Oyu no Ranma
Ch.5: Sex and Violence
~~~~~*~~~~~
Akane and Ranma found the supply closet eventually and took out the green aprons with the restaurant logos on them and put them on. A bald, muscular man with a tattoo of skull on his left shoulder approached them both. "Boss said you'd be scrounging around the supply closet. Look I'm going to have to have you start right away since we're a little busy. My name's Sentaro Sato. I'm the assistant manager, but I'm also the kitchen cook, so you'll be pretty much on your own on the floor. Follow me." Sentaro led them to a window that looked into the kitchen. "You see this metal wheel thingie with all the paperclips on it?"
Ranma and Akane nodded
"What you," Sentaro indicated Ranma, "are going to do is get the orders from that side of the room and clip them to this thing, ring the bell," Sentaro gave the desk bell a quick tap which made a clear ringing sound. "And then turn it so the order faces the kitchen. Then I'm going to put food here on a tray, and you're going to carry it back to the people who order it. We clear?"
Ranma nodded.
"What am I going to do?" Akane asked.
"What you are going to do is get orders from that side of the room and clip them to the wheel. Then you're going turn so the order faces the kitchen. Then I'm going to put food out here, and you're going to take it to the people who ordered it. Got it?"
"Wait. What if I get Ranma's order by mistake?"
"That won't happen because you'll match the food with the order and the order with the table. If the table isn't in your section then it's either Ranma's section or Keiko's and you just leave it alone."
When Sentaro mentioned Keiko, he gestured to the very thin, very tired looking girl with a short tuft of a ponytail they had seen when they first entered. She was taking someone's order from the middle of the restaurant.
"But how do we know what table number goes to which section?" Akane asked.
Sentaro pointed to a black and white diagram of the restaurant floor that showed the sections of the restaurant and the numbers of the tables. "You look on here. Or you look at the number that's attached to the table."
"There's a number attached to each table?"
"Yes," Sentaro answered as if he were introducing the concept of sharing to a kindergartner, "There is a number attached to each table."
Akane walked over to the closest table she peered at it for a moment, and then returned with a smile on her face. "Wow. I never noticed that before, but you're right!" she exclaimed.
Ranma laughed nervously. "So I'm numbers…" Ranma checked the diagram, "Fifteen through twenty-one?"
"Yes, and Akane, you're going to be serving one through seven. Keiko is working 8 through fourteen. Easy, right?"
"I think so…" Ranma said. She was a little worried about Akane.
"Then get to work."
Ranma was about to head to her first table, but she noticed Akane looked a little lost. "Get your table's orders, Akane," Ranma whispered nudging her.
"Oh. Right! Sorry, I just…I never did this before."
"It's okay, it takes a little getting used to. You'll get it." Ranma said to reassure her friend. She just wished she could reassure herself. Akane was a good person, but the girl had been coddled way too much. There was a good chance Akane would get them both fired, and Ranma couldn't help her since she was going to be on the other side of the restaurant.
She took a breath and walked to her first table, hoping for the best. Her first table was easy. Two girls, eating after shopping. One had her hair in a ponytail, the other a pageboy. "Hi, Welcome to Yui's Yakitori, my name's Ranma and I'll be your server. Can I start ya out with somethin' to drink?"
"Just water for me, thanks," Pageboy said.
"Same here, but I'd like a little lemon,"
"How little ya want it?" Ranma asked. The girl looked a bit confused for a moment. Ranma laughed. "I'm just kiddin' I'm new here so I don't know if they got lemons, but I'll see what I can do okay?" On her pad Ranma wrote "table 16: 1 water, 1 water w/ lemon….no sense of humor" in her frantic chicken scratch. Then she went to get the waters. She found the glasses and the water tap easily enough, but she couldn't see any lemons.
"Oi, Sen! You got any lemons back there?" Ranma yelled through the kitchen window. A lemon flew threw the air straight at Ranma's head. Were it not for her reflexes, the lemon might have broken her nose. Instead it just made her hand sting a bit when she caught it. "Uh, how 'bout a knife?" Ranma asked when she realized she'd have to cut the lemon. A knife went flying through the window at the same speed as the lemon. Ranma caught it, threw the lemon into the air and sliced it into eight sections, which fell on the counter in a starburst pattern. "Thanks, Sen!" Ranma said and threw the knife back into the kitchen. Ranma heard a thud. Probably the knife sticking into some wood surface, but just to be sure Ranma asked, "Hey you okay in there?"
"Remind me to schedule a meeting with you about kitchen safety," Sentaro grumbled from the other side of the wall.
"Right back at ya, buddy." Ranma laughed. She put one of the lemon wedges on the rim of a glass and put the other in a bowl she found in a stack near the silverware. Then she went out to the table carrying the cups in two hands with the bowl resting on the top of the cup without the lemon wedge. "There ya go," She said as she put the drinks and lemon bowl down. "I'm gonna take care of this other table and then I'll get your meal order okay?"
