Kasumi turned to Deru. "Surely you aren't going already?"

"I'm afraid we have to. We've clearly over-imposed on your hospitality. Besides we have a walk home. We live in Shinjuku."

"Shinjuku? That's 10 or 12 kilometers away." exclaimed Akane.

[Despite what many other fanfic authors reckon, I put the Tendo dojo in the west half of Nerima ward. Shinjuku ward touches the eastern tip of it and Minato ward is just to the south, with it's famous district of Azabu Juban and the Tokyo tower in it's southern part. The Eastern edge of Shinjuku abuts Tokyo proper.]

Deru grinned. "Heh. We've walked a lot further than that, in far less safe territory. We freaks are tough."

Akane looked unhappy. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I was just mad when I thought we were being taken advantage of." (1)

"It doesn't bother me. 'Freak' is mild compared to some of the things I've been called. Some people still seem to think we live in the Tokugawa era. I'm afraid that Ranma is more sensitive about it. Dad's always banging on at him to be a man, to be strong and courageous, never to cry and to show his emotions. Anything like that is considered weak and 'womanly'." He said this last word sarcastically. It's clear he's been holding this in for some time and it's finally exceeded critical mass.

"As the heir to the Saotome school he's got to be better than perfect. Ever since we've had this curse he's been going on about how Ranma's no longer a true man. Which is rich, considering dads' own curse. Plus we've met other female martial artists, on our travels and there's nothing weak about any of them. All the same, you managed to find the most deadly insult you could possibly have conceived. He's the one you should apologise to." Akane looks at him for a moment then nods.

A yell of rage came from outside, shortly followed by a splash, and a raised female voice. Deru looked up. "Sounds like our dad just found out." he remarked.

Kasumi got up, "I'll make some more warm water." and received a thank you from Deru. As she leaves, a second louder splash is heard as a bespectacled martial artist is reintroduced to cold water.

Nabiki homed in on Deru. "So what were you going to do next?"

Deru shrugged "When we get home, explain our problem to mum and."

Ranma comes in via the hallway, dripping wet and holding a towel and a bundle of clothing. "Stupid panda. drop me in a pond." she muttered to herself. "Your dad wanted some sake, and my dad needs more hot water. Is there somewhere I can change?" she said, undoing the top of her shirt and pulling it up.

"Ranma!" Deru called, "You're exposed."

"Waff?" The shirt came down. "Uh. sorry." he ducked back. [Yeah, I know he said 'Nani?' or 'Naffi?' as it would have been through the shirt, but I only put in Japanese where there is no translation.]

"The furo's last on the right." called Nabiki. A muffled "Thanks" comes back down the corridor.

Akane looked on, a bit incredulous. "She has no feminine modesty."

Deru nodded. "We aren't feminine. I forget too sometimes. For a guy taking off a wet shirt is nothing unusual. Remember, you've had years to deal with being a girl. We've had a month under hardly ideal conditions. It's not been pleasant."

Akane looked slightly miffed. "What's so bad about being a girl?"

Deru held up his hands. "Nothing, if you were born one. But we've had to figure out how to be girls by trial and error. examples. Protecting your chest while sparring, sitting down on the toilet every time. 'That time of the month'." He blushes.

"That happens to you?" Nabiki exclaimed.

Deru nodded, "My first time was 3 days after we left Jyusenkyo. Continuous rain. Hot water was no use. We were sparring, when I suddenly I got stomach pains. Then came the bleeding. No warning, it just happened. Ranma, of course figured he'd injured me. I did too at first, but I remembered enough about biology to figure out what was going on."

Akane frowned. "You should have seen a doctor. Our family doctor, Tofu- sensei will know what to do, or who you should see."

"Heh, what with travel expenses and food, we didn't have the money. Even so, in China, whom could we trust? I can speak Chinese moderately well, but that doesn't make me an expert on the culture."

Ranma reentered, looking much more masculine, Chinese army surplus costume on. "O.K. we're ready as soon as dad gets sorted."

Nabiki cut in. "You could always stay the night. You could use the guest room." Akane looked across at her in slight puzzlement, which would have been alleviated if she were a telepath. 'Must get them to stay. There have to be ways to make money on this.' (2)

Akane stood up. She steeled herself and said, "I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I wasn't really angry with you, so much as the situation we were in. I spoke with out thinking. I didn't mean it."

