Insert Self Here

Chapter Thirteen

Closure

X X X

Kasumi and Akane wormed their way through the stands, heading toward where they had seen Ranma and his overweight old man. They were stopped, however, when they heard a shout. "Hey, Akane! Akane!"

Akane tugged Kasumi's sleeve and the older girl stopped. The two looked over and saw a girl standing, waving enthusiastically at the two sisters. Akane immediately recognized Yuka as the girl and also spotted Sayuri in the crowd of Furinkan girls.

Changing their course, the two Tendos made their way over to the schoolgirls. "Yuka! Sayuri!" Kasumi greeted warmly. "It's been too long."

As Sayuri traded pleasant greeting with the eldest Tendo daughter, Yuka moved quickly onto more pressing matters. "What'd you do to your hair, Akane?" she asked. "It's short! I thought you loved your long hair." Yuka could remember all the times Akane... well, not bragged, but definitely talked reverently of her long hair.

"I did," Akane replied with a smile, "but I felt like it was time for a change."

Sayuri and Yuka accepted it at face value. "So, you two wanna sit with us?" Yuka inquired. "We can cheer on Kari together then!" She gave an exaggerated wink.

Akane tried her best to shrug while she had an arm around her sister's shoulder for support. "We really can't sit with you..."

"Yes," Kasumi continued for Akane, "we agreed to sit with Ranma and his father. You're more than welcome to join us there, of course."

The two friends quickly relented and the quartet made their way to the red shirt and enormous girth, both visible through the crowd. Ranma and his father were a few rows from the front, rather good seats all in all. Akane and Kasumi took seats next to Ranma while Akane's friends chose the row behind them, coincidentally next to Daisuke and Hiroshi.

"What a pleasure," Hiroshi said with a grin, "to see so many pretty faces."

"Flattery gets you everywhere," Yuka said honestly, giggling.

Ranma looked over. "Hey, who's the pretty girl with you, Kasumi? Where's Akane?"

The now-shorthaired tomboy whacked Ranma in the head. Even so, she was still blushing. "It is me, Ranma."

"Akane?" Shock.

The announcer cut off any more conversation. "And it's time to begin our match!" A cheer rose from the crowd around the group. "Are you all ready?" Another cheer arose, this one louder.

Amidst the cheers was a shout of, "Crush her, Kari!" Akane turned back to stare at Yuka, who didn't even have the decency to blush. "What?" she asked after a moment. "You want Kari to win, too, right?"

"We've got to show our support," Hiroshi agreed. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Go Kari! Don't stop until she's dead!" He grinned as he took his hands away.

"That might be a bit overboard," Akane said with a nervous laugh. Sayuri nodded numbly while Ranma and his father seemed rather blasé about the outburst.

"Begin!" the announcer cried and all eyes quickly turned to the ring.

X X X

Kari began the match by having Ryoga toss her a ribbon. As Kodachi did the same, the ninja smirked. "Using ribbons and ropes has always been a part of my training, Kodachi. You don't stand a chance!"

Kodachi was also confident. "Harridan, how dare you presume to be the better of the two of us! I'll have you know that I've perfected the use of the ribbon to a far greater degree than you can even imagine!" She punctuated her statement with a laugh.

Kari growled and leapt forward. As she struck out with her ribbon, she saw her blow blocked by Kodachi's ribbon, which seemed to be hard, as if she new Ryoga's fighting techniques... Or as if she was using an iron rod instead of a ribbon. "You cheater!" she cried, stepping back.

"I would never cheat!" the insane gymnast countered. She brought her steel rod to bear and leapt forward, swinging down at her opponent. "Take back those groundless accusations!"

"Groundless?" Kari replied, using quick movements and snaps of her ribbon to deflect the rod. "I'm pretty sure they're not groundless!"

X X X

"Wow," Sayuri remarked after the first few blows, "Kari's using a ribbon to stop that metal rod."

"A metal rod?" Ranma inquired. "Isn't that supposed to be a ribbon?"

