Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2, nor claim to.
Chapter Fourteen: To the Last Man Standing:
"I never said you were a mistake at all; you got it all wrong, you're misunderstanding." Alien Ant Farm: Courage
"Well? Are you going to say anything?!" Sauske demanded, coming off angrier than he really felt.
"Why should I?! . . . Do you really not know . . . why we are fighting?" Aki asked calmly, continuing to struggle against his "Hug Lock". "Why I hate you?!"
Sauske clenched his face at that. "No, I don't. I never figured out why." He said, before his voice quieted. "Are you going to enlighten me, or not? . . . After all, to everyone else, you seemed to like me for a while, after that kiss especially."
Aki suddenly stopped struggling. Keira, oblivious due to the distance she held and Sauske's suddenly quiet voice, blinked when the struggle stopped and the aura faded. "Is it over?"
"PERVERT!" Aki screamed, thrusting her arms out sideways with tremendous force, a blood red color suddenly swarming everywhere. Pressing the base of her palms together, she shoved her hands forward into Sauske's stomach, forcing him back several feet, before he tumbled to the ground.
Sauske didn't know what she had said, but he had a good guess. And it looked like she was going to lose control completely. Looking to his side, he saw her sword resting on the ground. Snatching it, he hopped back up. "KEIRA!" Sauske shouted, throwing it towards the girl. "Keep this away from her!"
The blade flew through the air before crashing onto the ground in front of the brown-haired girl. Keira snatched it up immediately, holding it by the handle, and resting the tip on the ground. Instead of examining it, however, she immediately turned her attention back to the fight.
"You . . . that was all you thought . . . about me?! . . . Brick-boy . . . you . . . PERVERT!" Aki screamed, before scanning the ground. There, by her feet, was the sharp kunai that Japanese girl had tossed to Brick-boy.
Sauske followed her eyes, then noticed her leaning down to grab the kunai. He shot forward, kicking the kunai away along the ground.
Aki, now half bent over, swung back up, leading with her fist. She uppercut the boy in the chin, lifting his feet off the ground a few inches, before turning and running for the kunai again. She didn't want to have to resort to this, but if that was what the boy was thinking, he ought to pay a bit more than necessary.
Sauske recovered quickly, and ran to beat the girl. Gently shoving her with his shoulder, he overtook the Chinese girl, and dove down for the knife. Grabbing it just before he crashed onto the ground, he spun onto his back in the dirt, before flinging the knife back towards Keira. "Keep this away too!"
Aki had recovered as well, and was still behind him. Seeing the kunai float away, she turned her attention back to her target, who was now conveniently lying flat on the ground. Raising her foot up, she stomped down on his stomach, which was punctuated by a very satisfying grunt of pain from the boy.
The girl, now that her target was nearly incapacitated on the ground, turned to the brown-haired girl. "My sword!" she demanded, starting to walk towards her. "Give it to me!"
Keira looked at the very angry look the girl was giving her, and then Sauske squirming on the ground in pain, and her mind was immediately made up. "No! Never! Not after what you did to Sauske-kun!"
"Give it to me now . . . or I will make you . . . give me the sword!" Aki shouted, her serious tone and glare proving those words were serious. "I won't hurt you . . . unless I have to . . . but I won't hesitate either!"
Keira responded by taking the sword, and throwing it backwards over her head. The sword flipped a couple of times in the air, before crashing down blade first, impaling itself upright into the dirt. She punctuated that by drawing her own sword, holding it up in front of her body, blade towards Aki. She then returned a just as determined glare. "The same for me!"
"STOP!" Sauske shouted, forcing the pain out of his head. "Don't you hurt Keira!" Slowly, he rolled onto his feet, and stood up, hunched over on his knees. "You're fighting with me, not her!" His breath was labored, but his mind was set. Then, however, he glanced down at his hand, and noticed a small red glow. Quickly he crushed his fingers together, and stamped out the color.
