STICKS AND CARROTS

Part One: Sensei

Chapter Ten

                The waterfall thundered down the cliff like… well, like something that thunders very loudly. The river had washed away much of the topsoil in its immediate vicinity, leaving huge stones scattered throughout the region in small and large clusters. A short distance upstream of the waterfall, for instance, there was an area with a few tall, powerful trees – everything else was hard stone.

                "Before we begin, I want to see you shatter this boulder," Ku Lon said, indicating a particularly gargantuan stone with her staff.

                Ryouga hmphed and cracked his knuckles. "And here I was wondering what kind of arduous training you were going to put me through," he said in a bored voice.

                "Mighty confident, aren't we?" Ku Lon said noncommittally. She already knew he was going to fail, but she figured it wouldn't hurt to let him try.

                Ryouga smirked. "YES!" he roared, slamming his fist into the stone. The stone shuddered and broke, two nearly equal halves falling apart from each other. Ryouga turned to Ku Lon with a self-assured smile. "How's that?" he asked, shaking his hand to get rid of the rock dust.

                Ku Lon arched an eyebrow. "Fine. Except that I didn't say, 'Split it,'" she said, to Ryouga's open surprise. "I said I wanted to see you shatter it. Like this." She walked forwards and poked the stone with her finger.

                CHOOOOOM! Gravel and rock dust went flying as the boulder seemingly exploded. Ryouga recoiled in surprise, though his feet remained as solid as though he'd been planted in the stone, and he desperately batted away the flying stones that happened to come in his direction.

                Ku Lon turned to him and smiled. "Care to learn that trick?"

                Ryouga stared at her in astonishment. "And here I thought nothing could shock me more than your face!"

                GRRR! Ku Lon jumped up and delivered a solid blow to his head. "That's quite enough," she said sternly. "Watch your mouth, boy!"

                Ryouga grimaced and rubbed the lump on the top of his head. "So how does one learn this 'trick', granny?" he asked.

                "Painfully," Ku Lon replied, remembering her own training. "Very painfully." She smiled. It was not a nice smile.

                "…gulp."

                'I should have guessed this was coming,' Ku Lon thought wryly as she bounded through the trees in the area around the cliff, trying to hone in on Ryouga's aura. 'Note to self: never leave that boy alone if you want to find him when you get back.'

                The sound of voices brought the presence of other people to her attention. Ku Lon lightly bonked herself on the head for being so carelessly focused on Ryouga that she hadn't bothered to check for others. Shaking her head, she redirected her attention to her surroundings.

                Interesting. That large black-and-white shape in a crane stance on top of a pine could only be one person… and the aura… yep. Definite match.

                If Genma was here, that meant Ranma was… so where…

                "Are ya crazy, oyaji? What kinda advantage are ya gonna get way up there?" Ah, there he was, a shadow crouched in the branches of a nearby tree, slightly below the level of the panda.

                [What?] Where did he get those signs from, anyway? He didn't write them (although the handwriting was certainly bad enough to fool almost anyone), but Ku Lon couldn't figure out where they were when he didn't need them or where they went when he was done. [Oh, the shame!] Flip. [My worthless son has forgotten all that I've taught him] – flip again; how did he manage to get a completely new side on the second flip of a two-sided sign? – [about the importance of taking the high ground!]

                "I remember it." Even at that distance, Ku Lon could clearly make out Ranma's smirk. The boy didn't just emote with his face – his whole body went into his expressions. "An' I remember somethin' else, too – never take th' high ground when it ain't gonna hold ya."

                Genma learned the meaning of his son's words then. The slim, whippy top of the pine tree creaked a final whimper of protest against the weight of the panda, then fell with a crack.

                "Growf!" Genma yelped as he fell.

                "WA HA HA HA!" Ranma laughed, ignoring the dark glare his father aimed in his direction. "Baka oyaji!"

                Seeing a panda go gracefully and effortlessly airborne was just one of those totally weird things that no one ever expects to see, even when they know better. Seeing a panda go gracefully and effortlessly airborne while brandishing a sign from nowhere reading [Fool boy! Do not let your guard down!] was only slightly weirder.

                It was also one of those things that you had to accustom yourself to if you wanted to live in Nerima.

                "Hah!" Ranma also leapt into the air, and the two bounced around among the branches, exchanging blows at a speed that would boggle the mind of anyone but a martial artist. "C'mon, old man, at least try t' make this challengin'!"