The announcer, as if on cue, shouted, "And our champion, Kodachi Kuno, is able to wield her ribbon as if it were a steel rod! What am amazing display of gymnastic prowess!" A short bit of silence and a clang. "Oh! My mistake! It really WAS a steel rod!"

Ranma turned back to Sayuri. Pointing a finger, he said in a low tone, "You're good."

X X X

Kari smirked as she held her ribbon triumphantly. "Skill will always win over cheap moves!" she declared boldly.

Kodachi snorted. "Perhaps you've taken my ribbon..."

"Rod," the ninja corrected.

"...but you haven't beaten me yet!" She held out both of her hands. "Clubs!" Her second, responding quickly, threw the girl two clubs, which she caught with a laugh and flourish. "Prepare to be beaten!"

"Oh, boy," Kari said, warily dropping back into a defensive stance, holding her ribbon in front of her. She was prepared for when Kodachi leapt in attack, but unprepared for the spikes that jutted out of the weapons as she blocked near her head. "Holy cow!" she cried. "You could kill someone with those things!"

"That, my dear," Kodachi said, pulling back, "is the point."

X X X

Yuka pointed to the ring, her eyes wide in shock. "Did you see those metal spikes? Those clubs have spikes!"

"I don't see anything," Genma remarked. Naturally, if he couldn't see them there wasn't anything to be seen. His eyesight wasn't that far gone!

"They're retracting," Ranma responded. "Are weapons like that allowed?"

Kasumi's statement was to be expected. "Oh my." She brought her hand up to her mouth. "That doesn't seem very safe."

"No it doesn't," Sayuri said. "Nor does it seem very legal. What is the ref doing?" She was trying to work up the proper indignation in her voice, but the sheer disbelief was running too strong at the moment.

The referee, who happened to be a student from St. Hebereke, was incidentally looking the other way as all of the cheating went on.

X X X

The young ninja was getting irritated as she dodged another attack. Things weren't going so well. She briefly wondered whether she could use a ninja technique... but her techniques were somewhat limited and there wasn't any way for her to use any in the ring. How troublesome.

"Pay attention!" Kodachi cried, one of her spiked clubs grazing Kari's cheek, leaving two parallel trails of blood.

The girl idly wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. "That hurt," she commented.

"It was meant to."

Kari growled, lashing out with her ribbon.

Kodachi laughed as she blocked with her clubs, sending out the spikes into the ribbon. "Prepare to have your weapon... shredded!" She was unprepared, however, as Kari twirled the ribbon, wrapping it around more of the spikes. The St. Hebereke gymnast couldn't think of anything but an eloquent "Huh?" as Kari yanked, throwing both clubs and ribbon out of the ring.

The blue-haired youth was smirking. "I don't take well to that kind of treatment."

X X X

The announcer continued. "And the challenger is able to yank away Kodachi's clubs with her ribbon! Quite an impressive display from an elementary school girl!" She was silent for a moment before dodging the club thrown by the irate young ninja. "The young challenger's attack went wide! It appears she still needs to work on her aim!"

"More like her temper," Ranma remarked, knowing that club had gone just where it was meant to.

The announcer continued as if she hadn't been attacked. "Uh-oh, it looks like our champion is getting irritated! She's pulled out one of her trump cards!"

"A hoop?" Yuka asked incredulously. She could understand the clubs and even the ribbon, somewhat, but how do you make a hoop into a weapon? Her question was quickly answered. "Does that hoop have a razor blade?"

"Oh my." This time it wasn't Kasumi, but rather Sayuri. "That's really unfair, isn't it?"

"Damn straight it is!" Daisuke replied. "Foul! Foul! C'mon, somebody call a foul already!" He slammed a hand onto the hard wood of the bleacher he was sitting on.

"Aw, c'mon," Ranma spoke up. "Those weapons are making the fight interesting!"

Sayuri's eyes were half-lidded. "Aren't you friends with Kari?" Her tone was flat.

"Um, yeah?" Ranma replied, unsure of where Sayuri was going with this.

The girl continued. "Do you make a habit of wishing death upon your friends?"