The girls nodded. So far Ranma only had two tables to serve in her section. The other table, table 20 was easy. They just wanted sodas. After Ranma took care of them she decided to check on Akane to see how she was doing. Waitressing was pretty simple as long as there wasn't a rush, but still…
Akane looked like a fish just before getting gutted. The table she was serving had three salary men and an office lady. "Okay," Akane said "Um… you wanted tea?"
"No" Salary Man 1 said. "I wanted coffee. Jiro wanted tea."
"Okay, um…and you're Jiro?" Akane pointed to Salary Man 2 "No I'm Akira I wanted water."
"And I wanted a diet cola," the office lady said trying to be helpful and instead only confusing Akane further.
Watching her new friend try to put all the information down on her pad was just too painful for Ranma. While she was writing things down Ranma ran to the soda fountain and got the water and soda for Akira and the O.L. She set the drinks down at the table, and Akane shot her a look of panic and malice.
Ranma had only seen that particular mix of emotions one other time. Shampoo, just before giving her the kiss of death. Gulping, Ranma said. "Sorry 'kane. I just figured you could use some help. You never done this before. Um… the tea and coffee are over there by the soda fountain. Make sure ya get some cream too."
Akane's expression wavered, then softened. "Thanks, Ranma," she said. She didn't quite mean it all the way though, which worried Ranma. When Akane's brow furrowed with determination, Ranma worried even more. Images of the explosion Akane caused while trying to boil water flashed in her brain.
"Akane." Ranma stopped her friend with a hand on her tense and surprisingly muscular shoulder before she could damage anything and get them both fired, "Remember. Ya gotta empty your cup before ya fill it again."
" I know that! I…" Ranma tightened her grip. "Oh…" Akane said. She sighed. "Could you show me how to get the hot drinks?"
Ranma nodded. "Sure. You could probably do it without my help, but ya looked a little crazy eyed."
Ranma showed Akane how to fill the cups with the hot liquid without spilling it everywhere and how to put the drinks on a platter with the cream so that everything was balanced and she wouldn't drop everything when she tried to carry it all. Ranma didn't realize there was so many things she had learned back in China. She had thought she wasn't doing much of anything in that restaurant but apparently she had been training pretty hard.
Helping Akane took about five minutes so Ranma was apologetic when she got back to her table. "Sorry, I was helpin' out a friend. Are ya ready to order now?"
Ranma took the orders, put the ticket on the metal circular thingie and spun it so the ticket faced the kitchen. Then she rang the bell. The other table just wanted the buffet so that was easy, and Ranma got drinks for the new people that sat at table 18. Things were going pretty smoothly. It was as if she had just left Tasuke's place. She was busy though, and didn't notice when a heavy set man in glasses sat in Keiko's section and ordered the all-you-can-eat special.
She also didn't notice that Akane had gotten in trouble again, until she grabbed Ranma's arm with a wild-eyed expression on her face. "There's too many of them! I can't keep it all straight! Help!"
Akane now had four tables to serve in her section. To her credit, she had gotten them all their drinks but she hadn't served any food yet. The food was sitting on the counter next to the window, getting cold.
"Dang it Akane! Ya gotta move this stuff out! They're gonna complain!" Ranma picked up two of the plates and brought them to the first table she got to. "Did any of you order the…" Ranma looked at the plate, "Rice and yakitori?" The table all shook their heads. "Okay what about the chicken teriyaki?" one of the customers raised his hand. Ranma set the plate in front of him. "Sorry for the wait" she called as she went to the next table. The Rice and yakitori was at the second table. Akane was right behind Ranma using the same method to determine who ordered what and everyone got what they wanted.
There was a minor rumbling in Keiko's section, but Ranma didn't pay it any attention as she ran over to her own section to make sure her customers were still okay. A few more people had sat down so Ranma asked for their drinks and got them from the soda fountain. On the way back she saw Keiko arguing with a stocky man in glasses.
"Yes, sir I know it's called the all you can eat special but that doesn't mean you can empty the entire buffet in one trip!"
Ranma closed her eyes. It couldn't be. She opened them again. It was. Genma Saotome, her father and sensei stood up "I assure you that I have not taken more than I can eat, girl. I can prove it to you right now." Genma took a stick of skewered chicken and through a practiced motion employing all the finesse and poise garnered over thirty years of Martial arts training, he engulfed the entire queue of chicken. A few short seconds later the morsels had been chewed and swallowed and Genma had picked up another kabob.
Ranma sat the drinks down on a table and walked up to her father. "Hey, Pops," she greeted him through clenched teeth.
"Oh hey Ranma! I hadn't the faintest notion that you were working here! What an odd coincidence, don't you think? Ha ha!" Genma rubbed the back of his head. Then he seemed to get an idea "Hey! You could help me. See this girl here doesn't seem to think I can eat this." Genma indicated the table which was piled with food, four plates high in places.
"He can eat it all," Ranma said to Keiko, "I've seen 'im eat more'n that before. I'm the only one who's ever beaten him in an eat off."
"What are you talking about, boy? You never beat me once in the gustatory arts!"