                Genma landed briefly – this time on a sturdier branch. [Your cockiness will be your downfall, boy!]

                Ranma alighted on a perch of his own for the barest of moments before spring-boarding upward from it. "Doncha start that again! If y're gonna lecture me, I'm off t' camp."

                Genma shot upwards after Ranma, launching an attack that forced the boy to a defensive stance as they descended. [No you don't!] the sign that he flung up as his first assault read. [You will not eat until I have declared an end to the training!]

                "Yeah, yeah, like that's gonna happen," Ranma snorted. He slipped in a kick as Genma held up another sign – Ku Lon didn't get a chance to read it – and sent the panda careening through the trees as Ranma touched down lightly to the ground. Undeterred, Genma shot upward again in a black and white blur, and Ranma came up to meet him. "Why th' heck didja bring her along, anyway?"

                The skirmish ended as the panda landed on a branch and, glaring, pulled out a sign. [No complaints! Besides, men don't cook!]

                "Then waddaya call whatcha been doin' th' last ten years?" Ranma asked sarcastically, landing lightly on a branch a short distance from Ku Lon.

                Ku Lon smiled to herself. Ranma was making the same mistake she had a few minutes ago, of focusing completely on his opponent and not remaining on his guard against another possible challenger. This needed fixing.

                "Well, teishi! Are you training here, too?" she asked, jumping forward. She poked him in the side, right at a ticklish spot.

                "WAK!" Ranma nearly folded backwards, trying to protect the sensitive area. His legs slipped down from the branch, until his knees were hooked on it. He flipped downwards, releasing his legs at the bottom of his swing to spin in midair and land on a slightly lower branch, facing her. "Wha' th' heck… what are you doin' here, ol' ghoul?"

                Genma flung a sign at his son reading, [Don't ignore me, boy!]

                Ku Lon, who was closer to the trajectory of the sign, absently knocked it out of the air. "Probably much the same thing as you, child," she said.

                Ranma raised an eyebrow and tensed, apparently waiting for Ku Lon to make the first move. Ku Lon decided she would not oblige him and simply waited. "Well?" he asked after a minute. "So y're trainin'?"

                "What else?" she smirked and shook her staff at him mockingly. "But I suggest that you train exceptionally hard, teishi. You'll need that extra training – soon!"

                Ranma grinned. "Oh, I will. Trust me."

                "For your sake, I hope so!" Ku Lon sprang away into the trees, cackling. What perfect timing! If Ranma was here, then there was no need to delay the duel between him and Ryouga. They could see the results of the training immediately and directly.

                Ku Lon paused when she reached the ground in a clearing. She'd stopped cackling. Instead, a slow, delighted laugh was bubbling inside of her. She threw back her head and let it out, loud and victorious. "YES!"

                'It was there! I didn't imagine it!'

                Respect. Perhaps unintentional, perhaps grudging – but there had been respect in Ranma's bearing when he'd seen her. She'd crossed the first hurdle. Ranma really did have respect for her, at some level. And not just respect for a challenging opponent, although that constituted the majority of it – but respect for knowledge, for skill, and for ability to teach.

                Ku Lon abandoned dignity for a moment and danced a jig.

                Then she stopped, suddenly. A chill had come over the clearing, and she became aware that something was not right in her surroundings. She slowly turned, scanning the trees with every sense available.

                At length, she noticed the panda. Genma was standing almost completely hidden in the trees, watching her. Ku Lon knew that he'd seen her looking for him, so she didn't bother pretending that she hadn't noticed. Instead, she met his gaze eye to eye, challengingly.

                Genma simply stared at her. Ku Lon couldn't tell what he was thinking; the panda-face might as well have been a mask.

                "Yes?" she said shortly.

                The panda simply stared at her. Finally, Genma turned. "Growf!" he said decisively, before trundling his clumsy mass away.

                Ku Lon blinked. And blinked again. "That was… odd," she said at last.

                Then she slapped herself over the forehead. "Alright, now who's the idiot?" she demanded, jumping up. In the excitement, she'd forgotten about finding Ryouga. She couldn't very well have a duel without one of the duelists, could she?