Ranma stopped for a moment then broke into a smile. "Hey, I'm sorry about what I said too. Me and pop we're experts at speaking before thinking. Saotome foot in mouth disease Deru calls it." [O.K the Japanese wouldn't work that way, but assume the UT is taking liberties.]

"Do you want to start over?" asked Akane, tentatively.

"I'd like that." replies Ranma.

"That reminds me, I still want that match in the dojo." Akane said, some of her earlier good humour restored. "Do you want to change?"

"I'll do it as a guy, if it's all the same to you."

Akane give a little groan. "No, I meant do you want to get into training clothes, a gi or something."

Ranma shakes his head. "I train in normal clothes. That way I'm used to them. To be the best you gotta be ready to take any challenge, at any time."

Deru asked Akane, "Mind if I come too? I'd like to see what you can do."

Nabiki headed upstairs, saying something about immortalizing the moment.

&&&

As they passed out the front door, they could see the two fathers, Genma in human form, sitting on the veranda in the evening twilight. A bottle of sake sat between them.

"Wanna bet they're plotting to reinstate the engagement?" asked Ranma.

"No bet. Dad is not one to let go of an idea that easily." said Nabiki.

"Pop's the same way." Ranma said. "The old panda's persistent, I'll give him that."

"Well, it will keep them out of our hair." Deru stated, unconsciously pulling his hand over the back of his head to straighten his tieback.

Akane was silent, but her thoughts weren't. 'He is an egotistical jerk. 'To be the best.' indeed.' Then she considered how he'd stood up against the engagement 'Well maybe not a complete jerk. Still, we'll see how cocky he is after this.'

Ranma and Deru entered first, bowing in respect as they went in.

"This is nice, Akane!" Ranma exclaimed as he looked around the dojo. " We have to use the garden of our place when we're there."

Akane blushed. "Dad used to teach, but hasn't for a long time. Dad stopped taking on new students since mom died."

Ranma slapped his forehead with his palm heel. "Idiot!" he turns round to Akane. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

Akane cut this short by slipping off her house shoes and jumping onto the mat. "So, do I get a fight?"

"Do you want just contact? I don't like hitting girls, even in training." Ranma said, taking a stance.

'So he thinks I'm scared of a few little punches.' Akane thought, annoyed. "Don't hold back on my account."

"If you're sure." Ranma sounds worried.

"Well, let's see it." Akane gave a grin that can only be described as evil. Taking her own stance she said, "Call for us, Deru."

Nabiki brought up her camera. She is just in time to see Deru say, "Hai! Assume. Go!"

Akane grabbed hold of her annoyance and used it to fuel a combo of the same strikes that cleared a route past the school gates every day. Ranma fell back dodging every strike. He waited until driven back to the edge of the mat then returned a few strikes of his own, easily blocked, but heavy enough to force Akane back a few paces. He used her slip into a defensive stance to spring backwards and then off the wall, spinning over her head to land behind her. He then ducked under the back elbow that came at his nose. Akane followed it round, just in time to jump the low leg sweep he aimed from his kneeling position. He flipped back into a stance just out of range.

"Not bad!" Akane admitted grudgingly, "Where did you learn that?"

"Aerial moves are a speciality of the Saotome school. You're not bad yourself." Ranma replied grinning. "Let's go!" Now he dived in and laid down strikes and high kicking moves of his own. This time Akane had to back pedal. She blocked most of the strikes, and the few that hit, while they made solid contact, didn't do more than sting as she rode them. She drew the strikes further out, increasing the distance. Then even as he extended his attacks to match her, she dived inside his reach with a lunge punch to his stomach. With a speed beyond that which he'd shown he sprung straight up, then used both hands to push off her outstretched arm like a vaulting horse, going higher and back. One leg came forward in a kick, flicking out, and she barely deflected it with both forearms. It still felt like she'd pushed against a solid wall.

'Is he reading my moves?' she thought to herself ' This time for real!' As he landed she dove in again, this time trying to drive him back like the first time. Once again he evaded strikes, but this time he also blocked a few heavy blows he could have dodged. As he fell back, Akane thought, 'Go on. I'll force you into that mid-air trick again and this time I'll be ready.' At the wall she faked a roundhouse then drove in a full power strike at his chest.

