Chapter 14:
The Midnight Rose
It was late, the entire Tendo household was asleep, except for a young man who inched quietly along the wall of the house's second floor towards an occupied room. He carried a Victorian stlye dolly in his arms as he slowly opened the door and peeked into the room, finding just what he had expected, a little black piglet nestled snugly against Akane's bosom. "Why that little..." Ranma took a deep breath, it'd do him no good to get angry. "Sorry Chise-chan, just one favor." Ranma crept into the room, and with all his skill as a martial artist deftly replaced the piglet with the doll and left the room.
Moments later he tossed the pig to the ground in the dojo and emptied the contents of a hot water kettle onto it, revealing his fanged rival. Ryouga wasn't too pleased about being awoken like that, nor was he all that happy about seeing Ranma. "What do you want sissy-boy?"
"The hell you talking about pervert! Snuggling up to Akane like that."
"Is that jealousy I hear Ranma?"
"What? No!!! It's just, what do you think you're doing sleeping with Akane you big jerk?" Ranma glared at Ryouga who replied with a smirk. As Ranma readied himself to fight for Akane's honor however, a shrill shriek filled the night air.
In Akane's room, a Victorian doll had taken a partial impact to one of it's legs from a mallet-wielding girl, a mallet strike that had narrowly missed Akane.
A moment passed before Ranma and a still naked Ryouga burst into Akane's room. Ranma spotted Kodachi with a mallet and Akane avoiding a second swing. Then he saw his doll. "Chise-chan!" Ranma dove for the damaged doll, tripping Kodachi accidentally as he did. He coddled the doll as he grabbed it, and Kodachi fell face first to the floor, giving Akane a chance to grab the mallet."
"Well well, it seems you're better then I gave you credit for miss Akane Tendo." Kodachi stood and turned to the door, running smack into the naked Ryouga and falling backwards to her bottom. She looked up and blushed brightly seeing the rather attentive male form before her, and without saying a word, she shot out the door past him, leaving a cloud of black rose petals in Akane's room.
Akane then stared at Ryouga in disbelief as Kodachi fled the room and quickly turned around to see Ranma against a wall in tears over his broken doll. Ryouga, sensing Akane's discomfort, realized he was naked, and fled down the hall in a similar fashion that Kodachi had. Akane took a deep breath, then spoke. "Why was I holding your doll and not my pig when I woke up?"
Ranma looked up at Akane, saw a slight bit of anger in her eyes, and inched against the wall. "I-it's not what you think Akane, th-that pig."
"What about the pig? Where is P-chan?"
"H-he's safe, I promise." Ranma cuddled his doll tightly. "B-but poor Chise-chan..."
Akane sighed and took a step toward Ranma, then collapsed over her left leg and grabbed her ankle. "Ow, my ankle. I must have twisted it avoiding that woman's attack."
"But, the competition's tomorrow Akane, are you going to be able to compete?"
Akane shook her head and placed a hand on Ranma's shoulder. "You have to do it for me Ranma, there's no one else who can take my place. I'll forgive you for taking my pig if you do this."
Ranma sighed, it almost felt like blackmail, but he silently agreed and handed Chise-chan to Akane. "Only if you promise to find someone to repair Chise-chan."
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Morning came quickly. After the brief discussion with Akane the night before, Ranma had found Ryouga paralyzed on the Tendo rooftop. While Ranma normally would have been fine leaving Ryouga there, he had helped him off the roof, and made him a deal. Ryouga smiled a bit as he had accepted the deal, and was all grins as the sun had finally risen and both he and Ranma were exhausted from constant training for the competition.
"I, I owe you for this Ryouga."
"I wouldn't pass on a deal like that Ranma, just remember, P-chan can stay with Akane whenever he wants. A man doesn't go back on his words, you got that Sissy-boy?" Ryouga set down the hoop he'd been using and smirked at Ranma.
"A deal is a deal, perverted pig." Ranma chuckled as both he and Ryouga headed for the furo. The demeanor between the two, while still hostile, had become a bit less shakey, and a bit more friendly. Akane had taken note of that as she passed the pair on her way to the breakfast table.
Several minutes later, both Ranma and Ryouga headed out to the dining room together. Ranma took a seat next to Kasumi, who dutifully fed him like the good wife she'd one day be, and Ryouga absent-mindedly sat next to Akane, who was trying her best not to watch Ranma and her sister.
"So, Akane tells me you'll be competing in her place at the competition today Ranma, that's so kind of you to look after my sister like that." Kasumi smiled as she served a bowl of rice to Ryouga, and another bowl of special rice to Akane, who just as soon wouldn't be eating breakfast again.
"Well, it's the least I could do really, she's always so helpful at school and all." Ranma blushed slightly as Kasumi placed a large collection of rice into Ranma's mouth with a smile. "You don't have to do that Kasumi, I can feed myself."
"Oh, but I want to Ranma, it's my duty as your future wife." Kasumi's smile was infectious and irresistable. Ranma simply melted and allowed her to have her way. "Oh, are you not hungry Akane?"
"That's okay Kasumi, I'm still on a diet." Akane would rather not risk poisoning again, especially not before Ranma took her place in the competition, she at least wanted to see Ranma beat that Black Rose.
"Well, if you don't want it, I'll take your portion Akane." Ryouga smiled and reached for the bowl, Akane didn't seem to notice.
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"You can't be serious Ranma, you put your name on the competition application."
"What's the big deal Akane, what name would I put on it?" Ranma blinked in confusion.
"I guess you're right, but there are a lot of people at school who are bright enough to realize it's you." Akane sighed a bit as she helped Ranma get dressed for the competition. Her stomach was rumbling loudly from not eating, and she just hoped there'd be a snack vendor or something during the competition. "By the way, have you seen Ryouga, he said he'd help us prepare."
"Not since we got here, he said he wasn't feeling good and ran off to the bathroom." Ranma finished getting dressed and headed for the arena entrance. "Don't worry about him though Akane, I'm the one who's gotta fight here."
"I know, but I'm still a little worried about you Ranma, you didn't sleep last night, and that girl is crazy."
"It'll all work out Akane, this is Martial Arts, I can do this. Just sit back and watch." Ranma gave her a thumbs up and smiled as she walked out into the arena. "And take care of Chise-chan for me."
"Oh Ranma, be careful." Akane sighed whistfully as she watched the girl's back, and blushed heavily. She looked over at the doll sitting next to Ranma's locker and smiled. The competition was about to start, and she didn't want to miss any of it.