Ranma Hard Core
The First Story, Part 4
"Uh, guys, they look pretty serious," one student noted, while taking a step back. Once everyone realized the same thing, the circle that surrounded the two combatants widened considerably.
"Ranma! Kuno's a lot stronger against a guy when he's serious!" Akane shouted, feeling a bit of concern for her family's houseguest.
Several girls went around taking bets; one notably not partaking in these activities was the middle Tendou daughter, Nabiki. This wasn't good, she had Kuno's skill assessed, and he was fourth dan in Kendo, and she suspected high rankings in several other sword forms. Unfortunately she couldn't find note since he only exhibited his sports sword form, although she was sure if Kuno was forced to be serious in battle, a few surprises might show up.
Ranma assessed his opponent, a weapon gave him an advantage; good thing he was always prepared for such. Ranma reached into his bag and pulled out something that he had stowed away after receiving his backpack from Kasumi. Ranma tossed the bag to the side and took up a stance with his left hand in a relaxed low guard and a hardened bamboo kali stick of about two feet in length clutched in his right hand.
Kuno scoffed at Ranma's choice of weaponry, "Surely you do not intend to confront the great Tatewake Kuno with such a paltry peasant's weapon."
"Same could be said about an idiot waving a toy sword around," Ranma snarled back, keeping his relaxed, yet tensile stance.
"Very well then," Kuno took up a traditional kendo stance, and edged towards Ranma, "Learn your folly, I STRIKE!"
Standard opening for most Kendo practitioners; a horizontal strike towards the center. Ranma slid his left foot back, his guide hand following it, as he brought his weapon against the side of Kuno's, which both allowed the pigtailed boy to dodge and parry the strike at the same time. Ranma placed his guard hand over Kuno's bokken to hinder his ability to raise it to guard, and turned his escrima stick handle up, then brought it around from his left side around the back of his head to his right side for a fanning strike towards Kuno's temple.
The kendoist twisted his blade so it pointed towards the ground and from under Ranma's parrying hand, and raised it vertically against his left side, blocking Ranma's retaliating strike. Kuno found himself in a position of advantage and slight disadvantage, he had the inner strike down Ranma's horizontal line that would be difficult to parry, but Ranma had the distance too tight to make it an effective strike. Kuno rectified this by pushing off his left forward foot backwards while striking downwards for Ranma's head.
Ranma easily parried the blow by twisting his wrist inwards so that his weapon was at a downward angle on his left side and rested the near-tip on his shoulder. Kuno's strike slid down Ranma's stick, causing no ill to the pigtailed martial artist. Ranma hopped back and went back into stance.
The tradeoff was so fast; the students of Furinkan had difficulty following it, except for a few. Nabiki was dumbstruck; Ranma had managed not only to keep up with Kuno, but pace him as well. All the bets would no doubt be heavily in Kuno's favor, which meant that she could be earning a killing off this fight. But in actuality, none of this was in her thoughts, as she clutched her ledger with a white knuckled grip.
Akane watched with a bit of awe and irritation, Kuno had *never* moved that fast against her, and it seemed so natural for him, in fact more so than when he was fighting her at his seemingly usual pace. He was holding back... by a lot.
One other figure watched from behind a tree, contemplating how good Saotome was. Further consideration was needed before going for revenge. The figure retreated from the schoolyard, undetected.
Kuno's eyes narrowed, and then he shifted stance, signifying that Nabiki's suspicions were well warranted. He put his feet further apart laterally, and pulled his grip on his weapon tighter into him, while his left shoulder was turned inward as he leaned slightly forward more.
Ranma peered at Kuno's stance, and considered his options; it would be best to let his opponent strike first to show his open hand. Kuno didn't' disappoint, as he suddenly rushed at Ranma with seeming intent to shoulder charge. Ranma stepped his forward left foot out to the side a bit more and shifted his balance in order to send his opponent tumbling over his hip after his bokken strike; Ranma realized he was in trouble when Kuno suddenly smiled.
As soon as he was upon his opponent, Kuno's own left forward foot slid out at an angle, and in the same motion he turned his blade back with the edge pointing out, intending to strike across Ranma's stomach. Ranma quickly slid his own left foot back in order to maintain balance, and twisted to his left. His used the forearm of his left to brace the end of his weapon, and was still extremely jolted by unexpected attack.
