Authors Notes: I can only apologize for the delays; real life decided it would be funny to start redoubling its meddling in my fanfic writing life. Still, we hope that you enjoy this latest offering!

Sorry for not saying anything more specific, but nobody really asked anything in the latest batch of reviews, so without further ado, let's get into the fanfic!

And, as a special Xmas day bonus; I am proud to announce the debut of a new fanfic: "Love Opens Many Doors", a Ranma 1/2 crossover with Dungeons & Dragons, starting in the anime version of the "Nabiki: Ranma's New Fiancée" arc and with a certain Planescape slant. My first ever properly categorized crossover, it can be found in the Ranma/D&D crossovers section of this site, or just from my author's profile.

Chapter 8: Battle of the Black Rose! Her Name is Kodachi Kuno?!

Gaining a fiancé had, in Nabiki's opinion, brought with it an assortment of ups and downs. Mostly ups, in the form of her surprisingly sweet and definitely very cute new boytoy. But there were some very definite downsides... like her would-be father-in-law's ridiculous insistence on sparring with Ranma at what Nabiki declared to be the most ungodly hours of the morning!

So it was that the pajama-clad teen girl was currently giving the stink-eye to three cowed Jusenkyo victims that morning. "I get why Ranma got involved; his father doesn't give him a choice. But what's your excuse, Ryoga?" she asked in her iciest tone, her gaze keeping the trio pinned as few other things could.

The little black pig sitting in between the sulking panda and the sheepish redheaded girl began to oink loudly, rearing back on its hind-legs and gesticulating with its little forehooves in the most animated fashion. Nabiki watched silently until Ryoga settled back down again, and then she turned to Ranma. "Care to translate that into human?" she asked, ignoring the way Ryoga slumped dejectedly onto the floor.

"Long story short? Ryoga was just doing his morning stretches when Pops decides that he wants to attack him and make it a three-for-all brawl," Ranma dryly assessed the situation with a thumb jabbed at the miscreant in question, prompting Nabiki to nod; she'd honestly expected it was something like that.

"Mr. Saotome! I'm disappointed with you. That's really not very nice at all, especially when you promised Father that you would try to show a little more courtesy about these sparring sessions." Though gentle as always, the scolding tone of Kasumi's words was unmistakable as the eldest Tendo daughter made her entrance into the living room. "Here you are, Ranma; hot but not boiling, just like you asked."

"Thanks, Kasumi," Ranma replied gratefully, before taking the kettle from her and pouring it over her head, transforming back into a boy. "Here y'go," the aquatransexual said to Ryoga, reaching over to pour some hot water onto the pig... only for Genma to snatch the kettle away and upend it fully onto himself. "Hey! Selfish jerk - whaddya do that for?!" Ranma complained.

"Quit whining, boy; there's plenty more hot water in the kitchen," Genma rumbled in response.

"But you could have shared that water with Ryoga - he's only a little pig, he wouldn't have taken much," Kasumi scolded Genma. She didn't like to be so blunt, but she had learned over the past few weeks that her household's newest guest often needed to be reminded on how to act with civility. Seeing the complete lack of concern on Genma's face made her want to sigh; he just wouldn't take her seriously. Dismissing it as a lost cause, she turned to Ryoga with an apologetic smile. "Still, he is right. Come along, Ryoga; I'll get you some more hot water."

Ryoga let out a shrill porcine squeak at that and frantically shook his head, much to everyone else's confusion. Ranma promptly reached down and picked up the boy-turned-pig by his bandanna. "Here y'go, Kasumi," he said, passing the struggling, flailing piglet to the eldest Tendo.

"Thank you, Ranma. Come along now, Ryoga; we'll get you changed back and then you can help me serve breakfast, okay?" Kasumi beamed as she said this, causing Ryoga to slump into a mournfully resigned silence.

Nabiki watched as Kasumi left for the kitchen, puzzled by Ryoga's reactions. "What was his deal? I thought he hated being a pig?"

"Beats me," Ranma shrugged. "Ryoga always was kind of weird; who can say why he does anything that he does?"

"Oh my!"

The teens whipped their heads up at the sound of Kasumi's startled shout, their gazes snapping over to the kitchen. "Kasumi!? Are you okay?" Nabiki called out.

Her elder sister promptly stumbled into view, eyes still wide and... was she blushing?! "Um... I'm fine, Nabiki. Clothes! Ranma, Ryoga's clothes? Where?" she asked, and surprisingly she didn't look at Ranma as she said this.

Ranma gave her a puzzled look, but then his eyes lit up with dawning comprehension as... a blush crept over his face too, leaving a very confused Nabiki to look at him in turn. "Oh, yeah... sorry, Kasumi; there should be spare ones in the dojo," he bashfully told her.

Kasumi nodded and swiftly walked away, allowing Nabiki to finally turn her full attention to her fiance. "What just happened?!" she demanded hotly, narrowing her eyes solely at Ranma now.

"I... forgot that Ryoga's clothes don't stay with him when he transforms," Ranma sheepishly confessed.

Now it was Nabiki's turn to get wide-eyed as she realized what had just happened. "Ah. That... explains it."

"Yeah... poor Kasumi," Ranma nodded, seeing Ryoga naked would leave anyone mentally scarred in his opinion.

Fortunately, Kasumi was able to get Ryoga his change of clothes before Akane stumbled down to join the rest of the family for breakfast... leaving Nabiki feeling rather jealous; how the heck did her sister sleep through the Saotome morning racket?

Aside from the presence of a seventh person at the breakfast table that morning, things went in a fairly normal and reasonably quiet fashion. Perhaps sensing that he had pushed his guest status to its limit for the morning, Genma didn't even try to swipe any extra portions off of anyone else's plates. No, the oddest thing came to happen once the meal was finished...

"Thanks for the food, Kasumi. I better get my school bag," Akane said, already getting up to go retrieve it.

"What for?" Ranma asked distantly, looking up from where he was making sure he'd gotten the last of the leftover food.

"What do you mean, 'what for'? I have school today, just like you!" Akane snapped back. Nabiki herself was curious but sat back and nibbled on the last of her breakfast.

"Oh, no you don't! You are going to march right over to that dojo and wait for Ryoga to finish up so he can get back to training you!" Ranma declared firmly, making the Eternally Lost Boy's head snap up from his own breakfast bowl as he gave Ranma the most bemused look that Nabiki had ever seen.

"What? And miss class?" Akane spluttered incredulously, looking at Ranma like he had lost what little sense Nabiki's younger sister still ascribed to him.

"You don't got time for class!" Ranma snapped, not backing down an inch. "There's only six days until that Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics match of yours, so you need to spend every waking moment training!"

"That's ridiculous!" Akane protested.

"Hey, it's no less than what my old man would make me do if I challenged a style's master to a match in a style I'd never even heard of before!" was Ranma's more level response. "You got the honor of your school hanging over your head - you have to give this your all, and that means training, training and training until you drop!"

"Too true," Genma declared, hoping to ingratiate himself after his earlier stumble. "Ranma's quite right; in a situation like this one, you don't have time for something as superfluous as school or hanging out. If you want to have a chance of victory, you will need to train at every available moment, isn't that right, Tendo?"

Nabiki's father blinked at being put on the spot, but rallied with surprising speed. "That's correct, Saotome. I will contact the school and tell them that you will be unavailable this week, Akane," he declared in his best authoritative tone, causing the startled youngest daughter to wilt and nod her begrudging acceptance.

As much as missing out on school and her friends irked her, she was also more than happy to see her father finally treating her like a martial artist.

Ranma promptly reached over and clapped Ryoga on the shoulder. "Good luck with her training, dust-breath. C'mon Nabiki, it's time we got going," he declared, standing up.

"Right behind you, Ranma," she replied, politely placing her bowl and chopsticks on the table before standing up in turn.

Shortly afterwards, on the way to Furinkan High...

"I can't believe you told her to take a week off school to practice for the match," Nabiki marveled, usually Akane wouldn't miss school unless dragged away by the proverbial team of wild horses.

"I can't believe she needed me to tell her!" Ranma replied, from his usual perch on the fenceline. "I mean, seriously;did she expect Kodachi to just roll over and give her the victory?"

"Do you think a week will help?" Nabiki asked, a slight pang of concern for her little sister nagging her.

"Well, it certainly can't hurt!" Ranma shot back. "I mean... well, I don't really have the highest hopes," he confessed, "Kodachi may be willing to play dirty, but she's legitimately skilled, too. I saw her in action - three-to-one odds, started on the defensive, and she switched the match around in a split-second. Still, at least if she's put her all into training, Akane can know she did her best when she goes down."

"By rights, as her sister, I ought to be scolding you for not having faith in Akane... but, frankly, that sounds about right," Nabiki admitted.

Minutes later, the two of them were approaching the gates of Furinkan High... which is when their morning took its first real turn for the odd...er

"Akane Tendo!? Where are you?! Come out and show yourself, coward! The Black Rose of Saint Hebereke demands a fight!"

Ranma and Nabiki pulled to a stop, watching in disbelief as Kodachi bounded restlessly back and forth across the front courtyard of the school, springing from one high place to another as she dramatically searched for Akane. At least, until she spotted Ranma, that is; then she sprang over to him in a single massive leap, flipping several times before landing with pinpoint precision in front of the reluctant object of her ardor.

'Okay... so that's why Ranma was being so hard on Akane. She really doesn't stand a chance, does she?' Nabiki thought to herself with resignation.

Oblivious to the thoughts running through Nabiki's head, Kodachi clasped her hands and gave Ranma her most winning smile. "Why, Ranma darling - how wonderful to see you again! I had hoped to speak to Akane Tendo, but you are a far more welcome sight in my eyes," she purred, not paying Nabiki any notice.

"Um... yeah, hi..." Ranma replied uncertainly, more than making up for Kodachi's apathy in his fervent glances towards Nabiki. "Yeah, Akane's not going to be here today."

"Oh, is that so? Well... perhaps you and I can pick up where we left off, hmm?" Kodachi crooned, deftly closing the distance between the two of them to rest herself sensually against Ranma's chest. Ranma promptly froze up like 'a cat in a room full of rocking chairs' if Nabiki recalled the phrase correctly.