"Why?!" she suddenly shouted back right as he clenched his fist.
"Because you started this, and . . ." Sauske was cut off by another shout.
"Why won't you fight me with your aura?!"
Sauske swallowed hard, and stood in shock for a moment. Then he shook his head, lifting himself up. "I don't have an aura."
"LIAR!" Aki screamed, starting to march towards him, before stopping and pointing one finger straight at him. "I can see it, or could a moment ago, sheathing your arm in red! Then you cut it away! WHY?!"
"What do you mean?" Sauske asked dumbly.
"I could see . . . your aura easily covering . . . your whole arm! . . . It was as plain . . . as day! . . . Don't lie and tell me . . . it is not there! . . . I came here to fight! . . . But you are just . . . a coward!"
Sauske was normally pretty resilient against insults, but he was clinging to his calm at this moment. The insult just pushed him over the edge again. He was about to shout again, when he saw the red glow in the space between his fingers. On both hands.
"See! There it is . . . again! Both arms . . . sheathed in red! . . . even you can . . . see it! I see . . . your look, . . . your expression! You . . . can see it now too!"
Sauske clenched his teeth, followed by his fists. "I don't know what you're talking about." He muttered. "Now, about that fight." He took a deep breath, and felt his anger flow away slightly.
"Stupid, lying bastard!" Aki shouted in her native tongue as she ran towards him again, arms ready, like him.
- - -
Sakura paused, waiting for the magic word. "GO!" Bingo! Suddenly, she released a power she enjoyed having, unlike her brother. A blue aura, easily eight times her size, flooded the area around her, as she looked up to see her opponent charging towards her for once. He stumbled one step, but otherwise continued on forward.
She dashed up towards him, before thrusting her sword directly at him. He copied her exactly, and the tips of each sword collided evenly. And there, they stayed. Sakura began pushing with all her newfound strength, but not adding more. She felt the kendoist standing across from her begin to increase the force behind him as well.
But the swords did not slip. Instead, they simply got more stabilized in place, as the pressure began bending the tips to form them together.
Sakura decided to take the chance of running out of time. She increased her aura, and began to shove harder. And amazingly, the other swordsman did as well. A small, faint blue aura, probably natural, began to glow just around the edges of the armor, and his strength began to grow. Both fighters, however, noticed the other beginning to shake under the weight of their strength.
This time, the swords did move. Not sideways, but backwards.
The two swords broke, crumpling under the force, crushing all the way down to the handle, spraying a cloud of splinters everywhere. When the two handles met, both drew back, tossing them aside. "SWORD!" Sakura shouted, and noticed the coach fling two swords in their direction. Stepping forward to time it right, she caught the sword by the handle in one hand, before swinging it back at her opponent as she placed her second hand onto it.
SHNK! The two new swords collided, as Sakura realized he already had his new sword too. Not wanting to break a second one just yet, she slid back a few feet in one quick step. The other kendoist slipped, his sword now without something to lean on, which caused Sakura to slash as she quickly stepped back in. He recovered quickly, however, twisting his hands and raising the sword back up, blocking with the blade a second time.
Sakura stepped back several steps, before powering down her aura to only four times her size. She needed the time, not the power here. She watched calmly as the other swordsman let his aura drift off. She waited as he did as well.
- - -
The coach smiled. Yanagi gasped in shock. "I've never seen that kind of battle aura!"
"You wouldn't. Kendo meets don't allow them, and most kendoists and swordfighters don't develop them, or at least not a very strong one. Since Sakura started by fighting with her hands, however, developing the aura became a necessity. A boon to her, to make up for a serious lack."
"Which is?" Yanagi asked, turning to the now paused fight.
"Experience. Her swordsmanship is very poor. Which, if my guess is right, will be demonstrated now."
- - -
Sakura was tired of waiting. She could only hold this aura so long, and if she hit that, it would be all over. And she was already tired from the four short skirmishes before. She charged forward again, ready for the next assault.