"Um…why did he just call you boy?" Keiko asked, "Are you a cross dresser or something?"
Ranma chose to ignore her, and instead addressed her father. "I guess you don't remember that time you were drunk in Hong Kong? I totally out ate you."
"I don't believe you. Besides, you're a girl now. Your stomach is smaller."
"You wanna bet?" Ranma said. Let's go outside. I'll take this food with me, and we can see who the better eater is once and for all."
"You're on."
Genma got up and stormed out of the restaurant.
Ranma closed the door and locked it.
"Well that's great," Keiko said, but how are the other customers going to come in?"
"You got a bucket somewhere around here?"
"Yeah, in the kitchen."
Ranma ran into the kitchen. Sentaro was grilling some yakitori and listening to Japanese Death Metal. "What are you doing in here?" he yelled at Ranma.
"I'm getting water. Where's a bucket?"
"Find your own bucket. I'm working here!"
Ranma looked around and located a fire bucket next to the refrigerator door. She took the bucket, placed it under the sink and filled it with cold water. When it was about half full she turned off the tap, yelled "Thanks!" to Sentaro and ran out of the kitchen and to the door outside. Genma was banging on the door and beginning to threaten violence. Ranma unlocked the door and immediately threw the bucket of water on her father, turning him into a panda.
"Sorry, sir, Ranma said to her pandified padre, taking advantage of her newly gained skill in feminine speech patterns, "we don't allow pets here. You're going to have to leave. Unless you want me to ring up animal control?"
Genma looked as if he were about to say something, but then he deflated and waddled down the road in search of a kettle of hot water.
About half an hour after Ranma took care of Genma, two older girls entered the restaurant. "Hey, Keiko!," the taller one with the pink streaks in her hair said. "Who are the new girls?"
The other girl looked like she had spent too long in a tanning booth. She confronted Ranma as she was on her way back from at table. "You're not taking my job away, are you, shrimp?"
The overly tanned girl, was maybe a centimeter taller than Ranma. "So what if I am, Extra Crispy?" Ranma said before she could think better of it.
"Extra crispy…Junko, this shrimp's making fun of my tan!"
"Maybe we should show her how to make tempura, eh Chaiko?" The taller girl cracked her knuckles.
"You want to fight?" Ranma asked, incredulous. "Hey I don't mind fightin' just lets do it outside where we won't get fired."
"Don't give her too much trouble, Junko," Keiko advised. "She helped me out with a difficult customer. She's one of us."
"She isn't one of us until we say she's one of us!" Chaiko snapped.
"Hey!" Akane said walking over "If you too are going to fight Ranma, you're going to fight me too, you got that? Two against one isn't fair."
"Get out of my face, ugly," Junko pointed a finger at Akane as she said this.
Just then, Ryu Nishikigi appeared behind Junko. "Ladies, ladies, settle down already. Gods. I swear! You get more than three girls in a room, it's like they turn into harpies no matter how cute they are." Ryu rubbed his temples. " I can't believe I actually have more than three waitresses in the restaurant at the same time. It's like a freakin' cathouse in here!"
Ranma stiffened. "What kinda house?" She looked anxiously around for any sign of felines.
Ryu pointedly ignored Ranma. "Okay Red, and er other girl. How about you leave early? "
"Do we have the job?" Akane asked.
"Just as long as you don't screw up. When can you work?"
"4 to 10 for three days out of the work week and on weekends," Ranma said, still a little distracted by the "cathouse" comment.
Akane nodded that this was a good set up for her as well.
"You don't want the full week?"
"Some crap might come up." Ranma said. "Need to have some time to do homework n' stuff."
"I'm paying you the minimum amount for a salary, and if you get any tips from tourists they go straight to me, you got that?" Ryu said.
Ranma and Akane nodded.
"Good, then leave, before the estrogen in the room turns the walls pink."
~~~~~*~~~~~
"You're idiots. Both of you," Nabiki told them when they got back.
"Oh yeah? Why's that?" Ranma crossed her arms. She had changed into her old outfit back at Yui's , but Nishikigi's alterations gave it a distinctly feminine cut. The short sleeves didn't hang over her shoulders like they used to, and it opened up a little at the top giving it a lower neckline. The new cut distracted Ranma briefly but she recovered quickly and glared up at Nabiki. Damn it, she thought, I'm too freakin' short.
"Ne-Go-Ti-Ate! Didn't you learn anything on the road?" Nabiki turned to her sister, "And I don't know how many times I've told you, Akane-chan, but you still agreed to the first offer this Ryu guy made?"
"I guess maybe we can't all be money grubbers like you, Nabiki," Akane said, hands on her hips.
"Somebody has to care about money around here! Maybe if I wasn't the only one, I wouldn't have to do some of the things I do that upset you so much."
"Hey, it ain't Akane's fault ya ain't got no decency. Lay off her!" Ranma stepped toward Nabiki.
Nabiki smiled. "You look a lot nicer, Ranma-chan. Bit more like a girl. My sister's going to figure out who you really are soon enough, though." Nabiki leaned into Ranma's ear and whispered. "Freak." Then she laced her fingers behind her head and walked away with a look of superiority.