Nabiki couldn't help but smirk in amusement; she could see the tremor of fear rippling through her fiancé's body, and it managed to be simultaneously heartwarming that he was so clearly worried about her feelings, and yet also funny to see him overreacting in such a way.

"No!" Ranma shouted, jerking away from Kodachi as if she were red-hot and raising his hands in warding gestures. "I-ah, I mean I gotta go. Yeah, that's it, I gotta go to school," he said, quickly turning and striding briskly away - most would call it bolting, but Nabiki had seen how fast Ranma could actually move when he wanted to.

"See ya later!" He called back to her, trying to make it seem less like he was actually fleeing from Kodachi.

"Ranma, darling! Wait!" Kodachi called plaintively, hurrying along in Ranma's wake.

Following at what she judged to be a safe distance from behind, Nabiki continued to watch the show as Ranma accidentally ran headfirst into Tatewaki Kuno.

"Gah! Saotome, that was a low blow!" The self-proclaimed Blue Thunder of Furinkan High complained, surreptitiously rubbing his nose from where Ranma's head had rammed into it as he glowered at his underclassman.

"Ah, man, Kuno, I don't got time for this -gurk!"

Whilst Ranma and Kuno had been bickering, Kodachi had caught up to Ranma, pressing herself up against his back with a soft blush on her face. "Ran...ma...darling," she crooned blissfully, actually nuzzling Ranma like a long lost lover.

'Wow, drama queen much?' Nabiki mused to herself, brow raised incredulously, not really sure what to make of the situation. Normally this was more Akane's natural state...huh.

'What is with this chick? How much more of a hint do I need to give her?' Ranma complained in the privacy of his own head. He really didn't want to hurt a girl but it was rapidly approaching being physical...or risking Nabiki's anger, as Ranma could only imagine how tired of this Nabiki was getting.

What Kuno did next surprised both of the engaged teens. He walked a circle around Ranma and Kodachi, humming thoughtfully to himself as he stroked his chin, visibly contemplating something.

When he returned to standing in front of Ranma, he smacked a fist against his open palm decisively, before twisting his right hand into the traditional warding gesture (middle and ring fingers curled inwards) and pulling out a traditional paper fan with his left hand, which' he flicked open at the same time. "Very well! You may date with her," he solemnly informed Ranma.

"What?!" was Ranma's ever-so-eloquent response to that little statement.

Kodachi spun him around, looking up into Ranma's face with a radiant expression. "Ranma, did you hear? This means we're officially a couple!" she cheered, complete with a little bounce that had some of the male bystanders flying back with nosebleeds.

At that, Ranma hit his limit. "Hey wait a minute, not so fast!" he snapped as he pulled back 'a safe distance'. "Going out with you is the last thing that I want, get it?" he said, glowering at the gymnast - before he recoiled, grimacing at her response.

Even Nabiki had to admit she was impressed; Kodachi's face had just twisted itself up into the most angry-yet-sad expression she'd ever seen, tears copiously pouring down the gymnast's cheeks even as she glowered at Ranma. Nabiki had never seen anyone able to bring up such waterworks on cue before.

Kodachi sniffed, and then shrieked, "You hate me then, is that it?!"

Instinctively, Ranma tried to placate her - he didn't like this crazy girl, but one thing his father had always told him: don't make girls cry! "No, no!" he tried to assure her. "I just-"

Kodachi simply buried her face in her hands. "You do! Hate me, I can tell! Don't lie to me!" she wailed.

Ranma growled, 'Woulda been nice if you told me what to do when they are already crying, pops,' clenching his fist and drawing himself up. "I told you already, that's not it!" he groaned out, before darting over to stand behind Nabiki, his hands on her shoulders in what he thought was an emphasizing gesture, but to Nabiki looked more like he was trying to hide behind her.

"I've got a fiancée! So that's why I can't date you!" he called out.

Nabiki couldn't help it; she started to giggle at the sheer desperation in Ranma's voice. "Wow, what a smooth talker you are, Ranma." Turning back to give him a smirk and cheeky wink.

"Aw, come on, Nabiki, I'm sorry," Ranma began to apologize, only to be cut off as Kodachi stepped forward, now looking perfectly composed - inquisitive, if anything.

"Fiancée? You are betrothed to this girl?" She asked, casting a look at Nabiki that Ranma didn't like. She'd had a similar look in her eye when she'd had her little fight with those Martial Arts Gymnasts from Furinkan the previous afternoon.

Still, maybe she could be reasonssed with... "Yeah! This is my fiancée, Nabiki Tendo," Ranma said, giving her shoulder an affectionate gentle squeeze whilst stepping out from behind her.

"Nabiki Tendo...? Any relation to Akane Tendo?" Kodachi asked.

"My little sister," Nabiki replied calmly.

"I see..." Kodachi purred. "I have heard of you, Ms. Tendo... you have a certain reputation for being most practical. Tell me; what would it take to convince you to release my darling Ranma to me?"

"Ranma is not for sale," Nabiki replied flatly, the iciness of her tone sending shivers of fear down the spines of anyone within earshot who had ever owed her money, the chill almost palpably radiating from her making it clear to all who'd ever dared cross her that engagement had not subdued the infamous Ice Queen of Furinkan High. Even Kodachi blinked in the face of Nabiki's frigid wrath. Then, after a few seconds to let her words properly sink in, Nabiki smiled a darkly mischievous grin. "But... I might be willing to discuss renting him," she declared lightly.

"Nabiki!?" Ranma blurted out, staring at his fiancée in shock.

"How much for a date?" Kodachi asked bluntly, sizing both Ranma and Nabiki up like a shark eyeing a vulnerable tuna and a rival shark, respectively.

"Well, considering all the factors... I think that three hundred thousand yen is a fair price," Nabiki purred on pure reflex, grinning wickedly at the chorus of shock echoing from onlookers. 'That'll knock the wind from her sails. As if I'd really let a nut like her run around with my Ranma...' She thought to herself.

"Sold!"

'Wait, what? Ow!' Nabiki's hands flew up to clasp her face as something slapped into her nose with pinpoint precision, stars momentarily bursting behind her eyes from the impact. Gingerly, she took her hands away, blinking to clear her vision... only to gape in shock as she saw one of the biggest rolled bundles of yen notes that she'd ever seen lying in her palms. Her gaze snapped up as Kodachi let out a peal of almost shrieking laughter, the other Furinkan students collectively wincing at the cacophony.

"A small price to pay, for an evening with my beloved! I shall send someone to pick you up as soon as school finishes, my darling; we shall dine at my abode this evening! Alas, but I have prior engagements to attend - wait for me, Ranma darling, for your Kodachi shall return!"

Another shrieking laugh filled the air as Kodachi suddenly whipped out her gymnastics ribbon, twirling it in a horizontal spiral that filled the air with drifting black rose petals before she sprang away, leaping off like a mad black bunny-girl.

In her wake, all was silent, save for the wind stirring the black rose petals that still floated here and there. Finally, Ranma managed to draw his scattered wits back together and turn to his fiancée. "What the hell, Nabiki?!" he protested, an expression that was half outrage and half exasperation on his face as she met his eyes.

"I was kidding! I didn't think anyone would pay such a ridiculous price - I just wanted to mess with her head!" Nabiki quickly assured him, her grip on the money still as strong as a clam's, no reason to let the crazy person money go to waste.

"Truly, the woman is quite unstable... but then, she never did think twice about blowing her weekly allowance," Kuno mused aloud, before patting Ranma on the shoulder to get the underclassman's attention. "Saotome, I know we have had our... differences... but, please; be gentle with my little sister's heart."

"Don't worry, I got no intentions to lead her on... whoawhoawhoa, hold a tick, your sister?!" Ranma blurted out incredulously, turning a now gobsmacked expression to his would-be rival.

Nabiki was also staring at Kuno with a dumbfounded look. How had she forgotten that Kuno had a sibling?! No wonder she'd paid the almost without a second's thought, it'd have needed to be ten times that before a Kuno gave pause!.

"Yes, that was my little sister Kodachi," Kuno confirmed with aplomb.

Ranma and Nabiki continued to stare at him in shock. "I knew something about her was familiar, somehow..." Nabiki murmured to herself, still mentally kicking herself for making such a rookie blunder.

"Yeah, now that I think about it, I can see the resemblance," Ranma admitted, nodding his agreement. Then he remembered what had just happened, and he turned a scowl to his fiancée. "And you rented me out to her?" he asked icily.

Nabiki promptly put on her best puppy-dog eyes, even pouting to heighten the effect. "I'm sorry, Ranma... I really didn't think she'd take me seriously! Please, forgive me? I'll give you half of what she paid..."

If it were anyone else, wild horses couldn't have dragged those words out of her mouth. But Ranma wasn't anyone else... besides, 150,000 yen was still a massive upswing in her personal finances!

'...Damn it; why does she have to be so cute?' Ranma lamented within the privacy of his own mind, not letting up the glare even as Nabiki let her lip tremble a little. 'Oh, well... I guess I can't really blame her...besides, for that much money, the old man would have rented me out for real and without even blinking,' he admitted to himself. He heaved a sigh and looked away from Nabiki. "Fine. I'll do it. Just this once!" he quickly added, stabbing an accusatory finger at her.

"I won't do that again," Nabiki quickly assured him. 'Shame... could have been profitable. But then again, is the money really worth risking having Kuno's crazy sister sniffing around? After what Tachi did with Akane... I'd bet anything that she's cut from the same cloth...'

Unaware of his fiancée's private thoughts, Ranma turned away from her. "Alright... I guess I'll see you when I get back tonight," he declared, and began heading off to class.

Nabiki winced slightly at the cold brush-off. 'But I can't really blame him...' she admitted to herself. She let Ranma get a head start, and then followed after him, since they had to go the same way to get to their respective homerooms.

That afternoon, after class...

Ranma cast a wary but hopeful eye across the schoolyard, looking for the unmistakable form of Kodachi "Black Rose" Kuno. 'No sign of her... and no sound of that creepy laugh of hers, neither. Maybe she forgot?'