Kuno hadn't finished. He dragged his bokken across the kali stick, and then sharply and shallowly torqued the mock sword into Ranma's right unprotected flack. Ranma brought his right leg up to block the blow with the side of his leg just below the knee, and crunched his right side tightly in case it was penetrated. Fortunately, Kuno wasn't able to put his usual power into the strike, but it was enough to make Ranma feel it. Ranma immediately retaliated by slamming his weapon down upon the bokken, forcing Kuno's arm to jerk down with his weapon, lest he drop it. Then Ranma raised the kali stick so in an uppercut motion that drove the tip into the bottom of Kuno's jaw.
Akane felt a pit in her stomach as Kuno scored a strike against Ranma, who she knew (though wouldn't openly admit it) was far better than her. Now she didn't know what to think about Kuno's actual skill level, if him holding back was actually an immense blessing.
Nabiki's eyes went wide as the crowd cheered Kuno gaining first blood, she immediately felt elated as Ranma countered in a more devastating way. This was better than any of the matches that Furinkan had ever witnessed, but for some reason, she felt little enjoyment out of it. She suddenly found more reason to fear, as she felt slight droplets of moisture descend upon her.
Ranma ignored the numbness his leg was starting to experience, as Kuno rubbed his sore jaw. Now that establishing blows had been made, it was time for the two to attempt to overwhelm each other.
For the third time, Kuno initiated the attack once again in same manner as before. This time Ranma jumped backwards from the near horizontal swing. But instead of following it through, Kuno arrested it's horizontal flow, and suddenly jerked the tip upwards at Ranma's face. Ranma brought his kali stick from his lower left side with his right hand, and flicked it upwards strongly against the blade of Kuno's weapon, sending its tip off course to Ranma's right. The pigtailed boy then torqued down along the same line he brought his weapon up, aiming for Kuno's collar, while twisting his whole body down to the left to gain more power for the blow. The swordsman pulled his bokken into a horizontal pose, sternfully guarding against the blow. Instead of trying to completely arrest Ranma's blow, he allowed it to slide off his bokken, and then tightly rotated the weapon towards the pigtailed boy's own collar.
It was Ranma's turn to grin now.
Ranma turned his kali stick to point down to the ground, and quickly brought it to guard against Kuno's bokken. Before the kendoist could withdraw his attack, Ranma rotated his wrist, using the slack that he had on his escrima stick and his wrist to trap Kuno's right wrist. Ranma then brought up his left fist, and punched Kuno in the nose, forcing his opponent to release his weapon with his left hand, giving Ranma the final thing he needed. Ranma leapt back, pulling Kuno's right arm with him, and braced his left hand onto Kuno's forearm right after the elbow, and suddenly he dropped down, hard.... kneeling on his right knee, while stomping heavily on his left foot.
Everyone winced at the sound of Kuno's scream. Just then the chance overcame Ranma. Just then a panda arrived to protect his son's secret.
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"Just what the hell were you doing, boy?" the panda signed, it's agitation present in it's handwriting. Ranma just growled and snatched the kettle from his, currently her, father.
"That was going too far," Akane stated from the window. Her voice was stern, but the sound of slight fear in it was still noticeable.
"If you ask me, I didn't do enough," Ranma retorted in a cold voice, as she upended the kettle over her head.
"Ranma..." Akane whispered, "You don't realize how much of an enemy you've made in Kuno..."
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"Good, you're awake," Nabiki stated. Kuno's eyes opened, after having passed out in pain from having his arm reset, and looked about the nurse's office that he had been carried to by members of the Kendo club.
"He... he broke my arm..." Kuno stated factually. Though he felt the very real pain, he perceived a surrealness about it.
"Yes, he did. You don't know what you've done by attacking Ranma, Kuno. He's dangerous, and you should have left well enough alone," Nabiki attempted to refrain from grinding her teeth, she did well to hide how livid she felt towards her classmate's current antics.
"Then, as the dog he is, I shall put him down. If not for honor, but for Akane's safety," Kuno announced, and then winced at his splinted arm."
"Kuno, you attempt anything stupid, even for you... if you survive Ranma, you'll have to deal with me." Nabiki go up and walked towards the door. She stopped at the threshold and spoke again, "Ranma's honor bound by giri to marry me or my sisters. Give up on Akane if you know what's good for you." Nabiki didn't even realize the mistake she had just made, anger clouding her usual reasoning.
If she had turned around and seen Kuno's face, she very well would have.
