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Chapter Fifteen

Get Over

X X X

Thursday morning. It started out as most mornings did.

"You stole my bread!" Ryoga said. "I can't believe you'd steal my bread!" He shook his fist at Ranma, who continued walking along the fence nonchalantly. After a moment, Ryoga sighed. That stupid Ranma... now he was stuck going to school hungry. "No. I guess I can believe it."

"Yeah," Kari put in. "Didn't this happen once before?"

Ranma paused, looking over. "Hey, I only did that once." He thought a moment, putting his hand to his chin. "Or... maybe twice. Some amount."

Akane looked over. "...Some amount?"

The pigtailed boy gave a shrug. "Like I remember any more."

Kari thought a moment. In the manga, it went on for a while... but she stopped it early, didn't she? Well, she supposed it could have gone on a bit before she did put a stop to it. She didn't really know. Though it didn't really matter any more. "Come on guys, let's not stop here." She continued walking. "We don't want to be late."

"Wouldn't be the first time Ranma's made us late," Akane mentioned, looking over at the pigtailed boy.

The boy in question snorted. "Blame everything on me, why don'tcha?"

"I intend to," his fiancé replied.

Ranma and Akane stared at each other for a moment before turning away in a huff.

Ryoga looked over at Kari. "Just what was that about?" he asked. "I'm the one that's supposed to be angry at Ranma."

His young friend shrugged her shoulders. "Just Ranma being Ranma, and Akane being Akane." Looking over at the two, she thought of how the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. She had helped them out of most of the big fights they got in, but they still managed to get into arguments over nothing. It just went to show that clashing personalities would clash no matter what. "It's normal."

Ryoga nodded in response, understanding. Looking up, he said, "Looks like we're almost there."

Sure enough, Furinkan was in sight. A few students were milling around before class in the courtyard. Kari couldn't spot anybody she knew, which wasn't too surprising. Her friends were the type to usually sit around in the classroom, chatting.

Ranma leapt off the fence and the group of four teens proceeded to make their way into the school. As they entered, a lone boy exited the building. Holding his bokken firmly in hand, he looked ready to bring Heaven's wrath upon any heathen. Or innocent student. Whichever got in his way first.

"Kuno," Ranma said, stepping to the front of the group. "What do you want this time?"

"Ah, the vile sorcerer Saotome..." Kuno then looked behind him at Ryoga and Kari, "...and his lackeys."

"Who's a lackey?" Kari shouted, leaping forward.

Kuno held his bokken towards the girl as she ran forward. "Halt, peasant! For today, I mean you no harm."

Now that stopped Kari faster than a brick wall could. "What...?" She couldn't wrap her mind around that concept. "Kuno... not here to fight? What?" How did that work? Kuno shows up, Kuno gets his butt handed to him, and they continued with their lives. Kuno didn't talk, he only lived to be a punching bag.

Kuno slung his bokken over his shoulder. "Today, Saotome, I bring you an offer." He pointed his bokken towards Akane. "Relinquish your claim on the fair Akane Tendo, and I shall allow you to practice your dark magics." A kinder offer could not be found. A devil's bargain, truly, but to end this man's spell over his Akane, it would be worth it.

Ranma's eye twitched. "Can I kick his ass now?"

"Yes." It was Ryoga who said this as he stepped forward, next to Ranma. "Fly well."

"Huh?" was Ranma's general thought. That changed to a "Ah!" when Ryoga picked him up and simply tossed him towards Kuno. Thankfully, he managed to right himself in the air in time to make sure his foot was there to meet Kuno's face.

With the momentum of the toss adding to the force of Ranma's kick, it didn't surprise Kari that Kuno was taken out with one shot that morning. "Damn," she muttered, "and I wanted a piece of him, too." She walked over and kicked the fallen boy in the ribs. "Calling me a lackey! Honestly." If anything, those two were her lackeys.

"It's kind of true, though," Ranma said.

Kari kicked him in the ribs, too. "Wanna say that again?"

"No?" Ranma ventured, rubbing his chest.

"Good."

X X X

Thursday afternoon. Class was letting out and people were beginning to make their way out of the classroom. Kari's class, of course, was no exception.