                Finally, after several hours, she found him. Ryouga was sitting at a camp attempting to eat something – some form of curry, if Ku Lon wasn't mistaken, although the array of ingredients surrounding the pot made her doubt her conclusion. Vinegar? Mayonnaise and sugar? What sort of concoction would include all of those?

                Sitting with him was Akane, looking on anxiously as Ryouga twitched, spasmed, and bent the spoon in two with his powerful grip.

                "N-N-NEVER IN MY L-LIFE HAVE I TASTED ANYTHING S-S-S-SO EXQUISITE!" Ryouga shouted, his eyes bugging and the veins standing out in stark relief.

                'Exquisitely painful would be more appropriate, I think…' Ku Lon thought wryly, shaking her head. Apparently, the boy had a wee little bit of worship for the Tendou girl – worship enough that anything from her would seem heavenly.

                "Oh, that's good!" Akane cried with relief. "I knew the mayonnaise and sugar would help!"

                Whumph.

                Akane and Ryouga turned to see Ranma, who was doing an admirable job of controlling his spasms after sampling a bit of the concoction itself. (Meaning that he was only twitching slightly on the ground, rather than writhing in terrible contortions.)

                Akane did her patented Glare. "Ranma! Who said you could have any?!" she demanded, snatching the plate away from him as though taking a treat away from a disobedient child.

                Freed from the baleful influence of the fumes, Ranma managed to drag himself up to his hands and knees, still gagging. "D… D… Do you t-taste it before you s-serve it?" he finally managed to gasp out.

                Akane blinked at him. "No, why?"

                Ranma stared incredulously at her for a moment. "I suggest you do! Please!"

                Akane shouted into his face, "Are you saying it's bad?!"

                Ranma shouted back, "Just try it for yourself and see!"

                A terribly mangled spoon broke the confrontation when it bounced off Ranma's head. The two turned to face Ryouga, who had thrown it. "I will not sit quietly and listen to this," he said shortly, although to Ku Lon's eyes he didn't look like he was up to even standing quite yet, let alone making threats.

                Ranma looked at him coolly. "You pickin' a fight?" he asked.

                "Please don't, Ryouga," Akane said quickly, apparently sensing the building tension. "You said it was good, and that's what counts! He hasn't hurt me."

                Safely out of the attention of the two for a moment, Ranma rolled his eyes. Then he shrugged and assumed a bored expression. "Well, I don't like t' pick on people…"

                Ryouga's eyes blazed with rage. "PICK ON?! ARE YOU IMPLYING THAT I'M WEAK?!" He lunged towards Ranma. "WHY YOU…!!"

                'Oops. Mustn't let the fight start prematurely,' Ku Lon thought, jumping out of hiding. She quickly nailed Ryouga with a blow to the back, knocking him flat and out like a light.

                Ranma and Akane, both of whom had jumped to their feet when Ryouga had begun his attack, blinked at her. "Wha…? Ol' ghoul?" Ranma said in surprise, blocking her chiding bonk on the head by reflex.

                Ku Lon smiled. "He should be ready to challenge you in one week," she said by way of explanation. "Make sure you're prepared for a formidable fight!" Picking up the lost boy, she carried him away back towards the camp.

                She realized that she was being followed shortly afterward. Her pursuer was small but relatively clumsy, and definitely not accustomed to moving in wilderness surroundings.

                "Did you wish to speak with me in private, miss Tendou?" she asked, turning.

                Akane stumbled out of the bushes a moment later. "Ummm… you see…" she said, looking embarrassed and uncertain.

                Ku Lon smiled at her to reassure her. "Or are you simply looking after Ryouga, here, to make certain I do not do him unnecessary harm in the course of his training?"

                Akane flushed, obviously embarrassed. Then the girl set her chin. "Well, at least he actually likes my cooking."

                'More like he cannot turn you down,' Ku Lon thought wryly, wondering if the girl even realized the effect she had on the lost boy. It was hard to imagine she didn't – the boy really would have trouble being even more obvious – but then again, teen romance just worked that way. The people involved were usually the last ones aware of what was happening.

                For a minute, Ku Lon played with the idea of encouraging the relationship. It would certainly help Xian Pu's bid if Akane clearly had affections for someone other than Ranma… but doing so involved a little too much risk. First of all, Ryouga didn't love Akane as much as he worshipped her; such a relationship would be unstable and probably in the end unhealthy. No member of a couple should be able to honestly say they loved their partner more than their partner loved them, or vice versa. Besides, Ryouga, at least, suffered the same handicap that Ranma and Akane did. He apparently loved Akane – but was he her friend? Not yet.