"And?" Ranma asked. "It's not like she can't handle it." He turned back to the match just in time to see the razor hoop cut open Kari's arm. "Or maybe she can't?" he said, suddenly unsure.

X X X

Kari held her injured arm, sliced open by Kodachi's weapon. She had dropped her weapon, a club, onto the ground to cradle her arm. The girl sent a glare in her opponent's direction.

The Black Rose simply laughed. "Looks like you couldn't handle the big leagues, eh Akane Tendo?" She held her razor hoop as she laughed again.

The ninja growled. "My name isn't Akane!"

X X X

All eyes were locked on the battle. Their attention so focused, it was only a matter of time before the group noticed the sound of clicking from two rows below them.

Akane noticed him first. There, two rows down, in the front row. A Furinkan boy's uniform, short and greasy hair, a gaunt body frame... he was in her class! And he was... taking pictures? "Hey!" she called down. He was practically in front of her, with only one middle-aged gentleman between them. "Um..." Jeez, what was his name?

She didn't need to know, apparently. Hearing the voice the girl he knew was enough to get him to turn around and they locked eyes. Hikaru Gosunkugi lowered the camera. "A Akane?"

"Are you on the school newspaper or something?" Akane asked. The rest of her group of friends (plus Ranma and his father) were all looking at Gosunkugi now.

Embarrassed and not used to being the center of attention, the pale boy did the only thing he could think of. "I'm sorry!" he cried, rushing away. He actually managed to weave through or shove through the crowds and make it out of the auditorium, possibly setting a record as he did so.

"What an odd kid," Hiroshi remarked. "Was he in our class? He looks familiar."

"I never noticed him," Hiroshi responded.

Ranma was next. "Me either."

Akane shrugged.

"Shut up," the middle-aged gentleman in front of Akane remarked, "I'm trying to watch the fight." He glared at the kids before turning around.

"Sorry?" Akane said slowly. It's not like it was any louder than the cheers and jeers coming from anywhere else... Well, maybe a little louder.

X X X

Kodachi threw the hoop again, forcing Kari to weave around it.

This fight wasn't turning out too well. Kari needed to get that hoop away. She idly ducked under the returning weapon.

"What's the matter?" Kodachi asked with fake concern. "Feeling the pressure? Can't take it any more? Well, too bad I won't allow you to forfeit!"

"Who said anything about forfeiting?" To punctuate her statement, Kari kicked up the club she had left on the ground. As it began to fall back down, she kicked it again, sending it flying at the unprepared Kodachi, knocking the razor hoop right out of her hand and out of the ring, coincidentally missing Kodachi's second by scant inches.

The gymnast growled. "You bratty little girl..."

X X X

"Oh my, it looks like Kari finally got the hoop away." Kasumi smiled happily.

The announcer concurred. "And a brilliant move from the grade school gymnast! It looks like Kodachi's weapon is a no-go!"

"That's our Kari," Sayuri said, nudging Yuka. "Though I guess we can't be too surprised. She did pull some impressive stuff back with Mikado." Sayuri could still recall how Kari immediately stood up to the older and larger boy to defend her, then proceeded to dominate him in a one-sided fight.

"Your Kari?" Hiroshi asked, looking almost hurt. "She should be our Kari. She goes to our club!"

"Guys," Akane replied, "so territorial."

X X X

Kodachi held two clubs in her hands. "So, you want to see how clubs are supposed to be used?" She flourished her hands and, suddenly, seemed to holding twenty clubs. "Then be prepared! It's my Attack of One Thousand Clubs!"

Kari snorted as she hopped back, prepared.

X X X

"Whoa!" Daisuke suddenly said. "What is with that move?"

"And this," the commentator began, "is the famous 'Attack of One Thousand Clubs!' It's one of Kodachi's specialties! It looks like the little girl is shaking in fear!"

"It looks like she's using twenty clubs!" Daisuke said, impressed.

X X X

"Ball!"

Ryoga responded to Kari's cry, throwing a small blue ball into the ring. "Here you go!"

Kari nodded in thanks, then simply kicked the blue sphere at Kodachi.