Ranma and Ryoga walked over to the door of the classroom. "Yo, Kari," the pigtailed boy said, calling the girl's attention. "Me an' Ryoga are heading back to the dojo. Gonna work on some techniques."

"All right," the girl said, leaning forward in her seat. "Have fun!" She gave her two friends a wave.

Ryoga and Ranma waved back as they exited the classroom.

"So, what are your plans for today?" Akane asked as she, Yuka, and Sayuri approached. She took a seat on top of the desktop next to Kari, swinging her legs under it. She looked over at her young roommate.

Kari looked over at her friends. "I'm helping out Hiroshi and Daisuke," she said. "We're finding another member for the go club so that they can play in a tournament on Sunday." After all, they were the next best players in the club, after herself. They deserved to go to the tournament. Probably more than she did... after all, they were also in the club a lot longer.

"How are you going to do that?" Yuka asked, curious.

The ninja thought about it a few moments. "Probably just hanging out in front of the school, trying to find somebody who can play."

"Sounds hard," Akane said, "what with school being out and all." She didn't imagine recruiting would work well that way.

"All we need is somebody who can play go," Kari replied. "They don't really need to join the club, just sign up for the tournament so there can be three boys. They don't even need to be good; Daisuke and Hiroshi can probably carry them through the tournament."

"Did somebody call our names?" Daisuke and Hiroshi plopped down in seats in front of Kari. Daisuke continued, "Talking about us behind our backs?"

"I'm sorry," Kari replied in a mocking tone, "I'll never do it again."

"Good!" Hiroshi said. He thumbed his nose. "I don't want to have to hurt you." He smiled to show he was joking.

"I'm shaking in my boots," the blue-haired girl said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, are you two ready?"

Daisuke shrugged. "I suppose." He sighed. "Hopefully we'll have more luck today." They needed to find another player if they hoped to be able to compete at all.

"We should get going, then," Kari said, standing up. "The quicker we get out there, the more students we'll be able to catch leaving." She looked over at her friends. "I'll see you all later, okay?"

Hiroshi and Daisuke stood as well. They each waved to the girls. "Ciao," Daisuke said.

"Bye," Akane and Yuka said to the three go club members.

Sayuri, however, had something different to say. "I'll help you guys out," she said.

"Eh?" Hiroshi looked confused.

Sayuri pointed at Kari. "We didn't go swimming on Tuesday because of that game you wanted to go to. So you promised that we'd go swimming tonight... or did you forget?" She looked the girl in the eyes. "This way, we can just leave for the pool after you're done."

"I didn't forget!" Kari said defensively. She continued, "And you can do whatever you want." She smiled, though. "We still gotta get going, though. So let's go."

"All right." Sayuri walked over to her desk and collected her bag. "I'll see you later, Yuka. Akane."

"Have fun," Yuka said with a wave.

X X X

Kuno stood at the front of the assembled student council once more. He seemed completely unfazed by the large red footprint on his face. "Furinkan High School is a pinnacle," he said, "a pinnacle of high schools across Tokyo." He raised a fist to the ceiling. "Our school has the teachers! The faculty! The students!" Lowering his fist, he said, "But one thing is lacking here. Our athletics programs."

"What is he going on about this time?" one of the council members said with a sigh. At least he had stopped pestering them to kick out Ranma again. It was annoying how he started every meeting like that.

"Be quiet and listen." That statement came from the one student present who didn't belong to the student council; Nabiki's flunky, Kikuko. Since getting on Nabiki's bad side, she found that it paid to get away from the girl as much as possible, so she had taken to crashing the student council meetings.

"And why the hell are you here, anyway?" the student council member replied in a huff.

"She's a special guest," Yomi, student council vice-president, replied. "Now please listen to Kuno. He's not making a fool of himself, for once."

Kuno continued, unhindered by the muted whispers. "Of course, the kendo program is an exception. With my own skill, I have single-handedly saved the kendo club from the humiliation experienced by other sports teams at Furinkan." With an exaggerated motion, he said, "But why should only our kendo program be a success? Should not the other sports, while perhaps less noble, also experience their own share of glory?"

