Hello again everybody, 2nd chapter time. All C&C, MSTings and coupons,
and coupons for free pizza are welcome at yelloped@attbi.com .
Standard warnings apply, Ranma 1/2 and it's characters belong to
Rumiko Takahashi. No disrespect intended. The Street Fighter series is
a trademark of Capcom, and no disrespect intended there either.
"Iron Heart, Iron Warrior" Chapter Two. "Akane's First Fight"
Ranma pulled himself groggily off his futon. He definitely was
not what people would call a "morning person" But a promise was a
promise. There was only ten days to go before Akane was to take part
in her first Street Fighter match. He had promised her that he would
train and spar with her, make sure she was ready.
Ranma quickly stood up, stretching out all the kinds from his
muscles. Quickly dressing, he came down the stairs and grabbed a quick
bite to eat. He decided to avoid Mr. Tendo today, the father was
suffering from alternating bouts of "I want my girl to be a worthy
heir to my school," and "My poor baby's going to get slaughtered" and
was not fit company to be around. He didn't know how Kasumi and Nabiki
could put up with it.
Slipping out of the house, he walked over to the dojo, where
from the sounds of contact, he guessed Akane already was. As he
stepped into the dojo, Akane was rhythmically punching the post,
shaking its foundations with each blow. Ranma studied Akane's form
critically. It still had some holes in it, but she had improved
meteorically in the months since he had arrived.
Akane finished her set, and turned to Ranma, "Sorry I didn't
wait, I guess I had a lot of nervous energy to work off" she said,
somewhat flustered that she hadn't noticed him entering. She blushed
slightly, thinking to herself "He's probably going to say I'm not
worthy of being taught or something. I don't know if I could be ready
for what he went through in ten days, OR even ten months."
Ranma grinned slightly, the bruises from his encounter with
the Capioera fighter just about gone. "Don't worry. You were doing
just fine. But it's not basic form I want to work on with you." He
started setting up poles, letting them lie flat against the ground,
setting up small quadrants of space just big enough to balance on.
Akane watched on, trying to understand what Ranma was doing.
Ranma then stepped into one of the areas of space, balancing
on one foot. "You reminded me after my fight that my form was jerky,
that I finished one move and then started another, instead of
combining them into one flowing move. Now, this is an exercise I used
to do with Pop."
Ranma then threw a snap kick, landing his foot in another
free square. Traveling back and forth, twisting his body, throwing
punches and kicks at an imaginary opponent. First slowly, then faster,
Ranma built up a rhythm, finishing the kata and stepping out of the
square. "Ok. Now I want you to try this. Don't worry if you make
mistakes. Just relax your muscles and try to control each and every
step."
Akane wasn't sure she could handle it, he had made it look so
effortless! She stepped into the first square that Ranma had
indicated, and started throwing kicks and punches has he had. On her
third kick, her foot landed a bit too far forward, and she nearly
slipped as she stepped on a pole. She repositioned herself, and
started again.
This time it wasn't four moves before her body betrayed her
again and she hit a pole. She tensed up, waiting for the derisive
comment from Ranma. If he made a comment, she swore she would either
run from the dojo, ashamed, or smash his head with a mallet. She
wasn't quite sure which one she'd do, just that it'd be one or the
other
"That's ok Akane. I did worse then that my first time myself"
Ranma was surprised at how soothing his voice sounded. Indeed he had
been two months before he could do more then five moves without
tripping. The seeds of talent were there, now how to call them forth
and make them grow? An idea came into his mind. He grabbed a yellow
and black headband that Ryouga had left after his last fight with
Ranma, and placed it over Akane's eyes.
"Ok, Akane, don't worry about speed, or how your form is, or
even if I'm here. Just explore each square with your feet. Build a
mental picture of the grid in your mind. Then start basic punches and
steps. I don't care if you hit a pole, just continue the exercise."
Ranma explained.
Ranma stepped back and watched Akane start feeling her way
around the grind, cursing slightly to himself that Ryouga had gotten
himself lost again. Ryouga seemed to help Akane with her training, and
Ranma guessed it was worth the glares from Ryouga or the bites of
P-Chan if it helped Akane.
Part of him wanted to rush to Mr. Tendo and make him call off
the match. As much as he would deny it if anyone asked him straight
out, he had become fond of Akane. He feared that she would not be
ready in time for the fight, she could not be ready in time. But the
inner voice inside of him said, "If you try hard enough to help her,
she WILL be ready."
After about ten minutes of exploration, Akane started throwing
punches and stepping from open space to open space. Her form was
stilted at first, denied the sense of sight, she was uneasy. At the
beginning, maybe one punch in two would land correctly, with her foot
in an opposite square. Soon Akane forgot everything around her, she
didn't know if Ranma was watching or not, or if he was laughing at
her. She didn't care. Her world was narrowed down to a series of open
spaces, and the poles that divided them. Her punches became crisper,
her feet came down with more confidence, and she decided to slowly
increase her speed.
Ranma watched, smiling slightly as Akane continued with her
form, adding in an occasional kick to her repertoire of punches. He
hadn't picked it up this fast. Genma had used "the grid" as a way to
remind Ranma when he was a boy of humility. He could throw all the
fancy punches and kicks he wanted, but without control, it was all
just wasted motion.
After five more minutes, Ranma clapped his hands twice,
breaking into the near meditation state that Akane was in, "Ok, Akane,
great job on that exercise." Ranma was surprised at how much he meant
that complement. Akane definitely had picked the kata up quickly. If
she learned everything else as fast, she might be a better fighter
then he was. This notion was strictly rebelled against by a certain
part of Ranma. No macho tomboy chick could be a better martial artist
then he was!
With an effort, Ranma fought down those emotions. "So I train
harder and smarter." Another part of him thrilled that someone else
could push him to a greater effort. He wanted to be the greatest
martial artist he could be, and a constant challenge could only
improve his form.
Akane removed the sweatband, then used it to mop a couple of
beads of sweat that had appeared on her face during the kata. She
looked at the smile of approval on Ranma's face. "He, He approves?"
was her confused thought. "I thought I was clumsy in that exercise and
he's looks like I did something great and special." She smiled back,
first weakly as she got her breath back, then an almost impudent grin.
"So how'd I do, "sensei"?"