Her opponent took this opportunity to strike. He could tell how bad her grip was. And the best way to teach her was to show by example. Reaching his sword up and across his body, he made six slashes, then a pause, then twenty more empty slashes across his front in the space, using all the force he could muster, in approximately eight-tenths of a second.
Sakura wondered at what he was doing, when a wave of wind ripped into her chest. Swinging her sword in front of her, the second, and stronger, burst of wind crashed into her sword. And dragged it away. Her sword was thrown from her hands, flying over her shoulder and bouncing along the ground before coming to rest approximately twenty feet behind her.
Sakura turned to the coach. "SWORD!" He simply shook his head, and Yanagi pointed in the direction of her other sword. "Damn! I have to get it back?!" she thought angrily, when she noticed her opponent hadn't just stood there.
Sakura slid to one side as the sword dropped straight to the ground, whizzing past her in an instant. The swordsman let his sword click once on the ground before slashing across at knee height. Sakura, trained well in dodging, as well as being sped up by her power-hungry aura, flipped backwards, curling up to sail up and over the sword, and away from her attacker. She let her legs hang down, ready to land softly like she had so many times before. Or, that is what she thought.
Instead, she crashed onto the floor, her feet slipping out from under her, and ended up in a heap instead of standing serenely. Before she had a chance to understand what happened, she found herself rolling away from the kendoist in order to escape the rapid series of attacks. He was standing over her, dropping his sword straight down at the fallen form of the girl.
On his twelfth down strike, the sword cracked and snapped in several places, falling apart. He tossed it aside, before holding his hand out as the coach hurled another sword at him. He turned back to Sakura, watching and waiting this time.
Free from her attacker's assault, Sakura rolled onto her feet, and snatched her sword from the ground. She was glad to have rolled towards it. She held the sword firmly, and knew if she dropped her sword again, he was going to come back stronger than before. Just then, he caught a new sword to replace the one broken on the ground, before turning to her. Instead of attacking, he just watched her. Sakura stood up, before lifting her sword up to the ready position. She was not done yet.
The kendoist watched her, then began charging forward. Sakura followed suit. But then something happened which brought Sakura's mind into shock.
He began to strike the air again. Not in a single, repeating slash, but a series of rapid jabs, hundreds upon hundreds, at an indiscernible number of points, all in Sakura's direction.
Hoping to force her way through whatever happened, Sakura was shocked when the wall hit her. The wind that rose up smacked into her hard, bumping her head against the back of her helmet again. Then, she began sliding backwards. Running at top speed, her aura out fully, now at twenty times her own size, she began to regain some ground, until the attack became more furious, and the winds began to push her back again.
Her feet slid easily along the floor, picking up speed, until she hit another wall. A real wall. One of the walls of the gym to be exact. She smashed into it hard, bumping her head a second time, before the winds snapped her prone against it for a moment. Then, suddenly, they stopped. Sakura opened her eyes to see the swordsman still charging, before jabbing hard at her. That's when she felt it. A new pain in her side.
She was beaten.
"STOP! Point, and match, to the champion! He is the winner!" The coach shouted, holding out his thumbs-up sign.
- - -
Sauske ducked again, barely avoiding the roundhouse kick from Aki again. The fight had been going on for a few minutes since Aki had been disarmed and his aura had almost escaped. He had managed some safety, avoiding all the attacks the Chinese girl had thrown at him. Unfortunately, he was too scared to strike back, and so it was only a matter of time.
"YAAH!" Aki shouted to punctuate her step-kick, which punched straight through the boy's defense, knocking Sauske backwards and flat onto his back. He lay there a moment, gasping for breath, before rolling onto his side. Aki began to see red.
"Dammit!" Aki shouted, running over and kicking Sauske in the gut while he was still on the ground. The boy slid in the same position along the ground, before he began rolling on for a few feet, and stopping on his chest, gasping for breath. "If I wanted to . . . beat you up, Brick-boy . . . there are easier things I can do!"