"But all of our other teams suck," said one particularly blunt student.

Kuno sighed. "You are, of course, correct." Looking up, he said, "While such harsh words might be considered slanderous, they are, in this case, naught but the truth. Verily, our other teams lack in such star athletes as myself."

"And that brings up the question," the same student began, "as to what you're trying to get to?"

"Always straight to the point," Kuno said. With a cough, the student council president continued. "Yes, well, there is something to be done in remedy for this situation. A plan, put together by our very own vice president and myself," a look toward Yomi, "and also assisted by my wartime council, shall alleviate our concerns for Furinkan's future sporting endeavors."

"This had better be good," another council member groaned.

Kuno overheard. Sending a glare toward the impudent fool, he said, "Would I be suggesting it if the plan was less than foolproof?"

It was hard to hold back the obvious response.

X X X

"Please join the go club!" Kari said to another passing student, holding out a flier. She was ignored, just as she was many times before. She sighed. Couldn't they at least take the flier?

Sayuri handed a flier to a passing boy. "Would you like to compete in a go tournament?" She winced when he threw the paper to the side and continued, completely ignoring the girl.

"Play go, have fun!" said Chitase, holding out a flier to a passing boy.

The boy she had hailed stopped and took the offered flier. "Go?" he asked.

Somebody who was listening! Chitase smiled. "Yes! Please consider joining our club! There's a tournament this Sunday, and we could use another player."

"I'll consider it," the boy said, though he didn't sound very interested. As he walked off, Kari caught him discarding their flier into the garbage can on his way out. Looks like he wouldn't be joining them.

"What a bust," Daisuke groaned. "Not one person even remotely interested."

The entire go club, plus Sayuri, was gathered in the courtyard, trying to convince passing students to join the team. As Daisuke said, they had yet to meet one willing person. Nobody seemed to possess an interest in the game or competing.

"I guess we shouldn't have expected much," Hiroshi commented with a sigh. "I guess we're just out of luck for this tournament."

"Don't be so down," Sayuri said, trying to cheer up her classmate. "There are always other tournaments, right?"

"Yeah..." Hiroshi looked to the side.

Daisuke sighed. "We were just hoping to get to play..."

Kari was silent for a moment. "You know," she began, "I... I could take the third spot, if you wanted."

"But you're a girl," Sayuri said, stating the obvious.

"I can disguise myself," the blue-haired girl responded. She'd done it before, pretending to be a guy. She had done it for an entire year back in junior high, after all. But... she just felt bad for Hiroshi and Daisuke; they deserved a chance to play.

"But then we couldn't compete," Ryonami said. If Kari were to play with the boys, the girls would be one player short. She was just starting to look forward to this tournament, too.

Daisuke looked over at the older girl, then back to Kari. "Yeah," he agreed. "The girls deserve to compete, too. We're not going to stop that."

Kari was silent, looking at the ground. She scuffed her shoe. "Bah..." Looking up, she said, "This whole thing just sucks, is all."

Everybody had to agree.

Kari heard somebody approaching from behind. Turning, she held out a flier. "Would you like to join the..." She stopped when she realized who it was.

Kaga snatched up the flier the girl was offering. "Oh?" he said, looking it over. "Is the go club looking for new members?"

"You." Kari wasn't pleased.

"Yes. Me." The boy was still looking over the flier. "You know," he began, looking up from the flier to Kari, "the shougi club has no problem with finding members. Why don't you come over there?"

The ninja snorted. "I'd rather not."

Sayuri looked from Kaga to Kari, then back. Did they have some sort of history? They sure seemed like they knew each other... and they didn't seem to get along, either.

The redhead was silent for a moment. "There's a go tournament coming up, right? Is that why you're all trying to find new members?"

"That's right," Daisuke said. Before Tuesday, he had never interacted with Kaga, so he wasn't going to hold a grudge against the boy. "Do you know of anybody who could play for us?"

"Oh, I could play," Kaga said, friendly. He offered a smile. "If you get down on your knees and beg, I might even consider it."

"What's your deal?" Kari spat at the boy. He was a total jackass; get down on their knees and beg? Like hell!