Ranma laughed quietly at being called a sensei. "Not bad for a
tomboy." Akane's face immediately darkened. Ranma realized his mistake
and tried to rectify it. "Sorry, you did real well Akane." Damm, every
time he tried to compliment her he said the wrong thing! "Let's try a
couple more exercises before lunch ok?" he continued, trying to offer
an olive branch before Akane decided to unleash the mallet of doom.
Akane smiled again, this time a little guarded. "Ok, sensei".
The two retrieved the poles and returned them to their proper places
along the walls of the dojo." Ranma kept one pole as the two came back
to the middle of the mat.
"Ok, Akane. Most of the times you've fought, you've fought
somebody with about the same reach as you. If you could reach them,
they could reach you. That leads to a good balance of offense and
defense, but every now and then you'll meet a fighter who has a
greater reach then you. You have to adjust." Ranma explained, the
memory of his fight coming back to him. He had tried to fight on the
outside, but the Capioera fighter's longer arms and legs had the range
to kick him when he couldn't apply an effective counter.
"Assume your guard stance." Ranma told Akane, who quickly
complied "For this exercise, I want you to be defensive only. Use your
movement, and use your blocks to avoid the stick hitting you. Let's
start at about half speed."
First using the stick as if it was a leg, he probed Akane's
defenses. Each time she either ducked under the "blow", or dodged it
by moving slightly, or blocked it with her hands or feet. She even
jumping over the bar one time when Ranma whirled the stick, spinning
the pole as if it was a fighter doing a foot sweep. Ranma slowly
counted cadence with each maneuver, speeding up as Akane got better at
dodging each time, using as little movement as necessary to avoid the
attack.
As the morning gave way to the brightness of noon day, then
slowly the sunlight fled before the approach of night, the two
trained, going form one exercise to another seamlessly, only stopping
briefly for water and a bowl of ramen cooked by Kasumi. Later in the
day, Genma and Soun watched the two go through their exercises and
sparring. The two men shared a private look that their children
missed. Their smiles said "Our plan is working perfectly".
Finally, Ranma called a halt to the activities. In their
evening spar, Akane still wasn't able to land a solid move against
Ranma, but it was no longer easy for Ranma to dodge her attacks, the
two were covered in sweat by the time they were done.
"That's enough for today Akane," Ranma said gently. Akane was
tired, but she decided that she wouldn't admit it. She protested "Just
a bit longer, I think I can get a good hit in" Ranma's ego kicked in
before his brain engaged. "Nah, a sexless tomboy like you could never
get a good shot in."
Mr. Tendo and Genma shared winces at Ranma's thoughtless
words. Ranma realized what he had said, and had time to close his eyes
before the expected "Ranma no BAKA!" and the pain of a mallet shot
that left him dazed. As he slowly picked himself off the ground and
saw a steaming Akane walking back to the house, he closed his eyes and
imagined that his mind was strangling his ego. He hadn't MEANT to say
that, it had, well, just HAPPENED.
Akane was on the bed, a few tears of anger staining her
pillow, how dare that baka insult her like that! Part of her was mad
at herself for hitting Ranma, reminding her that he didn't mean it.
She wondered if Ranma would want to train with her any more, or if he
had given up on her. She heard a soft knock at her door. Akane dried
her tears, she didn't want Nabiki or Kasumi or her father catching her
crying. "Come in, please" she said politely as she could.
Ranma stuck his head in. "Hi, Akane. Mind if I come in for a
moment?" He held his breath, expecting to be yelled at. Hearing no
response from Akane, he came in, and shut the door behind him.
"Listen, Akane, I want to apologize for what I said out there.
Sometimes I speak before I think, and you know I don't think you are a
sexless tomboy. You did well out there today."
Akane was shocked. Ranma was being POLITE? her next few words
came out in a stutter, due to her surprise. "Y-Y-you really think so?"
she asked, an entirely different kind of shining in her eyes now.
"Yes. In fact, tomorrow morning I was going to re go over the
basics with you. But I think you have them down now. we'll do a lot of
sparring and I'll show you what makes things different in a ring, We
only have nine days left, and no "sensei" likes to have his student
fight without being fully prepared." He joked, trying to get that
smile back from Akane, Finally, the smile reappeared on Akane's face.
"Ok. Tomorrow morning then?" Akane was thrilled. Ranma thought
that she could not only be ready for a match, but could win? Tomorrow,
she vowed to herself, I'll work doubly hard.
"Tomorrow morning. Sleep well, Akane." Ranma said quickly,
leaving the room, mind confused about the events of the last week or
so. Akane spent a couple of minutes staring at the door, just as
confused as Ranma was. She smiled one last time and said "Good Night,
Ranma" to the open air.
The next eight days passed in a blur it seemed. Each day Ranma
would come up with a new exercise, or a way to toughen up a previous
exercise, and challenge Akane to improve her technique. The two grew
more comfortable together, Ranma still made the occasional gaffe, but
none were as bad as the first day, and none were greeted with a mallet
in return.
The other fiancees of Ranma, who were already shocked by the
announcement that Ranma and Akane would be leaving Nerima shortly for
a full year so the two could travel on the Street Fighter circuit,
were floored by how well Ranma and Akane were getting along. They
wanted to try to distract Ranma, but Kodachi's one attack on Akane was
foiled quickly by both Ranma and Akane. They didn't wish Akane ill,
(well most of the time they didn't at least) they just wanted to keep
the two at arm's length.
Finally, the night before the fight, after the two had
finished up a light training session, Ranma and Akane were sitting in
the dojo. They had left one of the doors of the dojo open, so the
light breeze could cool them off.
"Akane? I need you to answer a question for me, and I need you
to be honest. Do you feel you're ready for this? If you want, I can
have your dad call the promoter and ask Mr. Nakajima to withdraw you
from your fight. I don't want to see you get hurt if you're not
ready." Ranma looked at the ground. He had done the best that he
could, she had done much better then he could ever had anticipated,
but still, there was that nagging doubt. And if she wasn't ready, she
shouldn't fight. Period.
Akane took a good couple minutes to think it over, this was a
question she was afraid to ask of herself as well. She was still a
little scared, but the last few days had given her some confidence.
She still had a lot to learn, but she had learned a lot. It came down
to asking herself if there was anything to be scared of. When it was
put that way, there was an answer.