X X X

There was moment of silence as Kari showed the move for what it was. "There were twenty clubs!" Yuka said, piqued. "Talk about cheating! This is just low!"

Sayuri smiled as she watched Kari take on Kodachi. The small girl really knew what she was doing. Some times that girl really did impress her. Not just her fights, but her drive and spirit impressed her as well.

Then came the lunacy. "Amazing!" the announcer cried. "What innovation! Kodachi snags the bell with her ribbon and uses it to attack! Just what we'd expect of our champion!"

"A bell?" Daisuke said incredulously. "She's attacking with a bell?"

"And now the champion has snagged the table!" The announcer was standing, which only invited Kari to snag the unused chair to counter the table. "And the challenger has taken my chair! What an amazing turn of events, folks!"

The scene was leaving quite an impression on the group of spectators, though they weren't sure exactly what to make of it.

The announcer continued doing her job. "Kodachi has now pulled her brother from the crowd and is using him as a weapon! Amazingly enough, the challenger has, too, pulled a person to use as a weapon, but she is using her own manager!" A few moments later as Ryoga did his best to pound the stupidity out of Kuno and there was another statement by the announcer. "It appears both brothers and managers are legal weapons in this fight!"

"Poor Kuno." The statement came from the most unlikely source, that being Ranma. "I never knew Ryoga could be so vicious."

"He's probably angry at being used like a weapon," Akane commented.

X X X

Kari held her ribbon in front of her once more as Ryoga exited the ring. It had come down to ribbon versus ribbon, just like the beginning of the match. "You sure your ribbon can match mine when you're using an actual ribbon and not a steel rod?"

Kodachi laughed. "Peasant, you have yet to see the true wrath of the house of Kuno!" She lashed out with her ribbon like a whip.

The younger girl dodged to the side and lashed out with her own ribbon, which Kodachi nimbly evaded. The two threw out their ribbons in an attempt to defeat the other, but skillful evasion brought them to a standstill. It had to end eventually, though, and Kari was the one who ended it.

Kodachi felt Kari's ribbon wrap around her arm. She tried to free herself, but Kari was quicker, tossing the gymnast out of the ring in a high arc.

"The challenger has managed to throw the champion from the ring!" the announcer cried.

The champion, however, would not be out of the running so easily. "Do you think I'd so easily succumb to defeat?" She pulled a whistle out of her leotard.

"Don't be such a cheater!" Kari had a club prepared and threw it with all her might. It caught Kodachi as she brought the whistle to her lips and knocked the offending noisemaker away from the girl.

"The challenger has knocked away Kodachi's whistle with a club! Will this be the end of the match?"

Kodachi bit off a curse.

"The champion is falling... yes! The champion has landed outside of the ring! Kari Umikage IS the winner, ladies and gentlemen! What an upset!"

X X X

Kari and her easily lost manager managed to work their way to their friends, who had emerged out of the stands to meet with them. The young blue-haired girl was smiling broadly from her victory.

"Kari!" Sayuri said, managing to beat out the others. "Congratulations! You won!" She beamed at her friend.

"You did great," Daisuke added. "You sure showed that Kodachi girl how to kick ass!"

Ranma gave his friend a thumb's up. "You did pretty good, for a girl."

Kari briefly considered beating her pigtailed friend, but then decided to take it as a compliment. She was too elated with victory to get that worked up over his usual antics. "Thanks, guys." She smiled, then turned to Akane. The now shorthaired Akane. She wanted to bring up Akane's hair but unsure how.

Akane seemed to notice, however, even without words. "Oh, you noticed my haircut?" She ran a hand through her short hair with a smile. "I thought it was time for a change." She paused. "Besides, I thought you might like it. It matches yours now, see?"

Kari was silent.

Ranma broke the silence. "That girl was Kuno's sister, huh?" He paused, putting his hands behind his head. "She's just as bad as he is," he finished.

Anything more to be said was cut off when Kodachi herself approached. "Akane Tendo," she said, causing both Kari and Akane to turn, "I will admit defeat this time." She pointed directly at Kari. "But don't think this will ever happen again! The next time we meet, I shall not go as easy on you!" With that statement, she leapt away.