Sauske struggled to his feet, slowly standing up, but still hunched over. "We are fighting, Aki-san."
"NO!" she shouted again, rushing up and punching him deftly across the cheek, launching him back onto the ground several feet away. "I am fighting . . . you are running!"
"She's right, Sauske-kun!" Keira shouted, worry clearly covering her face. "If you don't start attacking soon, she's going to kill you!"
Aki grimaced at the word "kill", but watched as Sauske stood back up. "I'll fight how I need to, Keira." Sauske said quietly, and raised his hands up again. Feeling a pain on his lip, he brushed away a small trickle of blood, before tuning al his attention towards Aki.
Aki was the one to charge again, jumping with a flying side kick towards Sauske's chest. He was about to move when the pain blocked his thoughts for an instant, and everything went crashing down. The kick got through, and Sauske found himself hurtling backwards onto the ground, a new level of pain in him. Slowly, however, he began to sit up.
Aki was about to charge again, her red aura now a bright flame, when it all died away, her arms dropping to her sides. "You . . . are enjoying this, . . . aren't you?"
"Enjoying what?" Sauske asked, brushing away more blood from his mouth.
"Enjoying my misery . . . my failure . . . my shame . . . And you won't give me . . . the one thing I wanted . . . again." Aki sighed, letting her head drop. Her voice grew hostility with the next line. "You are enjoying this."
Sauske sat up more, coughing loudly, before looking up at her from twenty feet away. "What do you mean? Why would I enjoy this?!"
Aki stared at him like he was stupid, before mentally deciding he was. "Since I was born, . . . I was an Amazon warrior . . . I learned to fight . . . learned to work . . . learned to live. . . . I knew I was not the best, . . . most of my family is stronger . . . but I knew I was strong too. . . . When we came here . . . to Japan . . . my mother told me . . . how there would be others . . . who are better than me." The girl sighed once, before continuing.
"I knew I could accept that . . . and if someone defeated me . . . I would accept my laws . . . and continue with my life free of shame. . . . And then you came." The hostility in her voice grew with each passing word. "You hid your strength the first time I saw you . . . which was intelligent and correct. . . . When we fought, however . . . you gave me no respect. . . . Warriors are not afraid to lose . . . or afraid to win!"
Sauske continued to rise, using this brief respite to get back as much energy as he could. "Afraid to win? What are you talking about?"
"You have not even given me . . . the respect to fight me as a warrior. . . . To train my whole life . . . only to have someone stronger than me . . . burn that fact into my face like you do . . . with every strike you dodge . . . every opening you choose to ignore . . . every attack you choose to hold back . . . and I am sick of it!"
Sauske stared back at her. "I'm sorry . . ."
"Sorry is not enough! . . . We are going to fight . . . right now, for real, understand?!"
The boy though this idea over for a minute.
"Is that what you want? Because I won't be pulling any punches."
"Yes, that is what I want!" Aki shouted.
Sauske paused again, thinking the idea over more, before sighing, brushing more blood from his mouth, and resigned to his fate, forcing all his energy on removing the pain from his mind. "All right, then, Aki-san, let's fight."
- - -
Sakura felt the sword tip slid away, and so she slowly slid back forward, walking forward a few steps before dropping to one knee. She stayed there for a moment, resting, before standing again, as she and her opponent bowed to each other, signifying the end of the match.
Sakura immediately dropped to one knee again. "What was that, anyway?" she said loudly to herself, pulling her helmet and shoulder pads off her head, and placing them lightly on the ground, along with her sword. She had miscalculated her moves. Having done all her training armor free, her inertia changed, and she couldn't pull off her acrobatic moves in the heavy armor correctly. She'd really have to get a set of this before she did any more serious training. Beyond sword training, that is.