Of course, he hoped too soon; no sooner had he emerged from the gate when one of the fanciest cars he'd ever seen suddenly pulled over on the street in front of him. A proper car nut could have waxed euphoric about the model, the paint-job, and a dozen other features beside, but to Ranma, his knowledge of cars started and ended at being able to identify it as a limousine. And, frankly, any concern with the car was swept aside when the door swung open and Kodachi Kuno poked her head out, smiling proudly.

"Ranma, darling! Over here!" she called, beckoning Ranma to join her in the car's spacious interior.

Understandably, Ranma was hesitant to approach the fancy loonymobile, glancing back behind himself to where Nabiki was standing. Seeing her nodding encouragement, along with a 'too late to back out now' shrug, Ranma sighed and resigned himself to his fate. "Hey, Kodachi," he mumbled reluctantly, slowly striding forward and sliding himself into the seat.

As the limousine's door closed and it pulled away from the sidewalk, Tatewaki Kuno shook his head in disbelief. "Truly, Nabiki Tendo, thou art either very brave or very foolish..."

Nabiki bristled at the insult, but refused to let Kuno see that he'd managed to upset her. Instead, she put on a carefree smile. "Unlike some women, I have every faith in Ranma's word, Kuno."

"In truth, t'was not Saotome's honor I was casting aspersions on," Tatewaki replied gravely.

That drew a baffled look from Nabiki. "You do realize what you're insinuating about your sister, right?"

"Make no mistake, mercenary woman; I love my sister, truly I do. But I am not blind to her foibles. She is a creature of deep-running passions, and when she sees something she desires within reach..." Tatewaki shrugged. "She is quick to seize that which tempts her," he concluded.

Prickles of fear were starting to creep the length of Nabiki's spine. She couldn't help but remember what Kodachi had done the previous evening, and unthinkingly she looked after the departing limousine. For the first time in a long time, she found herself wondering if the money had been worth it...

Meanwhile...

Despite his lack of ease at the company, Ranma still couldn't keep from admiring the interior of the limousine. "Wow, fancy... never been in anything like this before," he confessed quietly as he inquisitively stroked the plush leather seating.

"Yes, it is quite splendid, isn't it? Truthfully, my brother and I rarely have call to use it, but I thought it would make an auspicious start to our time together," Kodachi declared, gently sliding across the leather seating so that she could rest her head on Ranma's shoulder.

Ranma tried not to shudder; even if he didn't like Kodachi, he figured it was uncalled for to be rude whilst they were on a date... even if it was a paid date that he was only on because he had a fiancée whose love of money could evidently outweigh her common sense...

'Seriously, Nabiki, you owe me for this...' Ranma thought to himself with a small 'hmph'. Trying to get off of that train of thought, he reached for an alternative topic. "So, ah, where are we going?"

Kodachi smiled brightly, visibly basking in even that meagre attention - something that actually made Ranma feel a little guilty. "To be honest, Ranma darling, I had so many ideas for where we could go that it was hard to choose. But, ultimately, I decided a simple afternoon together in the comfort of my family home would suffice - at least, for our first date..."

Ranma bit back the obvious rejoinder to that little comment. 'That's... actually, not so bad. Would feel really awkward going to a movie or having a fancy dinner or whatever with Kodachi when I haven't even done that sort of thing with Nabiki yet...' he admitted to himself. 'Wonder what kind of place she calls home? Both her and her brother act pretty high and mighty, so it's gotta be nice...'

One short drive later...

'...Nice was an understatement...'

As thoughts go, it was not exactly the most eloquent. But given that Ranma was currently balking at the sight of the biggest, most luxurious estate he'd ever seen - a full-fledged honest-to-goodness feudal era mansion sitting in the middle of Nerima! - well, one had to give him credit for being able to string the words together!

Kodachi laughed, the shriek of hysterical glee drawing Ranma forcibly back to reality. "Did my brother never tell you? The Kuno family is amongst the most prominent families of Japan! Our financial holdings are vast indeed!"

'I know that brother dear always told me that a worthy mate would not seek to exploit our wealth, but it cannot hurt to impress upon my darling Ranma the many ways in which I would make a superior spouse to a peasant like Nabiki Tendo...' Kodachi thought to herself smugly.

"But come, darling; allow me to escort you to the interior gardens, then I shall prepare a small feast for you," she purred seductively, molding her form to Ranma's side.

Despite himself, Ranma's ears, and stomach, perked up at the mention of 'food'. "Ah, alright then? Lead the way..." he said, gesturing for Kodachi to escort him.

A gesture he immediately regretted when Kodachi linked her arm with his in a Western style and began to draw him along the massive walkway into the front doors... but, "in for a penny, in for a pound", as he'd heard more than once on the docks.

Inside, the mansion was as opulent as its exterior had suggested. Staircases, corridors, and doorways all branched out from a fountain centered entrance hall, leading away into what Ranma presumed to be a veritable labyrinth of rooms and passageways. The decor was, surprisingly, quite tasteful and modest - at least, in so far as Ranma was any judge, and he would be the first to admit that interior designing was very much not amongst his list of skills.

Kodachi seemed to intuit that Ranma wasn't one to be impressed by material goods, as she refrained from rattling off the doubtless prestigious, extensive and (probably) ditchwater-dull history of the various ornaments and bric-a-brac decorating the mansion, instead focusing on escorting him to her intended destination.

It took a good five minutes before the two teens finally emerged into the sun of an interior garden. Ironically, this was an environment that Ranma was actually more familiar with; having spent his life on the road and in the wilderness, he had a rather understandable appreciation for nature's beauty, and so, despite his less than stellar opinion of the Kunos, he had to admit that the intricately groomed and impeccably lush gardens, abundant in foliage ranging from black rose bushes to tall, shady trees, were quite beautiful.

Kodachi led him to one particularly impressive tree, clearly groomed since it was a mere sapling for the role of providing shade to anyone seated beneath it, where a blanket had already been laid out across the grass. "Please, sit here, my darling; I shall return with all speed with our repast," she proclaimed proudly.

"Yeah, okay, sure thing," Ranma said, eagerly doing as he'd been told. He watched as the giggling girl pranced away through the gardens, and heaved a quiet sigh of relief. 'Man, this feels way too weird... still, if she just wants to have a picnic together, I can handle that. Just gotta be polite, make nice, and then get out of here once I've spent enough time here. I can handle that... I've got it all under control,' Ranma assured himself, almost believing it the more he said it.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Kodachi was busy throwing together her promised picnic feast for Ranma... well, throwing things together by her standards; in what would have surprised many students of both Furinkan and St. Hebereke's, both of the Kuno children were proficient cooks, although of the two it was definitely Kodachi who honestly enjoyed the activity.

Her brother was too caught up in his "reborn samurai" mentality to admit that he might actually like to do something so menial as craft a meal with his own hands, instead preferring to leave it to the family chef. As she worked, though, she found her gaze drawn to the shelf of "special" ingredients...

Whilst the Kuno family had its roots in a samurai clan, as Tatewaki reminded everyone at the slightest excuse, they also had a dark secret: their bloodline also included that of an Oniwaban ninja, and thusly ninjitsu was as much a family art as the more socially acceptable fighting styles of the samurai.

Whilst Tatewaki shunned that aspect of their heritage, Kodachi embraced it; in addition to how useful such things as sleeping powder, paralysis powder and other poison techniques could be in her Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics battles, she was intimately aware of the reality that her peak at her chosen fighting style would soon have come and gone, and then she would need to move on to other fields. Ninjitsu felt the most natural fit to her, building upon techniques she had already mastered through her youthful combination of gymnastics and martial arts.

'Hmm... should I? It would be a perfect opportunity to dose him... with a suitable dose of paralysis powder to extend our time together, I could surely win him over...' Kodachi mused to herself. She reached for the vial... and then stopped, shaking her head. 'What am I thinking?! My darling's fiancée is none other than that mercenary, Nabiki Tendo - why am I treating her so seriously?! To use such a gambit is to admit that she can hope to challenge my loveliness, my desirability; I am Kodachi Kuno! I eclipse that money-grubbing peasant as the sun eclipses the moon! I need no such artificial aids to secure my Ranma's heart!'

Ego winning over pragmatism, Kodachi abandoned her "special" spices and instead focused on putting all of her love and care into the food, confident that it would secure her a foothold upon the path to ultimate victory over Ranma's heart.

Soon afterwards...

'Okay; crazy she may be, but she's also up there with Kasumi in the cooking department,' Ranma admitted to himself, currently sucking the last meat from a drumstick bone. He'd never heard the words "duck confit with spicy pickled raisins" before, let alone used in conjunction, but once he'd gotten over the surprise of seeing meat and fruit served together, it'd proven surprisingly tasty.

Of course, Ranma had eaten a lot of... inventive meals over a lifetime spent foraging and scavenging, so when it came to food, "xenophobic" was the last thing to call him. It actually went really well with what Kodachi had proudly called a "Salade Lyonnaise", which seemed a very fancy way of saying "bacon, lettuce and poached eggs salad".

"How was it, Ranma darling? Did you find it to your liking?" Kodachi purred, delicately scooping a poached egg into her mouth with a pair of chopsticks.

"It was delicious, Kodachi. I didn't know you could cook like this," Ranma admitted with an impressed tone to his voice and expression ; no matter their precise relationship, he always believed in complimenting good cooks. If only because he'd learned that doing so could sometimes score you a little extra grub, something he and his pops were always short of.

"Yes, I take great pride in my skills," Kodachi said pridefully, visibly preening herself at the compliment. "I am also highly adept at traditional Japanese fare, of course, but French cuisine just has that... extra special something, wouldn't you say?"

"Can't really say... s'not something I normally eat. But if you can fight as well as you can cook, then no wonder you're such a big shot," Ranma commented, distracted as he inspected his plate for any lingering scraps. The reality of what he'd said sank in only after the words left his mouth. 'Damn it... smooth move, Saotome.'

Fortunately, Kodachi laughed merrily at his words. "Indeed! None can hope to challenge the Black Rose of Saint Hebereke in the field of Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics!" she bragged, flicking an invisible speck of food from her skirt.