"I may not win, but I am ready, Ranma. I will go in and fight
tomorrow. The last few weeks have caused me to realize if I want to be
the heir to my father's school, I have to test myself against others."
Akane stated, the confidence in her words growing with each voice. She
had a question of her own. "Ranma, will you be in my corner for the
fight? Your dad may be the trained fighter, but he didn't train me.
You did. and well, my dad would be too worried about what's happening
that he wouldn't help me at all." She looked up, praying and hoping
for the right answer from Ranma.
Just like there was only one possible answer from Akane's
point of view when asked if she was ready to fight, there was only one
answer that Ranma could give. "Sure, I'll be in your corner for your
fight. Just don't expect me to have any cold water to cool you off, I
don't think that most of the crowd would believe my curse." Ranma
grinned. "Get some sleep, Akane-chan. Tomorrow's a big day." Akane's
eyes widened as Ranma left quietly, shutting the door behind him. He
had called her Akane-chan?
The next day dawned bright and clear, seemingly perfect. Ranma
grabbed Nabiki and pulled her aside after breakfast. "Nabiki, I need
you to do myself and Akane a favor. Tell your dad and my Pop that the
time of Akane's fight has been changed from 6:30 to 7:45 ok?"
Nabiki, being no mental slouch, had already picked up on
Ranma's meaning. "No problem Ranma, no problem at all, since it's for
my sister, I'll consider it a favor for you." Nabiki knew the way
Ranma would react.
"Oh great, a favor. how much is it going to cost Nabiki? 500?
750? 1000 yen?" Ranma cursed mentally. Why did Nabiki have to be so
mercenary about this?
"No monetary cost, silly. I just need you to get a good
quality tape of it for my dad. He'd be *crushed* if he missed his
daughter's first professional fight. " And I can make a few copies to
sell to people like Tatewaki Kuno and the other people who adore
Akane, she thought to herself. For the price of a favor she'd do
anyway for her sister's sake,. Ranma would guarantee a good profit for
herself. Best of both worlds.
"Sure, Fine" Ranma said, amazed that this favor came at no out
of pocket cost. Maybe she wasn't so mercenary after all. "Akane and I
are going to go out and get ready, tell them to meet us around 7:30
ok?" Ranma then scooted out of the house before Nabiki could extort
any more "favors" out of him.
Akane soon joined Ranma outside, and the two spent an idle
hour walking side by side, Akane's clothes for the match were carried
by Ranma. Not a word was spoken for perhaps forty five minutes as the
two were alone with their own thoughts. Finally, Akane broke the
silence. "Do you think I have a chance to win tonight?", she asked.
Despite the innocuous nature of her question, her heart seemingly had
taken refuge in her throat. During the last few days, Ranma's opinion
had become very important to her.
"If I didn't think you had a chance to win, I wouldn't have
let you fight, Akane. A lot depends on who you draw, and on how your
style interacts against theirs. But you have a good chance to win."
Ranma stated, plain from the heart. The thought of her getting hurt
worried him now, more then it ever had before. He stole a look at
Akane. "More importantly, do you think you can win."
"Yes. After the last few days, anything's possible" Akane said
with a smile. "After all, who would think we could go almost ten days
without a fight?"
Later that night, Akane didn't have that smile on her face
anymore. she had drawn a Western Kickboxer from America, named Alex
Rodriguez, who was also making his Street Fighting debut after making
a moderate name for himself in the American kickboxing organizations.
She had changed clothes, to her Fighting outfit, which was her simple
white gi, knotted with a sash at the waist. She had gotten a mild case
of the shakes as nerves hit, but the two spent the time before her
match talking about the strengths and weaknesses of her opponent.
Somehow, having Ranma with her, who had gone through all of this two
weeks ago, helped.
A man popped his head into the dressing room after knocking
politely. "Miss Tendo, your fight is next". Akane did a final few
warm-up stretches, and looked at Ranma. Ranma looked back, face
serious, but somehow unable to keep a smile on his face "You ready,
Akane?". Somehow, the smile was mirrored on Akane's face as she
replied, "Let's go, "Sensei"" the two shared a laugh at the nickname
Akane had given Ranma as they left the room.
The noise from the crowd rippled as Ranma led Akane down to
the ring, whispering words of encouragement. For her par, Akane did
her best to ignore the crowd and focused on the ring. she did a few
tests of the ropes to see how much "give" they had. Her face seemed to
be locked on to Ranma's, as if to shut out the rest of the world.
Ranma knew she was scared. But she would do the best she could, and
hopefully that would be good enough.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, our next match is a Freestyle Division
match, and is scheduled for two five minute rounds. This is a special
debut match. Both fighters are making their Freestyle division debut
tonight." the ring announcer was interrupted by the crowd. Ranma had
been told that Street Fighting was usually a distraction for the idle
rich, but people of every way of life and stripe seemed to be here
tonight.
"Our first competitor hails from New York City, New York,
United States of America. He had a record of 14 wins and 6 losses as a
member of the American Kickboxing Federation. Alex RODRIGUEZ!" the
crowd applauded mildly, not warming up to the man, but not rejecting
him out of hand.
"And his opponent hails from Nerima Japan, she fights under
the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts discipline She is
making her first professional fight with us tonight, Ladies and
Gentlemen, AKANE TENDO!" The applause was a little louder for Akane,
as the crowd tried to show their support for the local fighter.:
Akane's mind was swimming as she vaguely heard the referee's
directions, and after bowing to her opponent, retreated to her corner.
Ranma tried to calm her down. "It's just like the drills we did Akane.
He has reach, he has several places he can attack you. But you're
smaller, you're a harder target to hit. Make him come to you. Don't
let him work his style fight. Make him work yours."
As the buzzer sounded, Ranma dropped down from the apron.
"Well, I've done everything I can for her. It's up to her now, and all
I can do is pray" he thought to himself. Then it hit him like a
hammer. He couldn't help her now, it was up to her. Could he just
stand there if she got hurt?
As the bell sounded, Akane had taken her fear and locked it
away, deep inside herself where she wouldn't deal with it. Rodriguez,
expecting an easy fight, came sauntering out to the middle of the
ring, and threw a couple snap kicks at Akane as if he expected "the
little girl' to fold up and run.
