An unusual disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. And Son Turned Daughter was originally written back in 2002 by FanFiction author Tangent, and his characters Megumi, Yasushi and Ayane have, likewise, been borrowed without permission. Please see the first two chapters of this story under his pen name. This story has been written for non-commercial purposes only.
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Notes are at the bottom of this chapter.
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Ranma immediately began to work on how she could duplicate the technique herself. Yasushi obviously had great balance: She had run on top of the ropes surrounding the fighting ring, and better than any tightrope walker she had ever seen or heard of. But how to explain her running up the sides of a post?! Or landing so softly?!
Easily dealing with the 9 lb, 5 km, weight was something she herself could do. She just had to redirect its momentum. ...But it wouldn't have landed inches, centimeters directly in front of her - Yasushi seemed to have taken the momentum out of it! Seemed to! Only magic could have done that, right?
Was it magic that could allow the spooky girl to "destroy" the ring, buildings, people? (If she could trust Megumi's word for it.)
...or was it judo? Not "just" judo, but some non-standard judo? Something related to judo in some way?
Judo was something Ranma understood on the trained-into-instinctive level. And that was where her mind was at the moment. To duplicate a technique quickly and efficiently, she had to be in between her conscious and subconscious where she had as close of a contact with her brain stem as her upper brain allowed. That place where her brain met her body wouldn't let her let go of the judo idea. It didn't want it to be magic. It had no defenses against magic.
...Wait! It did know magic! She was cursed to know it! It didn't believe it was magic!
So was it something she could understand - Something she where, if she couldn't duplicate, she could defend herself against?
Meanwhile, Akane continued her long-time verbal battle with Megumi. "Liar! If Yasushi could do that, why hasn't she "destroyed" me, yet! Why do I keep winning over you and her?!"
"Don't forget me," Ayane said. Her hand was over the microphone she used to do the play-by-play announcer. Even so, it was turned off for now.
Megumi ignored her as well. "Because we were keeping Yasushi back as a secret weapon! Now is the perfect time to use her! There's never been a more public fight in Nerima!"
"- with a better chance for you to cheat!" Akane accused.
"If Risk Girl cheat, Shampoo make pay!" And she pulled out her chui maces (each heavier than the shot put Megumi had wielded). "Dishonor woman of Nǚzhànshì tribe get Kiss of Death!"
"And I'll kiss you back! But you have to wait until the final round!" The girl who was taller but thinner gave her the Evil Eye complete with the tongue being stuck out. "I first get to beat Akane, then my Kuno's sister Kodachi!"
Up from Ranma's subconscious came the words of Shampoo's great-grandmother. She said that what Yasushi did affected how she thought, reflected in the kind of things she said, or maybe it was the way she thought that improved what she could do. Maybe that was the key to acquiring it for herself!
Ranma lost contact with her subconscious and became focused. She saw Yasushi in a new light. The pale skinned girl still stayed in one place but had stopped turning, saying over and over, "It's just judo". She was even paler than usual, and her shoulders were slumped. She stood there trembling a bit. But it was when she placed her hand over her eyes that Ranma understood the answer to Akane's question: Why hadn't Yasushi used her talent before? "She's ashamed of it."
Most of Japan demanded conformity, fitting everybody into the established pigeon holes. But the pressure can be so great that a lot of people have to find some way to rebel. That is why Japan had a reputation for being so weird. Another island nation, Brittain, also had a long line of "eccentrics". But because of its history, the Japanese just carried it to a higher level. But that wasn't the majority of Japanese. To be different, the person had to be "un-Japanese" and accept the label of being weird and being treated more or less as an outcast. Poor Yasushi didn't want to be one of those.
But her affliction wouldn't let her blend in. Yes, Ranma saw now, it might not be a technique.
"Megumi, I wish I could say you deserve the Kiss of Death," Ranma said. After experiencing it, she couldn't wish it on this wannabe. "You finally found a way to make Yasushi reveal herself."
"I should give everybody the kiss of death for ignoring me!" Ayane said, turning on her mic.
She turned toward the ring. "Our next match is between Ukyo Kuonji and Tsuchinoko!"
"Tsuchinoko stole your name, Akane!" Megumi taunted her. "It means "hammer child"!"
"I am not a snake!" Akane responded. The tsuchinoko weren't an attractive bit of Japanese folklore.
"Quiet!" Ranma told them! "Learn from the matches! One of these could be somebody we have to fight!" But she doubted it. As much as she would like to give Ucchan her chance for a proper closure to her years of resentment towards her, she would have to get by Kodachi first.
Still, as a dedicated martial artist, she had the yearning to watch and learn new techniques and people's tactical weaknesses.
"...Kuonji is a specialist in Martial Arts Okonomiyaki! And the girl who wishes to be known as Tsuchinoko is training to be a woman sumo wrestler!"
There was an immediate gasp and angry comments from the crowd. Women were considered impure and were not allowed to touch the sacred sumo wrestling ring (dohyō) at any time! But, still, Ranma knew there had been women sumo wrestlers since the 1960's, and there were people who paid to see the overweight women wrestle in their torso-covering underwear and traditional sumo mawashi belt. It had even been gaining some popularity.
And this girl in the ring was overweight: she had to be approaching three times the usual weight of the typical Japanese girl her age. She wore light makeup and had the pulled back hair in the style of the traditional sumo. But unlike her male counterpart, Ranma doubted few saw her as sexy. (Sexy? Where did that thought come from? Ranma briefly wondered.)
"Are you ready to begin?" Yasushi forced herself to act the role the Japanese crowd around her expected of her.
"Bring the skinny cook on! I have a challenge! I win, I eat your food for a year!" Tsuchinoko said.