                Besides, if she meddled with the relationship, chances were that Ranma would catch her at it, and her careful plans would fall to pieces.

                Realizing that the girl was waiting for a response, Ku Lon shoved the thoughts into the back of her mind and smiled at her. "Well then, so long as you do not interfere with his training, I see no reason to object." The Matriarch turned and began walking again, although this time she paced herself so that Akane could keep up.

                "Ummm… if you don't mind my asking…" Akane said tentatively, "why are you training Ryouga? I mean… I thought…"

                "Ranma is my student," Ku Lon said, guessing what the girl was trying to ask. "He remains my primary concern. However, that does not mean that I may not take on other students as the inclination takes me."

                "But… aren't you training him to fight Ranma?" Akane looked confused.

                "Of course I am," Ku Lon said cheerfully. "A rivalry is perhaps one of the best ways for a student to learn. It pushes the rivals to constantly improve and challenge each other. As long as the relationship is kept healthy – a friendly rivalry rather than a destructive one – then there isn't much that can beat a rivalry in terms of swift training."

                Akane looked uncertain, but she said, "Well… I suppose so…"

                "Surely you have experienced this yourself?" Ku Lon said in surprise.

                Akane sniffed. "And who would be my rival, then?"

                "Xian Pu. Your sisters. Your friends at school. A student at another school." Ku Lon gave her a penetrating look. "Even Ranma. Surely you have competed against someone at some time or another."

                Akane blinked and worked her mouth without saying anything for several long moments before finally stammering, "But that's competition, not a rivalry… The last, at any rate. Why would I fight with my sisters, anyway? And Ranma's just a jerk! And Xian Pu…" She shut her mouth quickly, apparently realizing that bad-mouthing the great-granddaughter of the woman she was talking to might not be the brightest idea in the world.

                Ku Lon smiled. "Rivalry is competition, child – personal competition between individuals. It also deserves to be encouraged, as long as it pushes the competitors to improve." She looked up. "Ah – here we are. You may set up camp over there, if you like, but I doubt we shall use it much. If Ryouga is to be ready in a week, then there is hardly time to stop and rest!"

                "Why do I have to be tied up??" Ryouga demanded, as Ku Lon checked the knots again.

                "Because the Bakusai Tenketsu is learned by restricting the movements," Ku Lon said, beginning to haul him up off the ground with a pulley. "You must defend yourself from the swinging boulder using only your free finger."

                Ryouga looked as his one free hand, wrapped in a handkerchief with only the pointer finger still loose, and then looked at the huge boulder Ku Lon had somehow contrived to get into the air. Then he blanched slightly as he was pulled off the ground and began swinging slightly.

                Akane watched from the sidelines. "Ryouga…" she said with concern, looking back and forth from the fanged boy to the humongous boulder. "Are you sure…?"

                "I'm ready, old woman!" Ryouga announced, breathing deeply to steady himself as Ku Lon tied off the rope.

                Ku Lon chuckled as she jumped down to join Akane at the sidelines. "Good… because we're starting even if you aren't!"

                Akane watched, wide-eyed, as Ku Lon got behind the boulder and began winching it up. "You're going to throw that at him? You'll kill him!"

                "Fear not," Ku Lon said, nodding as the boulder reached the requisite height. "This is why the student must be suspended in midair. He will swing with the boulder, should he fail the technique, and thus move with the impact." She loosed the boulder.

                "Oh… so he won't be hurt… that's a relief…" Akane said faintly as the boulder came whistling towards Ryouga, who watched it with narrowed, intense eyes.

                "I never said that…" Ku Lon said.

                FWAP.

                Twongggg.

                "I said it wouldn't kill him," Ku Lon said, hiding her wince of sympathy as boy and boulder swung back and forth, twirling on the ends of their ropes. If Ryouga hadn't been knocked silly by the initial impact, the dizziness of the twirling and all the blood rushing to his head due to his inverted position probably drove all thoughts right out of his head. "It will probably hurt a very great deal…"

                And so the day passed.

                SWISHHHHH…

                "HYAAAA!"

                FWAP. Twongggg.

                "Again, old woman!"

                SWISHHHHH…

                "HYAAAA!"

