Chapter Three
Tournament of Champions: Kid Version
X X X
Kari smirked to herself. It was amazing how well Ranma and Ryoga got along since she had been bringing in food for the both of them. It was lunch time, a week after the girl had started attending Akimachi, and the boys did little more than glaring and trading a few insults. Considering what she knew of Ranma and Ryoga, she was surprised that she hadn't been forced to brake up a few fights already.
"So," Ryoga began, having finished the last of his bento, "you two ready for the competition this weekend?"
Ranma cocked his head in interest. "Competition?" He didn't participate in school events much, especially considering how much he was on the road, but anything he could show off in was good.
Kari smacked her forehead. "Jeez, Ranma, do you just sleep through morning announcements or something?"
The ponytailed boy nodded. "Yep, pretty much."
"And I thought I was bad," Kari intoned. "You're much worse."
Ranma grinned sheepishly.
"If he doesn't know, it's his own fault," Ryoga snorted. "We don't have to tell him."
They may not have been fighting, but they sure argued a lot, Kari noticed. 'Eh, can't ask for miracles.' She looked over to Ryoga. "He'll just ask somebody else, you know, so we might as well tell him." She grinned. "Besides, this way you can ask him to be your partner."
Ranma's ear perked up as Ryoga's eyes widened. "Partners?" Ranma asked, just as Ryoga shouted, "With him!"
Kari nodded. "Yeah." She cast a glance at the Saotome boy. "The competition is held between the school's martial arts clubs. You need a team of two to enter, and you have to be the same grade level." She winced at that. Who the heck would SHE be partnered with, then? "The grades are competing against each other. The winning team gets a plaque and some restaurant certificates, or something, and the winning grade level gets a big trophy to put in the lobby. You don't even need to be in the clubs."
Ranma appeared curious. "When is it?"
"This Saturday," Kari answered. "Around ten or eleven in the morning, I think."
Ranma paused a moment to consider. He liked food, that was a plus, and there'd be a trophy in the school that he put there. Plus he was good at anything that related to martial arts. It might mean going to school an extra day, but he'd do it! "I'll do it!" he declared.
Ryoga looked over at the other boy. "You realize that we'd have to be partners, right?" He made no pretense to liking Ranma; the other boy just irritated him. If it wasn't their mutual friendship with Kari, they'd probably be fighting all the time.
Ranma pondered this a moment before shrugging. "Eh, there are worse kids to end up with."
"Gee, thanks," Ryoga deadpanned.
"Well, I mean, at least you can fight, right?" Ranma looked over to Ryoga. "Much better than being stuck with a weenie, or something." Ranma paused, considering something. "Or a girl."
"So it's settled then, right?" Kari asked, pulling her fist away from where it was imbedded in Ranma's face. She could see why Akane did it; it was remarkably therapeutic.
Ryoga sighed. "I guess so." Maybe Shirokuro wouldn't be able to take him here that day, or something. He could always hope...
X X X
Kari tapped her foot impatiently. He called her down to his office, and he had the nerve to make her wait?
The vice principal's secretary looked slightly nervous at the fuming blue-haired girl, who, for all intents and purposes, appeared to be a delinquent boy without the decency to wear his school uniform. The obvious irritated and impatient expression heightened the secretary's unease. She was new working there, after all.
The door to the vice principal's office opened and a scared looking boy walked out. Kari paused while looking over the boy; he looked frightened out of his wits. She'd heard stories of what the vice principal was like, but she'd blown them off as exaggeration. Watching the boy practically run away didn't support her own views, however.
"You can come in," a voice called from the office.
Kari began feeling a little nervous. She had been nervous to begin with, honestly, though she hid it behind a mask of anger. What if he found out she was a girl? Would she be expelled, to forever mar her school record? Or worse, keep her away from Ranma and Ryoga, the two martial artist delinquents who would become the center of attention in two years? They were good friends to have, too, and she didn't want to lose her first real friends in twelve years.
She pushed aside her thoughts as she entered the office. This would be a battle like any other. A battle of wits, most likely, but thoughts such as those would harm either type of battle.