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Yes, I did take *some* liberties here, so don't bite my head off about it ;p
The First Story, Part 4
"Uh, guys, they look pretty serious," one student noted, while taking a step back. Once everyone realized the same thing, the circle that surrounded the two combatants widened considerably.
"Ranma! Kuno's a lot stronger against a guy when he's serious!" Akane shouted, feeling a bit of concern for her family's houseguest.
Several girls went around taking bets; one notably not partaking in these activities was the middle Tendou daughter, Nabiki. This wasn't good, she had Kuno's skill assessed, and he was fourth dan in Kendo, and she suspected high rankings in several other sword forms. Unfortunately she couldn't find note since he only exhibited his sports sword form, although she was sure if Kuno was forced to be serious in battle, a few surprises might show up.
Ranma assessed his opponent, a weapon gave him an advantage; good thing he was always prepared for such. Ranma reached into his bag and pulled out something that he had stowed away after receiving his backpack from Kasumi. Ranma tossed the bag to the side and took up a stance with his left hand in a relaxed low guard and a hardened bamboo kali stick of about two feet in length clutched in his right hand.
Kuno scoffed at Ranma's choice of weaponry, "Surely you do not intend to confront the great Tatewake Kuno with such a paltry peasant's weapon."
"Same could be said about an idiot waving a toy sword around," Ranma snarled back, keeping his relaxed, yet tensile stance.
"Very well then," Kuno took up a traditional kendo stance, and edged towards Ranma, "Learn your folly, I STRIKE!"
Standard opening for most Kendo practitioners; a horizontal strike towards the center. Ranma slid his left foot back, his guide hand following it, as he brought his weapon against the side of Kuno's, which both allowed the pigtailed boy to dodge and parry the strike at the same time. Ranma placed his guard hand over Kuno's bokken to hinder his ability to raise it to guard, and turned his escrima stick handle up, then brought it around from his left side around the back of his head to his right side for a fanning strike towards Kuno's temple.
The kendoist twisted his blade so it pointed towards the ground and from under Ranma's parrying hand, and raised it vertically against his left side, blocking Ranma's retaliating strike. Kuno found himself in a position of advantage and slight disadvantage, he had the inner strike down Ranma's horizontal line that would be difficult to parry, but Ranma had the distance too tight to make it an effective strike. Kuno rectified this by pushing off his left forward foot backwards while striking downwards for Ranma's head.
Ranma easily parried the blow by twisting his wrist inwards so that his weapon was at a downward angle on his left side and rested the near-tip on his shoulder. Kuno's strike slid down Ranma's stick, causing no ill to the pigtailed martial artist. Ranma hopped back and went back into stance.
The tradeoff was so fast; the students of Furinkan had difficulty following it, except for a few. Nabiki was dumbstruck; Ranma had managed not only to keep up with Kuno, but pace him as well. All the bets would no doubt be heavily in Kuno's favor, which meant that she could be earning a killing off this fight. But in actuality, none of this was in her thoughts, as she clutched her ledger with a white knuckled grip.
Akane watched with a bit of awe and irritation, Kuno had *never* moved that fast against her, and it seemed so natural for him, in fact more so than when he was fighting her at his seemingly usual pace. He was holding back... by a lot.
One other figure watched from behind a tree, contemplating how good Saotome was. Further consideration was needed before going for revenge. The figure retreated from the schoolyard, undetected.
Kuno's eyes narrowed, and then he shifted stance, signifying that Nabiki's suspicions were well warranted. He put his feet further apart laterally, and pulled his grip on his weapon tighter into him, while his left shoulder was turned inward as he leaned slightly forward more.
Ranma peered at Kuno's stance, and considered his options; it would be best to let his opponent strike first to show his open hand. Kuno didn't' disappoint, as he suddenly rushed at Ranma with seeming intent to shoulder charge. Ranma stepped his forward left foot out to the side a bit more and shifted his balance in order to send his opponent tumbling over his hip after his bokken strike; Ranma realized he was in trouble when Kuno suddenly smiled.
As soon as he was upon his opponent, Kuno's own left forward foot slid out at an angle, and in the same motion he turned his blade back with the edge pointing out, intending to strike across Ranma's stomach. Ranma quickly slid his own left foot back in order to maintain balance, and twisted to his left. His used the forearm of his left to brace the end of his weapon, and was still extremely jolted by unexpected attack.