                FWAP. Twongggg.

                "Are you trying to tickle the stone, boy?"

                "Oof! Again!"

                SWISHHHHH…

                "HYAYAYAYAYAAA!"

                FWAP. Twongggg.

                "Poking randomly won't help you either, you realize…"

                "Ugh… A-ag-gain…"

                SWISHHHHH…

                "HYAAAA!"

                FWAP. Twongggg.

                "Itetete…"

                "Don't you think that's quite enough, Ryouga? Come down and eat."

                "N-n-no! I w-will m-master it… owwie…"

                "Two more tries, then we will stop for a while." Ku Lon looked at the boy's stubborn but rather flattened face and tried to hide both her amusement and her sympathy pains.

                "A-again!"

                SWISHHHHH…

                "HYAAAA!"

                FWAP. Twongggg.

                Gasp. Gasp. "AGAIN! Owwwwwww…"

                SWISHHHHH…

                "HYAAAA!"

                FWAP. Twongggg.

                Ku Lon hopped forward. "Not again," she said with feigned exasperation. After all, if Ryouga mastered the technique at this stage, then that would rather ruin the true point of the training, wouldn't it?

                She sprang up to perch atop the boulder as it and Ryouga slowly swung to a stop, with a few extra collisions on the way. "How many times must I tell you?" Ku Lon asked him. "You have to hit the breaking point!" Her hand snapped down, and her extended index finger poked the stone under her feet.

                KRATCH! "Yow! Ow!" Ryouga, who at this stage was barely up to the task of moving, had no way to block the shrapnel. He got hammered.

                Ku Lon, who had carefully maintained her grip on the rope, climbed up to the pulley and unlocked it, allowing the boy to drop to the ground and only slowing his drop slightly. Hopping down to the ground herself, Ku Lon strolled over to his side and examined him brusquely. Good; already the newer bruises were less severe than those he had received earlier in the day, although given the way they were layered on top of each other it took a highly trained eye to detect the difference. Ku Lon smiled and grabbed the back of the boy's collar, and began pulling him to the campfire.

                Second part of the endurance training: surviving Akane's cooking. Or rather, using the cooking to get him back on his feet and training that much faster as he tried to get away from it.

                "IF YOU HATE MY COOKING SO MUCH, WHY EAT IT?!"

                "…You have a point…"

                At the girl's enraged roar, Ku Lon had jumped, wondering if she'd carelessly spoken her thoughts out loud. The reply assuaged her fears, and Ku Lon felt a little smile playing on her lips as she approached. 'So. He followed, did he?'

                Dragging the dazed Ryouga behind her, Ku Lon walked over, inadvertently providing a rescue service for Ranma from his own mouth. "Well, teishi – come to check up on your opponent?"

                Ranma looked up from the stones beneath the shadow of the platter Akane was preparing to bring down on his head. "Not particularly," he said, his expression impassive.

                "Oh! Ryouga!" On seeing the state that the lost boy was in, Akane rushed to gather him up – inadvertently throwing the platter into Ranma's face with considerable force. She didn't notice, being distracted by the lost boy. "Are you alright? Oh, poor Ryouga!"

                Ranma pulled the platter off his face and looked at Akane as she bent over Ryouga, holding two fingers up and asking him to tell her how many there were. (The answer she received was, "Fuchsia and lime-green plaid?") His expression was still one of cool indifference, but Ku Lon fancied she caught an edge of disappointment.

                Ku Lon hopped over and patted him on the shoulder. For once, she didn't even need her staff to reach his shoulder, as he was still sitting, although he was no longer almost flattened. "Allow the boy some attention," she said quietly to the pigtailed youth. "She has been worrying about him constantly for the past several hours."

                "Feh." Ranma rose sharply to his feet, turned on his heel and began walking away. "I'll see ya."

                Ku Lon blinked. "Weren't you here to check on us?" she asked in surprise.

                Ranma snorted, but he did look back over his shoulder. "I was just kinda worried, that's all!"

                Akane blushed slightly as she blinked. "You… you were?"

                Ranma hesitated for a moment, then turned. "Akane…"

                The girl straightened slightly. "Yes…?" she asked.

                "Try not to poison him. We have a match coming up." The moment was broken.

                Akane Fumed. Capital letter included. (Such capital-letter expressions seemed to be her specialty.) "You… You… You… BAKA!"