The girl took a seat at the large desk, which filled most of the room, across from the imposing figure of the vice principal. He was a large man, easily topping six feet, an extremely abnormal height for a Japanese. It didn't help that Kari, herself, was barely over four and a half feet tall. The man was also very wide, a mountain of muscle and sinew without an ounce of fat. He had the rugged look of a man who had been through hell; an ex-military man would be Kari's guess.
If the man noticed Kari's discomfort, he didn't show it. He was probably used to it, at any rate. He merely looked over the girl in front of him, then snorted. "So, you're the new transfer student, hmm?" His voice rumbled loudly, and Kari could swear she felt the vibrations.
Kari was sweating as she answered. "Yes." She swallowed. "My name's Kari Umikage." She mentally slapped herself for being so cowed by the man, but she still added a "Sir," after she finished.
"Kari." The man snorted. "Interesting name."
"I never thought it was, sir," Kari replied.
The man looked at Kari, his gaze piercing through the girl. For a moment Kari wondered if he could see through her disguise. "It sounds like a girl's name to me."
If Kari was sweating before, it was nothing compared to how much she was at that moment. "Ah, my parents had an odd sense of humor, sir." After saying that, Kari felt like smacking her head against the desk. What kind of lame excuse was that! If he really suspected anything...
But the man merely nodded. "I see." The mountain of a man looked at a few papers on his desk, picking them up and looking them over. "Now, for the reason I called you here."
The girl gave a sigh of relief; she hadn't been found out.
"It seems your teachers, all of them, have been complaining about your performance in class." The vice principal looked displeased. "You've been sleeping through all your classes."
That was easy enough to explain. Kari was feeling much more confident, knowing her identity wasn't being compromised. "Well, sir, I already know everything they're teaching." The vice principal raised an eyebrow, but Kari continued. "I've been... reading ahead." That would explain her college-level intellect well enough, for her purposes. "If they ever got around to giving tests, I'd have test scores backing me up, but they haven't actually given any yet."
The vice principal looked over the girl, sizing up her and the words she spoke. "Well, I suppose if you get the work done and do well on the tests, I can't hold you to fault." He smirked. "To tell you the truth, I did much the same through school." He gave a hearty laugh, and Kari felt better about the man. He wasn't so scary, after all.
Not that she had actually been intimidated, of course.
The man looked over Kari again. "I did hear that you've been interested in the competition coming up in two days."
Kari laughed. "Yeah, it sounds like fun, but I don't have a partner."
The vice principal frowned. "A shame, that." His frown deepened. "So you don't think you'll compete?"
The girl shook her head. "Nah, I'll just watch this time."
The vice principal grinned. "Too bad. I was hoping I'd get a chance to see you fight." He laughed again, and Kari wondered how such a man could seem so intimidating one second and jolly the next. "Well, I guess your business is done here." He reached his hand out to shake Kari's.
The girl accepted his handshake and smiled. "Pleasure, sir." She made sure to also bow before leaving his office. 'What a nice guy,' she thought as she whistled a nameless J-pop song she had heard over the radio, walking out of the vice principal's office.
The secretary watched as Kari left. What kind of cold-blooded hooligan could leave the frightening vice principal's office in such a good mood? Even the most ruthless of the boys attending the school would leave in tears after meeting the vice principal. Who was this kid?
She shuddered.
X X X
"Stay still!" Ryoga complained as he launched a few quick punches, finishing off his combo with a crescent kick, all of which Kari dodged with practiced ease.
"Nah, I'm pretty sure that'd hurt," Kari replied, ducking under a kick then leaping in the air to avoid a sweep, landing gracefully behind the headband-clad boy. A few more punches were dodged by swaying from one side to the other, occasionally tapping Ryoga's wrist as it came too close.
Kari could feel the air around all of Ryoga's strikes; they packed some serious power. If they were actually fighting, Kari would be at a serious disadvantage. Speed could counter strength somewhat, but Kari's training was based solely on speed. She couldn't pull Ranma's Kachuu Tenshin Ameguriken trick - she wasn't quite that fast yet - and she doubted she had the strength to pull it off and make it work anyway. She was more of a long-range or weapon fighter than taijutsu, ninja hand-to-hand skills, specialist at any rate.
After finishing another combo, which Kari dodged, Ryoga stopped. "Let's have a break."