Akane had dealt with that attitude before, and knew that she
would have to deal with it, to gain his respect. To make him wary of
her. so the next time Rodriguez threw that forward kick, she spun
under it and caught her opponent in the back of the shin with her
foot, sending the kickboxer down.
"YEAH! All right Akane! keep it up!" Ranma cheered from the
outside. She had conquered her fear in the ring, Akane smiled to
herself. "Not bad for a Macho Chick, eh Ranma" she thought to herself,
with a mental smile, as Rodriguez scrambled back to his feet. He had
learned his lesson. This wouldn't be an easy match for him.
Over the next four minutes, each attack that Rodriguez made
would be countered by Akane. Rodriguez would try to hit Akane with a
left hook, Akane would grab the hand and use the kickboxer's own
momentum against him, flipping him over her shoulder and kicking him
in the chest before he could roll away. Rodriguez, getting frustrated,
tried another snap kick, Akane knocked it aside with a sweep block
with her left hand, and her right hand flashed out, catching Rodriguez
right in the ribs, staggering him and sending him a step or two back.
Rodriguez went back to a traditional kickboxer attack, time and time
again his foot came in, looking to connect, probing her defenses.
Akane used the same blocks and maneuvers that worked against the pole
to great measure.
With thirty seconds left in the round, however, a sweeping
round kick caught Akane squarely in the side, knocking the air out of
her, and she involuntarily let her guard down. That's all the
experienced Rodriguez needed, like a flash, he was hammering her with
blow after blow, Akane managed to block or dodge some of them, but
there was just too many punches and kicks connecting! Ranma stood
rooted to the spot, mind racing, asking himself, "Should I throw in
the towel? Would she forgive me if I did?" he had just about decided
that it would be worth her anger just to make sure she wasn't hurt and
was about to throw in the towel when the decision was made for him and
the bell sounded.
Rodriguez, now seemingly back in complete control of the
match, walked back to his corner, while Akane staggered back to her
corner. Ranma quickly guided her over to the stool, and toweled the
sweat off quickly, trying to think of what to tell her, then decided
quickly. "Ok Akane, you made it through that. you did great for four
and a half minutes, but you have to fight a full round. He won't let
you escape if he gets you hurt again. You have to watch your defense!"
Akane groaned slightly, then returned to full focus, shaking
her head slightly to clear the cobwebs. She nodded slightly to tell
Ranma she was ok. "Five more minutes, that's all you need Akane. If
you get in trouble like that again, I'm going to throw in the towel. I
don't want to see you get hurt anymore." Ranma tried to explain.
THAT got Akane's attention, and she turned a force four glare
onto Ranma. "Don't. If I want to quit, I'll tap out. Don't make that
decision for me. I can beat him!" The staccato beat of her words came
out filled with emotion. Her eyes pleaded with Ranma to let her make
her own choice.
Ranma was taken aback by her words, then nodded. "Your call
Akane, now watch that round kick to the side!", the warning buzzer
sounded and Akane got to her feet, a trifle too unsteadily for Ranma's
taste. but he had made a promise.
The bell for the second and final round sounded, Akane
staggered out to the middle of the ring. Ranma was aghast. Had he
promised Akane that he would let her go out , just to have her stagger
out, defenseless and liable to get beat up? Her opponent could smell
the victory and he moved in for the kill. Akane ducked under the right
hook, and just stayed on the defensive, frustrating Rodriguez who had
tried every move he could to finish off the weaving Akane, then he
made a mistake. He went for that sweeping round kick, aiming for the
spot that he hit Akane last round. Ranma closed his eyes. He didn't
want to see this.
But the stagger had been a ruse to sucker her opponent in with
that attack. Akane had taken a step to the left, catching Rodriguez's
leg just below the knee, trapping it in between her body and her arm.
Shed fired a couple shots to her opponent's stomach, knocking a bit of
the wind out of Rodriguez, then she twisted her body over, taking her
opponent over with a leg whip, helped by her foot tripping him. Not
letting him get up, Akane kept the legs trapped, putting one knee on
each leg and fired rapid punches at the sternum of Rodriguez. He tried
to block the punches as best he could but in this position, he
couldn't fight effectively, and after about the twentieth punch got
through his defenses, tapped out.
The referee quickly called for Akane to get off of Rodriguez,
and called for the bell. Akane raised her hands over her head, and was
quickly engulfed in a bear hug by Ranma, who just as suddenly put her
back down when he realized what he was doing. But Akane didn't mind.
She had survived. Better then that, she had won. The rest could take
care of itself. She turned to shake her opponent's hand, and to hear
the announcer. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the winner of the bout, at 1
minute and 47 seconds of the second round, AKANE TENDO!"
Back in the small dressing room the promoters had given Akane,
she sat in the one chair in the room, tired, with a bruise on her
right side, and a split lip, but she said to Ranma. "I did it, didn't
I?" As if she still couldn't believe that she had won her debut in the
Street Fighting matches.
Just then, Mr. Tendo and Genma came in, thinking that Akane
was about to fight. Due to Nabiki's giving them the false time (also
they were a bit late due to Mr. Tendo having to pray at the family
shrine and having Nervous Breakdown #36 (My daughter is going to get
hurt badly)) and froze, taking in the scene. Mr. Tendo immediately
rushed to Akane's side. "Wh-What happened Akane?'
Akane just grinned, "I fought. Not only that, I won." Soun
Tendo chose that moment to have his eyes roll up into his head and
fall to the ground.
Genma grinned, "I knew you could do it! The two of you will
make a great Street Fighter team." Akane raised her head again.
"Not yet, if anything, tonight's fight proved that I still
have a way to go. I'm not going to enter another fight until I train a
LOT more and get better. But with Ranma and I training, hopefully that
won't take too long." Akane replied, head tilted at an angle, a
commanding tone in her voice that brooked no arguments.
Genma turned to Ranma "Mr. Nakajima asked me to tell you that
if you wish to join his stable, he's willing to let you join as a
provisional member, as well as Akane when she decides that she's
ready. The contract is for one year, the amount of time we agreed
you'd spend street-fighting." Ranma grinned, looking at Akane, who
smiled back.
"That should be just enough time for the team of Saotome and
Tendo to set the street fighter world on it's ear Pop" Ranma said,
matching Akane's grin. "After all, we're both undefeated so far."
and coupons for free pizza are welcome at yelloped@attbi.com .