'Yeah, it helps when you beat them up before the match... wait a minute...!' Ranma fought to keep himself from giving the game away by smiling. "Is that so? Because all I kept hearing about is how nobody's seen you fighting in a long time - you just keep winning by default..."

Kodachi directed a shocked look at her reluctant date. "What?! Where did you hear this slander?" she demanded hotly, leaning in close to Ranma as if to read it from his eyes.

"Is it really slander if it's true? I heard from some girls who go to Saint Hebereke that some people don't even feel it's worth showing up for your matches anymore, as there's never going to be a fight," Ranma replied, doing his best to sound as innocent as possible. It wasn't exactly his strongest suit, but he'd done it more than once before in the past.

...Tricking people was a rather integral part of his martial arts training; he'd grown to accept that a long time ago.

Kodachi visibly twitched, the fire of rage building in her eyes. "Such impudence...!" she hissed.

"Well, you can't really blame them. I mean, you do all the hard work when nobody's there to see, of course they're going to start having doubts," Ranma pointed out, still maintaining as innocent and carefree an attitude as he could. "Which isn't really fair; I mean, think of your poor fans who come to your matches anxious to see their idol perform, and yet they get disappointed when the challenger is a no-show..."

'Let's see her resist that...' Ranma chuckled mentally.

The younger Kuno blinked, face twisting through several expressions as she visibly pondered what Ranma had said. When she smiled triumphantly and burst into a delighted peal of laughter, Ranma knew his efforts had paid off.

"Why, Ranma darling! You are as brilliant as you are handsome! It's true; I have been neglecting my poor fans of late - but no longer! I shall crush the doubts of these naysayers, just as I shall crush Akane Tendo before all the assembled eyes of Saint Hebereke and Furinkan High!" she boasted, laughing proudly.

"I'm sure they can't wait to see you," Ranma replied, grinning at his own cleverness. Now Akane shouldn't have to worry about Kodachi trying another late night ambush.

"I'm certain they can't!" Kodachi boasted. "But enough of such things; we are on a date, after all. Perhaps you would like to meet Mr. Green Turtle, my beloved pet?" she suggested, giving Ranma a hopeful look and fluttering her eyes in an attempt to be winsome.

"Eh... sure? Why not?" Ranma shrugged, couldn't hurt to humor her a bit more after she'd basically fallen for his plan hook, line and sinker. "Lead the way."

Kodachi sprang up with a beaming grin of radiant delight. "How wonderful! His pond isn't too far from here; I'm sure you'll make the best friends!" she chirped, already spinning flamboyantly around and striding off through the garden.

Ranma watched her go, shaking his head, before he set off after her.

'Weird girl... but maybe, she's not all bad? Who'da thought she'd have a turtle for a pet, though? That's actually almost cute...'

That evening...

Akane stared at Nabiki as if she'd just sprouted an extra head, as she had been doing ever since the youngest of the Tendos had found out about what transpired at school that morning in her absence. "I don't believe it. You've always been willing to do stupid stunts for cash before, but seriously?!" she asked incredulously. "You sold Ranma? And to the crazy girl who attacked me last night? What kind of fiancée are you?!"

Beside her, Ryoga stared at Nabiki with equal incredulity, wondering for an instant if maybe his desire for revenge on Ranma was superfluous with a fiancée like this...

"Firstly, I rented Ranma to Kodachi, not sold him," Nabiki primly corrected her little sister, still unphased even as she waited for Ranma to get back so they could put this little 'incident' behind them. "Secondly, like I keep saying, it was an accident!"

"An' it ain't gonna happen again, right, Nabiki?" interjected a third void, distinctively masculine, tired and unamused.

The two sisters (and one Eternally Lost Boy) looked up from their prior staring contest at Ranma, who was standing at the entrance to the living room, visibly bedraggled, scuffed, and...damp?

"What happened to you?" Akane asked, dumbfounded, had Ranma gone off to fight at a zoo or something?.

"Oh, just spent the afternoon playing with Mr. Green Turtle," Ranma drawled sarcastically, brushing off some of the grime he'd managed to acquire.

"A turtle did that?" Nabiki blurted, looking at the rips in Ranma's shirt, the bruises on his arms and the scabbed-over scratches seemingly covering his exposed skin.

"It turns out that Kodachi's beloved pet, with the cutesy name and junk, is actually a 20ft-long alligator!" Ranma shouted dramatically, his voice rising as he waved his arms for emphasis.

"I was lucky to get out of there with my skin intact! So, if you don't mind, I'm going to go and have a bath. I'll see you all tomorrow," he stated flatly, and then began marching off without even waiting for a reply.

Ryoga wisely kept his tongue in his mouth, although he couldn't resist smirking at the sight of his hated rival having gone through the wringer. Akane directed a flat look at her sister, whilst Nabiki hung her head, the unfamiliar and distinctly unwelcome sensation of guilt writhing in her guts like a nest of eels. She'd screwed up with her fiancé, and she knew it. She just hoped she could fix things...

The evening before the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics match...

A week came and went with surprising speed. To Nabiki's private relief, Ranma turned out to not hold a grudge for particularly long - a stark contrast to his rival, who, even if he was careful to act the part of the humble penitent during his stay at the dojo, had resentment for his past losses to Ranma visibly seeping from every pore.

To Ranma's self-admitted surprise, his little effort to goad Kodachi away from her usual dirty trickery had seemingly worked; they rarely saw Kuno's little sister, and when she did poke her nose in, it was to make some attempt at flirting with Ranma, usually offering him bento boxes.

Nabiki would have preferred if Kodachi would stop flirting with her fiancé, thank you very much, but she knew it wasn't Ranma's fault. Frankly, she marveled that Kodachi didn't seem to realize the way that Ranma had taken to open cautiousness around the female Kuno, treating her like an unexploded bomb... but then, Tatewaki had a knack for ignoring what he disliked about reality too.

Besides, getting free French cuisine was almost enough to make up for that little annoyance... especially since Kodachi was willing to spring for 'Saotome sized servings' - as Nabiki come to consider the amount of food needed to feed Ranma and Genma - and Ranma in turn was happy to share with his fiancée. Especially if she gave him a wide-eyed, almost tearful look.

For the entire week, Akane remained at home, working tirelessly with Ryoga. Although she griped about how this was going to affect her scholastic ranking, especially when Ranma brought her home a fresh batch of homework each night, she knuckled down and attacked her lessons with diligence.

Privately, Nabiki suspected that she was reveling in the chance to get serious martial arts training, especially from a teacher who had come the closest of anyone she'd seen so far to matching Ranma's skill level.

Now, it was the evening before the day of the big match, and with dinner complete, Akane was putting on a demonstration of her new skills for the family. Everybody had piled into the dojo and taken up seats on the floor around its walls, with Akane in the proverbial center-stage.

Clad in a yellow leotard, Akane flung a pair of gymnast's clubs high into the air, letting the spinning pair soar almost to the ceiling before they dropped perfectly back into her waiting hands - a far cry from the wild toss of her first attempt, so long ago! She strutted and struck a pose, twirling the clubs in rapid arcs around her palms, before shifting to another pose.

"Wow, she's really gotten better!" Nabiki marveled, watching as her previously rather... bullish sister danced and sprang around the dojo like a graceful deer.

"Yeah! Ryoga, you said you knew how to teach her martial arts rhythmic gymnastics - you never said anything about being a miracle worker," Ranma joked, clapping his rival on the shoulder.

Akane promptly whirled on her heels and flung her clubs at Ranma, who somehow managed to leap nearly a meter off the ground from having been seated flat on the ground, letting them pass under his now out-spread legs and punch right into the wall behind him. No sooner had Ranma hit the floor standing than Akane was on him again, this time deploying a gymnastic ribbon like a whip. With deft flicks of her wrist she turned the twirling silk into a makeshift weapon, sending it cracking at the Saotome heir's feet. He sprang away as she lashed out again and again, dodging her strikes with a series of acrobatic flips, twirls and similar feats before he sprang at the wall and leapt up to the ceiling, using the traditional struts from where the panels fit together as hand- and foot-holds to scurry across it like a giant spider.

Below, Akane smirked, twirling her ribbon in a tight corkscrew spiral. "Not bad, am I? I'm going to show Kodachi a thing or two - but first, you come down from there!"

She followed her words with a barrage of clubs, Ranma twisting to evade each in turn as the four hammered into the roof to either side of him, forcing him to drop to the floor in an acrobatic somersault. No sooner had he landed than Akane threw a hoop at him, which he deftly caught.

"You and me, Ranma; we're going to have a little match! That's the best way I can put my training into practice before the big match tomorrow!" Akane challenged, snapping her ribbon like a whip for emphasis.

"Okay, if that's what you want," Ranma replied casually, flipping the hoop up so it landed edgewise on the tip of his index finger, spinning in place like a top. "But are you really sure about this?"

"What, are you scared you're gonna lose, Ranma?" Akane mocked him, grinning wickedly. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you too much."

"...Alright. Just remember, you asked for this," Ranma noted dryly, sending the spinning hoop flying with a twitch of his finger before he stood up.

The two teens eyed each other, staring each other down with total silence. Akane was visibly trembling with excitement, clearly eager at the prospect of potentially avenging her long-ago defeat when Ranma had first arrived.

Ranma, on the other hand, was like a still pond; inscrutable to everyone except maybe his father, who saw no reason to elucidate on what he saw in Ranma's mind. The two began to circle each other, spinning around like counterweights as they prepared for who would launch the first strike.

In the distant future, they would marvel over just how capricious fate could be. They would even manage to laugh at it. But right at the moment, when Akane's total focus on Ranma resulted in her stepping on that little blue gymnast's ball and it slid under her unprepared foot, the girl's joint audibly popping before she went tumbling face-first to the floor? There was nothing funny about it.

"Akane?!" Ranma blurted, immediately darting closer; she wasn't exactly his favorite Tendo, but that didn't mean he was heartless!

Akane twisted, lifting herself up to direct a teary-eyed look at her former opponent. "It-it hurts!" she sobbed.