"My deal?" Kaga asked. "Nothing. I just don't want to play for free. My skill doesn't come cheap... but surely your dignity isn't too much to ask?" He smirked.

That cocky, smarmy, egotistical bastard! Kari seethed. "We don't need a jerk like you on our team!" she said. "You're probably weak anyway! The only way you'd win is by cheating!"

Kaga snarled. He crumpled the flier and threw it on the ground. "Well, I don't need your go." He stomped it with his foot. "You're the ones who'd need me." He frowned, then snorted. "But let me make one thing clear." Looking Kari in the eyes, he said, "I'm not weak."

After a few moments of intense glaring between Kari and Kaga, Chitase spoke up. "Besides," she began, "you're the president of the shougi club."

"That's right!" Kaga said, pulling out his paper fan. He snapped it open, displaying the kanji for "King." He smirked. "I play shougi. Shougi is a lot more fun than go could ever be!"

"You don't think go is fun?" Ryonami asked. "Then why did you watch the game two days ago?" Seeing Kaga flinch, she continued. "If you went to watch a game of go like that, you must like the game, right?"

"He must be a weak player," Kari said. "That's why he only plays shougi. He's used to being seen as strong, so he doesn't want to play in a game he's weak at."

"I am not weak!" Kaga snapped.

"Weakling!" Kari shot back.

The redhead's fan snapped shut. He was seething. "Come on!" He began walking towards the school building. "I'll show you."

The others stared at his back as he walked off, but then began to follow him. They were wondering where he was heading.

His trek ended with the chemistry lab where the go club was stationed. He grabbed one of the boards and threw it onto a table. "I'll play the strongest player you have." He sat down in a seat. "If you win, I'll play along with you in this stupid tournament. If I win, you'll give up on playing in your little tournament."

"What?" Daisuke shouted. "That's bull! We're not going to give up playing!"

"What's the matter?" Kaga had grabbed one of the bowls of stones. He set it to his right, smirking. "If I'm weak, you'll have no problems winning. And then you'll have your third team member. If I win, then you're not cut out for tournaments anyway." His paper fan came out once more. He seemed calm again.

"Fine." Kari grabbed the other bowl, setting it down.

"Kari!" Chitase cried.

"Don't worry," Kari said. She took the top off the stone bowl, setting it down. "I'll win this." To be honest, she'd been itching for a rematch against the boy ever since she had lost to him in shougi. But she wouldn't ask him for another game. This was different, though. This was go, the game she had begun to play more and more seriously. On top of it, he had issued the challenge. She would meet it and overcome him. She slipped her hand into the bowl.

Looking over at the girl he would be facing, Kaga held up a fistful of white stones. It was used to determine order. Kari would guess if he held an odd or even number of stones. If she was right, she would be black. If she was wrong, he would be.

Kari dropped one black stone onto the game board. "Odds first," she said.

The redhead smirked as he let the stones drop. "Six," he counted. "Even. I'm black."

"I'm white." Kari switched their bowls of stones, taking the white ones Kaga had taken.

Kaga placed his first stone. He couldn't believe he'd ever be doing this again. Playing go. He thought he had placed his last stone years ago. But still, he wouldn't lose.

The girl placed her stone. "Your move."

Sayuri watched as the two players went at it, placing stones across the board. She didn't quite know what was going on, but she could feel each person's drive to overcome the other. Kari's brow was furrowed in concentration as she placed her stones on the board, matching Kaga's own expression.

Kaga scowled. He knew he had to beat her, just like he had at shougi. She was a girl, and on top of that, several years his junior. After mouthing off like he had, it just wouldn't do for him to lose to her. But still... she was pretty good. They were entering midgame, and that much was obvious. He placed his stone.

Daisuke nudged Hiroshi. "He's keeping up with Kari," he noted to his friend. If Kaga did play in the team tournament, he'd probably take first board. Since each team had three boards, that meant he'd be recognized as the strongest.

Hiroshi nodded. "Yeah... he might even be in the lead."

Daisuke did a double-take there. If he was, that was very bad. If Kari lost the match, they'd have to give up on the tournament... at least, that was the agreement. His eyes turned back towards the match.