Standard warnings apply, Ranma 1/2 and it's characters belong to
Rumiko Takahashi. No disrespect intended. The Street Fighter series is
a trademark of Capcom, and no disrespect intended there either.
"Iron Heart, Iron Warrior" Chapter Two. "Akane's First Fight"
Ranma pulled himself groggily off his futon. He definitely was
not what people would call a "morning person" But a promise was a
promise. There was only ten days to go before Akane was to take part
in her first Street Fighter match. He had promised her that he would
train and spar with her, make sure she was ready.
Ranma quickly stood up, stretching out all the kinds from his
muscles. Quickly dressing, he came down the stairs and grabbed a quick
bite to eat. He decided to avoid Mr. Tendo today, the father was
suffering from alternating bouts of "I want my girl to be a worthy
heir to my school," and "My poor baby's going to get slaughtered" and
was not fit company to be around. He didn't know how Kasumi and Nabiki
could put up with it.
Slipping out of the house, he walked over to the dojo, where
from the sounds of contact, he guessed Akane already was. As he
stepped into the dojo, Akane was rhythmically punching the post,
shaking its foundations with each blow. Ranma studied Akane's form
critically. It still had some holes in it, but she had improved
meteorically in the months since he had arrived.
Akane finished her set, and turned to Ranma, "Sorry I didn't
wait, I guess I had a lot of nervous energy to work off" she said,
somewhat flustered that she hadn't noticed him entering. She blushed
slightly, thinking to herself "He's probably going to say I'm not
worthy of being taught or something. I don't know if I could be ready
for what he went through in ten days, OR even ten months."
Ranma grinned slightly, the bruises from his encounter with
the Capioera fighter just about gone. "Don't worry. You were doing
just fine. But it's not basic form I want to work on with you." He
started setting up poles, letting them lie flat against the ground,
setting up small quadrants of space just big enough to balance on.
Akane watched on, trying to understand what Ranma was doing.
Ranma then stepped into one of the areas of space, balancing
on one foot. "You reminded me after my fight that my form was jerky,
that I finished one move and then started another, instead of
combining them into one flowing move. Now, this is an exercise I used
to do with Pop."
Ranma then threw a snap kick, landing his foot in another
free square. Traveling back and forth, twisting his body, throwing
punches and kicks at an imaginary opponent. First slowly, then faster,
Ranma built up a rhythm, finishing the kata and stepping out of the
square. "Ok. Now I want you to try this. Don't worry if you make
mistakes. Just relax your muscles and try to control each and every
step."
Akane wasn't sure she could handle it, he had made it look so
effortless! She stepped into the first square that Ranma had
indicated, and started throwing kicks and punches has he had. On her
third kick, her foot landed a bit too far forward, and she nearly
slipped as she stepped on a pole. She repositioned herself, and
started again.
This time it wasn't four moves before her body betrayed her
again and she hit a pole. She tensed up, waiting for the derisive
comment from Ranma. If he made a comment, she swore she would either
run from the dojo, ashamed, or smash his head with a mallet. She
wasn't quite sure which one she'd do, just that it'd be one or the
other
"That's ok Akane. I did worse then that my first time myself"
Ranma was surprised at how soothing his voice sounded. Indeed he had
been two months before he could do more then five moves without
tripping. The seeds of talent were there, now how to call them forth
and make them grow? An idea came into his mind. He grabbed a yellow
and black headband that Ryouga had left after his last fight with
Ranma, and placed it over Akane's eyes.
"Ok, Akane, don't worry about speed, or how your form is, or
even if I'm here. Just explore each square with your feet. Build a
mental picture of the grid in your mind. Then start basic punches and
steps. I don't care if you hit a pole, just continue the exercise."
Ranma explained.
Ranma stepped back and watched Akane start feeling her way
around the grind, cursing slightly to himself that Ryouga had gotten
himself lost again. Ryouga seemed to help Akane with her training, and
Ranma guessed it was worth the glares from Ryouga or the bites of
P-Chan if it helped Akane.
Part of him wanted to rush to Mr. Tendo and make him call off
the match. As much as he would deny it if anyone asked him straight
out, he had become fond of Akane. He feared that she would not be
ready in time for the fight, she could not be ready in time. But the
inner voice inside of him said, "If you try hard enough to help her,
she WILL be ready."
After about ten minutes of exploration, Akane started throwing
punches and stepping from open space to open space. Her form was
stilted at first, denied the sense of sight, she was uneasy. At the
beginning, maybe one punch in two would land correctly, with her foot
in an opposite square. Soon Akane forgot everything around her, she
didn't know if Ranma was watching or not, or if he was laughing at
her. She didn't care. Her world was narrowed down to a series of open
spaces, and the poles that divided them. Her punches became crisper,
her feet came down with more confidence, and she decided to slowly
increase her speed.
Ranma watched, smiling slightly as Akane continued with her
form, adding in an occasional kick to her repertoire of punches. He
hadn't picked it up this fast. Genma had used "the grid" as a way to
remind Ranma when he was a boy of humility. He could throw all the
fancy punches and kicks he wanted, but without control, it was all
just wasted motion.
After five more minutes, Ranma clapped his hands twice,
breaking into the near meditation state that Akane was in, "Ok, Akane,
great job on that exercise." Ranma was surprised at how much he meant
that complement. Akane definitely had picked the kata up quickly. If
she learned everything else as fast, she might be a better fighter
then he was. This notion was strictly rebelled against by a certain
part of Ranma. No macho tomboy chick could be a better martial artist
then he was!
With an effort, Ranma fought down those emotions. "So I train
harder and smarter." Another part of him thrilled that someone else
could push him to a greater effort. He wanted to be the greatest
martial artist he could be, and a constant challenge could only
improve his form.
Akane removed the sweatband, then used it to mop a couple of
beads of sweat that had appeared on her face during the kata. She
looked at the smile of approval on Ranma's face. "He, He approves?"
was her confused thought. "I thought I was clumsy in that exercise and
he's looks like I did something great and special." She smiled back,
first weakly as she got her breath back, then an almost impudent grin.
"So how'd I do, "sensei"?"