Reaching up, she pulled the cloth covering off her hair, letting it flow back down over her shoulders naturally, although it was frizzy and coated in sweat from the sparring match.
"Well, Sakura, that was quite impressive." The coach said, walking slowly towards her, the ever-present equipment manager Yanagi next to him.
"Yeah, it was a great match." Yanagi added. "I'd say you're going to be on the kendo club team, no problem."
Sakura glanced back up at the coach, ignoring the hundreds of small cuts on her uniform, and the severe dent on the center of the armor. "Did I make it?"
The coach shrugged. "That's not our decision this time. It's his." He pointed over at her opponent, who was then struggling to get his helmet off.
Sakura sneered at him, before replying gruffly, "Oh, really? And who would he be?" At this point, the kendoist was able to remove his helmet, before swinging it around and placing it onto the ground. Sakura glanced up, before staring at the boy's face.
He had a creamy skin tone, merged with a face with an almost girlish cuteness and small, brown eyes. Swinging his hand back, he flicked his grayed black ponytail, wrapped for a few inches with white cloth just behind his head, letting it settle gently on his back. His hair was otherwise in flattened spikes, running along the top of his head then down his face. A small smile crept over his face. "Hello, Sakura-san."
Sakura's eyes grew wide. Suddenly, she jumped up again, stuttering out his name. "C-c-captain Kuno-sama!" She bowed quickly, and much deeper than last time. "I'm sorry if I offended you! I didn't know I was competing against you!"
The boy waved his hands up, trying to calm her down. "It's okay, Sakura-san! Don't worry about it." He paused for a moment. "Anyway, let me just say congratulations."
Sakura paused for a moment, blinking. Then, her eyes grew wide. "D-do you mean . . ."
"Yes. Welcome to kendo club." He said with a smile.
Sakura squealed happily, before bowing again. "Thank you so much, Kuno-sama! I won't disappoint you!"
Kuno smiled, and nodded. "I know." Then, he turned to the coach. "Sorry, but I have to go. My cousin is sick, so can you two take care of everything?" The coach and Yanagi nodded. "Well, then, I guess I'll see you all at Monday's practice." He pulled up the helmet again, and began jogging towards the door to the boys locker room.
Sakura smiled, watching him go. "I won't disappoint you. I promise." She swore to herself, determined to make her acceptance worth it.
BAM! Kuno smashed into the door, having forgotten to open it. Sakura winced at the sound, before looking back at him. "Oops," was his only reply, before he swung the door open, and disappeared through it.
- - -
Ranma sat down at the front of the dojo, his legs folded over one another, as he tried to focus his mind. It wasn't working very well.
"So, here you are again." A voice said quietly, the sounds of someone entering the dojo resounding through the hall.
Ranma cracked one eye open, glancing over his shoulder at him. "Hey, Brandon. Whatcha want?"
He shrugged his shoulders, walking towards him. "Nothing. I just wanted to see how you were doing."
"And why would ya want to do that?"
"Because, you are a friend, you take care of your family and mine," Brandon leaned on the wall, looking down at his brother-in-law, "and I have never seen you think so hard about something. Something is up whenever you get lost in thought."
"Oh, and what makes ya think that?"
"Ranma, you are as easy to read as a book. And while I am no expert on people's minds, I would guess that this has something to do with Sauske and Aki being engaged."
"Gee, is it that obvious?" Ranma said sarcastically, before turning back to his meditation.
"Is there a real problem with all of this?"
"Of course there's a problem! I've been tryin' to keep my kids out of the crap I had to grow up in, and it seems like every time I try, nothin' works out right! First the training, then the curses, now the engagement! I don't need another thing to have to worry about!"
Brandon sighed. "You can not protect them forever, Ranma. They have to learn some independence, and for what you say they have been through, I think they are doing quite well."
Ranma calmed, taking a deep breath, and nodding. "Yeah, you're right. I just wanted things to be better for them."