Ranma wasn't sure who or what she could safely hit, but she wanted to hit something. "I'm going to the dojo," she told Akane.
Akane nodded, "Let me go put my gi on, I'll join you."
Ranma was met by Genma in human form as he descended the stairs. He looked a bit serious "Ranma," he said, "come meditate with me." Shrugging, Ranma followed her father to the dojo.
For Ranma and Genma, meditation isn't meditation unless it is done upside down on one's head. Due to the almost excessively acrobatic nature of the Saotome school of Anything Goes, maintaining balance while inverted is almost as important as balancing right side up. So while they sat crosslegged and cross armed they were actually resting on their heads, their rears pointed to the heavens in an inverted lotus. This wasn't a particularly comfortable position, but there were one or two hidden perks. For instance, because hot air rises, it was possible for Ranma or Genma to fart without the stench ever reaching either martial artists' nostrils.
Woe onto he or she that, unmindful of the sanctity of meditation, disturbs the masters during this exercise.
Genma put his hands on the floor steadying himself so he could talk. "I didn't appreciate you kicking me out of the restaurant today, Ranma," Genma said.
Ranma steadied herself the same way and responded, "Aw, Pops, you were causing a scene. If I let you eat up the place you woulda got me n' Akane fired."
"Ranma, I'm your father and your sensei. You should show me respect."
"Yeah, well when you act like a father or a sensei I respect you. When ya act like a lazy ass panda, I'll treat ya like one."
Genma got up and, using his foot, he sat Ranma right-side up. "Ranma, I am not the best parent. I realize that. I'm trying to be better, but you've got to meet me halfway. I've got three new students right now and I can't have them seeing you be disrespectful to me."
Ranma wasn't really listening. Her thoughts were on a different track. Akane's mom and her recipe book. "What was my mom like, Pops?"
"Your mother's dead, Ranma you need to forget about her."
"How can I forget about her if I don't even know anything about her?" Ranma had used "atashi" instead of "ore", she realized a second after she spoke. She had talked like a girl in front of her father.
Genma was silent for a long moment. "You sound like some flighty schoolgirl, boy. I thought you were tougher than that. This is a hard trial you've set for yourself, but you've got to keep your manhood intact. You have to be strong, Ranma. Life is hard and as martial artists our live are fraught with perils and growf growf growf growf."
Ranma had kicked a fire bucket onto her father's head. "If ya ain't gonna say anythin' worthwhile ya might as well go be a panda somewhere."
Genma-panda made several noises of protest, but they were just that, noises and they had no effect on Ranma. Her slip up though, that had shaken her to her core.
After Genma left, Ranma performed a few evening katas, trying to forget about what happened. Mostly stretches and flexibility exercises but also a few forms from the more stylized martial arts she had studied. Akane came in the dojo after some point and watched. When Ranma completed the last kata Akane looked wide eyed at her.
"I knew you were better than me, but I had no idea…why didn't you say something?" Akane asked. "That was…it was beautiful."
Ranma shrugged. "It's not a big deal. I like that one. I can do it better as a girl so I've been practicing it more recently, but I've known it since I was ten."
Akane nodded. "My dad's all about the basics. You see he even put it on the wall." Akane motioned to the hiragana characters on the wall of the dojo. "I've asked him to teach me some of the more complicated forms but he always says that if you learn the basics, the rest will come naturally."
"That kinda explains a few things to me. I mean, when we were sparring I could tell every move you were going to make. You've got great stances. Almost perfect, really, but they don't make much sense in a real fight with a martial artist. You're too easily read."
"What should I have done when you started dodging my moves like that?" Akane asked.
Ranma shook her head. "Your first mistake in that fight was that you started right away. Ya gotta analyze your opponent. Let's pretend we're about to spar and I'll try to show ya what I mean."
"Okay," Akane said and got into an offensive stance.
"Now if you notice, I didn't take a stance right away." Ranma said. Indeed she had not she was just standing casually as she talked to Akane. "Why is that?"
"I don't know! I thought you were a beginner or something when you did that last time."
"Well, first off I'm tryin' to figure out what you're gonna do. I don't want to set up for a move until I'm pretty sure it's gonna work. Second ya gotta understand I've been in a lot of street fights. Now street fights can get pretty bad, but a lot of times they get broken up by the cops or somethin' before they get anywhere. If ya look like you're in a fight, well, the cops are gonna arrest ya. But if you're just standin' around mindin' your own bee's wax, well then it was just the other guy who was fightin' and you can get off scott free. Get it?"
"But we aren't in a street fight, we're sparring."
"Yeah, well, it's also a psych out. Both ways. I mean, on one hand if it looks like I ain't fightin' then you're not gonna expect me to fight. And if I don't make a fighting stance, then I'm not as likely to go all out. It's kind of a personal reminder to hold back a bit. When ya can kill someone with your bare hands that gets kinda important. So, way I figure it you got two areas where you're a little weak, subtlety and control."