Ranma laughed quietly at being called a sensei. "Not bad for a
tomboy." Akane's face immediately darkened. Ranma realized his mistake
and tried to rectify it. "Sorry, you did real well Akane." Damm, every
time he tried to compliment her he said the wrong thing! "Let's try a
couple more exercises before lunch ok?" he continued, trying to offer
an olive branch before Akane decided to unleash the mallet of doom.
Akane smiled again, this time a little guarded. "Ok, sensei".
The two retrieved the poles and returned them to their proper places
along the walls of the dojo." Ranma kept one pole as the two came back
to the middle of the mat.
"Ok, Akane. Most of the times you've fought, you've fought
somebody with about the same reach as you. If you could reach them,
they could reach you. That leads to a good balance of offense and
defense, but every now and then you'll meet a fighter who has a
greater reach then you. You have to adjust." Ranma explained, the
memory of his fight coming back to him. He had tried to fight on the
outside, but the Capioera fighter's longer arms and legs had the range
to kick him when he couldn't apply an effective counter.
"Assume your guard stance." Ranma told Akane, who quickly
complied "For this exercise, I want you to be defensive only. Use your
movement, and use your blocks to avoid the stick hitting you. Let's
start at about half speed."
First using the stick as if it was a leg, he probed Akane's
defenses. Each time she either ducked under the "blow", or dodged it
by moving slightly, or blocked it with her hands or feet. She even
jumping over the bar one time when Ranma whirled the stick, spinning
the pole as if it was a fighter doing a foot sweep. Ranma slowly
counted cadence with each maneuver, speeding up as Akane got better at
dodging each time, using as little movement as necessary to avoid the
attack.
As the morning gave way to the brightness of noon day, then
slowly the sunlight fled before the approach of night, the two
trained, going form one exercise to another seamlessly, only stopping
briefly for water and a bowl of ramen cooked by Kasumi. Later in the
day, Genma and Soun watched the two go through their exercises and
sparring. The two men shared a private look that their children
missed. Their smiles said "Our plan is working perfectly".
Finally, Ranma called a halt to the activities. In their
evening spar, Akane still wasn't able to land a solid move against
Ranma, but it was no longer easy for Ranma to dodge her attacks, the
two were covered in sweat by the time they were done.
"That's enough for today Akane," Ranma said gently. Akane was
tired, but she decided that she wouldn't admit it. She protested "Just
a bit longer, I think I can get a good hit in" Ranma's ego kicked in
before his brain engaged. "Nah, a sexless tomboy like you could never
get a good shot in."
Mr. Tendo and Genma shared winces at Ranma's thoughtless
words. Ranma realized what he had said, and had time to close his eyes
before the expected "Ranma no BAKA!" and the pain of a mallet shot
that left him dazed. As he slowly picked himself off the ground and
saw a steaming Akane walking back to the house, he closed his eyes and
imagined that his mind was strangling his ego. He hadn't MEANT to say
that, it had, well, just HAPPENED.
Akane was on the bed, a few tears of anger staining her
pillow, how dare that baka insult her like that! Part of her was mad
at herself for hitting Ranma, reminding her that he didn't mean it.
She wondered if Ranma would want to train with her any more, or if he
had given up on her. She heard a soft knock at her door. Akane dried
her tears, she didn't want Nabiki or Kasumi or her father catching her
crying. "Come in, please" she said politely as she could.
Ranma stuck his head in. "Hi, Akane. Mind if I come in for a
moment?" He held his breath, expecting to be yelled at. Hearing no
response from Akane, he came in, and shut the door behind him.
"Listen, Akane, I want to apologize for what I said out there.
Sometimes I speak before I think, and you know I don't think you are a
sexless tomboy. You did well out there today."
Akane was shocked. Ranma was being POLITE? her next few words
came out in a stutter, due to her surprise. "Y-Y-you really think so?"
she asked, an entirely different kind of shining in her eyes now.
"Yes. In fact, tomorrow morning I was going to re go over the
basics with you. But I think you have them down now. we'll do a lot of
sparring and I'll show you what makes things different in a ring, We
only have nine days left, and no "sensei" likes to have his student
fight without being fully prepared." He joked, trying to get that
smile back from Akane, Finally, the smile reappeared on Akane's face.
"Ok. Tomorrow morning then?" Akane was thrilled. Ranma thought
that she could not only be ready for a match, but could win? Tomorrow,
she vowed to herself, I'll work doubly hard.
"Tomorrow morning. Sleep well, Akane." Ranma said quickly,
leaving the room, mind confused about the events of the last week or
so. Akane spent a couple of minutes staring at the door, just as
confused as Ranma was. She smiled one last time and said "Good Night,
Ranma" to the open air.
The next eight days passed in a blur it seemed. Each day Ranma
would come up with a new exercise, or a way to toughen up a previous
exercise, and challenge Akane to improve her technique. The two grew
more comfortable together, Ranma still made the occasional gaffe, but
none were as bad as the first day, and none were greeted with a mallet
in return.
The other fiancees of Ranma, who were already shocked by the
announcement that Ranma and Akane would be leaving Nerima shortly for
a full year so the two could travel on the Street Fighter circuit,
were floored by how well Ranma and Akane were getting along. They
wanted to try to distract Ranma, but Kodachi's one attack on Akane was
foiled quickly by both Ranma and Akane. They didn't wish Akane ill,
(well most of the time they didn't at least) they just wanted to keep
the two at arm's length.
Finally, the night before the fight, after the two had
finished up a light training session, Ranma and Akane were sitting in
the dojo. They had left one of the doors of the dojo open, so the
light breeze could cool them off.
"Akane? I need you to answer a question for me, and I need you
to be honest. Do you feel you're ready for this? If you want, I can
have your dad call the promoter and ask Mr. Nakajima to withdraw you
from your fight. I don't want to see you get hurt if you're not
ready." Ranma looked at the ground. He had done the best that he
could, she had done much better then he could ever had anticipated,
but still, there was that nagging doubt. And if she wasn't ready, she
shouldn't fight. Period.
Akane took a good couple minutes to think it over, this was a
question she was afraid to ask of herself as well. She was still a
little scared, but the last few days had given her some confidence.
She still had a lot to learn, but she had learned a lot. It came down
to asking herself if there was anything to be scared of. When it was
put that way, there was an answer.