She expected him to go up again, so when his head simply vanished, her strike went straight into the wall where he'd been, cracking the wooden panel. Ranma came back up from the splits he'd dropped into, practically face to face, one finger outstretched, and tapped her forehead, grinning. "Surprise!" They stood there for a moment, saying nothing, then realised how close they were. [In the manga version I suspect there would be a frame with a them and a katakana 'shi' with a line as a wind blowing sound effect.] An instant later they were some metres distant, Ranma to the side away from the arm, Akane straight backwards.

"Heh. Good one." Ranma said hand to the back of his head.

Akane just stood there, slightly out of breath. 'I've just been outclassed, by a boy!' she thought. Despite that, the anger she'd worked up earlier had vanished. She turned and said, "Come on. You lied. You were holding back."

"Not by much. You gave me a decent work out. Not many can do that." Ranma sounded thoughtful. "A couple of times I had to give it everything. Otherwise it would have been me stuck through the wall." He inspects the splintered plank. "Nice demolition work."

Nabiki was lost for words, mouth open, expecting Ranma to be red paste on the floor by this time. Deru nodded.

"You could have finished that session anytime, or just kept dodging." Akane stated, bleakly.

Ranma looked surprised. "Where would the fun be in that? You wanted to try me out. I wanted to see what you could do too."

'Great.' Akane thought, her annoyance rising again. 'The idiot thinks this is all some game.'

"It's also a matter of. I dunno. respect. Yeah. On the one hand, I've got give some leeway, so's you can show your stuff. On the other hand, I had to attack. If I didn't it'd say I didn't think you could handle it. Of course it's only sparring so I didn't push it too far. It was a test, both sides."

"And what have you learned?" Akane asked, still not quite sure what to think.

Ranma thought [Nobody ever said Ranma was stupid. Ignorant in some ways yes, but not stupid. And this is his speciality, martial arts]. "Well, firstly, you're strong, stronger than I'd expect. Cinderblock work probably." He ticks points off on his fingers. "Your moves are polished, but rigid in their application so you clearly do a lot of solo kata and suburi. However you do have good all round awareness, so you must practice against someone. You certainly reacted well when I dropped behind you. Your stamina is not bad. Three rounds and you're barely breathing hard." He stops. "But there are points you could work on. You seem to rely on power and winning with your initial attack. Outside your kata moves you're not as accurate as you could be, either. Your defences, both in blocking and dodging are far weaker than they should be, and you're not as fast as me, which doesn't make sense, as my girl form is faster than my guy form. The other big thing is, you're used to fighting on the level. You didn't track me when I went up or down."

"So I'm merely slow, clumsy and short sighted, am I?" Akane asked, with a slight edge to her voice.

Deru noticed this. 'Uh oh. Ranma's honesty is about to cause problems.' "I didn't think so. Just that you could be better than you are."

Ranma nodded, still unaware of Akane's shortening fuse. "Whoever you're practicing with, they aren't a challenge for you. You've got the potential to be much more. You got anything to add, Deru?" He walked over to where Deru is standing.

Deru put his hand to his chin. "I didn't spot the lack of vertical tracking. I did notice something to the patterns she used. You normally fight multiple opponents, right?"

Akane nodded, her face set.

Ranma snapped his fingers, "That's it. Your stance was ready to take attacks from all around. Your awareness too. It makes sense." He stops for a minute. "No it doesn't. Whoever you're training with, they should be harder to defeat then that. You'd have to be taking them out first blow. Surely your dad can organise better opponents then that." He scratches his head. "Did we miss something?"

Akane laughed mirthlessly. "Ha. Dad hasn't trained me in years."

"No way." Ranma exclaimed. "You're self taught? Where do you find partners?"

"Partners! Perverts is more like!" she stomped over to a stand and lifted a cinderblock onto the already significant stack. "I.hate .those.idiot. boys!" A slight red battle aura formed as she spoke. On the last word she struck the cinderblocks, and they broke, well, more like crumbled.

Nabiki, who's recovered, and faded into the background, noticed the change in Akane's usual litany. Meanwhile, Ranma and Deru both took a step back, knocking over the bucket of water used for cleaning the dojo, and which has mysteriously appeared right behind them. "Aww man!" "Woah!" the two suddenly chorused.

Ranma recovered first. "No. No boys here." He stated, shaking his head vigorously. Deru did an exaggerated impression of looking back and forth, up and down. He then did the 'Aiiee senor, bandits have raided our village' pose. The image is so ridiculous that Akane couldn't stay mad. She giggled. "O.K. 'girls' It's not you I'm mad at."