Ryoga idly brushed some black petals from his shoulder. "What a nutcase."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Kari agreed wholeheartedly.

Akane was left blinking. "Wait, why does she think you're me?"

"She's a nutcase," Kari reiterated matter-of-factly.

"Now, now," Kasumi gently scolded, "it's not nice to say those things." She paused. "Even if they're true."

Hiroshi and Daisuke snickered. "Come on," Daisuke said, "let's go out to celebrate."

Kari smiled broadly. "Celebrating sounds good!"

"There's an ice cream parlor nearby," Yuka added.

"Especially ice cream celebration!" the match's victor said in response. "Just... let me go get changed out of this leotard."

"We need to get you bandaged up, too," Sayuri added. She reached forward and ran the back of her hand along Kari's face.

Kari blinked, wondering why.

Sayuri showed the blood on the back of her hand. "See?"

Kasumi nodded. "Don't worry, I brought my first aid kit." She showed a small bag she had come with. And thus, she led Kari off so that she could tend to her wounds.

Ranma was silent a moment, apparently pondering something. "Excuse me a moment," he finally said. He rushed off.

Akane blinked. "Huh?"

Ryoga shrugged. "Beats me." He looked over at the youngest Tendo. "I've known him for years, and I've yet to figure out what he thinks half of the time."

Ranma's motivation for leaving was readily apparent when he came back, however. Or, rather, she came back.

Genma slapped his palm to his forehead.

The redhead girl grinned. "Now I'm ready to eat ice cream!"

While her friends sighed, Yuka and Sayuri couldn't help but giggle.

Kari and Kasumi eventually came back to the group, the former now wearing her usual clothes and sporting several noticeable bandages on her arm and cheek. "Hiya, guys!" she said with a smile. "Did we keep you waiting?"

"Not at all!" Yuka replied.

Akane nodded. "Let's go get some ice cream."

Genma coughed, for once thinking of others in front of his own stomach. "I'll let you guys go. No use in having an old man ruin your fun." Of course, it was also possible that he was broke. Either way, he pleasantly exchanged a few farewells and made his way away from the group.

The group made their way toward the exit of the gymnasium. On their way out, Kari spotted money changing hands with a brown haired girl. If Nabiki was there, why didn't she bother saying hello? Kari nimbly trotted over to find out, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder.

Everybody in the group watched as Kari did so. The girl turned around, revealing Kikuko, Nabiki's flunky. "Eh?" she asked eloquently.

Kari blinked at the short-haired underling. "Oh, Kikuko. Collecting bets for Nabiki?" She felt slightly embarrassed; she had thought it was Nabiki.

Kikuko sweated. "Oh, hello Kari." She coughed. "Yes. Yes I am. Nabiki asked me to collect the bets since she didn't want to come herself."

"How rude," Kari commented. "If she had come herself, she could have seen me fight." Well, she supposed Nabiki had no real reason to... it's not like the two were even remotely close. Hell, sometimes the middle Tendo girl downright scared the ninja. "Well, sorry to bother you," she added. "Ciao, Kikuko!"

"What was that about?" Akane asked as Kari once again joined the group.

"Nothing," was the response. Kari grinned. "Now c'mon, I want some ice cream."

A short trip later and the group managed to find the ice cream parlor that Yuka spoke of. They stayed for quite a while, chatting about go, martial arts, and a myriad of other subjects. They didn't leave until darkness began to descend.

X X X

"And then she got Kodachi's arm with her ribbon and threw her clear out of the ring," Akane said, finishing the story. It was dinnertime, and Akane had just finished relaying the story of the fight to her father and Nabiki, who had been absent.

Ryoga looked down at his noodles. They had stayed for so long at the ice cream parlor that Kasumi didn't have time to prepare a real meal and they had resorted to instant noodles. Oh, well. He slurped some of the noodles before speaking. "It was a very impressive fight."

Ranma raised his eyebrow at his friend. "I've seen better." He nodded matter of factly.