Kari bit her lip. Kaga played a good game. He did have the advantage. She, herself, was torn. Black's stones were making good shapes on the bottom and the left. But he was putting pressure on her territories in the top and right, too. But every time she pulled back to defend her stones there, he increased his defense in his own territories while expanding their influence. If she didn't stop his expanse, it'd be game over...

She shook her head. What was she concerned about? There was only one option, and that was to stop him. "Seven nine," she commented to herself, reading the position of her move. She placed the stone there. That should put some pressure on him for once.

The redhead snorted. That stone would die. He placed one of his own stone next to it to attack.

"Another battle's started," Ryonami said. This was good... She couldn't help but get into this game. Even knowing the stakes couldn't keep her from enjoying it for the skill being shown.

The battle for territory continued on. In the end, each player had secured their positions and the endgame started. They tried to influence the ending totals by taking small portions of their opponent's territory. In the end, the game was finished... and nobody could tell who won.

"It's close," Daisuke said. "I can't tell who's the winner."

"You can't?" Kaga asked, unfolding his fan. He fanned his face, grinning. "I suppose you're not that good yet, huh?" Turning to Kari, he said, "But you can, can't you? You can count territory without tallying it, I'll bet. You know who won?"

The ninja was silent.

"...Kari?" Sayuri ventured.

The girl sighed. "You won, Kaga." Looking him in the eyes, she said, "You won by two and a half."

Kaga's fan snapped shut. "That's right!" He grinned. Looking around, he said, "I told you I was strong." Seeing that nobody else seemed as happy over his victory as he was, he sighed. Holding out his hand, he said, "You have registration papers, don't you? Give them to me."

Daisuke seemed confused. "Huh?"

"Give them to me," Kaga replied. "I'm going to make sure you hold up your end of the bargain. Can't enter the tournament without your papers. So hand them over."

The boy bit off a curse.

"Do it," Kari said. "We agreed... I agreed." Looking over at Daisuke, she bit her lip. "I'm sorry." She supposed she should have been angry at Kaga, but mostly she was caught up in the realization of what she had just cost her teammates.

Daisuke looked away from the girl. He dug into his backpack and pulled out a paper. He shoved it toward Kaga. "Here," he said, "the boys' tournament paper."

Kaga took the offered paperwork and looked it over. It was already filled out, except for the third board. Shame it would never be filled. "Not just that," he said, looking back up to Daisuke. "The bet was for the whole go club. I want the girls' registration, too."

Ryonami sighed. "I have it," she said. She reached into her own schoolbag, pulling free the paper. "...Here."

Kaga snatched it. "Thank you all very much." His fan was already closed, so he simply hid it away. "I'll be seeing you all again, I'm sure." Looking towards Ryonami, he said, "Well, you at least." She was in his class, after all. He waved as he left the classroom. "If you want, feel free to drop by the shougi club."

"Like hell," Hiroshi replied bitterly as Kaga closed the door behind him.

Kari sank into her chair. She had failed her team. She felt like the lowest of lows.

Her other team members were silent. It was Chitase who spoke first. "I'm going home," she said. She left without saying any more. Daisuke, who was standing nearest to the door, caught a muffled sob as she left.

Hiroshi took after her example. "No use sticking around here any more." He grabbed his bag and left the classroom.

Kari watched the two leave, a frown on her face.

Sayuri was unsure of what to do. She hadn't really expected all of that sort of stuff to happen... she was lost.

Daisuke wasn't. He walked over to Kari and put a hand on her shoulder. "Cheer up," He said with a forced grin. "He only took the papers for this tournament. There will be others... Plenty of others."

"I shouldn't have taken his stupid bet!" Kari shot back, turning towards him. She seemed fierce, her eyes narrowed and her voice loud. But it quickly gave way to a quivering jaw and sunken look. "I... I shouldn't have..."

"Nobody blames you," Daisuke replied. "I know I don't."

Ryonami felt the need to chip in. "That's right!" She forced cheer into her voice. She was normally quite apathetic in tone and pitch, so it sounded especially odd from her.

Kari looked over at Ryonami, then back to Daisuke. She didn't quite know what to say.

