from behind him.
Genma turned his large, furry head around and spotted who was talking to him. He held up a sign that read, [How's it going, Akane?]
"I wanted to speak to you about something. Do you mind?"
[Not at all. Tendo's off at a council meeting so I'm kinda bored.]
"Great! Uh, can you change back to a person? It's going to make my head spin if I have to keep reading those signs." Akane held up a steaming kettle she had prepared just in case.
[I suppose. I can only write these things so fast anyway.] Genma took the offered kettle and dumped its contents over his head. Almost immediately, the large panda was replaced by a rotund, but solidly built, man in a white gi. "Ah, thank you Akane. What is it you wanted?"
Akane knelt down beside him and took a moment to gather how she wanted to approach this. Finally, she said, "You know that Shampoo helped get me ready for the rematch against Natsume and Kurumi, right?"
"Hm, yes, I was rather surprised by that. Your father nearly worried himself sick after he came back and told me."
"Yeah, well, he didn't have to worry too much. I'm still here aren't I?"
"Akane, when you have kids of your own, especially daughters, you'll find that you can't help but worry."
Akane almost commented that he himself had a "daughter" half the time and didn't seem all that worried but didn't want to get sidetracked. "Okay, I can see that. But to get back to what I wanted to talk about. You see, Shampoo did an alright job of getting me ready for the rematch but I'm already beginning to feel weaker. I just spent hours practicing but I don't think it did any good. I can't seem to push myself hard enough and I don't want to lose what I've just gained. That's why," and here Akane paused to steel herself, "that's why I think I need Shampoo to continue training me." She stopped and let the admonishment sink in.
She continued before Genma could speak. "I already thought a lot about this. I know there's a couple of people here that could help but they're just not right for me."
"Akane, I don't think this is a good-"
"Please! Let me finish. I know what you're going to say. That Shampoo can't be trusted and that it will only cause trouble. Usually, I'd agree with that, but she's the only person that has taken my training seriously, as strange as that sounds. My dad can't be bothered and Ranma's a jerk."
"I don't think you're giving my son enough credit. He's your fiancé. He'll learn to get along so that you two can continue on with the schools."
Akane came prepared for that argument. "Look, I don't mean any offense to you but Ranma isn't a good teacher. Yet. I think if he toned down on being so smug about martial arts and worked with people rather than against them then he'd be my first choice. If he'd grow up a little and realize that I learn at a different speed than he does, then there wouldn't be a problem. But I don't want to wait for that to happen."
"So you'd rather train with the enemy?" Genma grumbled.
"That's what I really want to talk to you about. Like you said, Shampoo and I don't get along but I think she's my best choice. I'm not sure what I should do. That's when I thought of you and Daddy. You decided to train under Grampa Happosai, right?"
Genma involuntarily jerked and quickly whipped his head around in several directions, seemingly convinced that the old pervert would appear on cue. After a few seconds of the little troll not appearing, he calmed and regarded Akane again. "I wish you wouldn't say his name willy-nilly like that. You don't know how often Fate seems to make the Master appear just by mentioning him."
Akane didn't buy that. She's spoken his name plenty of times to others without Happosai magically springing up to cause havoc. "Whatever. But it's true, right? You chose him for a master even though you didn't like him, right?"
Genma grimaced as, against his will, he began remembering times he would have given up sake to forget. With an insight that would have surprised others that thought they knew him, he had a good idea where Akane was going with this. Like any proper martial artist, she wanted to get better and she had found someone that could help her do that. The problem was, of course, that Akane didn't like Shampoo and vice versa. However, the drive to improve was so clear in Akane's eyes that it looked like she would do anything, even train under Shampoo, to do that. It was just that she needed the right advice to convince herself to go through with it.
'Clever of her to compare what she's going through with Tendo and I,' Genma thought. 'Especially without Soun around to back me up.'
Now, what to do about it? The easiest way would be to just lie or make up a story that would make her forget about this plan and go seek Ranma's help, like she should. The problem with that though was that lies had a tendency to come back and bite him on his furry panda butt, especially recently. If she were to catch him in a lie then she'd definitely go off on her own, likely just to spite him. Perhaps something closer to the truth was in order this time.
Genma turned towards the backyard and adjusted his glasses. The rays of the sun gleamed off of them, hiding his eyes. He then straightened his posture and crossed his arms over his broad chest. Now that the proper mood had been sent, he began his tale.