Chaos promptly broke out in the Tendo Dojo as Akane's family rushed to her side. Fortunately, Kasumi was quite familiar with handling basic medical care for her tomboyish youngest sister, and she gently yet firmly took charge; Ranma and Ryoga were drafted to carry Akane off to her room as Nabiki fetched the first aid kit, whilst Genma stayed behind to keep the sobbing, borderline hysterical Tendo patriarch under control.

Once Akane was on her bed, and Nabiki had brought the first aid kit, Kasumi began examining her, gently running her fingers across Akane's ankle even as the youngest Tendo bit back a whimper. "It'll be alright, Akane; it's just a sprain. But it's a pretty nasty one; I'm going to have to bandage it," Kasumi stated, before holding out her hand. Nabiki promptly clicked open the kit and withdrew a roll of cloth bandages, which Kasumi began to wrap around Akane's ankle with practiced ease.

"There we are, all done..." Kasumi declared once she was finished. "But I'm afraid you won't be fighting on that any time soon, Akane."

"What?! But the match is tomorrow!" Akane protested weakly, giving Kasumi a look of betrayal.

"I'm sorry, Akane, but this is going to take at least a week, minimum, before you'll recover!" Kasumi scolded her, unphased and unmoved.

"You are such a klutz, Akane. Tripping so badly on your own ball... talk about humiliating," Nabiki sighed; all because Akane wanted to square off against Ranma. Nabiki could sense a theme here.

Akane's cheeks burned red with shame and rage. "I can't let Kodachi beat me like this! I'll be the laughing stock of the school!" Stubbornly, she swung her legs out over the edge of the bed and tried to stand... only to collapse backwards hissing in pain at the slightest pressure.

"See? You can't even stand on it, Akane; fighting is out of the question," Kasumi declared, handing down her judgment with all the authority of her faux-matriarch status entitled her to. "If it's that important, they'll just have to find somebody to substitute for you."

"Pft! It's hardly that easy!" Akane protested. "I mean, where are we going to find some girl who knows martial arts, is good at gymnastics, and looks good in a leotard?" she asked rhetorically.

Then, after her own words sank in, she let out a quiet "oh!" of realization, visibly lighting up as something occurred to her.

Ranma's skin prickled as Akane suddenly looked at him. "Akane... why are you looking at me that way, Akane~?" He asked warily.

"Ranma... you could substitute for me in the match tomorrow!" Akane exclaimed.

"Forget it!" Ranma snapped back immediately. "I ain't putting on no leotard and prancing around in front of the whole school like an idiot!"

"But it's got to be you! You're the only strong female martial artist left in Furinkan who can fight Kodachi!" Akane pushed, attempting some flattery even if it pained her to do so.

"I. Am. A. GUY! I'm not going to turn into a girl for some match I ain't even a part of! If beating Kodachi is so important to the Furinkan martial arts gymnasts, then they should have trained better so they could handle her!" Ranma snarled, folding his arms across his chest in the X-shape of batsu to emphasize his displeasure at the idea.

Akane wracked her brains desperately, trying to find a way to convince him. Unfortunately, she knew that she wasn't the best with words, and to make things worse, Ranma kind of had a point - this match had nothing to do with him on any real level. Finally, she sent a pleading look towards her sister, wordlessly begging her to convince Ranma to go along with it.

Nabiki's gaze flickered back and forth between her sister and her fiancé as she weighed up the odds. In the end, though, family love won out. 'Alright...but you're going to owe me big time for this, little sister,' the middle Tendo thought to herself.

She tapped on Ranma's shoulders, and when her fiancé turned to look at her, she hit him with her best "cute innocent girl" look, opening her eyes as wide as she possibly could and sticking out her bottom lip into an adorable little pout, if she did say so herself. "Please, Ranma? For me?"

'Ah, goddammit; that's no fair, Nabiki!' Ranma wailed in the privacy of his mind. How was a guy supposed to say no to a girl looking at him like that, especially his fiance?! This was cheating!

Not to say that Ranma didn't try. Honestly, he did; he turned away from Nabiki repeatedly, but each time, Nabiki just kept easing her way back into his line of vision. Finally, after five minutes of this cat and mouse routine, his resolve was completely exhausted, and he slumped in defeat. "...Alright, fine, I'll do it," he grumbled softly.

Akane let out a wordless cheer of relief at that. "Thank you, Ranma! I promise, I'm going to owe you for this!"

"And I'll make sure that she pays you back," Nabiki promised, shooting Akane a quick stare. "Now, we all know you can fight, but do you need to practice tonight?"

"I shouldn't think he would; he's been spying on me and Ryoga all through the week," Akane interjected. "Ranma; what's the most important rule of martial arts rhythmic gymnastics?" she asked him.

"Don't attack with bare hands or feet; a non-weapon attack is a foul," Ranma replied instantly.

"See. He knows what to do," Akane chirped. 'Wow, it feels weird to be grateful to Ranma...'

"Alright then; we'll just need to have you model a leotard for us, then, and then we'll head off to bed. You'll want to be fresh for the fight tomorrow," Nabiki declared authoritatively.

"Model?" Ranma asked, face twisted into a grimace to match the ill-ease in his voice. 'I don't like the sound of that...'

"Well, yeah; you can't fight a martial arts rhythmic gymnastics match in your usual outfit. You'll be a laughing stock," Nabiki informed him almost pityingly. "So we need to see how Akane's spare leotard fits and if the colors work for you; if not, we can fix that first thing tomorrow."

The clueless and mildly despairing look that Ranma gave her was all the proof she needed that, despite his curse, Ranma was absolutely 100% a boy. Still, he reluctantly nodded, and Nabiki put her hand on his arm. "Come on; we'll do this in the bathroom. Nice and private, okay?"

Ranma nodded again, and Nabiki led him from Akane's room, with Kasumi going her own way in order to grab a tape measure, just in case.

A few minutes later...

Nabiki tapped her foot impatiently against the bathroom's tiled floor. "Ranma, come out of there and let me see it," she told the closed door to the actual bath.

"It doesn't fit," Ranma's female voice came drifting sulkily back to her.

"I need to see exactly how it doesn't fit so I can help you get a new one, Ranma. Come on; we're all girls here. We're not going to laugh, I promise," she wheedled.

Silence answered her, seconds ticking uncomfortably past, before the sliding door slowly slid open to reveal Nabiki's mortified fiancé. And seeing him - well, "her" - in the flesh, Nabiki could understand why Ranma was less than thrilled with trying on one of Akane's spare leotards. "Bad fit" was putting it mildly. The fabric visibly bunched around the aquatransexual's waist, so much leaner than Akane's that the leotard hung around Ranma's middle with all the grace of an old potato sack. Above that, fabric clung to his-her newly acquired bosom with merciless strength, visibly too small; it made Nabiki wince to imagine her own breasts being grasped like that, the fabric sawing into mammary tissue with each motion.

Ranma stared at her miserably, finally dragging Nabiki back to reality. "Well, that's obviously not going to fit. So just take it off, Ranma, and we'll take your measurements; that way we can grab you a new one before the match tomorrow," she declared.

"Take it off?" Ranma repeated nervously, one hand reaching up to tug at a shoulder strap in hopes of easing the pressure on her breasts.

"It will make measuring you easier, and I can tell you're just itching to get out of that thing already... honestly, Ranma, why so shy? You've gone topless in front of us before," Nabiki noted wryly.

The boy-turned-girl's cheeks turned so red that Nabiki was half-impressed they didn't burst into flames. "Th-that was different," Ranma protested with feeble warding motions.

"Why?" Nabiki asked sweetly, as if she fully intended to wait for an answer, no matter how long it took.

Ranma fidgeted, somehow blushing even brighter red than before. Hanging her head and refusing to look at either Tendo girl, she mumbled something that nobody could make out.

"What was that, Ranma?" Nabiki asked, stepping closer so she could hear better and reaching out to touch Ranma on the arm.

"...Mnotwearinanythinunnerneaf..." Ranma mumbled again, this time just loud enough for Nabiki to hear.

"Ah..." Nabiki trailed off. That was certainly a reason for the normally shameless Saotome to be blushing like a schoolgirl. She half-turned to face her sister, "Kasumi? Would you mind going and checking on Akane? Ranma and I will be fine on our own."

Nabiki loved her big sister; really, she did. But, in her own private, personal opinion, the kami had passed Kasumi over completely when it came to be time to hand out little gifts like guile.

The eldest Tendo daughter just looked confused before she meekly nodded and wandered off, closing the door behind her. Once she was gone, Nabiki turned back to Ranma. "It's just the two of us now; you feel better?"

"A little..." Ranma hesitantly agreed. "Do you really need to be here?"

"Do you know how to take measurements for clothing fittings?" Nabiki replied lightly. Seeing the unease on her fiancé's face, she tried a different tack. "Look, Ranma; there's nothing to be embarrassed about. I promise you; in this body? You have nothing I haven't seen a hundred times before - I mean, I do have two sisters; we bathe together all the time," she cajoled him.

"Well..." Ranma murmured, fiddling with her shoulder straps again.

"Would it help if I got naked too?" Nabiki suggested, sincere but not entirely immune to the urge to poke a little fun at Ranma's hesitance.

"N-no! No, I'm good, I'll do it!" Ranma blurted out, grabbing the straps and finally sliding them down over her shoulders so she could let the leotard fall to the ground.

'...I know he's just shy, but... that actually kind of stung,' Nabiki noted to herself. But, for the sake of Ranma's obviously fragile ego, she put on a smile instead. "Wow, passing down a chance to see me naked? You really are something else. Can't name any other boys who'd be so chivalrous."

"It's... well, it's not that, but..." Ranma trailed off, unable to articulate either his hesitance or the fact that, actually, he rather would like to see Nabiki naked... and, frankly, not wanting to make himself sound like the horny jerks who used to harass Akane by admitting that. Finally, his overheated brain took mercy on him and he blurted out, "I want it to be special, you know? Not something... sordid... like this."

"Wow, you actually know the word sordid? And you even used it correctly," Nabiki teased... purely as a way to try and cover up the fact her heartbeat had just accelerated like a racecar. 'Kind of corny, but, damn, Ranma, you know how to make a girl feel wanted - and you don't even know it, do you?'