"Sounds good to me," Kari replied, smiling. It was Friday afternoon, the day before the competition, and the two friends were practicing in the empty lot near Ryoga's house. Kari didn't know where Ranma was, but odds were his dad was putting him through some sort of grueling training to prepare his son for the competition. Ryoga needed to keep up, hence the training.
Kari leaned against a fence post, still erect even though the chain link fence in between posts had been removed long ago, or perhaps had never been put up in the first place. She watched as Ryoga walked over to his travelling pack - she had been surprised when Ryoga had brought it along for training, she didn't think he had it yet - and pulled some snack food from one of the many pockets. Kari easily caught the bag of potato chips that Ryoga threw her, even if he threw with the skill of a ninja throwing a shuriken.
"Think the competition will be tough?" Ryoga asked, opening his own small bag of potato chips.
Kari idly glanced at the name of the potato chip. Master Chip. Must be a less-popular Japanese brand, she'd never heard of it before. "Nah," she answered. "I checked out the martial arts clubs yesterday. There's only three black belts, and they're not nearly as good as either you or Ranma." The girl munched on a few potato chips. They were good. Why weren't they popular? Much better than half the other Japanese-brand chips. "We're just training to keep up with Ranma."
Ryoga nodded solemnly. He hated to admit it, but when he, Ranma, and Kari had sparred it was Ranma who came up victorious. The two had put up a fight, but it was frighteningly obvious who was the most skilled of the three. Both Kari's superior speed and Ryoga's superior strength were overwhelmed by Ranma's skill in the Art.
'If only I knew some of my father's ninjutsu techniques, I could keep up,' Kari thought with a grimace. But she wasn't ready, according to her father. She believed he was just too lazy to teach the advanced ninja techniques. Of course, knowing those techniques would leave Ryoga behind in skill, but she could accept that. 'Maybe I'll be Ranma's rival instead of him.' That thought brought a smile to Kari's face, though she didn't really know why. Probably the thought of all the great battles they'd share.
She'd picked up a lot of new ideas in this life.
"I wonder how Ranma got so much better than us," Ryoga mumbled, more to himself than his companion.
Kari answered anyway. "Well, I'm twelve, so he's got two years up on me. Don't know about you, though." She smiled, trying to show Ryoga she was only joking, but the glare he gave meant he probably didn't realize that. The girl waved her hand in front of her face, trying to calm Ryoga. "Jeez, I was joking! Joking!" Her face turned serious. "Look, Ranma's been trained by his father, who's apparently a very skilled martial artist. And you're self taught, right?"
Ryoga nodded.
Kari smiled. "See? You're doing really well, considering that you've taught yourself. I'll bet nobody's done so well without being taught!"
Ryoga mumbled something, then spoke up. "Well, somebody had to create different styles, so they weren't taught."
Kari laughed. "You're comparing yourself to a martial arts master who spent their entire life devoted to creating a form of fighting. That's got to be a good sign, right?"
Ryoga crumpled his empty bag of chips in his hand, tossing it over his shoulder. It landed in a garbage can about ten feet behind him. "I guess." He sounded a bit more confident, Kari noted.
Ryoga and Ranma would win the tournament, she knew. Then they could all go out for a victory celebration. She'd already managed to wring out ten thousand yen from her father; she didn't know where he got the money, honestly, probably pulled it from her college fund or something.
It was nice to have friends.
It was nice to belong.
X X X
Saturday morning rolled around like any other for Shinzumaru. His alarm clock went off, so he hit the snooze button. Ten more snoozes and an hour later he finally woke up, rolling out of bed. He blinked as the morning light blinded him. He blinked a few times before finally being able to check his clock. Ten AM, earlier than usual.
He decided to head down to the kitchen, where he could probably find his daughter. She'd be willing to fix him breakfast. So he headed to the kitchen, without bothering to change out of his pajamas. Too early for that sort of thing.
He was momentarily surprised to find Kari not in the kitchen. She was usually here on the weekends, reading her manga at the table, or eating her own breakfast. "Is she sleeping in?" he asked himself. That was unlike her.
Deciding to check, he went to Kari's room and, noticing the closed door, knocked. Shinzumaru was many things, but stupid was not one of them. You never enter a girl's room without knocking. The closest Kari had ever come to beating him was when he accidentally walked in on her changing, and she had only been ten.