Daisuke gave her a final pat on the shoulder. "You played a good game," he said. "Nothing to be ashamed of." Walking away, he said, "I'll see you back here tomorrow, okay? No excuses!"

"Okay."

Hearing her assent, Daisuke nodded. He grabbed his bag and left the classroom.

"Cheer up," Ryonami said as she left as well.

Sayuri sat with Kari in the classroom for a while as Kari brewed. It felt awkward for Sayuri, but she didn't want to leave her friend alone, either. She watched her younger friend sit there, staring off into space for what seemed an eternity.

Finally, Kari stood up. "Come on," she said, "let's go." Nobody had cleaned up the go board. She'd leave it. The teacher might be angry in the morning, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

Sayuri stood as well. "...Do you still want to go swimming?" She felt awkward asking, but figured it'd be best.

"Yeah," Kari replied. Her assent surprised Sayuri, who figured the younger girl would want to go home. Explaining, Kari said, "It'll be a good way to relax."

"All right," her friend replied. "Let's get going, then."

X X X

Kari replayed the game she had played against Kaga using Soun's go board. It was after dinner, and she wanted to be able to see where she had gone wrong now that she could look it over with a clear mind. Soun and Genma were both gone, presumably out to the store to buy some sake, which Genma had finished off during dinner. Akane and Nabiki were both in their rooms, while Ranma and Ryoga were fighting loudly in the yard behind Kari.

The ninja played each move they had made during the game, move for move and stone for stone. Black, Kaga, made strong and clever moves. But her own...

"Just stay still!" Kari could hear Ryoga shouting.

"No way, dog breath!"

Kari patiently shut out their voices. Now... her own moves. They were... good. She didn't make any mistakes, at least none she could see. Her moves weren't even weak. Kaga's moves were just that much stronger. Well, at least that's how it looked so far. But she was only getting into the middle of the match. She continued replaying it, looking over each move as she set down the stone.

"Aha!" Ryoga cried, too loud for Kari to ignore.

There was a loud splash, then a high-pitched female scream. "Ryoga, you jerk! Why'd you have to knock me into the koi pond?"

The ninja tried blocking out the sounds, but they were too loud.

"Ha! That's a nice look for you, Ranma. You should just try staying a girl!"

"And you should try staying a dog!"

There was another splash, then a bark.

Kari rubbed her forehead. Standing up and turning around, she looked upon the scene.

Ranma and Ryoga, both in their cursed forms, were both sitting in the koi pond. And it looked like they were wrestling. Ryoga was doing surprisingly well, considering he was a dog.

The ninja walked over onto the koi pond, using her ninja technique for water walking. She gripped Ranma by the pigtail and Ryoga by the bandana and pulled them apart. "Bad Ryoga!" she scolded. "Bad Ranma! Behave!"

"I'm not the dog," Ranma pouted.

Kari glared at her. "You're still being loud."

Ranma pulled her pigtail away from Kari's hand. "What? It's not like you're sleeping or anything!" She snorted.

Kari let go of Ryoga, who scurried out of the water. "I'm trying to replay a game of go," she said, "and it's hard if I hear your shouting every three seconds." She glared at Ranma for a few seconds before she was hit with a spray of water. "Ack!" Turning, she glared at Ryoga, who had just finished shaking the water off of his fur.

Ryoga tried looking as innocent as possible.

Ranma tried sneaking away while Kari's attention was turned.

Kari reached out and grabbed Ranma's pigtail. Again. "You're not going anywhere," she commanded. By the tone of her voice, it was most definitely a command. Turning back to Ryoga, she said, simply, "Go."

The dog didn't need to be told twice. He scurried indoors, hopefully to find a source of hot water.

Kari dragged Ranma by her pigtail onto the grass.

"Ouch!" the pigtailed girl cried as Kari let go. "That's smarts!"

"Good," the ninja replied. "Now fight me."

"Huh?" Ranma stood up, brushing the grass off her outfit. "Weren't you playing a game or something?" Besides, she wanted to change back into a guy. Staying as a girl just wasn't in her itinerary for the night.

"Replaying," Kari replied. "And I need to work out some stress. You're the perfect practice dummy."