"Hey, I'm not a total moron," Ranma protested, but there was a hint of a smile on her lips as she did so.

"I know, Ranma. Now, just give me five minutes, maybe ten, and then you can put your clothes on, alright?" Nabiki assured her, before she set to work. First, she placed her tape on the midpoint of Ranma's shoulder, and then began drawing it down the front of her fiancé's torso... all the way down, until she had to tap Ranma on the hip. "Spread your legs, please?" she asked simply.

Ranma squirmed, but hesitantly obeyed, allowing Nabiki to loop the tape in between Ranma's legs so that she could bring it up the back. Despite Nabiki's attempts to be professional, she couldn't avoid sneaking a peek at what had been hidden by the aquatransexual's tightly clamped thighs. 'Huh. The carpet matches the drapes.'

Once girth had been measured, that left the inseam, which was over and done with easily... And then there was the elephant in the room. Or should that be elephants?

'How to measure Ranma's breasts without freaking him out? Hmm... ahah!'

"So, Ranma... after you win this match, what do you say to going on a date?" Nabiki asked lightly.

"Huh?" Ranma repeated, blinking at Nabiki in confusion.

"Well, you're really doing my little sister a huge favor with this... that deserves a special reward. So, I was thinking when this is over, we could go on a date. My treat," Nabiki purred, slipping closer and carefully raising the tape into place.

As she'd hoped, the offer caught Ranma so off-guard that that aquatransexual didn't even notice where Nabiki's hands were hovering. "A date...? ...I'd like that," she agreed after a moment's pause . "Um... but where would we go?"

"You just leave that to me. I'll sort everything out, I promise," Nabiki assured her fiancé, even as she finished taking the last few measurements; luckily, she'd always been good at multitasking. Even in the face of certain...distractions. 'Wow; I always knew he was stacked; but not this stacked!' Pushing that thought down into the black depths of her subconscious, she smiled purposefully and stepped away from him, folding up the tape in her hands. "All done! You can go and get changed back now, Ranma."

Ranma practically fled back into the bathroom proper, leaving Nabiki to sigh softly to herself, although she was smiling as she did so. 'Shy little thing... we're going to need to work on that at some point...'

Shortly afterwards...

Ryoga frowned suspiciously at his rival, currently wearing his female form. "Just what do you want, Ranma? Why are we in the dojo?"

"Aside from the fact you've been camping in here the past week?" Ranma drawled back, gesturing at Ryoga's sleeping roll and backpack of supplies. "Despite what Akane said... I want to at least try and practice a little before bed. I've never actually used this style, after all..."

"I guess even your arrogance has its limits," Ryoga grunted, smirking at the scowl this prompted from Ranma.

"I suppose I can give you a short demonstration," he decided, before tossing Ranma a pair of gymnast's clubs whilst taking the ribbon for himself.

"Don't get any funny ideas about screwing this up for me, Ryoga," Ranma warned, twirling the clubs around her hands like a pair of nunchaku.

"Why would I bother?" Ryoga pointed out. "I haven't any investment in this match, be it win, lose or draw. I guess maybe it makes me look better if you win, but otherwise, I couldn't care less what happens to you tomorrow!" As he said this, the eternally lost boy lashed out with his ribbon like a whip.

Ranma deftly deflected it with one strike of his club. "Just making sure we understood each other, P-chan!"

"Don't you dare call me that!" Ryoga roared in fury, pulling out the same gymnast's ball that Akane had injured herself on earlier and hurling it at Ranma with the force of a cannonball... only for Ranma to literally bat it back at him with a club like a baseball, causing the high-velocity rubber sphere to slam squarely into Ryoga's face.

The resulting brawl was short, mostly because Ranma had meant what she said about this being just a quick test of her skills before the match. To Ryoga's chagrin, Ranma proved surprisingly adept at picking up the techniques, and was soon handling all the tools with at least as much deftness as Akane had achieved under a week of Ryoga's training.

Inevitably, Ranma declared the spar over and the two went their separate ways, eager to sleep and be ready for tomorrow.

The day of the big match...

"Don't forget, girls! The martial arts rhythmic gymnastics tournament against the visiting team from Furinkan High will take place this afternoon at 1 o'clock in the second gymnasium."

As that announcement from the PA echoed through the air, three figures made their way into the gymnasium, one of them clutching a crutch and visibly sulking. "Why am I using this stupid thing, Nabiki? It doesn't hurt that badly anymore."

"You want to convince Kodachi you're genuinely substituting because you're injured, not to try and get out of facing her, right?" Nabiki explained. "Then it helps make you look like you're actually hurt."

"I guess," Akane conceded. "Why did you come with us, anyway?" she asked, giving her elder sister an inquisitive look.

"In case you forgot, my fiancé's the one fighting today. Of course I'm going to come along and watch," Nabiki quipped, smirking as she affectionately petted the redheaded member of their little trio.

"Oh, please," Akane scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Whatsamatter? Jealous that Ryoga didn't come along to watch you?" Ranma joked.

"As if!" Akane growled. "I mean, yeah, he's not a total creep, I guess, but as far as I'm concerned, he's only just cleared the slate with his tutelage."

Before either of the other teens could continue to needle Akane on her precise relationship with the porcine shifter, who had declared his intent to remain at the Dojo and help Kasumi out before he went back on the road, they were interrupted as Kodachi Kuno materialized and strode briskly towards them.

"Well, well, Ms. Tendo; were you anticipating losing to me that badly?" she tittered.

"Actually, I hurt myself in an accident last night," Akane responded, giving the pompous girl her iciest glare - she could easily believe that this was Kuno's little sister now. "So Furinkan High is having somebody substitute for me."

"This is rather last minute, Ms. Tendo," Kodachi noted, frowning as she did so.

Akane simply shrugged in response. "My accident was last-minute, so we had to make some changes."

"And it's all been discussed and approved with the principle of Saint Hebereke," Nabiki interjected. That was one of the various little errands they'd had to run that morning, along with getting Ranma a proper leotard for the event.

Kodachi sniffed slightly, but didn't protest, instead fixing her attention on Ranma, who forced herself to stay still. "You... I remember you. You're that pigtailed girl from before. I didn't know you practiced martial arts rhythmic gymnastics."

"I'm more of a generalist," Ranma replied neutrally; the less she spoke to Kodachi, the less chance Kuno's sister would have to pick up who Ranma was.

"Well, whatever the case, I do hope you'll be fighting fairly today, won't you?" Kodachi asked sweetly, even as she extended her hand for a polite handshake.

She was completely indifferent to the dirty looks directed at her by a pair of sisters, the phrase 'Look who's talking!' echoing in both their heads.

Surreptitiously, Ranma checked Kodachi's hand for concealed tacks - it was just the sort of low-grade dirty trick that she'd expect of somebody with Kodachi's reputation to pull. And, honestly, she was kind of disappointed to see that she had been right to be cautious. "I'll fight fairly as you do," Ranma replied deadpan,wrapping slender yet steely fingers around Kodachi's wrist and twisting so as to expose her little cheat to the Tendo sisters.

Kodachi's eyes widened as she feigned shock, even placing her free hand against her cheek. "Good heavens! However did those tacks get between my fingers?" she asked with almost genuine sounding innocence.

"Like any of us are going to buy that," Akane huffed as she gave Kodachi a contemptuous sneer.

"Anyway! Where is the challenger's changing room?" Nabiki interjected; she didn't want to risk the chance that Kodachi might decide to attack the weakened Akane just because she could.

"Hm? Ah, yes, I understand; you'll be changing in the west locker room," Kodachi replied, pointing out the direction with her free hand. "Now, if you don't mind?"

"What? Oh, sorry," Ranma replied instinctively as she released her grip on Kodachi's wrist.

The three girls from Furinkan High promptly made their way to the indicated locker room, and despite Akane's sprained ankle, they were soon at the right door, which was confirmed by a sheet of paper taped to it. "Honestly, you can't take your eyes off of that girl for a minute!" Akane scoffed. "You better take care in the ring, Ranma."

"Hey, I'll be fine - nobody's gonna pull the wool over my eyes!" Ranma bragged.

The door swung open... and the last person any of them had expected to see waved a fuzzy great paw in greeting, letting out a grumbling noise that only a panda could make.

"Pop! What are you doing here?" Ranma asked in mild shock.

In answer, the panda-man reached behind himself and presented them with a wooden sign upon which kanji had been scribbled with surprising neatness for somebody who was presumably working with claws: I came to see the fight.

"Really? I wouldn't have thought that this was any interest to you; it's a girl's style," Akane pointed out.

Genma flipped the sign around. I don't like the boy doing girly things. But if he's got to fight in a girl's style, then he better do a decent job of it. Another flip and new kanji were revealed. You had better win this, Ranma.

Nobody was sure how Genma managed to fit three different messages onto a two-sided sign.

Ranma simply scoffed, giving her father a cocky smirk. "Don't worry, old man; I intend to win this fight!"

"Which means you need to dress the part," Nabiki interjected, brandishing the bag that contained the fruit of her little shopping excursion that morning. She gave Genma a look that the transformed panda took as a sign to leave them be, and he promptly trundled off.

Ranma eyed it as if it were a poisonous snake, and then reluctantly took it from Nabiki's hand. "Right..." she sighed. This was the part she was looking forward to the least about all this...

Time to fight!

The gymnasium was crowded, with students from both Furinkan High and Saint Hebereke crammed into temporary seating around a combat sports arena. Noisy chatter filled the air before the referee entered the ring (well, square) and raised her hand. "Good afternoon, everyone!" she boomed, her microphone broadcasting her words through the school's PA system. "And welcome to the Saint Hebereke vs. Furinkan High martial arts rhythmic gymnastics tournament!"

Cheers and applause broke out from all sides, the mixed ranks of Furinkan High contrasting the exclusively female population of Saint Hebereke.

The announcer took over, speaking into her own microphone as the cheering died down. "If we may have your attention please? The rhythmic gymnastics match will begin at any moment."

The referee took over again. "And the contestants are ready!" she announced.