Ranma looked around, in earnest this time. "I'm sure that bucket wasn't there when I came over." He gave a sharp look at Nabiki, who would have overloaded a nonchalance detector. "Nabiki. Could you ask Kasumi for some hot water, please?"

Nabiki replied, "Sure, but in return, I'd like to get photos of the two of you sparring."

Ranma sighed. "We may practice tonight, we'll certainly practice sometime before we leave tomorrow. Good enough?"

Nabiki agreed and headed off for the house. 'I'm sure I can get them to practice in female form somehow. The photos will sell like hot cakes, considering what I get for Akane's.' [Once again, I 'm hoping there's an equivalent Japanese phrase.].

Ranma then went over to Akane. "What's up? If you got boy troubles at school, we're the people who can understand. We've had our own share of boy problems."

"You'd better believe it." confirmed Deru.

"What do you mean?" Akane queried, looking interested.

Ranma was silent. Deru hesitated, then said, "Well. when we're like this. guys keep hitting on us."

Akane couldn't help herself. She laughed out loud.

They both look hurt. "It's not funny, it's embarrassing!" Ranma half growled. "We're guys, even when we're girls, and it's just." he struggled for words.

"What my brother's trying to say is, we're only interested in girls." Deru finished. "And I'm already spoken for anyway."

Akane wanted to pursue that comment, but she was more interested in their 'problems'. "So what did you do about it?"

Deru answered, "Get comfortable, this is a bit of a story." They all sat down in seisa [kneeling position]. "Remember this was on our way back through China, mostly. We stuck to the countryside as much as possible, but we had to pass through places occasionally and in towns and on the boat back we seemed to attract cold water, and the worst kind of letch in equal quantities. We said no, we told them we were engaged, we said we were only interested in girls, sometimes we used dad to scare them off."

Ranma interjected. "Shows the old panda is good for something."

Deru cleared her throat and continues. "No noise from the cheap seats! Occasionally we could escape by ducking into a washroom and finding hot water. Of course there were some who thought 'no' means 'maybe' and 'go away you disgusting creature' means 'take me, I'm yours'" He did this last expression in a breathy, over emotional way that had Akane giggling again and even Ranma cracking a grin.

"And." Akane prompted.

Ranma punched her fist into her hand. "Well, we are martial artists. We 'explained' that it wasn't nice to bother girls like that. They generally got the message after hitting the wall a few times."

Akane sighed. "I wish some of my 'problems' were that bright."

Deru continued. "So with a combination of sweet reason and extreme physical violence, we got back with our virtues, and everything else, intact." He's struck by a sudden thought. "Remember that guard at the checkpoint a few days out of Joketskyu?"

Ranma smirks. "Oh yeah. That was inspired. He took a shine to me, and was holding us, 'pending further investigation' he said. Well I was pretty sure I knew what he wanted to investigate, but they had guns, and I didn't want to risk dodging bullets. Dad had vanished; 'looking for food' he told us later. But Deru told them that we were both honorary Chinese Amazons."

"What are they?" Akane asked, curious. "And how did that help?"

"Oh, right. Well they're this tribe living way back in the hills of China, near Jyusenkyo. Run by fearsome woman warriors. No, it's true!" he emphasised as Akane's expression expressed disbelief. "We were there looking for the cure because the guide said they knew about magic." he shakes his head. "That's another story. Anyway they have this cute little set of laws. If an outsider guy defeats them in combat, they marry him. Problem is they play for keeps. If the guy looses, well, let's say it's a really good idea not to loose. And the local PRC guys do not want trouble with them so they recognise this stuff. Now this guy was middle aged and not particularly fit. He knew the rep, living so close. He backed off so fast you could hear the air crack. We even got a free meal out of them didn't we?"

"Trust you to remember that. " Deru returned. "Anyway, as I said before, if you want to tell us your problem."

Akane shrugged. "Everyday at school I have to fight my way through several dozen idiots to get to class on time. And I do mean fight. It was good training for a while, but now it's getting aggravating."

"What could you have done to get them that mad at you?" asked Deru.

Akane facepalmed. "They're not out for revenge, they want to date me."

Now it's Deru's turn for a look of disbelief. Ranma was equally sceptical. "You're kidding. You aren't an Amazon by any chance?"