"Yes, Akane. Your father and I did choose to train under the Master even though we knew him to be as evil as he is now. Neither of us came to this decision lightly. However, we had essentially no others to turn to for training. Soun and I had hit a wall with our styles and no masters at the time could help us breach it. We had heard that the Anything Goes style was unlike anything that had come before it. We were certain that it could give us the jolt needed to really climb to the highest peaks of martial arts mastery.
"At first, the Master didn't want to take us on as his pupils. We were nobodies, just starting out on our training with little to show for it. We resorted to begging and pleading for him to consider us. I think eventually he gave in just to shut us up. It helped that nobody else was banging down the Master's door for apprenticeship and he kept complaining that he was getting on in years and had to pass down what he knew. So he settled for us since no one else was around.
"I'll spare you the torment and misery that followed. It's enough to say that it was the worst time of our lives. The Master only really taught us anything when we pestered him enough. He said our whining and complaining was distracting him from enjoying his sake and women. He would give us a poorly worded scroll or a quick demonstration that would keep us out of his hair for a while.
"Very slowly, Soun and I were able to piece together what the true concepts were in the Anything Goes school. We did get past the wall that had been plaguing us and went on to create our own unique styles. To celebrate, we staged a drinking fest that managed to get the Master so drunk that we were able stuff him in that cave for so long. We thought it was a fitting way to thank the Master for all he had done for us."
Genma stopped as he raised his head to the sky and let tears of triumph stream down his face. It had been a glorious day. He turned back to look at Akane, who was staring at him in rapt attention. Inwardly, he smirked. No one could resist the Anything Goes, "Wise Teacher Lecturing to Dumb Student" technique.
"Having said all that, I think the price that we paid to get what we wanted was too high. To this day, nightmares of what the Master made us do still haunt me. Not a moment goes by that I wish I could go back and tell my younger self that it wasn't worth it. Knowing what I know now, I may have been able to live with being an average martial artist rather than a great one.
"So you have to ask yourself, Akane. Is it worth your future, your dignity and your morals to train under Shampoo? She very well might make you into the fighter that you wish to be but at what cost? Your determination is noble but you may come to realize that your intentions will turn you into something completely unrecognizable. You merely have to look at your father and I to see that."
Akane remained staring, a far off and troubled look in her eyes. She blinked rapidly and shook her head to regain her focus. Taking a shuddering breath, she said, "Thank you, Uncle Saotome. I think...I think I need to think a little more on this." She stood up and bowed to him. He nodded his head in return. She then headed off to her room, leaving him to watch her disappear around a corner.
Once he was sure that she was gone, Genma let out a huge breath of air. He was certain that he'd used up his quota of bullshit for the month. However, he was pleased with the results. Akane should now have enough doubt in her that by the time she came to a decision, Ranma would have gotten his act together and teach her like a proper fiancé should.
Feeling that he had done his good deed for the day, he deserved a reward. Time to raid the sake cabinet and get drunk.
For the next few days, Ranma was insufferable to be around. The second he had returned from his date with Shampoo, he had dragged his father out back and drilled him for information about the impostor. Whenever something like this happened in Ranma's life, the beginning could almost always be tracked back to Genma. It helped that Genma was a bit tipsy at the time and his tongue was looser than normal. As it turned out however, Genma couldn't recall a time where he had ever met anyone named Ranma nor remember any family members that bore the same name. Ranma wasn't entirely convinced that Genma was telling everything but even after a lengthy sparring session, Ranma wasn't able to beat out any additional details.
With all his leads dried up, Ranma brooded around the house trying to think of a way to find the impostor. He was snippy with everybody in the house which was making things tense for everyone. Finally, in an attempt to get Ranma to lighten up, Akane suggested that they spar for a while and get his mind off things.
It turned out to be a terrible idea.
Akane was still on the fence on what to do about her training. She decided that she'd give Ranma one more chance. Too bad she picked the worst time to ask.
It had started out civil enough. Ranma actually slowed down enough were he had to block Akane's attacks rather than just dodge them. Encouraged by this, Akane upped the intensity, completely missing the distant look in Ranma's eyes. She imagined herself back in the fight against Kurumi, straining her body against her opponent and going the distance all the way to the grand finish.
The finish came when, against all odds, Akane landed a punch right into Ranma's cheek. Ranma staggered back, stunned. Akane was equally so. Ranma absently rubbed his cheek where a bright red welt was forming.
He turned his full attention to Akane and yelled, "What the hell was that for?!"