"So how do I get better at that?"
"Well you got different strengths than I got. Your kind of fightin' is slow and powerful. Mine is more fast and sneaky. I like mine better so I'd say you gotta work on speed, but that's if you want to learn my way. It'd probably be better if you focused on your strengths. If you want to use a slow and powerful style then you gotta learn to stay still and let other people come to you. Then you have to have a very precise stance that can deflect whatever anybody is gonna through at you, but it can't be obvious otherwise they'll find your weaknesses too easily. So really you've got to be able to flow into your stances from a neutral position quickly. If I jump you gotta block high or be prepared to make a high grab and throw. If I rush you, you gotta be able to prepare with an upper cut or dodge at just the right time. If ya don't move fast your gotta look fast. You gotta learn to read moves like crazy. Finally ya gotta be able to withstand a lot of pain, because you're gonna have to block a lot and so you're gonna get your arms all banged up."
"But what if I need to fight someone, like they stole something and I want it back , but they don't rush me?"
"That's where insults come in handy. If you can get someone to come after you that's the best thing. But if you can't, you gotta be really careful on the approach. Just like you gotta have a precise stance when you're standing still, you gotta pay close attention to someone's stance when you're coming toward them. You gotta be able to predict what they're going to do when you come at them, and that's a whole lot harder than judging what someone is going to do when they're attacking you. That's another reason I don't use much of a stance. When you're good enough you can make your stances vaguer, throw your opponent of the scent, but you gotta practice."
"Could we spar some now?"
"Sure, but you better do a few exercises to warm up. Pops always tries to attack me when I'm unaware, so I can be prepared for a battle at anytime. That's important if you're on the run from amazons all the time, but it's still kinda dangerous."
"You were on the run from amazons?"
"Yeah. It's a long story. I'll tell it to ya sometime, maybe."
Akane sat down to do some stretches. "Why not now?"
Ranma grimaced. "Yeah, I s'pose now's as good a time as any. Besides if Shampoo shows up you might want a head's up."
"Shampoo?" Akane repeated.
Ranma sighed "I don't know how much ya know about China, but there are some things they just don't put in text books or travel brochures. Ya see there are Amazons in China, and most of 'em are named after English hygiene products."
Ranma told Akane about her experience with the Amazons while Akane stretched. When the story was over, Akane shook her head. "I would never believe it, if it weren't for your father turning into a panda…and for the fact that that's pretty much how I've been living for the past year at Furinkan. You think Kuno spent some time with the Amazons and that's where he came up with the idea?"
"I doubt it. They woulda never let him in. The only reason Pops and me could enter was 'cause the guide was respected by the village, pops was a panda, and I was a girl."
"Still it's too bad that they have such an insane rule. I mean otherwise it would be kind of cool for there to be a society run by women."
"I suppose," Ranma said noncommittally
"Well let's get sparring!"
"Okay, but we ain't gonna spar full on. We're gonna go slow okay? One move, one counter. I'll make a move and you counter. Then it will be your turn, okay?"
"Okay!" Akane said.
"I'll go first." Ranma said. She went for a leg sweep, but Akane's stance was solid and the attack did nothing but give both Ranma and Akane bruises on their shins.
"Good." Ranma said, "Like I said, you're stance is awesome. Now you attack me."
Akane lunged in with a punch. Ranma grabbed Akane's fist and pushed her along her direction of motion, causing her to stumble and fall over. "Yeah your defense is great, but your offense is a bit screwed up. You moved away from your center and I was able to throw you off balance. You've got to move your center with you."
They sparred in this matter for about an hour before they both heard a noise and looked outside to see Genma pass by the koi pond as a panda with Nabiki over one shoulder.
"What are you doing with my sister?" Akane demanded, stepping outside of the dojo into Genma's path.
The panda stopped in front of her and managed a deadpan expression. "Growf" he said simply, and walked around Akane, proceeding inside and up the stairs to Nabiki's room where he threw the unconscious girl on her bed. It wasn't until Soun came in a few minutes later that the story of what happened at the bathhouse came to the fore.
Some significant details were missing, from Soun's story. He would not tell Ranma the nature of his father's secret technique, only that Nabiki was interested in it. His narrative was punctuated by an excessively teary exclamation of joy: "My daughter is finally taking an interest in the art!"
Akane was a bit miffed at this. "Dad! I'm your daughter too, you know!"
This sobered Soun somewhat. "Yes, Akane-chan, of course, I meant my other daughter. Or… I mean the second of my three daughters. I'm just so happy!"
"So, the old man still has some tricks up his sleeve, eh?" Ranma said after Akane and her father went inside. "And it's somethin' the evil sister's into. This oughta be interesting…"
~~~~~*~~~~~
The next morning, Ranma sat on the floor of the dojo in a relaxed lotus watching Genma get his spar on with Nabiki. Akane sat beside her and they shared a bag of potato chips. The spectacle was immensely entertaining.