"Do not punish yourself, Ranma. You did try." Brandon stood up, figuring he would bring the bags back to his room. "Well, at least now you can give everyone a good reason to visit Jusenkyo."
"Yeah, maybe we could go back." Ranma began, beginning to fade into thought. "Even if they don't get married, and I doubt they will, they probably deserve to see it once."
- - -
Sauske waited as Aki ran up to him. She was on the verge of fury again, having exposed her feelings a moment ago. However, she was able to hold control enough to force out a blue aura, her eyes locked on her battered target. She swung out a right hook, aiming for the boy's face, when he slid aside, avoiding the punch. She almost lost any emotional control, when something stopped her anger.
It was a fist, jammed into her gut. Sauske pulled it back quickly, before swinging his right hand up in an uppercut, nicking the girl on the chin. When her guard dropped, he swung out with his right foot in a roundhouse kick, planting the top of his foot into the side of her head, knocking her several feet aside.
The girl spiraled away, crashing onto the ground a few feet away, before her whole body rolled around, spinning her back onto her hands and knees. Pushing herself up with her hands, her body launched back up into a fighting stance. Then, she ran forward again, smiling.
Sauske swung his arm to one side to block a punch, then to the other to block a second. Crossing his arms, he lifted it above his head to stop a deep chop, before dropping them down to catch Aki's knee on its charge towards his gut. From there, he formed two fists, and swung them into Aki's chest, tossing her back again.
The Chinese girl stumbled a bit, before recovering quickly. She turned to Sauske, blood fury in her eyes again, and charged again. She had wanted him to fight her, but she didn't want to lose either. Sauske, ignoring the pain in his body as much as he could, snapped his foot out straight, kicking Aki's arms as she moved them in the way to block. The girl slid back several more feet, then Sauske hopped back several steps.
There, they stood for a moment, catching their breath. Keira watched in awe. "It's been a while since he's been this willing to attack. He's back to his old fighting style." She thought back to a long time ago happily. "Maybe he'll stay that way for a change." Then, the seriousness of the fight returned, and she shook those ideas out of her head.
Silently, they began charging again. Aki leaned back to prepare a punch, when Sauske dropped out of sight. Her eyes darted around, searching for him, until she found the boy again, sliding along the ground towards her. Turning onto his shoulder, Sauske slipped past the Chinese girl between her legs, letting his arms trail behind him. Aki felt the boy slide back onto his back after sliding underneath her, before his arms started moving back to his sides. Quickly.
Sauske snapped his arms to his sides, making sure they passed through Aki's ankles first. He heard a loud THUMP! as the girl face-planted into the ground, sliding across the dirt until her inertia dropped to zero. After a moment, her body dropped to the ground, before it was shoved back up by her powerful arms. Sauske rolled onto his feet, before turning to face the girl.
Aki stood up, her red aura flaring up again. She brushed several pebbles off her cheek, before muttering some curse words in Chinese and charging once again at the boy. Snapping her right hand out in a punch as soon as she was in range, she saw her opponent lean out of the way, followed by a sharp pain as he rammed his fist into her stomach again. She coughed once, before he pulled his hand back, bent it over his arm, and snapped his elbow upwards into her chin.
The girl shrieked at the impact, knocking her head back, but yanked it back down into place. Reaching across, she grabbed one of his punches at the wrist. Attempting to twist it around, her strength met with stiff resistance.
The boy looked straight into Aki's eyes. "Aki, this is enough, all right?"
"No! . . . We are not done yet!" she shouted, her aura exploding in size. Sauske sighed, but resigned to his fate.
With his free hand, he chopped down on Aki's arm, which was still trying to twist his wrist, and was starting to win. While she gasped in pain, he peeled her hand away, took her by the wrist, and turned his back to the girl. He placed her arm over his right shoulder, took her wrist in both hands, and pulled.