"Don't get mad a me!" Akane shot back. "This is sparring. Things like that happen."
"Yeah, and if it had bean anyone else, we'd been rushing them to the hospital by now!"
"I'm not a monster! I know when to hold back! You should have been paying more attention. We're doing this to get your mind off things. Don't take this out on me just because I manged to hit you!"
"Feh, don't get used to it. I dare you to try that again." He lowered himself back into a stance and beckoned for Akane to come at him.
In hindsight, they really should have quit there. However, emboldened by her sudden success and looking to wipe the arrogant smirk off his face, Akane charged. She'd show him what she was capable of.
With his focus on the fight rather than the impostor, Ranma dominated. Anything that Akane threw at him he either dodged or casually redirected. Once he figured Akane was properly flustered, he waited for her to overextend a punch then simply stuck his foot out. As predicted, Akane tripped over it and went flying face first into the dojo floor.
"Ha!" Ranma laughed down at her. "Just as clumsy as ever. Take that."
Akane groggily got back to her feet. She turned to face Ranma, ready to chew his ears out but was stopped when Ranma suddenly burst out laughing at the sight of the skid marks now etched into her face.
"You...you look like a..a hunk of...chewed up wood!" he stuttered out between bouts or mirth. "Thanks Akane! I needed that!"
"DIE!"
Angrier at Ranma than she'd been in weeks, Akane booted him through the roof of the dojo and into the horizon. Panting at the effort to calm down, Akane came to her decision. She stomped out of the dojo and went to get cleaned up. Soon after, she headed off to the Cat Café.
Shampoo was awakened from her deep sleep by a repetitive rapping at her door.
"Go away!" she yelled and placed her pillow over her head to try to drown out the sound. Unfortunately, the rapping only got louder and no matter how hard she tried to ignore it, she was unable to reclaim her earlier slumber. Throwing off her covers, Shampoo stalked over to the door and flung it open. "What?! Ow!"
"Sorry," Cologne apologized, retracting her staff. "I meant to knock the door, not your head."
Shampoo held a hand to her throbbing forehead and looked down at her great-grandmother. "Why you bother me? Said I could sleep rest of day."
"You have a visitor." Without elaborating further, Cologne headed back to the dining area.
Tired and irritated, Shampoo almost when back to bed. 'Though it might be Ranma, coming to go out on our next date.' That thought was enough for her to get dressed, fix up her complexion and bounce happily downstairs. The spring in her step was derailed entirely when she reached the bottom and came face to face with Akane Tendo.
"Hi, Shampoo," Akane greeted.
'If this isn't a nightmare, I'm going to be so disappointed.' With that cheerful thought out of the way, Shampoo tiredly replied back, "What you want?"
Akane nervously played with her hands for a few seconds before saying, "I wanted to speak to you about something."
"What?" Shampoo yawned out.
Akane noticed Shampoo's halfhearted attempts to keep her eyes open. "Did you just wake up? It's the middle of the day."
Shampoo stretched and mumbled out, "Great-grandmother start teaching me again. Take lot out of Shampoo. Was getting nap before Akane show up."
"Oh, sorry. Anyway, you know how you taught me last week?"
"If this about deal, there no changing it. Ranma agree to next date. If you no do part, Shampoo be very mad."
"Another one already?!" She'd owe Nabiki until college!
"There problem?"
Akane sighed in resignation. "No. This is not about the deal either. I, ah, I was kind of hoping you would...um-"
"Get to point!" With the effort to stay awake, not to mention being in Akane's presence, Shampoo was rapidly losing her patience. She was very tempted to just knock the other girl unconscious, leave her for Cologne to deal with and get back to her room. It'd show both of them not to mess with a young girl's beauty sleep.
Akane jumped back from Shampoo screaming in her face and blurted out, "I want you to train me again!"
Shampoo's mouth hung open as she stared back with half-lidded eyes. "You joking."
"No, I'm serious." Her resolve firming, she continued, "No one at home has been able to work me like you have. Not my father, not Ranma, nobody. I can't go back to my old routine. It isn't enough." Akane swallowed and realized how dry her mouth had become. Forging on, she said, "I know we were at each other's throats last week but we still made it through. Please, teach me."
A few moments went by with no reaction from Shampoo. Finally, she put her hand to her head and thought, 'This is worse than a nightmare. At least I could wake up from it.' She lowered her hand, revealing unamused eyes.
"No."