Akane looked back up. "It's true!" She looks slightly amused to cast that back at them. "It's down to the class president, 'Upperclassman Takewaki Kuno, age 17, captain of the Kendo club, rising young star of the Kendo world, the Shooting Star of Furinkan High.'" she reels off this title in a declamatory manner. "A legend in his own tiny mind. Talks and acts like he's out of a bad Samurai epic. Wanders around in a hakama and carries a bokken."

"No one's that odd." Deru said, then, suddenly knee walks a step to the side. A stream of warm water splashes where he sat.

"You're one to talk." Nabiki stated.

"I'll do that myself." Deru replied, kiyuping up, and side stepping round Nabiki, then getting hold of the kettle before she can react. 'Oh, yes,' she thought. 'I have to record a fight between these two.' "Hold on one second." she said releasing the kettle, then bringing up the camera. As Deru shifts back, it whirrs as it takes a sequence of images. She does the same for Ranma's transformation. Akane glares at her sister for interrupting her story. She continues.

"For some reason he's become fixated on me. It might be because all the martial artists except me are in his Kendo club, or other sports clubs, under his control. Anyhow he started 'courting' me. The more often I told him to take a hike, the more persistent he became. Finally at the start of this year he made a speech. Anyone who wanted to go out with me must defeat me. Of course a lot of the jocks and assorted hangers on think he's the best thing since cup ramen, so obviously I must be something special. Now they're all at it. I beat them all, then have to face the pervert himself and deal with him. But they keep coming back, again and again."

Ranma's face is a scowl. "This guy needs some 'sweet reason'." He makes a fist.

Akane slumped. "Tried that. He 'fights on'."

Deru asks, concerned. "Can't you get the other girls to help? Or the school authorities?"

"Some of the girls think because Kuno's good looking and rich, I should be proud to give in, or are jealous. Some of the others are mad at me because I'm distracting their would-be boyfriends. Most of the rest know he's a twit and a pervert but are scared to stand up to him. And the teachers are scared of his father, who's the headmaster. He's not around at the moment, but."

"Wouldn't he stop this?" asked Deru.

"Let's just say that he makes his son look normal by comparison."

It's Ranma and Deru's turn to go into Takahashi promise pose #6. Akane just looked unhappy. "I've tried it all. Nothing works."

"Well there's always the Saotome Secret technique." Ranma mused. Deru looked aghast "Surely not! There must be another way."

It broke Akane out of her funk. "Saotome Secret technique?" she said interested.

"Run away until you can think of a way to win." Ranma stated sententiously, but a minor sweat drop appeared..

Akane grumped.

Deru shook his head. "It's a last resort. From what I can see you're in a strong defensive position. You know what Sun Tsu said about them. You won't loose but you can't win. You have to wait for your opponent to make a mistake."

Akane growled. "Kuno is a mistake."

"We'll sort out some way to deal with him." Ranma said.

"Hey. I've taken him on myself and won."

"But as you said, he keeps coming back. We're friends, and friends help each other out, right?"

Akane looked touched. "But you've got to go back to your home tomorrow. You've got your family to go back to. And I'll have to go to school." She said this in tones of gloom.

"Deru will come up with something." Ranma said with confidence. He stretched, "I need to loosen up. Do you mind if we use the mat for a while?"

Akane nodded her assent. She stands back, leaving the two to face off.

Nabiki slotted in a new film and got ready to take in the action.

It started with a stance. Without a signal the two exploded into action. Both leaped to the air and started trading lightning fast strikes. They rebounded, and Deru rubbed his ribs. "You're getting careless." Ranma smirked. They engaged again, using the mat mostly as a jumping off point. This time it ended with Ranma being locked out and thrown into the mat. "Who's careless?" parried Deru.

As the match continued it becomes clear that the moves they used were different. Ranma was clearly the superior martial artist. He leaped and struck, always on the offensive, blocking or dodging counterstrikes. Deru was more defensive, dodging more and using fewer attacks, but clearly using a slight reach advantage to maximise them. He also seemed to anticipate better, blocking or evading almost as a move begun. However Ranma was chain lightning and very hard to predict. On a few occasions they managed locks and throws which usually ended in one or the other wearing down the mat.

Akane watched impressed, and Nabiki almost forgot her camera. The blows they traded were at least as strong as the ones she was using earlier, but delivered at a speed Akane didn't think she could match. The battle continued in three dimensions, with aerial and ground moves, all woven into a pattern. Akane stopped looking at the individual moves and suddenly understood it. They weren't fighting, they were playing. She was reminded of one of the nature programs she'd seen on T.V. of two lion cubs wrestling.