With carefully planned timing, one of the doors to the gymnasium swung open as a spotlight lit up, enveloping two female figures in brilliant luminescence. Standing proudly as she could, Ranma strode down the walkway to the ring, clad in a two-toned long-sleeved legless pink leotard and with Nabiki at her side - Akane and Genma instead taking up seats in the front row on the Furinkan High side of the gymnasium.

From his own seat at the front of the Saint Hebereke's side, the sole male in a sea of females gaped as if he'd been gutpunched, eyes bulging in shock. "Wha-what the?!" Tatewaki Kuno spluttered. 'What in Jigoku is Ranma Saotome doing here?! Where is the beautiful Akane Tendo?!'

"The Furinkan High challenger is entering the ring!"

Upon reaching the corner of the ring, Ranma leapt straight up into the air, soaring from floor to just shy of the ceiling in one tremendous spring. At the apex of her jump, she spread her limbs to form a star-shape, ceiling lights snapping to life all around her before she did a forward flip, dropping neatly into the rin to land on her toes in a picture-perfect pose, raising her arms over her head and turning back and forth as the audience cheered her.

Tatewaki's eye twitched, especially as he spotted Akane and Genma the panda sitting over on the other side of the arena.

"She's certainly showing a lot of spirit! Will she be this confident once the fight begins?" The announcer speculated. "Only time will tell!"

Moments later, music began to play from hidden speakers, multiple ceiling lights flashing into life as a trapeze artist's swing began descending into view, with a familiar female figure perched with bird-like grace upon it.

"And here comes the champion!"

Clad in her familiar green leotard, Kodachi smirked and kicked out one leg, bending into a series of sultry poses as fireworks flashed into life behind her.

"Where did she get those?" Akane muttered to herself, ignored by the cheering crowd around her. Even many of the Furinkan High students were cheering... mostly boys, for reasons that were depressingly obvious to the female half of the visiting students.

Despite what Akane had half-suspected, Kodachi rode the swing down to the ring's canvass floor without incident, stepping gracefully from her perch to stand opposite to Ranma. She smiled sweetly, even as her eyes glimmered with eagerness to begin unleashing pain upon her foe.

"Smite the pigtailed wench, my sister! This time, I cheer for you!" Tatewaki called from his seat in the front row.

"Why, brother dear," Kodachi replied, sparing a surprised but seemingly genuinely happy glance at her elder sibling.

"That's Kuno-sempai's older brother?" asked one of the Hebereke girls.

"I think I'm in love," swooned another.

"And here they are, ladies and gentlemen!" cried the announcer, her words the signal for the referee to begin introducing the two combatants.

"In the red corner, from Saint Hebereke School for Girls... Kodachi Kuno!"

Kodachi laughed uproariously, whipping out her ribbon and performing her trademark spiraling blizzard of black rose petals, which fluttered gracefully around the gymnasium. Her actions were greeted with cheers and shouts of encouragement from her schoolmates... and no few Furinkan schoolboys.

"And in the blue corner, from Furinkan High...! Um..." the referee paused, and then turned to Ranma. "What's your name, challenger?"

"It's Ranko Tendo," Ranma replied. She'd originally planned on just using her real name, figuring that nobody would identify the two different forms as the same people even with that name, but Nabiki had almost burst a blood vessel when she'd heard that. Hastily, Ranma had agreed to change it, and they'd decided on "Ranko Tendo" for the simplicity - it'd be easier for them all to remember.

"Ranko Tendo? Akane has another sister?" One of the Furinkan High students asked.

"Don't be a moron; she's obviously Akane's cousin!" another scolded him.

Kuno simply scoffed at the gullibility of the 'lower classes'. 'As if the likes of Ranma Saotome could possibly hope to present themselves as kin to the beauteous Akane Tendo! My sister, forgive me for wishing you ill when I heard you were facing my beloved... and smite this one with all your might!'

Kodachi narrowed her eyes at her opponent. 'Ranko Tendo, eh? And here I thought Ms. Tendo lacked the proper guile to be a worthy foe for the Black Rose of Saint Hebereke...'

Despite the unfamiliarity of the redhead representing their school, the Furinkan students still managed to cheer her on, clinging to the hope that this time, they might win a match against Saint Hebereke.

Moments later, the referee spoke up to both combatants. "Alright, girls, to the center of the ring," she declared, beckoning the two together. "Now shake hands," she commanded.

Gazes locked, the two girls reached out and clasped hands freely, with Kodachi leaning forward and causing Ranma to meet her midway. "Don't worry... I'll make this quick," the younger Kuno gloatedly whispered.

"Funny... I was thinking the same thing," Ranma hissed back, squeezing Kodachi's hand until she winced. A petty little act, but one that brought a smile to Ranma's face.

"Alright, girls, break it up," the referee interjected, causing Ranma and Kodachi to release each other's hands and take several large steps away. "Now... fight!" she called, with the announcer striking the bell for emphasis.

Faster than Ranma had anticipated, Kodachi sprang into action; twirling her ribbon in a horizontal spiral to send a strong gust of wind filled with blinding black rose petals slamming into Ranma's face. As the redheaded aquatransexual instinctively covered her eyes with a forearm, Kodachi shot forward and thrust a gymnast's club into Ranma's stomach, forcing the breath from Ranma's lungs in a great "oof!" of shock and sending her staggering several steps back, almost falling to one knee before she managed to catch herself.

Kodachi laughed gleefully at having drawn the metaphorical first blood. "How very careless of you!" she mockingly chided her opponent.

Ranma glowered at Kodachi. "Yer gonna pay for that..." she promised with a snarl, drawing a white rope knotted at two ends and twirling it like a makeshift flail. She wasn't actually sure what role that normally served in gymnastics routines, but she was confident that she could use it to bring some pain to her opponent.

Kodachi simply laughed again, twirling her ribbon in elegant spirals with one hand whilst the other gripped her club. A flick of her wrist, and the ribbon lashed out like a whip, cracking as it snapped towards Ranma's face.

Ranma weaved aside, letting it sail harmlessly past her head, and charged forward, hoping to get inside of the ribbon's arc and turn its length into a disadvantage for Kodachi. She swung her rope-flail at Kodachi's ribs, only to find it deflected by a deft flick of Kodachi's club.

"Aren't they eager?! But just to recap the rules for you all; the only legal attacks are those made with tools! Bare hands are strictly forbidden! There's no time limit, and you lose if you are knocked out or land outside of the ring!"

Emboldened by her success, Kodachi jabbed out with her club, trying to score a solid hit on Ranma's stomach. Instead, Ranma countered by simultaneously dodging and using the rope to lash around Kodachi's wrist. Smirking, Ranma pivoted and put all her considerable strength into a half-pull, half-throw, turning Kodachi's own momentum against her and sending her flying out of the ring like a human rocket.

"Incredible! Could this be the shortest match in Saint Hebereke's history?! Challenger Tendo has just thrown Champion Kuno from the ring by using her rope as a lever!"

Ranma had a moment to enjoy the visible shock on Kodachi's face as she twisted around, looking back at Ranma with startled eyes from an upside down position... right before Kodachi smirked and almost contemptuously flicked out her ribbon. It wrapped itself around a corner-post like a grapnel, arresting her in mid-flight and allowing her to literally pull herself back into the ring, where she landed atop that same corner-post with a graceful flip.

"And what a comeback! So calm, so cool, so collected! No wonder the Black Rose of Saint Hebereke reigns supreme as the champion of martial arts rhythmic gymnastics in the Tokyo area!"

The Black Rose of Saint Hebereke sniffed dismissively. "I can certainly see the resemblance you Tendo girls have! You possess your cousin Akane's brutish strength!" she scoffed, her nose tilted up with a dismissive air.

"Hey!" Ranma and Akane snapped indignantly at the comparison.

"Very well, if it's brutishness you want..." Kodachi dropped her ribbon and club as she nodded to her second, who threw her a gymnast's ball and a rope like Ranma's. "Then I will be happy to oblige!"

She launched her ball at Ranma's feet, forcing Ranma to step lively to avoid being hit by a rib-rattling ricochet. But that action alone put Ranma off-balance, enough that Kodachi had the opening she needed to dart forward and slap Ranma clearly across the cheek with her rope-flail.

Pain exploded in Ranma's head, the coppery taste of blood filling her mouth as her cheek cut itself on her teeth, which themselves shook from the impact. Dazed by the blow, she stumbled back, tripping over her own feet and narrowly catching herself on the ropes that made up the walls of the ring.

"Ran-ko! Are you okay?!" Nabiki gasped, hurrying to her fiancé(e)'s side. To her relief, Ranma shook her head, spat a mouthful of blood on the floor beside Nabiki, and then nodded gingerly.

"Yeah, I'm okay... never been hit so hard by a rope before," 'Ranko' admitted as she took stock of any other potential injuries.

Glancing over at the laughing Kodachi, Nabiki narrowed her eyes. "That's because that's not a rope - that's a steel bar designed to look like a folded rope! Referee, that's a foul!" she protested.

"Sorry, but that's a legal tool, Miss," the referee responded with the bored and disinterested air of one who's had the conversation a thousand times.

"What?!" Akane and Nabiki protested in unison.

"You can't be serious! There's no way that sort of dirty trick could be legal!" Nabiki added.

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing in the rulebook prohibiting it," the referee replied coolly.

Ignoring the bickering girls, Ranma pushed herself off of the ropes, glowering at Kodachi. "I should have known you'd find some way to use dirty tricks in this fight..."

"Dirty tricks? Me?" Kodachi replied, looking as innocent as could be. "As the referee said, my tools are perfectly legal."

"Yeah, and how much did that cost you?" Ranma jabbed, before snatching up a pair of clubs and charging at Kodachi. The harsh clatter of wood on steel echoed through the gymnasium before Ranma managed to deftly knock the disguised steel cudgel from Kodachi's fingers, sending it spinning off across the floor.

When she tried to strike Kodachi herself, however, the Black Rose evaded with a series of backflips. "Clubs!" she snapped, and her second promptly threw them to her. "Let's see how you deal with this!" she hissed, before flinging herself back into the fray.