"This is stupid." Nabiki grumbled as she got up from the floor after Genma threw her in what was, to Ranma, a fairly basic Judo move. She was wearing short shorts and a green and white striped sleeveless shirt, which inexplicably had a hood attached to it. "As I recall, Martial Arts isn't about beating people up, but about the cleansing of the mind and so on and so forth. Why do I have to do this gorilla dance?"
Genma settled into a relaxed stance. "Foolish girl. What benefit does the Art have if it isn't used? Meditation is fine in its place, but thought without action is just as bad as action without thought. You wish to learn the secret of the Umisenken? It is true that much of it focuses on mental energy, but it also requires physical action. Not even Ranma is at a level where he...she can learn the technique. If you wish to learn it, you'll have to be better than she is now."
Ranma looked to Nabiki, whose forehead was glistening with beads of sweat. She was scowling and her copper brown eyes seemed almost red. The knuckles of her fists were bone white. Ranma wanted to laugh, the middle Tendo was so far from being the ice queen she usually was, but she didn't want to end the show prematurely.
"Fine," Nabiki said evenly. "Then if I beat Ranma in a match I should be able to learn the technique?"
"I never said that. However..." Genma glanced at Ranma, who couldn't resist a wide grin. His glasses glinted as he looked down in thought, "a match might not be a bad idea. Ranma, stand up. You will be Nabiki's opponent."
"Aw jeez." Ranma got up, "She ain't nowhere near my level, Pops."
"Ranma, need I remind you that you are currently my student?"
Ranma glared at her father, but he hadn't done anything stupid yet. "No, Sensei." Ranma bowed, and she actually felt a rush of pride when she said that.
The good feeling washed away when she stood in front of Nabiki though. This was the pervert girl who took pictures of her own sister so she could sell them, who set it up so that Akane had to fight a hoard of boys every morning before school.
"The fight will be one round." Genma declared, "First knockdown wins."
"She ain't gonna be convinced after a single round, Pops, ya gotta make it three at least."
"One round." Genma repeated.
The way he said it sent chills down Ranma's spine. "Sorry...Yes, Sensei."
"Ready?" Nabiki and Ranma bow to each other and nod to Genma. "Fight!"
Ranma stood in a casual stance, waiting for Nabiki to make a move. The trouble is, Nabiki seemed to be doing the same thing.
"I'm not about to attack you, Saotome. I can wait here all day." Nabiki declared.
"You forfeit?" Ranma asks.
"No. I'm just going to have to insist on you making the first move. Go on," she says with a dark smirk, "be a man about it."
Akane stands up, "Ranma's as much a girl as you are! If you aren't going to attack, fine, but it's not fair to insult Ranma for doing the same thing!"
If Akane hadn't said anything, Ranma would not have reacted. It was so strange fighting as a girl. Everything was backwards. It was an insult to be called a man instead of the other way around.
"Akane, do not interfere with the match," Genma warns.
"I'm not interfering!"
"Psychology is important to a match as well. Nabiki has made the first move. Be silent or I will make you silent, is this clear?"
"Yes, Sensei."
Ranma smirks. So she's tryin to psych me out? Feh, no way that'll work. I'm the best and I know it. Nabiki ain't even half as good as Akane.
But now Ranma was presented with a problem. She would have to knock down Nabiki. Nabiki was a girl. Despite all the ill feeling Ranma felt toward her, the idea of hurting a girl, especially one as weak in the Art as Nabiki, set off warning sirens all through her. She would have to knock her down gently, which was a definite contradiction. It would still be doable but...Ranma realized she could actually learn something from this.
Ranma flipped closer to Nabiki and landed into a spinning side kick that stopped a centimeter from Nabiki's nose.
Nabiki crossed her arms. "Really, Saotome, if you're just going to play games, we'll be here all day."
Ranma's eyes thinned. Nabiki's good enough to know that move wasn't going to hit? But she has no skill at all! Ranma wouldn't be able to coerce her into making a move...She dropped into a crouch and went for a leg sweep.
Nabiki hopped over the sweep.
Ranma grimaced. One of her greatest strengths was her speed, but speed meant power and power meant damage. It was no real surprise Nabiki was able to avoid the sweep considering how slow it was. Still, it further proved that Nabiki could read moves like a book. If she ever got any skill... Ranma shook her head. It was time to end this.
Ranma tried a hold. Unfortunately, this involved getting close to Nabiki...and touching her. Ranma hesitated a bit longer than she should have, and just as Ranma got her hands in position, Nabiki had hers on Ranma's breasts.
"Gurk!" Ranma stiffened, releasing her hold on Nabiki.
Nabiki drew close to Ranma, sliding her ankle behind the redhead's feet and kissing her on the lips before pushing.
Ranma fell like a house of cards.
"Nabiki wins." Genma intoned seriously.
Recovering, Ranma shot up to her feet. "Hey! That doesn't count! She cheated..."
"Ranma, do not disappoint me further by acting dishonorably. What Nabiki did was well within the rules of the match."
"But..."
"You may as well face it, Saotome," Nabiki said, wiping her lips. "You lost."
"I never lose! I demand a rematch! That wasn't fair!" Ranma looked at Akane's face. She seemed equally shocked.