"I may not win, but I am ready, Ranma. I will go in and fight
tomorrow. The last few weeks have caused me to realize if I want to be
the heir to my father's school, I have to test myself against others."
Akane stated, the confidence in her words growing with each voice. She
had a question of her own. "Ranma, will you be in my corner for the
fight? Your dad may be the trained fighter, but he didn't train me.
You did. and well, my dad would be too worried about what's happening
that he wouldn't help me at all." She looked up, praying and hoping
for the right answer from Ranma.
Just like there was only one possible answer from Akane's
point of view when asked if she was ready to fight, there was only one
answer that Ranma could give. "Sure, I'll be in your corner for your
fight. Just don't expect me to have any cold water to cool you off, I
don't think that most of the crowd would believe my curse." Ranma
grinned. "Get some sleep, Akane-chan. Tomorrow's a big day." Akane's
eyes widened as Ranma left quietly, shutting the door behind him. He
had called her Akane-chan?
The next day dawned bright and clear, seemingly perfect. Ranma
grabbed Nabiki and pulled her aside after breakfast. "Nabiki, I need
you to do myself and Akane a favor. Tell your dad and my Pop that the
time of Akane's fight has been changed from 6:30 to 7:45 ok?"
Nabiki, being no mental slouch, had already picked up on
Ranma's meaning. "No problem Ranma, no problem at all, since it's for
my sister, I'll consider it a favor for you." Nabiki knew the way
Ranma would react.
"Oh great, a favor. how much is it going to cost Nabiki? 500?
750? 1000 yen?" Ranma cursed mentally. Why did Nabiki have to be so
mercenary about this?
"No monetary cost, silly. I just need you to get a good
quality tape of it for my dad. He'd be *crushed* if he missed his
daughter's first professional fight. " And I can make a few copies to
sell to people like Tatewaki Kuno and the other people who adore
Akane, she thought to herself. For the price of a favor she'd do
anyway for her sister's sake,. Ranma would guarantee a good profit for
herself. Best of both worlds.
"Sure, Fine" Ranma said, amazed that this favor came at no out
of pocket cost. Maybe she wasn't so mercenary after all. "Akane and I
are going to go out and get ready, tell them to meet us around 7:30
ok?" Ranma then scooted out of the house before Nabiki could extort
any more "favors" out of him.
Akane soon joined Ranma outside, and the two spent an idle
hour walking side by side, Akane's clothes for the match were carried
by Ranma. Not a word was spoken for perhaps forty five minutes as the
two were alone with their own thoughts. Finally, Akane broke the
silence. "Do you think I have a chance to win tonight?", she asked.
Despite the innocuous nature of her question, her heart seemingly had
taken refuge in her throat. During the last few days, Ranma's opinion
had become very important to her.
"If I didn't think you had a chance to win, I wouldn't have
let you fight, Akane. A lot depends on who you draw, and on how your
style interacts against theirs. But you have a good chance to win."
Ranma stated, plain from the heart. The thought of her getting hurt
worried him now, more then it ever had before. He stole a look at
Akane. "More importantly, do you think you can win."
"Yes. After the last few days, anything's possible" Akane said
with a smile. "After all, who would think we could go almost ten days
without a fight?"
Later that night, Akane didn't have that smile on her face
anymore. she had drawn a Western Kickboxer from America, named Alex
Rodriguez, who was also making his Street Fighting debut after making
a moderate name for himself in the American kickboxing organizations.
She had changed clothes, to her Fighting outfit, which was her simple
white gi, knotted with a sash at the waist. She had gotten a mild case
of the shakes as nerves hit, but the two spent the time before her
match talking about the strengths and weaknesses of her opponent.
Somehow, having Ranma with her, who had gone through all of this two
weeks ago, helped.
A man popped his head into the dressing room after knocking
politely. "Miss Tendo, your fight is next". Akane did a final few
warm-up stretches, and looked at Ranma. Ranma looked back, face
serious, but somehow unable to keep a smile on his face "You ready,
Akane?". Somehow, the smile was mirrored on Akane's face as she
replied, "Let's go, "Sensei"" the two shared a laugh at the nickname
Akane had given Ranma as they left the room.
The noise from the crowd rippled as Ranma led Akane down to
the ring, whispering words of encouragement. For her par, Akane did
her best to ignore the crowd and focused on the ring. she did a few
tests of the ropes to see how much "give" they had. Her face seemed to
be locked on to Ranma's, as if to shut out the rest of the world.
Ranma knew she was scared. But she would do the best she could, and
hopefully that would be good enough.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, our next match is a Freestyle Division
match, and is scheduled for two five minute rounds. This is a special
debut match. Both fighters are making their Freestyle division debut
tonight." the ring announcer was interrupted by the crowd. Ranma had
been told that Street Fighting was usually a distraction for the idle
rich, but people of every way of life and stripe seemed to be here
tonight.
"Our first competitor hails from New York City, New York,
United States of America. He had a record of 14 wins and 6 losses as a
member of the American Kickboxing Federation. Alex RODRIGUEZ!" the
crowd applauded mildly, not warming up to the man, but not rejecting
him out of hand.
"And his opponent hails from Nerima Japan, she fights under
the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts discipline She is
making her first professional fight with us tonight, Ladies and
Gentlemen, AKANE TENDO!" The applause was a little louder for Akane,
as the crowd tried to show their support for the local fighter.:
Akane's mind was swimming as she vaguely heard the referee's
directions, and after bowing to her opponent, retreated to her corner.
Ranma tried to calm her down. "It's just like the drills we did Akane.
He has reach, he has several places he can attack you. But you're
smaller, you're a harder target to hit. Make him come to you. Don't
let him work his style fight. Make him work yours."
As the buzzer sounded, Ranma dropped down from the apron.
"Well, I've done everything I can for her. It's up to her now, and all
I can do is pray" he thought to himself. Then it hit him like a
hammer. He couldn't help her now, it was up to her. Could he just
stand there if she got hurt?
As the bell sounded, Akane had taken her fear and locked it
away, deep inside herself where she wouldn't deal with it. Rodriguez,
expecting an easy fight, came sauntering out to the middle of the
ring, and threw a couple snap kicks at Akane as if he expected "the
little girl' to fold up and run.