Akane sputtered for a few seconds before she managed, "But why?!"
Shampoo crossed her arms and maintained her hard stare. "Why? Because is no reason for me to. Did before because I get you to stop others when on date with Ranma. Nothing in it for me now."
"But you're the only one I can turn to!" Akane could feel desperation creeping back into her, just like it had when she had asked Shampoo this the first time.
"Not my problem. Akane forget that we rivals? Why should Shampoo help rival get advantage? Is stupid."
"We can make another deal then. Just like last time."
It appeared Akane wasn't going to back down from this through words and Shampoo was fed up with talking. Before Akane could get a guard up, Shampoo reached forward, grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up in the air. Akane tried kicking and scratching at any part of Shampoo's body she could reach but with no leverage and her air supply being squeezed out there was little she could do. Just when she started seeing spots flicker past her vision, Shampoo dropped her. She immediately began rubbing her sore throat and wheezing in air.
Shampoo glared down at her. When she thought Akane had recovered enough to hear she said, "No more deals. No more help. Akane hear that? Go home before I do something you regret."
Akane could feel tears running down her face but they weren't enough to sway Shampoo this time. She gradually made it to her feet and gazed back at Shampoo but there was no compassion to be found there. "I thought you were better than this." She then turned and fled out of the restaurant before she broke down completely.
Shampoo was left watching her go. She didn't feel particularly proud of herself but couldn't think of a better way to have settled things. At least not with her current state of mind.
She heard the signature tapping of her great-grandmother approaching. Cologne appeared around the corner a second later and stopped in front of her. "Great-grandmother hear?"
"Yes," Cologne admitted. "Not a very pleasant way to end things."
"Think Shampoo wrong?"
"Not entirely. The Tendo girl was expecting a lot from us by asking that. I think she truly believed that you'd agree again. However, as you said, it would be giving over the advantage to the competition. Somehow that notion never crossed her mind." Cologne then gained a thoughtful look and pondered aloud, "Though it may give us an opportunity..."
"Great-grandmother?"
Cologne shook herself out of her musings. "Never mind. Go back to bed Shampoo. You'll need your rest for tomorrow."
Shampoo yawned to punctuate that statement. She nodded her agreement then headed back to her room. When she was out of site, Cologne said to herself, "This will require some careful planning."
"Quick! Turn on the radio!"
Everyone sitting at the Tendo dining table was startled to see Ranma running at them at top speed. He came in, jumped over the table along with it's occupants and landed next to the dresser. He reached up to grab the radio that Kasumi sometimes had playing while she worked. He came back to the table and began fiddling with the dials.
"What's got you so worked up?" Nabiki asked, a little frazzled by all the sudden commotion.
Ranma was too busy fine tuning the radio to answer. After a few moments of searching through the channels, he announced, "This is it!"
[What is?] Genma-panda signed.
"Earlier, Akane kicked me out of the house and I landed in Kuno's pond. Before I could get away, he came out and spotted me and started going off on how happy he was to see his 'Pig-Tailed Girl' like always. Before I could slug him to shut him up, he said something about wishing he could proclaim to the world his love to me or some crap. It got me thinking about how to reach that prick who took my name. It suddenly came to me. The radio!
"So I convinced Kuno to buy us some air time so that we could proclaim together, as he put it, 'Our eternal, undying affection.'" Ranma stopped his story after an involuntarily shudder traveled through his whole body. Once it passed, he went on. "Once we reached the station, I changed back, knocked Kuno out and recorded a message for that fake. It should be playing any second now-
"Here it is!"
Everyone crowded around the radio to listen to what Ranma had to say.
"This is Ranma Saotome. I live in the Nerima ward of Tokyo and go to Furinkan High School. I'm issuing a challenge to anyone out there who also has the name Ranma Saotome. There's an impostor going around using my name to win martial arts tournaments. This world isn't big enough for two of us so the challenge will be whoever wins has to give up their name! That's right! I'm calling you out Mr. Fake! Come to Furinkan High if you're man enough to face me!"
"I'll say it again! This is Ranma Saotome in Nerima, Tokyo. Be at Furinkan so we can settle this! See ya there, loser!"
The sound of a plate shattering on the floor filled the small kitchen. It was utterly ignored by the middle aged woman who had dropped it. Her attention was focused on the radio she had been listening to while doing the dishes when that announcement had suddenly played.
"Ranma?" Nodoka Saotome gasped. "My son?"