"I thought that might work. I would not have agreed to the match otherwise." Nabiki said splaying the fingers of her hand and holding out to examine her fingernails. "You're insecure about your sexuality."
"I am not!"
"The way you reacted when I touched your breasts. That was fear."
Akane stood up. "Stop it, Nabiki. I wouldn't like it either if you touched my breasts!
Nabiki smiled, turning to Akane, "I know you wouldn't, little sister. But you aren't the teacher's pet." Turning back to Ranma, she said. "You've never had a boyfriend, have you, Ranma? Or a girlfriend? You probably don't even like to touch yourself."
Ranma didn't know what to say. All she could think of was "I'm a guy! I'm a guy! It's normal!" But that wasn't true anymore. She was a girl and would be for a long while. She stepped back.
Nabiki advanced, looming over the smaller redhead. "I kissed you, and it means nothing. I've kissed many people, both boys and girls, and went no further. I know that I prefer boys and so it doesn't matter. Kissing is not a big deal." She brought a finger to her chin pensively, "Now if it was your first kiss that would be a different story."
It was too much to take all at once. Nabiki stole her first kiss! Her first kiss with a girl and she hated it, which meant she didn't like girls which meant…No. It didn't matter anymore whether she was a boy or a girl, weak or strong. All thoughts of honor and propriety flew out the window. All that mattered was the hand, balled into a tight fist at Ranma's side and the glare in her eye as she snarled "You BITCH!"
Ranma punched Nabiki, her knuckle crashing against the girl's skull.
The force of the blow spun Nabiki around so rapidly she was a blur. She landed on her back on the floor.
"RANMA!" Genma bellowed.
She stood panting over Nabiki's body for a moment. She closed her eyes. "I know, Dad. I know." Slowly she knelt, gazing at Nabiki's now bloody face. "Akane, get some ice, a towel, a bandage and a needle and thread...and call for Dr. Tofu" She felt for Nabiki's pulse...it was still pretty strong. She was alive at least.
Akane's footsteps were hesitant at first, then quick as she ran out of the dojo.
Ranma felt a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, son. I...I should have seen this flaw in your training earlier."
Nabiki's skull was fractured at her left eye socket. It was already swelling rapidly.. A thick gash led from the crushed socket to Nabiki's temple. The speed of the acceleration ripped the skin apart on impact. Ranma took off her shirt and rolled it up to stick under Nabiki's head, but then she thought better of it. The neck might be broken. "This is my fault, not yours," she told her father. Ranma wiped off some moisture from her eyes, bloodying her own face.
Genma stared at the carnage "She didn't know how to strengthen her bones with ki. She wasn't fast enough to dodge…" he muttered.
"Stop it, okay? I knew she didn't have training. I knew that and still... Damn it, go out and get drunk or something! You're not helping!"
Genma turned, and for a moment, it looked like he would follow Ranma's advice, but instead he turned back around.. He knelt next to Ranma.
"You're still here," Ranma said.
"Yes. Let me know what you need."
"Just make sure Akane doesn't forget anything."
Genma got up.
"Dad?" Ranma said, still not looking at her father. "I missed you."
Genma's hand alighted briefly again on his daughter's shoulder. She could feel the warmth through the silk of her shirt. Then she heard the sound of his foot steps as he left to help Akane. She realized belatedly that she had been talking like a girl since Nabiki fell. Not that it mattered.
"I am not a man," she told herself. "Not after this." She could have kept them in, maintained her stoicism, but she felt she didn't deserve composure. She let the tears pass like daggers through her eyelids.
She put her hands together in prayer, clenching her eyes shut. "Mom! Dad says you're dead, so maybe you can help me. Please make sure Nabiki gets better! Let this be something she'll heal from! If she gets brain damage…if she …dies, I won't be able to live with myself. I'll commit seppuku! If my life means anything to you, please, let Nabiki be okay."
Ranma raised her hands, touching the backs of her thumbs to her forehead, hoping that her prayer would reach her mother's spirit.
Of course Ranma's mother was still alive, so she never got the message.
But there was another spirit who did hear. It was the spirit of another mother, who was already watching over the Tendo daughters, and whose shrine was hanging in the Tendo dojo.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Ranma stood up with everyone else as Tofu entered the hospital waiting room. "Is she okay?" She asked. Akane was holding Kasumi's hand. Soun had his hands in fists and looked about ready to start weeping again. Genma was the only one who didn't stand. He was holding his head up with a hand at his brow, elbow resting on a knee.
Tofu nodded in response to Ranma's question. "The CT scan showed no sign of a hematoma or any other brain injury. Aside from a sprained neck and the injury to her eye she's uninjured, and what she has should heal up in a few weeks. I thought the skull was fractured, but it must have been all the blood making it look worse than it was. You got very lucky, Ranma. I hope you learned a lesson from this."
Ranma looked down at her feet.
"Maybe we can all agree that all this violence is wrong." Kasumi said, giving her father a pointed look.