The bandana-clad martial artist felt the need to defend his female friend, so he smacked Ranma in the back of the head.

As Ranma rubbed the back of his head, Kari spoke up, turning to Nabiki. "I bet you made a killing."

"Not really," Nabiki said, idle amusement in her voice.

"It sure seemed that way," the girl replied, blinking. "It looked like Kikuko was collecting a lot of money."

"Is that so?" Nabiki replied with a smirk. She slurped some of her ramen. "I wasn't expecting much."

"Then I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised," Kari replied with a grin. "There's no way my match would garner any less." She gave a thumb up.

Nabiki looked thoughtful. "I see."

X X X

Monday came, as it was wont to do. The school day went by without much incident... at least, it did until the very end. As their class packed up for the day, Nabiki took Kikuko aside. "You know, Kikuko, I heard something interesting from Kari the other day."

Kikuko looked curious. "Oh, really?"

"She said you were collecting some bets. Which is especially curious, seeing as how I didn't recall ever making plans to have a betting pool on that match." Nabiki leaned forward. "Now tell me, Kikuko, if I wasn't making any money off of this, who was? You know I don't take well to decisions made without me like this, nor do I take well to competition. Especially from one of my own."

The girl coughed into her fist. "Well, there's a perfectly legitimate explanation for this."

"Is that so? Then, please, by all means, let me in on it."

Kikuko was desperately searching for a response. "Well, the thing is, I figured you'd like to have something to gain from the match, so I took it upon myself to go and collect the bets in your place."

"That's bull, Kikuko, and you know it." Nabiki glared at her flunky. "I don't appreciate you going around behind my back, nor do I appreciate cheap lies to get out of it." She sighed, then began to move away. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you. Yet." She turned back to look at Kikuko. "When I figure it out, you'll be the first to know." She left the classroom.

Kikuko clenched her fist. After a few moments of seething, she pulled out her cell phone. She needed to rant at somebody, and she knew who to call.

X X X

Kari looked up at the large auditorium. She was standing near the front of the group, consisting of Chitase, Ryonami, Hiroshi, Daisuke, and herself. Like they had planned, they were at an auditorium to watch an exhibition match played by the Judan title holder, one of only seven go players in Japan to hold a title. It was sure to be impressive.

"Come on," Daisuke said, "let's get going." He wanted to get good seats. Judging by the size of the line, made up mostly of salarymen, that would be difficult. Go was a popular game among many people, and a title holder playing a purely exhibitionary match drew people like Mikado to a cute girl.

The wait in line was curiously short; despite being a long line, it went down quickly. "This is going to be great," Chitase said as she and the group made their way to their assigned seats. She didn't follow television coverage of go, so the best matches she'd ever seen were the ones between Kari and Hiroshi or Daisuke. This would be on a completely different level.

"It'll be fun, to be sure," Ryonami replied, her eyes half-lidded as always. "Do you think Judan would be willing to sign autographs?"

Daisuke replied, "For a cute girl like you, I'm sure he would." After a moment of silence, he said, "Oh, this is the row!" He led the group to their seats.

Kari looked around. Pretty packed for a game of go. She wouldn't have expected quite so many people. "Crowded," she observed.

"Well, it's not everyday that you get to see a match like this," Daisuke replied, to which Hiroshi nodded. "After all, this is a title holder."

"Is he really that good?" Kari wondered aloud.

Daisuke stared in open disbelief. "How can you even ask that?" He cleared his throat. "Go is a game where there is truly a vast gap between the various levels of skill. People like us, casual players, are at the bottom. Even you, Kari, aren't at the level of, say, an insei."

"An insei is somebody training at the Go Institute to become a pro," Hiroshi added.

"And pros go a level beyond that," Daisuke continued. "Professionals are like a completely different level, one we can't even hope to match. Among them, there's a huge difference between the lower levels and the higher levels. And a title holder has to be the best of the best of those higher level pros."

Kari had to admit that she wasn't big on the professional go scene, keeping her interest to her own games as opposed to those played by others. But she couldn't believe there was that much of a difference between her and some nerds who spent their lives playing the game. She shrugged it off. "Well, whatever."