Aki was ripped off the ground, lifted over the boy's shoulder, and thrown away. His hand released, and so the girl was now a free-floating object. Adjusting her body as best she could, she spun around, twisted the front of her body to face the ground, and slid her hands and feet down. She crashed down, her fingers digging into the dirt and her feet sliding across the top of it, her head hanging limply at the neck. The body slid along, before she jammed her feet into the ground, coming to a complete stop.
Her head snapped up, a low snarl emanating from the girl. Her arched back slunk further away from the boy, her fingers dug deeper into the dirt, and her legs bent more to set up a immediate charge. The blue wisps of hair dangled in front of her face, but she paid no attention to them. Her eyes were blazing, staring back, and the oddly shaped green eyes seemed to stand out more than the time before. Sauske stared in wonder and awe at the cat-shaped girl, but was drawn back by the incredible red aura being given off.
Almost as quickly as the shape fully appeared, it faded. Aki's eyes turned, looking past Sauske, before they lost their anger, and turned to fear, widening almost three times their size. Her fingers loosened, her back dropped, and her knees hit the ground. The red aura shrank back slowly, until it drew itself completely into the girl. A few tears began forming around her eyes, but none of them were strong enough to roll away. Her lips mouthed a small "no" before her body seemed to lose any support, and she began twitching slightly.
Sauske watched the girl's sudden transformation, almost total submission, before realizing she wasn't afraid of him. Something was behind him, and as soon as he noticed, he began to turn. He didn't get to just yet. Aki had one last response to the object of her fear to finish, as she began pushing herself back onto her feet completely.
Next Chapter: A pair of visitors, an explanation, a trip to the doctor, a family reunion, a pair of confessions, and a declaration of friendship.
Well, that's the end of chapter fourteen. Nothing to say, so on with the reviews:
The Liz: YAY! Somebody does like my fight scenes! I was never sure if I did them well, but apparently I am. Thank you!
Tofu Ono
Age: 57
Occupation: Doctor, specializing in shiatsu and acupressure
Strength: 2
Stamina: 3
Speed: 2
Ki: 2
Aura: 0
Special Techniques: 1
Dr. Tofu Ono, the best physical therapist and all around healer in all of Nerima, has made a few changes. Emphasis on few. Appearance wise, he has grayed and aged a bit, more than most others, but it only makes him look more distinguished. And in the case of martial arts, again, like Ukyo and Konatsu, little has changed. While he only does have one special technique, shiatsu, his knowledge means he can accomplish almost any effect and knows nearly every point on the human body.
The biggest change from his life over twenty years ago is Kasumi. After finding a way to control himself while around her, which has as of yet not been discovered by anyone beyond Akane and Ranma, he began building a relationship with her. Things worked out well, and soon they were engaged and married. Life has its patterns, it seems.
While there was some difficulty keeping the clinic running with Kasumi around, and then with their first child on the way, people quickly began to realize going to the clinic with Kasumi was no longer a death sentence. In fact, he seemed to be doing better. By the time their son Shinji was two, all the regular customers had returned.
During this time, Ono spent most of his free time helping Kasumi get her nursing degree, and then teaching her most of what he knew. When he grew older, Ono began teaching Shinji too. The boy is, right now, at Tokyo University, working towards a degree in some form of medicine. He hasn't decided quite yet. But, as you can expect, his parents are behind him, ready to provide medical attention, cookies, and plenty of enthusiasm.
As for the events of the last twenty years, Ono has retained a continued background role. He is rarely directly involved in the actual events, mostly being there to help clean up when it's all over. And considering some of the damage relatives and friends have entered his office in, a lot of unhappy endings were saved because of him. From Kite's cardiac arrest to Ranma's wounds after the last fight with Happosai, a lot of people in Nerima owe him their lives, since he saved theirs.
Overall, thought, Dr. Tofu has retained that cheerful, hardworking demeanor he first appeared with. The only big difference is that he now has a new series of reasons to work harder than ever.