Akane had dealt with that attitude before, and knew that she
would have to deal with it, to gain his respect. To make him wary of
her. so the next time Rodriguez threw that forward kick, she spun
under it and caught her opponent in the back of the shin with her
foot, sending the kickboxer down.
"YEAH! All right Akane! keep it up!" Ranma cheered from the
outside. She had conquered her fear in the ring, Akane smiled to
herself. "Not bad for a Macho Chick, eh Ranma" she thought to herself,
with a mental smile, as Rodriguez scrambled back to his feet. He had
learned his lesson. This wouldn't be an easy match for him.
Over the next four minutes, each attack that Rodriguez made
would be countered by Akane. Rodriguez would try to hit Akane with a
left hook, Akane would grab the hand and use the kickboxer's own
momentum against him, flipping him over her shoulder and kicking him
in the chest before he could roll away. Rodriguez, getting frustrated,
tried another snap kick, Akane knocked it aside with a sweep block
with her left hand, and her right hand flashed out, catching Rodriguez
right in the ribs, staggering him and sending him a step or two back.
Rodriguez went back to a traditional kickboxer attack, time and time
again his foot came in, looking to connect, probing her defenses.
Akane used the same blocks and maneuvers that worked against the pole
to great measure.
With thirty seconds left in the round, however, a sweeping
round kick caught Akane squarely in the side, knocking the air out of
her, and she involuntarily let her guard down. That's all the
experienced Rodriguez needed, like a flash, he was hammering her with
blow after blow, Akane managed to block or dodge some of them, but
there was just too many punches and kicks connecting! Ranma stood
rooted to the spot, mind racing, asking himself, "Should I throw in
the towel? Would she forgive me if I did?" he had just about decided
that it would be worth her anger just to make sure she wasn't hurt and
was about to throw in the towel when the decision was made for him and
the bell sounded.
Rodriguez, now seemingly back in complete control of the
match, walked back to his corner, while Akane staggered back to her
corner. Ranma quickly guided her over to the stool, and toweled the
sweat off quickly, trying to think of what to tell her, then decided
quickly. "Ok Akane, you made it through that. you did great for four
and a half minutes, but you have to fight a full round. He won't let
you escape if he gets you hurt again. You have to watch your defense!"
Akane groaned slightly, then returned to full focus, shaking
her head slightly to clear the cobwebs. She nodded slightly to tell
Ranma she was ok. "Five more minutes, that's all you need Akane. If
you get in trouble like that again, I'm going to throw in the towel. I
don't want to see you get hurt anymore." Ranma tried to explain.
THAT got Akane's attention, and she turned a force four glare
onto Ranma. "Don't. If I want to quit, I'll tap out. Don't make that
decision for me. I can beat him!" The staccato beat of her words came
out filled with emotion. Her eyes pleaded with Ranma to let her make
her own choice.
Ranma was taken aback by her words, then nodded. "Your call
Akane, now watch that round kick to the side!", the warning buzzer
sounded and Akane got to her feet, a trifle too unsteadily for Ranma's
taste. but he had made a promise.
The bell for the second and final round sounded, Akane
staggered out to the middle of the ring. Ranma was aghast. Had he
promised Akane that he would let her go out , just to have her stagger
out, defenseless and liable to get beat up? Her opponent could smell
the victory and he moved in for the kill. Akane ducked under the right
hook, and just stayed on the defensive, frustrating Rodriguez who had
tried every move he could to finish off the weaving Akane, then he
made a mistake. He went for that sweeping round kick, aiming for the
spot that he hit Akane last round. Ranma closed his eyes. He didn't
want to see this.
But the stagger had been a ruse to sucker her opponent in with
that attack. Akane had taken a step to the left, catching Rodriguez's
leg just below the knee, trapping it in between her body and her arm.
Shed fired a couple shots to her opponent's stomach, knocking a bit of
the wind out of Rodriguez, then she twisted her body over, taking her
opponent over with a leg whip, helped by her foot tripping him. Not
letting him get up, Akane kept the legs trapped, putting one knee on
each leg and fired rapid punches at the sternum of Rodriguez. He tried
to block the punches as best he could but in this position, he
couldn't fight effectively, and after about the twentieth punch got
through his defenses, tapped out.
The referee quickly called for Akane to get off of Rodriguez,
and called for the bell. Akane raised her hands over her head, and was
quickly engulfed in a bear hug by Ranma, who just as suddenly put her
back down when he realized what he was doing. But Akane didn't mind.
She had survived. Better then that, she had won. The rest could take
care of itself. She turned to shake her opponent's hand, and to hear
the announcer. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the winner of the bout, at 1
minute and 47 seconds of the second round, AKANE TENDO!"
Back in the small dressing room the promoters had given Akane,
she sat in the one chair in the room, tired, with a bruise on her
right side, and a split lip, but she said to Ranma. "I did it, didn't
I?" As if she still couldn't believe that she had won her debut in the
Street Fighting matches.
Just then, Mr. Tendo and Genma came in, thinking that Akane
was about to fight. Due to Nabiki's giving them the false time (also
they were a bit late due to Mr. Tendo having to pray at the family
shrine and having Nervous Breakdown #36 (My daughter is going to get
hurt badly)) and froze, taking in the scene. Mr. Tendo immediately
rushed to Akane's side. "Wh-What happened Akane?'
Akane just grinned, "I fought. Not only that, I won." Soun
Tendo chose that moment to have his eyes roll up into his head and
fall to the ground.
Genma grinned, "I knew you could do it! The two of you will
make a great Street Fighter team." Akane raised her head again.
"Not yet, if anything, tonight's fight proved that I still
have a way to go. I'm not going to enter another fight until I train a
LOT more and get better. But with Ranma and I training, hopefully that
won't take too long." Akane replied, head tilted at an angle, a
commanding tone in her voice that brooked no arguments.
Genma turned to Ranma "Mr. Nakajima asked me to tell you that
if you wish to join his stable, he's willing to let you join as a
provisional member, as well as Akane when she decides that she's
ready. The contract is for one year, the amount of time we agreed
you'd spend street-fighting." Ranma grinned, looking at Akane, who
smiled back.
"That should be just enough time for the team of Saotome and
Tendo to set the street fighter world on it's ear Pop" Ranma said,
matching Akane's grin. "After all, we're both undefeated so far."