After a few minutes passed, Daisuke checked his watch. "About ten minutes until the match... I think I'm going to get some concessions." He stood to leave.

"Sounds like a good idea," Ryonami agreed. She stood as well. "You want anything, Chitase? My treat."

"A soda!" Chitase replied happily.

"Any particular flavor?"

"Orange. If they don't have that, then anything will do."

Ryonami nodded.

"I'll tag along, too," Kari said. Turning to Hiroshi, she said, "You and Chitase hold the fort."

"I'm sure somebody's going to jump for your seats as soon as you're gone," Hiroshi replied sarcastically.

"Don't be sad," Kari said with a smile. "I'll get you some candy or something for being such a good sport."

"It'd better be good candy," the boy grumbled in response.

Daisuke looked at his watch. "We'd better hurry if we want to make it before the match."

"Yeah," Ryonami agreed. She led the group away from their seats and back to the entrance. Nabiki's flunky was hungry, and the match would be long. Lucky that there were some vendors taking advantage of the crowd and selling snacks and drinks at the entrance.

As the group of three approached, they saw a man wearing a suit, the shirt halfway unbuttoned and the tie hanging loosely, untied around his neck. He was arguing with one of the vendors about something, his long brown hair shaking from side to side every time he shook his head.

Kari immediately recognized him. "Dad!" She ran and gave the man a flying tackle hug.

Shinzumaru was caught off guard as, in the middle of his rant, he was suddenly tackled from the side. He looked down and noticed a short blue haired girl stuck to his side like a barnacle to a ship. "Kari?" He paused. "Hey, kiddo, what happened to your hair?"

Kari let go and stared up at her father. "It's your first time seeing me in two years and your first concern in my hair?"

Her father scratched his head. "Well, it's just that I almost mistook you as a boy for a second..." He caught Kari's fist a few inches from his face. She had gotten faster. "Er, sorry?" He let go of her fist and, while she didn't attack again, she was sending a glare of doom at him that made the man cringe.

Kari's glare turned into a smile soon enough. What were the odds she'd run into her father here, of all places, while out with her school club? It was the best thing ever to run into her father after having not seen him in so long! She went back to impersonating a barnacle. "It's so good to see you!"

Shinzumaru chuckled, ruffling his daughter's hair. "Good to see you, too. It's good to see you're all right." The letters his daughter had been sending him paled in comparison to being able to see her for himself.

Ryonami and Daisuke were standing back, watching the father/daughter moment play out. But while Kari was latched onto her father, the boy suddenly recalled something. "Hey, wait a minute..."

Ryonami looked over. "Hmm?"

It was at that time that Shinzumaru pried his daughter off of him. "Well, sorry to cut it short, but I have something I need to do. I'll see you after the match, all right?"

"To do?" the girl wondered aloud. "Can't you just watch the match with us?" That must have been why he was there. He did have a healthy interest in go, after all. "Me and my friends," a quick motion to Daisuke and Ryonami, "have seats, too. You can steal one of the ones next to us, they seem to be free."

"I'm not watching," her father explained, "I'm playing."

Daisuke took that moment to walk forth. He had picked up the gist of what was going on. "Kari, didn't you even know?" It had taken him a moment to recognize the man, but there was no doubt. "This man is the Judan title holder! He's one of the top five go players in Japan!"

Shinzumaru ruffled his daughter's hair once more. "We'll have time to talk after the game. I'll see you then." He turned and walked away, leaving Kari standing in shock.

"What?" Her father? "...No way!"

X X X

End Chapter Thirteen

To be continued...

X X X

Author's Notes: It's been way too long. But, after all this time, I finally cranked out another chapter in the continuing saga of the ninja girl, Kari Umikage. I hope it's not too disappointing to those who have been patiently awaiting this chapter.

And the reintroduction of Shinzumaru! Woot! I've been waiting for this! He is, without a doubt, one of my favorite characters, so it's good to be able to write him again.

The next chapter will, hopefully, be out sooner than this one was. I'm about to get into a longer arc, so look forward to it.