Not hearing an answer, and thus deciding it was safe, Shinzumaru opened the door. Another surprise, she wasn't there. He frowned. Where had she run off to?
Then he remembered. "Oh, yeah," he said to himself. "Her friends are competing in that tournament today." She had been talking about it all week, so he recalled it easily. The only reason he didn't remember before was due to the fact that Shinzumaru was NOT a morning person.
Realizing where she was, and wasn't likely to make him breakfast, Shinzumaru headed into the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal.
He ate slowly as he thought. He should probably go to the tournament as well. He had yet to meet her two friends, Ryuu and Ramen, or something of that nature, and he was curious as to how they acted, as well as to how well they fought.
He didn't eat any faster, however. He had plenty of time to eat and change, and he could still make it in time for the finals or semi-finals. If her two friends weren't good enough to last that long, then he probably didn't want to watch them fight anyway.
So Shinzumaru finished his breakfast at a leisurely pace before heading to his room to get changed.
X X X
Kari was glad she had decided to get Ryoga herself that morning. Apparently, his parents had come home and taken Shirokuro so they could find their way to the doctor's office for a checkup, leaving Ryoga with no way to get to the tournament. It was a stroke of luck, she thought as she looked for a seat in the stands.
Ryoga and Kari had arrived at a quarter after ten, sure they had enough time, but apparently almost everybody else was there, including Ranma. So after dropping Ryoga off with Ranma, who had already signed to two up as a team, Kari was looking desperately for a place to sit with a good view of the arena set up in the soccer field. She had no idea it would be this crowded.
"Need a place to sit?" a voice asked from behind Kari.
She looked up and saw the vice principal sitting in the stands, a wide area of clearance around the huge man. Nobody wanted to be anywhere near the man, it appeared.
Shrugging, Kari took a seat next to the man. It wasn't like there was anywhere else to sit.
"Who are you rooting for?" the vice principal asked, propping his arm up on a large cooler to his other side. He brought his own refreshments, Kari noted. Must not want to pay the outrageous prices for concessions. She couldn't blame him; she wouldn't pay either, with the prices she saw when entering the stands.
"My friends are competing," Kari answered. "Ranma and Ryoga. They'll wipe the floor with the other guys."
The vice principal laughed. "I've never heard of those two," he told Kari. "And I checked up on all the fighters."
Kari looked over, and up, naturally, at the man. "Well, you don't need to be in the clubs to join."
"True," the man said with a nod. "But are they really good enough to win without being in a club?"
"Yes," Kari deadpanned. "Without a doubt."
"You seem fairly confident," the large man said with a chuckle. "I'd like to see those two fight, almost as much as I'd like to see you fight."
"Why do you want to see me fight, anyway?" Kari asked, curious.
"I can see the way you move, girl," the man answered, causing Kari to take a gasp of shock.
He knew!
"You're obviously a good fighter, though you try to hide it." A twinkle appeared in his eye. "You're pretty good at hiding that fact, just like hiding the fact that you're a girl."
"How... how'd you know?" Kari looked fearful, but the man simply laughed.
"Know what? That you can fight, or that you're a girl?" He looked down at the girl. "Well, for the first, you hide power and speed from your movements, but you still subconsciously move without making a sound, which only very experience martial artists can do while trying, let alone without." He laughed again. "And as for the second, I know your dad."
Kari blinked. "Oh."
"He asked me to cover for you, so don't worry about me giving away your secret." He laughed again.
Kari was beginning to wonder what he found so funny.
X X X
Ryoga, dressed in a fighting outfit consisting of a green long-sleeve shirt and loose black pants along with a yellow bandana to replace his headband, which Kari had insisted upon for some reason, looked decidedly nervous. He knew he was skilled, but he had never competed like this. It was true that this tournament was held every year, but he didn't have a partner last year, so he didn't compete. He had encountered many tournaments while travelling, but had always been too young to compete. So this would be his first tournament.
Ranma, however, was in his element. Dressed in his usual white gi with a black belt around his waist, he appeared every bit the warrior he was. He had participated in quite a few tournaments. It was one of the things his father forced him to do so they could earn money. Of course, it usually involved lying about his age so he could enter, because his father was often too lazy to do the same. This time he was competing with kids his own age. He snorted. This would be too easy, if Ryoga could hold his own.