Kuno hadn't finished. He dragged his bokken across the kali stick, and then sharply and shallowly torqued the mock sword into Ranma's right unprotected flack. Ranma brought his right leg up to block the blow with the side of his leg just below the knee, and crunched his right side tightly in case it was penetrated. Fortunately, Kuno wasn't able to put his usual power into the strike, but it was enough to make Ranma feel it. Ranma immediately retaliated by slamming his weapon down upon the bokken, forcing Kuno's arm to jerk down with his weapon, lest he drop it. Then Ranma raised the kali stick so in an uppercut motion that drove the tip into the bottom of Kuno's jaw.
Akane felt a pit in her stomach as Kuno scored a strike against Ranma, who she knew (though wouldn't openly admit it) was far better than her. Now she didn't know what to think about Kuno's actual skill level, if him holding back was actually an immense blessing.
Nabiki's eyes went wide as the crowd cheered Kuno gaining first blood, she immediately felt elated as Ranma countered in a more devastating way. This was better than any of the matches that Furinkan had ever witnessed, but for some reason, she felt little enjoyment out of it. She suddenly found more reason to fear, as she felt slight droplets of moisture descend upon her.
Ranma ignored the numbness his leg was starting to experience, as Kuno rubbed his sore jaw. Now that establishing blows had been made, it was time for the two to attempt to overwhelm each other.
For the third time, Kuno initiated the attack once again in same manner as before. This time Ranma jumped backwards from the near horizontal swing. But instead of following it through, Kuno arrested it's horizontal flow, and suddenly jerked the tip upwards at Ranma's face. Ranma brought his kali stick from his lower left side with his right hand, and flicked it upwards strongly against the blade of Kuno's weapon, sending its tip off course to Ranma's right. The pigtailed boy then torqued down along the same line he brought his weapon up, aiming for Kuno's collar, while twisting his whole body down to the left to gain more power for the blow. The swordsman pulled his bokken into a horizontal pose, sternfully guarding against the blow. Instead of trying to completely arrest Ranma's blow, he allowed it to slide off his bokken, and then tightly rotated the weapon towards the pigtailed boy's own collar.
It was Ranma's turn to grin now.
Ranma turned his kali stick to point down to the ground, and quickly brought it to guard against Kuno's bokken. Before the kendoist could withdraw his attack, Ranma rotated his wrist, using the slack that he had on his escrima stick and his wrist to trap Kuno's right wrist. Ranma then brought up his left fist, and punched Kuno in the nose, forcing his opponent to release his weapon with his left hand, giving Ranma the final thing he needed. Ranma leapt back, pulling Kuno's right arm with him, and braced his left hand onto Kuno's forearm right after the elbow, and suddenly he dropped down, hard.... kneeling on his right knee, while stomping heavily on his left foot.
Everyone winced at the sound of Kuno's scream. Just then the chance overcame Ranma. Just then a panda arrived to protect his son's secret.
________________________________________________________
"Just what the hell were you doing, boy?" the panda signed, it's agitation present in it's handwriting. Ranma just growled and snatched the kettle from his, currently her, father.
"That was going too far," Akane stated from the window. Her voice was stern, but the sound of slight fear in it was still noticeable.
"If you ask me, I didn't do enough," Ranma retorted in a cold voice, as she upended the kettle over her head.
"Ranma..." Akane whispered, "You don't realize how much of an enemy you've made in Kuno..."
__________________________________________________________
"Good, you're awake," Nabiki stated. Kuno's eyes opened, after having passed out in pain from having his arm reset, and looked about the nurse's office that he had been carried to by members of the Kendo club.
"He... he broke my arm..." Kuno stated factually. Though he felt the very real pain, he perceived a surrealness about it.
"Yes, he did. You don't know what you've done by attacking Ranma, Kuno. He's dangerous, and you should have left well enough alone," Nabiki attempted to refrain from grinding her teeth, she did well to hide how livid she felt towards her classmate's current antics.
"Then, as the dog he is, I shall put him down. If not for honor, but for Akane's safety," Kuno announced, and then winced at his splinted arm."
"Kuno, you attempt anything stupid, even for you... if you survive Ranma, you'll have to deal with me." Nabiki go up and walked towards the door. She stopped at the threshold and spoke again, "Ranma's honor bound by giri to marry me or my sisters. Give up on Akane if you know what's good for you." Nabiki didn't even realize the mistake she had just made, anger clouding her usual reasoning.
If she had turned around and seen Kuno's face, she very well would have.
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Yes, I did take *some* liberties here, so don't bite my head off about it ;p