"Why am I the perfect practice dummy?" the pigtailed girl cried.

Kari listed off the reasons. "One, you're strong enough to not get beaten down in two seconds. Two, you're loud and annoying and I won't feel bad beating the crap out of you. And three, you're the only one I can fight right now, since Ryoga is a dog." She looked Ranma in the eyes. "Need any more reasons?"

"I have some reasons why I shouldn't," Ranma replied, crossing her arms under her breasts. "One, I don't want to fight a girl. Two, I just got done fighting Ryoga. And three... I don't want to end up as a pincushion."

Kari cracked her knuckles. "Well, Ranma, I thought I had beaten that 'don't fight girls' crap out of your head years ago. Guess I need to try harder." She paused a moment. "And don't worry, I don't have any of my weapons on me, anyway." She was going to turn him into a black and blue pulp, not a pincushion.

"Fine then," Ranma replied, falling back into a fighting stance. "But don't complain if I make your stress relief a challenge."

"Fine." Kari lunged forward with a spring kick, which Ranma avoided with a sidestep to the right. As Kari spun into a hook kick, Ranma ducked, then came up with an uppercut palm. The ninja swept to the side and kicked out again, which her opponent dodged with a backwards step.

The two girls went at it, each one throwing blows that the other would dodge with seemingly minimal effort. Kari was getting agitated, throwing out quicker attacks by forsaking power. Ranma still dodged them.

"I'm faster," Ranma said between blows, "as a girl." She threw out a kick which spun into another, both of which Kari dodged. She followed the kicks with a lunging punch.

The blue-haired girl dodged with a leap into the air, spinning above Ranma's head and lashing out with a kick. When Ranma blocked it, she landed and gave a snort. "But you're not faster than me!" She threw out a quick series of jabs, which Ranma parried with her own arm. It was true; Kari knew she was still faster. But in hand to hand, Ranma was more skilled... she was reading all of her moves. It irked the ninja.

Ranma's eyes narrowed when she saw one of Kari's punches go wide. She leapt in, her face inches away from the younger girl's.

Kari was taken aback. Ranma's face was... so close.

Ranma's arm lashed out, catching Kari's punching arm. She ducked under the arm, getting around behind Kari and twisting the arm. Kari was forced onto the ground, and Ranma held the position. "Looks like I win."

Kari couldn't believe it. "...That was cheap."

The redheaded girl seemed confused. "What was?"

That's when Ryoga walked out, toweling off his hair. He paused at the sight of Ranma with Kari in an arm lock. Blinking, he asked, "Did I miss something?"

"Just a sparring match," Ranma replied, letting go of the younger girl's arm.

Kari stood up, rubbing her arm gingerly. "Yeah," she replied...

She lost again. Sure, this was Ranma. This wasn't a game of go, this was a fight, and the Saotome boy was a paragon of hand to hand combat. That was true. But it was also true that Ranma had yet to get used to his female form completely... everybody could tell that he had yet to fully compensate for the different strength, reach, and even balance while a girl. And, on top of that, Ranma had just finished a fight against Ryoga moments before. She was, all in all, quite handicapped in the last fight.

And Kari had lost...

She shook her head, walking past Ranma and Ryoga.

"Hey," Ryoga said, seeing her walking into the house, "aren't you going to finish your game?" He motioned towards the go board.

"I'm not feeling well," Kari replied. "Could you clean it up for me?" She continued her trek upstairs, leaving the go board to her friend to clean.

"What's her problem?" Ranma asked.

"That's what I should be asking you," Ryoga said, looking over to the pigtailed girl. "What'd you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" the girl cried defensively.

Ryoga narrowed his eyes, then shook his head. No, Kari must have been upset over losing. But it wasn't like her to get upset so easily over a sparring match. He looked over to the stairs. What was wrong with her?

X X X

End Chapter Fifteen

To be continued...

X X X

Author's Notes: Hmm... sorry about the elongated go club side story, but it needs to be told.

Anyway, as you can see, I did manage to get another chapter out, and much quicker this time.

I don't know why I stopped writing for as long as I did... but I want to write more now. Write more and more. So I'll try and keep the chapters coming for as long as you people will read them.