The two were seated in long benches that ran along either side of the arena, which was a large slab of pavement with a few lines painted on it. Ryoga wondered how it had arrived there - he was sure it wasn't there last week.
"Ready to kick some butt, Ryoga?" Ranma asked, noticing his partner's lack of enthusiasm.
Ryoga smiled, showing off his fangs. "Yeah. We'll win this easy." Ranma's confidence was rubbing off on him.
Next to Ryoga, one of the ninth graders snorted. "Yeah, right, kid." The boy was wearing his school uniform, along with a black bandana around his head and a white bandage wrapped around his right coat sleeve. He actually looked like an older version of Ryoga, if Ryoga was about a foot taller. He was abnormally tall.
Ryoga snorted. "I'll prove it to you, if you last long enough to face me."
Ranma eyed the two. When it came time to fight him, Ryoga can have that guy, Ranma decided.
The announcer, who happened to be the vice principal's secretary, walked out into the middle of the arena. She was dressed much the same as she had been during Kari's visit; a brown dress suit, fairly ordinary and bland. She tapped the microphone in her hand, insuring that it was in working order. The crowds became silent as she began.
"Welcome to the fourth annual Akimachi Middle School Doubles Martial Arts Tournament." She paused, muttering under her breath, "That's a mouthful." Clearing her throat, she made a flourish to the large audience gathered in the bleachers. "Thirty-two students are competing this year for the title of the greatest in Akimachi School for Boys! All three grade levels are represented this year, and we have the highest turnout ever!"
Scattered applause came from the audience, but it quickly fell silent as it didn't catch on.
The secretary-turned-announcer cleared her throat again. "The rules are simple. The teams can choose who fights which battles, and when both players on a team are defeated, the opposing team is declared victor. Defeat is ruled as staying down for a ten count, or staying outside of the ring for a five count." She looked over the participants, as if gauging whether or not they understood. Apparently satisfied, she continued. "So, without further ado, we'll get started with the first match. Team Crimson, Ryo Sakegachi and Nanashi Machiho, versus Team Champion, Raphael Harding and Kikucho Akihara."
The boy who had taunted Ryoga turned to the green-clad boy. "You'll see how mismatched we are in a moment." He smirked as he stood and calmly walked to the side of the arena, the boy next to him, a meek looking boy wearing a large coat with a collar that obscured half of his face, following silently behind him.
On the other side of the arena, a foreign boy, short for a foreigner, meaning average for Japanese, with blond hair and blue eyes, stood and calmly walked over to the arena. He wore a red trench coat and smirked as if victory was already his. His partner was a giddy looking boy Ryoga recognized as a first year student, meaning both were first year students.
'They must be Team Champion,' Ryoga thought. 'Raphael is a foreign name.'
He and Ranma watched to see how good their competition was.
X X X
The vice principal laughed. "This is horribly mismatched."
Kari looked over the four competitors. "Not really. Raphael is one of the three black belts in the martial arts club, and I haven't even heard of his two opponents." Raphael had looked to be a good fighter. He practiced Tae Kwon Do, an art close to Kari's own heart. She had practiced Tae Kwon Do in her past life, though never reaching the kind of level she was at now.
The vice principal snickered. "Those two, Ryo and Nanashi, they've won this competition the last two years. They're favored to win again this year."
Kari looked surprised. "But I've never heard of them."
The vice principal glanced at the girl. "I'd be surprised if you did, being as you're new here. Nanashi's the silent type, and Ryo skips school more than he attends, and sleeps through all his classes." He snorted. "I respect him as a fighter, but surely not as a student."
Kari leaned forward. This fight might be interesting, then. "I'm surprised Ryoga didn't mention him." Then again, Ryoga might not have been to school to know the team. He seemed to get lost a lot, even with Shirokuro.
The vice principal was silent, watching as the Nanashi took to the arena while the other team debated who would go first.
"How'd this competition start, anyway?" Kari asked. "I've never heard of a school holding martial arts tournaments."
"I started the tradition my second year here," the vice principal replied.
"Really?" Kari was surprised. Somebody reads too much Real Bout High School, no doubt.