Despite Deru's slightly greater height and reach, it was clear Ranma had the advantage of more techniques and the skill to use them. Deru was finally caught by being a fraction of a second too late responding to a double feint. The straight kick it concealed punted him off the mat and into a wall support with a dull thud. There were in-drawn breaths from the spectators, which included Kasumi, who'd just arrived.

Deru slid down to the ground with swirly eyes as Ranma landed but Ranma didn't seem concerned. Deru then picked himself up and jumped back onto the mat. "You got me." he said, shaking his head to clear it. A trademarked Takahashi goose egg bump appeared on the back of his head. "You alright? Good match though." Ranma replied. They turned to Akane, Ranma following Deru's lead. "Thank you."

Akane looked glum. "You weren't kidding about me earlier."

Ranma stepped off the mat. "I don't kid about the Art." They could hear the capital letter. " But why the long face? You could be far better than you are."

Akane looked sceptical. "You think I could learn to do that?" she waved her hand at the mat.

"I saw what you did to those blocks, and how you did it. You know how rare it is to manifest a battle aura? If you can put the same sort of focus into the rest of your skills as you do your strength." he stopped.

Nabiki is focussing more on Deru. "Aren't you hurt? You hit that wall pretty hard."

Deru grinned. "You train with Ranma and dad, you learn to take punishment." He touches the hand to the back of his head, and his grin fades as he winces slightly. "An aspirin might not go amiss though."

A cough turned their attention to Kasumi. "Everyone, dinner will be ready in about half an hour. I thought you both might want to wash up first." The two fighters looked to one another. "We don't want to impose." claimed Deru. He was immediately belied by the fact that both their stomachs gave loud growls, ". but we would be honoured to join you."

The Saotomes followed Kasumi out of the dojo, followed by the other Tendo sisters.

Akane was still thinking, 'Why didn't I feel mad?' She runs over the fight and the conversation afterwards in her head. 'It's not because of that daft curse, or what they've been through, I didn't know that when we fought. It's not the possibility of training with them.' she paused for a moment and thought back to the moves she'd seen, 'I've been outclassed, on my own mat. He didn't even notice.' She thought this, trying to work up some indignation.

Then it hit her. For the first time in a long while she'd had a fight because she wanted to, rather than having it forced on her. Ranma had treated her as a peer, and so had Deru. She'd been a fellow martial artist, rather than a trophy to be won, or the 'undefeatable Akane Tendo' that most of the other students considered her to be. Ranma hadn't even realised it was a competition. And when he'd won, he hadn't boasted about it, even though it was clear she couldn't match him. they'd just suggested ways to get better. They were even willing to help out with her problems and hadn't asked for anything in return. 'Friends help each other out? No, it's too good to be true.'

Nabiki meanwhile was also thinking, but her musings had a more fiscal tone. 'Do I try to stop them and maintain my photo revenues from Kuno and the others. No, they've been falling off anyway. I think letting them interfere will probably be more profitable. If they're both as good as they looked I can probably clean up with some new betting pools. Besides that Ranma's a cutie, if painfully naive. And that Deru isn't bad for a gaijin. He's going to be tougher to deal with though.' A phrase from her English classes sprung to mind. 'Still a challenge might be fun.'

1) I hear readers screaming. 'Woah. Akane is WAY OOC. I respond thusly. In the manga, Ranma never gets punted or flattened without reason, usually because Ranma's said something insulting or been found in a highly compromising position. Akane is usually nice, even to strangers, see how she treats Ryouga. In the original version, Ranma had no one to talk to but his dad for his training trip. So he tends to revert to insults and such because he's never had experience of polite conversation (Genma as Mrs Manners. please!). And before you ask about Ukyo, that was right at the start, before Genma had his claws into him. This version has trained alongside Deru and Ukyo for some time, and has learned that there are other ways of talking. He has been home occasionally as well. Plus I think he's trying really hard to be nice to his new friend. Even in the original manga they do talk normally some of the time, mostly towards the end of the series. Don't start ringing any wedding bells just yet though.

2) Nabiki is not the secret financial force that keeps the dojo afloat. Her schemes aren't at that level in the manga. Except in the Kashu episodes. Where the money does come from Takahashi-sama doesn't say. I'm not going to soften her up, she's just as manipulative as usual.