                And Ranma was off into the sky again.

                Ku Lon chuckled. "Off he runs," she said with a smile. "What a lively life you children lead." She turned and arched an eyebrow at Akane. "I believe I can trust you with the camp, then? It would not do for Ryouga to be distracted from his training at this stage."

                Behind them, said lost boy snarled. "Enough!" he said in an unsteady voice. "I will not be distracted!"

                "Oh! You're conscious!" Akane said with relief.

                "Listen, old woman," Ryouga continued. "The only thing on my mind is defeating Ranma!"

                Akane's expression became concerned and serious, and Ku Lon wondered what the girl was thinking. The Matriarch shook her head. The girl was at the moment only a peripheral concern to her. "If that is all," Ku Lon said, "then I will be off. I have things I wish to attend to."

                Ryouga was already distracted, eyeing the concoction bubbling in the pot with a mixture of fear and anticipation, and Akane was lost in her own thoughts. Ku Lon jumped off into the forest, in the same direction Ranma had been kicked. She had some questions that she wanted to ask her teishi before events progressed much farther.

                'Not the least of which what exactly he's doing with that girl. He broke the mood just now very intentionally. I wonder why…'

                She found Ranma sitting on a stone a short distance from the bottom of the waterfall, absently tossing rocks into the water. Amazingly, he had evaded the water, and was still a he.

                "One might almost think you were intentionally sabotaging your relationship with the girl," Ku Lon said by way of greeting.

                Ranma, predictably, immediately went on the defensive. "What relationship?!"

                Ku Lon smiled amusedly at him. "Deny it all you care to, teishi, but there is no way you can hide the fact that there are some feelings between you and the Tendou girl."

                "Ah, y're just seein' things that ain't there," Ranma said dismissively, blushing brightly enough to read by.

                Ku Lon just smirked at him.

                Ranma fidgeted under her knowing gaze and quickly changed the subject. "So… what kinda technique are y' teachin' Ryouga, anyway?"

                "That… you will see when the time is right."

                Ranma looked carefully at her. "This's a test again, ain't it," he said, and it wasn't really a question. "Y' want me t' figure out this technique on m' own."

                Ku Lon crowed and clapped her hands in delight. "Well done!" she said. "You may finally be catching on to the concept of your training."

                Ranma pretended to ponder deeply. "Gee… could it be somethin' like: anythin' good c'n be better if y' make it trainin', too?"

                Ku Lon looked at him, pleasantly surprised yet again. "I am impressed, teishi. How did you figure it out?"

                Ranma just looked at her. "Two words: Anythin' Goes."

                Ku Lon slapped herself across the forehead. She was doing that a lot recently. "Ah. Now I feel foolish…" Before the boy could respond with more misdirection, the Matriarch stubbornly pulled the discussion back to where it had begun. "You still have not explained why you are intentionally attempting to alienate Akane."

                "I am not!" Ranma retorted, looking like he'd been stung.

                Ku Lon maintained her faintly scolding expression. "Whether you are attempting to or not, that is the result. Have you forgotten the suggestions I gave you while you were preparing for your duel with Mu Tzu already?"

                "Hey! I've been followin' them!" Ranma declared hotly. "I tell her th' truth, an' then she ends up gettin' all huffy!"

                Ku Lon's expression became more severe. "Have you forgotten what I told you? If Akane strikes at you, that means you have failed to keep your statements impersonal, and she has interpreted them as a direct insult."

                "But she does that t' everythin'!" Ranma said, plainly frustrated.

                "Then it is your responsibility to ensure that she is not given any reasons to do so," Ku Lon said implacably. "Plainly, you have not been continuing this training on your own, as I suggested."

                Ranma flushed. "Hey!" he cried. "I've been tryin'! 't's just that…"

                Ku Lon decided to lighten up a little and allowed her grim expression to soften. "Just that you have difficulty deciding what will and will not set Akane off?"

                Ranma grimaced and nodded once, shortly – barely an inward jerk of the chin, really, but close enough, and about as close as he would come to actually admitting that he was out of his depth.

                Ku Lon smiled. "Humans are like that, teishi – unpredictable and often inconsistent. You simply must try. I have faith that you will figure it out – eventually." Then she smirked. "Not," she added, as though as an afterthought, "that it won't be rather painful in the process."