"Kasumi, how can you say that?" Akane asked releasing her sister's hands, "Nabiki got hurt because she didn't know how to defend herself. If she had trained with Dad like I had, she would have been able to take the hit or even dodged it, and it wouldn't have been a problem. Instead she had to go to the emergency room!"
Kasumi shook her head. "Our sister's in the emergency room because the Saotome girl punched her. If it weren't for violence she wouldn't even have a scratch on her."
"Kasumi, that's just wrong! Violence is out there! It happens! You can't just say 'I'm a pacifist' and think it's not going to affect you. What if someone kidnaps you? What are you going to do then? What if some pervert shows up who gets enjoyment out of beating up defenseless girls? You're just going to take it? You're going to let some pervert rape you? "
Kasumi crossed her arms."If an assailant attacks with a gun or a bomb, no amount of training is going to help you."
Akane wasn't backing down. "If someone has a gun or something you kick it out of the bastard's hands! You fight as best you can to protect the ones you love. You don't serve the creep tea and hope for the best!"
Ranma didn't like this conversation. She felt like she was the "creep."
"It seems to me," Kasumi said in a measured tone, "that people are far less likely to kill you if you are simply cordial to them."
Ranma was surprised to find herself agreeing with Kasumi. What had violence ever done but get her in trouble? Wouldn't things have gone better if she had just tried being nice to people. If she had just apologized about eating the Amazon's prize? If she had let that Rio de Janeiro guy have the bread every now and then? If she hadn't pummeled her only friend's sister in the face with her fist?
Tofu coughed an "ahem." "Nabiki's awake, and she'll be able to see all of you soon, but…she asked to see Ranma alone."
Ranma lifted her head up to check that she heard Tofu correctly. "She wants to see me? After I nearly killed her?"
Tofu shrugged and opened the door to the room for Ranma.
Ranma searched the young doctor's face for a sign of what she should do, found nothing other than his usual easy going smile and decided to go into Nabiki's room.
Nabiki was in a neck brace. She had a white bandage over her left eye and she had a plastic breather in her nose. She was sitting up in her hospital bed, her right eye looking sharply at Ranma. The strange thing was that she was smiling. "Come closer, Saotome. I think we need to have a little chat."
Ranma hesitated, but did as she was asked, ending up at the foot of Nabiki's bed, as if she stopped to Nabiki's side, she would not have been able to move her head to see her.
Oddly the arrangement gave Ranma the impression that Nabiki was sitting on a throne. "Tofu says because of you I probably won't get a scar from this." She waved at her eye. "Apparently you stitched me up. So I guess you aren't a total prick."
Ranma blinked. That was probably the nicest thing Nabiki had ever said to her.
"I think we got off on the wrong foot. It wasn't your fault you were turned into a girl. I shouldn't have gotten angry at you. Maybe I could have shown you a little more respect. And I guess I'm sorry about the photograph I took of you and Akane in the bathtub. And for kissing you. I didn't think it would bother you that much. I mean you're a boy trapped in a woman's body. I thought for sure you'd be a lesbian."
Ranma was starting to remember why she had been angry at Nabiki in the first place.
"I guess you really are a girl after all. Your father's probably having kittens over that."
Ranma tensed at the mention of kittens. Nabiki seemed to find this amusing.
"I think I'll stop hating you. It's not really worth the effort and I think you might be a good ally to have some day. I just wanted to let you know how things stood. Because, even taking into account all the things I did to you, I think you and I both know that you owe me, Saotome. I may have cocked the gun, but you're the one who pulled the trigger. You owe me. So just know that sometime in the future, I'm going to ask you to do something for me, and you are going to have to do it, no matter what it is. It really isn't that much considering I just got out of a CAT scan.." Nabiki stressed the word "cat", "...to see if I had brain damage. I'm very fond of my brain, Saotome. I don't like how close I came to…" Nabiki blinked and waved off her line of thought. "One favor, that's it. After that, as far as I'm concerned we're even. Do we have an understanding?"
Ranma nodded. "I shouldn't have reacted like that…I-"
"Shhhhh! Shush! I don't want to hear your excuses or apologies or whatever you're about to say. You fucked up, Saotome. Deal with it."
Ranma took a breath and let it out. "You want me to let in the others?'
"Sure. Just as long as we're clear that this does not count as the favor."
"Nabiki, I'm not going to try to weasel out of the deal like that. I'm not that kind of…" Ranma swallowed. "I'm not that kind of girl."
"I don't suppose you are." Nabiki's smile lost some of its sharpness. It was almost warm. "I fucked up too, Saotome. I should have listened to your father. Can't always trust my shining intellect to get me out of situations."
"Shhh!" Ranma smirked. "I don't wanna hear it." She opened the door and let everyone else into the room. Soun immediately burst into tears again and declared his love for his precious daughter. Akane and Kasumi were smiling at this, and Genma looked measurably less forlorn than he had in the waiting area.
"Thank you, mom," Ranma said under her breath. "Thank you."
But again, it wasn't her mom who heard it.
~~~~~Continued in chapter 6~~~~~