The vice principal nodded. "I was the fighting instructor in the US Army base in Okinawa, so fighting's in my blood. And since this school seems to attract fighters, I decided holding a tournament would be a good idea." He smiled. "We're also the only middle school I know of that even has a martial arts club, let alone more than one."
Kari nodded in understanding. Usually only high schools had that sort of thing. "Very interesting, Mr... er.." She blushed, embarrassed at never having caught the vice principal's name.
He, however, just laughed. "Mr. Ikari. Now keep your eyes on the arena, the fight's starting."
X X X
The giddy boy, Kikucho, was standing in the arena, facing off Nanashi. The boy was dressed in his school uniform and had dirty brown hair, matted and unwashed. But he seemed eager to fight and unafraid.
From behind his partner and out of the arena, Ryo snorted as he noticed. "He'll learn the error in that."
Nanashi didn't speak, simply standing with both hands in the pockets of his large white jacket. His striking blue eyes looked over toward Kikucho, but didn't seem to focus on him. A slight wind picked up, swaying the boy's long black bangs, which were longer than the rest of his hair.
The announcer stood off to the side of the arena and raised her hand in the air. "Begin!"
Kikucho laughed as he began to bounce from one ball of the foot to the other, taking his hands up in a boxing stance. "I've trained in my dad's boxing style my whole life, you'd better give up now!"
Nanashi looked the boy over without changing his own stance. Then he seemed to disappear, leaving Kikucho and the crowd gaping.
X X X
"He's gotten faster," Mr. Ikari mumbled. "Where'd he go?"
Kari, whose eyes were faster than the vice principal's, followed Nanashi's movements in the air. "Ninjitsu," she whispered.
X X X
Kikucho was looking all around the arena. "Where'd he go? Is he out of the arena? Do I win?"
His musings were cut short as Nanashi seemed to appear behind the boy. Time seemed to move in slow motion as Nanashi lazily spun into a crescent kick, the side of his foot ripping through the air to catch Kikucho in the temple, sending the younger boy flying.
Nanashi smirked as his opponent limply fell to the ground, out cold. He calmly walked out of the arena as the announcer began the ten count.
"Good work," Ryo commented.
Nanashi nodded to the boy before settling down against the side of the arena, apparently disinterested in the outcome.
The announcer walked into the ring. "Winner, Nanashi!"
Scattered applause rang out, most of the audience unsure as to what exactly had happened.
X X X
"He's fast," Kari commented. "Almost as fast as me, but he seems tons stronger." A boy like that wasn't in the Ranma 1/2 manga, and she didn't think other people - well, kids at least - could be at her or Ranma's level. If there were kids that good, then they would've been in the manga, right?
"He was adopted by ninjas, I believe," Mr. Ikari mentioned. "He's a very good fighter, almost as good as Ryo."
Kari boggled. "Ryo's better?"
"Watch and see."
X X X
Raphael smirked as Ryo entered the ring. "So, you're my opponent?"
Ryo matched Raphael's smirk with his own. "Yeah. I'll beat down your foreign ass and send it back to America, or wherever the hell it is you came from."
Raphael frowned. "Italy, actually. But don't sound so confident, I'm the youngest third degree black belt in Miranda Tae Kwon Do."
Ryo laughed. "That rank must be a mistake, or else they've really cut back on requirements. No way a damn foreigner is any good at fighting. Ain't even Asian."
Raphael was fuming as the announcer formally began the fight. As soon as it was announced, though, he was springing into a flying kick, intent on taking out Ryo in one shot.
Ryo smiled as he sidestepped, reaching out and using Raphael's momentum to smash him into the ground. "Fool, never try an aerial attack unless you're much faster than your opponent, or if you can counter the grapple they're going to use."
Raphael spat as he stood up, although rather shakily. He knew that, but he was sure he would be faster than Ryo. However, Ryo wasn't simply all talk.
Ryo blocked Raphael's next attack, a quick series of low then high kicks, blocking the low attacks with his shin then the high kicks with the back of one hand. Raphael grit his teeth as his opponent apparently didn't even feel the blows.
"Kicks are nice, but a might too predictable," Ryo commented, ducking low under one of the high kicks, allowing it to go harmlessly over his head. He spun his body while lashing out his right foot for a sweep, knocking down the leg Raphael stood on. As his opponent fell, Ryo continued his spin, rising from the ground and continuing to spin his right foot, bringing it into the air and then down in a tremendous ax kick that whistled through the air. Most of the audience winced as it connected with the downed Raphael, making an audible crack of one or more of the boy's ribs.