                Ranma face-faulted, and Ku Lon took the opportunity to spring off into the trees again. She had another student at the moment, after all, who probably would be very grateful for a rescue right about now – even if he was too romance-dazed to realize it.

                "WHAT?" Genma demanded. "Breaking a boulder with one finger?!"

                "Yeah, like I toldja," Ranma said flippantly, lounging next to the fire.

                Genma's expression was dark. "It can only be the legendary Bakusai Tenketsu technique…" he said darkly.

                "Bakusai Tenketsu?" Ranma asked curiously. "Breaking Point?"

                Genma raised a single finger in the air, and light seemed to gleam from the tip as visions of destruction played out behind him. (Dramatic Storytelling technique of legendary Speechification-fu.*) "Everything on this earth, living or not, has one vulnerable point, the breaking point," he said solemnly. Whether it be boulder, frog, tree, metal, cricket… or, yes… the human body! – should the breaking point simply be struck with proper precision and force…"

                He didn't elaborate; he didn't have to. Ranma had seen what had happened to the boulder. He could imagine what would happen to him.

                Genma became even grimmer. "To teach such a lethal technique – and to your sworn enemy – I fear the old woman has turned against you, Ranma." Suddenly he lunged to his feet again, thrusting a finger at his son. "YOU MUST RETURN TO THE TRAINING SITE AND RESCUE YOUR FIANCÉE FROM HER EVIL…"

                Msh. "Pha. Pull th' other one, oyaji," Ranma snorted, removing his foot from his father's face. "'t's just trainin'. 'sides, so what? 'f he can't touch me, he can't hurt me. No sweat."

                Genma simply rose, popped his knuckles, and picked up a face-net and a bokken. "We'll see about that…" He said, batting a bee nest at the boy.

                "WAK!"

                And the days passed.

                SWISHHHHH…

                "HEEE-YAAAA!" Poke-poke-poke-poke-poke.

                THUD!

                "Still not good enough!" Ku Lon snapped, as the boulder swung back again. "You cannot find the breaking point if you are distracted, boy! Clear your mind of all other thoughts!"

                "I don't have anything else on my mind!" Ryouga snarled.

                "…" Ku Lon spun the boulder around and let the indents forming the kanji of Akane's name speak for her. Ryouga stared incredulously at it.

                While he was so distracted, Ku Lon palmed a small shard of rock and flung it into the woods. There was a sound indicating an impact with something incredibly dense and yet hollow, and a panda went rolling away down the hill, desperately waving a sign proclaiming, [I'm just a cute, cuddly indigenous panda!] as it went.

                The racket drew Ryouga out of his daze. "W-what was that?" he asked.

                "Just a local nuisance," Ku Lon replied, wondering absently what the heck was wrong with Genma. She could understand why Ranma would want to spy on them – after all, often the counters to a technique could be found by studying the training. But there'd been no sign of the pig-tailed boy. Instead, Genma was spying on them – or attempting to. Ku Lon couldn't help but wonder why the man was insisting on using his cursed form. A panda wasn't exactly inconspicuous, and certainly made for an easier target.

                And every time she caught him looking her direction, his expression was fit to kill, actually. Rather impressive, really, considering how immobile the panda's face was.

                There was a sleepy yawn from the tent set up nearby. "W-what's th' fuss all about?" Akane asked blearily, starting to come out despite the fact that it was very late – or very early, depending on who you asked.

                Ryouga's eyes started to go into 'glitter-mode' – then he looked at the rock still swinging in front of him, and especially the kanji imprinted in it, and panicked. "ACK!"

                Ku Lon hid a grin. 'Well, determination isn't helping him. I wonder what mortal fear would do…?' With a mischievous smile, she called, "Oh, the boy is simply playing around. You really should see the stone at this point…"

                "NONONONONONO!" Ryouga yelped, lashing out frantically at the boulder and the incriminating evidence of his infatuation that dangled tantalizingly just out of reach. Ku Lon smiled compassionately and set the boulder swinging again.

                "Oh… I'll look tomorrow…" Akane's voice said, and a moment later her breathing deepened into sleep again.

                Ryouga threw a hard, accusatory look at the Matriarch. Ku Lon simply shrugged and smiled, then hopped off the boulder and began winching it back up again. "Let's try again…"

                And she also wondered what on earth could be causing the loud rumbling she kept hearing. It certainly couldn't be thunder, right?