"Wow, they're going at it tooth and nail! It's an incredible match, ladies and gentleman - and a real treat too! Almost all of the champion's recent challengers have had to forfeit due to sudden illness; it's good to see that the Black Rose hasn't lost her touch with all those free wins!"

Ranma smirked as she watched Kodachi's eye twitching at that little comment. A brief pleasure that faded in a hurry when Kodachi jabbed a club at her face - and it suddenly erupted in a bristling array of spikes! Ranma narrowly dodged that thrust, and then had to use both of her own clubs to deflect a second club as it jabbed at her waist.

"Referee! Those clubs are spiked! That's gotta be a foul!" Nabiki protested.

At that very instant, the spikes suddenly vanished from Kodachi's clubs, even as the referee looked her way. "What spikes? I don't see any spikes," she replied.

"She was using them just a second ago! She's got them on a trigger hidden in the hilts!" Nabiki insisted.

"Unless you have proof, don't go making wild accusations," the referee said as she gave Nabiki a disapproving look.

Nabiki scowled at her. "And people call me a cheating bitch..."

Realizing from the conversation on the sidelines that she couldn't count on anyone coming to her aid, Ranma flipped backwards from Kodachi to put some distance between them, snatching up a fallen ribbon as she went. "Fine, then; two can play at that game!" she snarled as she landed on one of the side-ropes, lashing out with her ribbon... not at Kodachi, but at the announcer's desk!

"Oh, my! Challenger Tendo has commandeered a desk!"

Kodachi's eyes went wide as Ranma swung the desk at her like a flail, dropping her clubs in her haste to avoid the massive body of wood as it swung through the air where she had been standing just moments ago. She leapt for her ribbon and sprang up onto the corner post, sending the silk streaming into the audience, where it wrapped around Kuno and brought him sailing from his seat into the ring.

"Champion Kuno counters with her own brother!"

Ranma flinched, but the desk was already in mid-swing; Kuno slammed into headfirst, splitting it clean in half as both of them fell to the ring's surface.

"What a clever idea! Isn't the Champion lucky that brothers are a legal tool in this tournament?!"

"Now this is just getting stupid!" Nabiki protested, but, alas, nobody listened to her.

Ranma hopped down from the ropes and over to Tatewaki's side. "Kuno? You okay?"

A dull groan emerged from Ranma's senior classman... before his eyes snapped open in a hateful glare. "You wretch!" he spat, scrambling to his feet before he whipped his trusty bokken from his side and struck out at Ranma all in one swift motion.

"Ooh, and the Champion's brother seems pretty angry! Not surprising when he just took a desk to the face! He's attacking the challenger over and over - but oh! She's too quick and nimble for him; he can't lay a finger on her!"

"C'mon, Kuno, it's not my fault!" Ranma protested, dodging, ducking and flipping around the senior's whirling bokken.

"Vile miscreant, stand still and be smote!" Tatewaki spat... right before a gymnast's ball suddenly bounced past him and exploded like a grenade!

Kodachi's maniacal laughter shrieked from her corner. "That's it, brother dear! Show her the might of the Kuno clan!" she cackled before lopping a second explosive ball, and then a third, which gave way to a whole barrage of bouncing grenades.

"And that's the Champion's trademark bomb-ball technique! Few are the challengers who can stand up to her when she starts lobbing those around! Isn't it lucky that they're a legal tool in martial arts rhythmic gymnastics?!"

"And people accuse me of running rigged games," Nabiki grumbled to herself, watching the action with wide eyes. She winced as Ranma narrowly evaded sword strikes and explosions, darting and weaving across the arena with acrobatic twists and contortions that made her own spine tingle in sympathy.

Of course, such a chaotic battle couldn't last forever. In the end, Tatewaki was the first to be eliminated, as an unluckily timed backstroke caused him to strike one of Kodachi's bomb balls as it neared his back.

The explosion caught him squarely, propelling him forward like a rocket; Ranma narrowly avoided being caught as Kuno flew through the air and landed heavily on the floor outside the ring with all the grace of a drunken seagull, his bokken clattering to a halt next to him.

"Oooh, and that had to hurt! The Champion's brother is down!"

"You wicked, wicked girl!" Kodachi screeched, her outrage only half faked for anyone paying attention. "How dare you do that to my brother?!"

"Me?! You're the one who was throwing bombs everywhere!" Ranma protested with an 'are you kidding me' look - then ducked as a hoop came flying through the air right at her head... which turned out to be fortuitous when the hoop sliced clean through one of the corner poles! "The fuck?!" Ranma screamed.

"You won't get away with hurting him like that! Have another Razor Hoop!" Kodachi cried, twirling said item around her wrist before flinging it at Ranma like a giant flying buzzsaw.

This time, Ranma dodged it by leaping over it, landing neatly on an intact corner pole.

Nabiki saw that as her moment. "Ranko!" she called out, before throwing her fiancé a pair of gymnast's clubs.

Ranma flicked the cudgels from the air into her hands with a pair of deft kicks, scowling at her foe. "Fine! If that's the way you want it, then I'll be happy to beat some sense into you!" she vowed, twirling the clubs first in rapid circles around in her hands and then in a complicated choreography around her torso.

"Wow, incredible! She's using the clubs like they were nunchaku!" one of the Furinkan High students marveled.

Kodachi wasn't impressed. Instead, she scoffed and beckoned to her second, who tossed a pair of clubs to Kodachi in turn. "How utterly ridiculous... I am the rising star of high school martial arts rhythmic gymnastics," she proclaimed, striking a pose with her clubs. "The beautiful young flower of Saint Hebereke. The one called the Black Rose." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Watch, then... the dreaded attack of..." she swept her arms through the air to trace a half-circle from straight above her head, "1000 Clubs!"

And with that she exploded forward, charging forward and attacking Ranma with a blurred flurry of strikes, forcing Ranma to react desperately to keep the onslaught at bay. The air was filled with the wooden clack of club on club, with the watching crowd cheering the combatants on.

"It's amazing! It's as if the Champion is striking with ten or twenty clubs all at once!"

"Ranko!" Nabiki cried out, before tossing a gymnast's ball high into the air above Ranma's head. The redheaded aquatransexual sprang for it and spiked it at Kodachi's hand, hitting her squarely in the wrist and... scattering a cloud of smaller clubs?!

"Incredible! The Champion WAS using ten or twenty clubs simultaneously!"

Landing back in the center of the ring, Ranma looked at the clubs rolling across the mat and shook her head in disbelief. "Damn... that is so impractical and so much hard work to pull it off successfully, I think that actually goes through cheating and right out the other side!"

"Who do you think you are, calling me a cheater?!" Kodachi snapped indignantly.

"I'm Ran-ko Tendo of the School of Anything Goes Martial Arts," Ranma scoffed in reply, narrowly managing to catch herself on the naming front. "And if I'm calling you out for cheating, then you have to be one truly dirty-dealing, double-crossing, back-stabbing bitch," she drawled, complete with a patronizing expression.

At that choice of words and condescension, Kodachi saw red. "How dare you talk to me in such a manner!? You impudent witch, I'll show you!" she squalled, and charged at Ranma with her remaining club gripped tightly.

Unfortunately for her... that was when she lost the match. In her anger, she failed to take notice of the clubs still scattered underfoot, and in one of karma's little jokes, she stepped right on one... which slid under her foot, causing her to stumble and pitch forward, turning her charge into an uncontrolled tumble.

Which Ranma instantly seized upon. The last thing that Kodachi saw for a while was the wicked grin on her redheaded opponent's face, followed by an up-close and personal view of a gymnast's club as "Ranko Tendo" brought it around in a double-handed swing that would have made a baseball talent scout very interested indeed. The impact sent her soaring into the air, up and over the ropes... now, prior to the match's beginning, Kodachi had secretly hidden several of her strongest and stealthiest followers under the ring, allowing her to direct them to move it with a whistle. This would ensure that no matter how skilled her challenger was, they would never be able to defeat her with a ring out.

A pity she had failed to consider what would happen if she weren't able to whistle. What lingering shards of consciousness she had were dashed from her when she hit the gymnasium floor with all the grace and poise of a sack of potatoes lobbed from a catapult. Still, at least being unconscious meant she was unable to hear the announcer.

"What an incredible turn of events! In a stunning upset, the challenger from Furinkan wins by a solid ring-out! The winner is Ranko Tendo!"

The announcer struck the bell three times, and the gymnasium erupted as the Furinkan High students cheered as though their lives depended on it. In the center of the ring, a panting Ranma drew herself up as straight as she could, and put on a victory pose for her adoring public.

That evening...

Nabiki sat on one of the larger, flatter stones near the koi pond in the garden, looking up at the stars. What a day today had been... still, at least this mess with Kodachi was all over.

"You there! Nabiki Tendo!"

Nabiki blinked, and then her eyes widened asw something came flying at her. She barely managed to catch it in time, and stared dumbfounded as she realized it was a bouquet of black roses. Looking up, she saw that Kodachi was standing in her garden, staring at her with icy determination. "What do you want?" she asked, in her best "Ice Queen of Furinkan High" voice.

Her displeasure rolled off of Kodachi like water off of a duck's back. "Please deliver those to my darling Ranma Saotome, Nabiki Tendo," she said, before pointing an accusatory finger at her. "And heed this warning! One day, I will free my beloved from his engagement to you and claim him as my own! Even if I must use force to do so! You had best remember that! And now, I bid thee adieu..."

With her trademark hysterical shriek of laughter, Kodachi bounded away into the night, leaving behind a stunned Nabiki Tendo. "...What the hell?" she asked herself, too stunned to even care about her reputation. "And I used to think Tatewaki was a nuisance..."

Chapter End & Closing Notes

And so, at long last, we reach the end of this chapter! I considered splitting it into two, in order to emulate the rough division of this story into three episodes in canon, but I felt I would be cheating you readers after so long between updates. So I hope that you enjoyed this! I'll try to have the next one out sooner.

And what is the next one? Why, none other than the Martial Arts Figure Skating arc, followed by the introduction of our favorite Chinese Amazon! Things are going to start getting serious(ly weird) for Ranma and Nabiki soon!