Ryo smirked. "This fight's over."
Raphael grunted from the ground. "Not... yet."
Ryo kicked the boy in his injured ribs, causing a grunt of pain. "Just stay down, bastard."
X X X
Ryoga glared at Ryo from his position on the bench. "What a bastard," he commented.
Ranma nodded. "I've seen people like him. He likes the power being a trained fighter gives him over weaker people, and he abuses it."
Ryoga agreed. "He doesn't have to go so far."
"At least this tournament doesn't allow killing," Ranma commented. "Otherwise he'd really be trouble."
"Killing?" Ryoga sounded shocked.
"Yeah, some underground tournaments I've been in allow it, though I've never actually seen it go that far." Ranma was grateful for that. He knew killing might eventually be needed to take down some people, but not in a tournament, and not if there was any other way around it. He certainly didn't want to see it done.
X X X
"The winner! Ryo!"
Ryo smirked as he walked down to his partner. "Easy win," he commented.
His partner looked over to their opponent's side of the arena, where both combatants were being taken to the school infirmary. They both appeared fine, or at least they'd recover, so he followed Ryo back to their seats.
Ryo gave Ryoga a confident smirk. "Feeling good about your chances now?"
Ryoga glared at the older boy. "You may be good compared to them, but they can't hold a candle to me." It was true, Ryoga thought, but he still didn't know where Ryo stood compared to him. The fight was too short and the match too mismatched to give Ryoga an accurate idea of Ryo's skill.
Ryo laughed. "You keep believing you have a chance, it'll make it all the more fun to beat you down and see the expression on your face."
Ryoga only stopped glaring when the announcer stepped back into the ring. "All right! Team Crimson makes it to the next round!" She paused for applause, which came in an uproar this time. Most of the school didn't care how dirty Ryo fought, it appeared. "Next fight is Team Fuji, Akira Kodaku and Katsuharu Ono, against Team Shirokuro, Ranma Saotome and Ryoga Hibiki."
Ryoga groaned. Ranma had named their team after his dog? Well, at least nobody else knew it was his dog's name...
Ranma stood up. "C'mon, Ryoga, it's show time."
Ryoga nodded weakly. "Yeah, let's get this over with."
The two teens made their way to the arena, where their opponents were already waiting. The obvious leader of the two, a tall boy dressed in a sharp white suit and wearing a pair of yellow tinted glasses, stepped forward.
"I'll be your opponent," the boy said. "My name is Akira Kodaku, the White Lightning of Akimachi."
Ranma felt a sudden shiver, as if being reminded of a terrible thing in the past, or perhaps yet to come.
"I'll take you on," Ryoga replied, cracking his knuckles. "I got some aggravation to work out." He leaped into the air, arcing gracefully and landing in the center of the arena.
Akira simply strode to the middle of the arena confidently, sticking out his hand for Ryoga to shake.
Ryoga accepted the offer, not even noticing the extra amount of force Akira put into his grip.
'I have to be careful with this one,' Akira thought, noticing his grip had little to no effect on the other boy.
When the announcer was out of the ring, she gave her cry.
"Begin!"
X X X
End Chapter Three
To be continued...
X X X
Author's Notes: Blegh. I had writer's block for the longest time. I needed to put in something between the last chapter and the beginning of the main story. I couldn't figure out what to do. Then I realized this story is considered Action, so I put in some fights. Gives me a chance to work on fight scenes before any major ones, too.
Too bad I didn't factor in the fact that fights are long, even if the ones in this chapter were rather short.
So it looks like the main story won't get started until Chapter Five.
On the other hand, this did give me a chance to introduce some characters I hadn't thought of putting in until later, although some of these characters ARE just cannon fodder, in a sense.
Yes, there is going to be a fair share of new characters besides myself, Shinzumaru, and Itachi. Not that they'll take precedence over the main characters, once they're all introduced. There's simply going to be a lot going on with a lot of people. That is, the fic's going to get crowded. Maybe. Bleh, I hate explanations. I stink at them.
At any rate, comments, as always, are appreciated.