                Pant. Gasp. "Oyajiiiiii…"

                [Be strong, my son! You must bear] flip [this, for the sake of our honor!]

                "I don't see you jumpin' in front'a a frickin' avalanche!"

                [Oh, the shame! Are you such a coward] flip [that you fear a brief fall of stones?]

                "By the way, yer back's open." Boot.

                [Erk. Um… m-maybe the r-rockfall] flip [w-wasn't the best idea?]

                "Certainly not the fifth one. And get some hot water, fer cryin' out loud!"

                [No time for such inconsequentials!] flip [Come, boy! There is more yet to] flip [learn before the match!] flip [The old woman will learn respect for] flip [the true power of Anything Goes!]

                "Grrrr. Less talk, less stunts, more teachin'! An' I'm warnin' ya, oyaji – one more crazy stunt, an' I'm givin' ya t' Akane t' be made inta panda stew…"

                [Gulp.]

                "I… I DID IT!"

                "Not bad, not bad at all. Now come, boy. It is time to begin the secondary stage of your training."

                "S-secondary stage? And w-what about A-A-A-A-k-k-kane?"

                "Let's let her sleep, shall we? Ah… Hmmmm… someone has been meddling with my avalanches."

                "A-avalanches?"

                "Of course – what better way for learning a technique for destroying stones? Ah – Genma. I might have guessed. No matter, I have others."

                "Oh boy…"

                Ku Lon looked up. Yes – definitely thunder. Odd – it didn't look like rain…

*: Sorry… a reference to a running joke my Slayers fanfic The Third Inverse. I couldn't resist. ^.^

(A.N. – Whew. Why is it that I'm constantly getting writer's block on this? -_- Anyway, I'd meant for this chapter to include the confrontation… but it just didn't work out that way. makes a face, then laughs The problem is that the farther I go in this, the more additional material I start adding. This inevitably makes things last longer.

                Well, finals are over, and the official graduation ceremony is in a few days. Woo-hoo!! Meaning that I have a lot of free time now, and what better place to channel said free time but into stories and drawing? ^_^

                So, what is up with Genma? All I can say is that the ripple effect is (finally) getting to him. Ku Lon has also hammered another bit of Martial Arts Socialization (copyright to TheGrum's Nabiki :-P) into Ranma's head, and while events remain on schedule, things are starting to change.

                Thanks to everyone who corrected my interpretation of events regarding Ranma's promise to Ryouga. I had forgotten about the fact that Ranma didn't directly promise Ryouga, or say his promise out loud. However, I'm not going to change the story itself. Why not? :-P Wait and see, wait and see.

                Regarding the future of this story: Well, heck, I can't seem to stop writing at this stage! _ Why can't I get this kind of devotion from myself in any of my original stories…? :-P I suppose it's all the reviews I get. There's nothing more encouraging than hearing people say, "I like this! What's going to happen next?" Thank you, everyone!

                I don't remember if I've said this before or not, but Sticks and Carrots will have three 'arcs'. The first one, obviously, is Sensei. I won't tell you the names of the others, though. :-P That's my secret. Sensei is lasting longer than I expected, due to the fact that individual events are getting longer. I suspect Sensei will therefore end somewhere around chapter fifteen or twenty, maybe even later (I daren't try to be any more accurate than that, at the moment…), after the Hiryuu Shouten Ha story. At that point, I expect to make a serious divergence from the manga for a time, and then come back to the manga at least partially for the final arc.

                For those of you who insist on guessing the titles, I will say this: I've already foreshadowed them in the story. :-P Hey, I never said the hint would be useful, did I?

                Side note for anyone interested: I have an idea for a post-manga story, but at the moment I'm at an impasse in getting it started. I know what I want to have happen, I know how the story should go, etc – but I can't figure out a way to get the vital first event in while still remaining true to the characters. makes a face Sorry, I'm ranting – but then again, what are author's notes for? :-P

                Next chapter: the fight, at long last! (For real this time!) An explanation for the bee in Genma's bonnet! (A panda wearing a bonnet… weird mental image.) Ku Lon gets to see the results of teaching Ryouga – and the consequences. I'll get it out as soon as I can! As ever, Read, Review, Comment and Critique! The more comments I get, the happier little author I get to be. ^.^)