"Alright, Honey, that's fine - I'm not going to lose!" Ukyo said, holding her giant spatula out in front of her.
At the sound of the bell, Yasushi said, "Tsuchinoko is disqualified!"
"WHAT!?" cried the sumo girl and many in the crowd!
"According to the Rules of Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics, all opponents must use a tool," Yasushi informed them. "It says so on the back of your matchup lists."
"Why are we using those rules?!" Yeah, that was something Ranma wanted to know, too!
That was Kodachi's cue to appear! Everybody winced or cringed at the sound of her laugh! Throwing off her yukata and the fan that had hidden her face, the girl in the green-and-black leotard snapped her gymnastics ribbon around a post and pulled herself up on top of it after a graceful leap.
From her queen-of-the-mountain position, she declared, "The Rules are the rules because I rule! I am the one who has funded this tournament! It would not exist without the wealth I provided for it to exist!"
The crowd did not like it, but they at least understood why it was the way it was.
Tsuchinoko was furious! With a deafening yell, she charged Kodachi. With a flick of her wrist the smug noblegirl loosed her ribbon from the post, ready to use it.
She didn't get the chance. The sumo wrestler crashed to the mat with a very loud thong! She had made the mistake of trying to run through the small girl in her way: Yasushi.
Ranma's eyes widened! Yasushi hadn't made any move: She had just stood there! Whatever had happened, she guessed, was entirely an automatic self-defense response!
Tsuchinoko wasn't going to let one mistake stop her! She made to get up. Yasushi wouldn't let her! Afraid of being attacked herself now, she bent one knee and placed the foot on top of the whale of a girl. The wrestler struggled to get up! Every time it looked like she gained control over her movements she lost them! She couldn't even bring her hands near Yasushi!
"I would now like the pleasure of humbling the fat oaf myself!" Kodachi commanded.
Yasushi might have given way, except the ribbon that was meant to pull her away ended up pulling the high-and-mighty off her perch! Again, the slim, pale girl hadn't moved. It just seemed to happen! Kodachi came crashing down onto the hard part of the ring not covered by the softer mat.
Humbled herself, while up on one elbow, Kodachi tossed an Indian club at Yasushi! The girl barely had time to react to the spikes that clicked out from it!
The spikes rolled around her arm and then dropped to the mat. Yasushi was poked, her skin dimpled, but remained unpierced.
"Kodachi is disqualified," the referee said. Applause followed.
"You can't disqualify me! I own this event!" Kodachi protested. She discovered that if she let go of the still taut ribbon that still touched the strange girl, she could move the way she wanted again.
"The Rules of Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics say anybody who threatens the referee is disqualified. You don't own those rules." Yasushi didn't argue, she just stated.
"Yes I do! I'm suspending those that say only rhythmic gymnastics equipment can be used! If not, every battle maidens would have to use its tools!" She had come up to her. But her threat seemed to be a bluff. Crazy or not, Kodachi was smart enough to have sized up her opponent and knew better than to touch her. For now.
"Hmm. You're right. Qualified." She thought for a moment, then sincerely asked, "How many disqualifications can you have before you're permanently disqualified? I haven't read most of the rules."
"An imbecile!" Kodachi screamed in frustration and after picking up her ribbon, leaped back onto a post, and off. She didn't land, but snagged an eave and swung herself up onto the nearest roof. And then she was gone! Everybody was relieved she hadn't left laughing.
"The winner is Ukyo Kuonji!" Yasushi declared.
"No! No! I want to win by winning! I don't want to be the default just because she forfeited!" the girl in the boys plebe uniform protested. "Let me fight somebody else!"
"That would throw off the matchup list," Yasushi informed her. "Somebody else would have to win by forfeit. Fair is fair. But you can win in your next match."
"Is that a promise?" Ukyo said sarcastically. "I don't want a gimme!" Totally frustrated, she went to leave the ring.
On her way, she paused and directed her searing gaze at Ranma. The girl in the Chinese outfit could see how being robbed of her chance to vent her emotions was making them worse! Too bad Kodachi was still allowed to fight. Ranma had a fantasy of her bouts being so easy,Ucchan's frustration would increase and then she could release her years-worth of resentment against her all at once in one glorious battle finale. But it was just a fantasy. The way the matchups were set up, without Kodachi she would still have had to fight Akane in the semifinal round.
"Great-grandmother right!" Shampoo said. "Disqualify girl adept! Know skill even womens warriors of tribe no know!"
"There has to be a way around Yasushi's defenses," Akane said, already exploring some in her head.
"Shampoo have wait one week before try! But Shampoo find weak point before Akane!"
"Ha! Only I know that!" Megumi bragged.
The three began to squabble.
Ranma didn't join in. As a martial artist she should have, but couldn't because of being the girl she had so far become. Yasushi didn't want to be known as a martial artist. She didn't want to be challenged and have to constantly "prove" herself. She just wanted to be more normal. It was her bad luck that the closest she could get to it was through the only friends she seemed to have, Megumi and Ayane. The only reason she had probably agreed to at last reveal her capability was just to keep their friendship.
It should probably be a lesson for her, too, Ranma thought. She had been so hungry for friends she had been willing to give up her manhood (at least temporarily, she still told herself). Her manhood! What else would she have to give up in the name of friendship?
The question became troubling enough that she could no longer concentrate on the next match.
"Round three is between Azusa Shiratori, of the Azusa School of Martial Arts Pair Skating (without her partner, as this tournament is only for girls), and Saku Takai of the Bunka School of Martial Arts Fashion!"
"Fashion!?" Azusa squealed with delight.
"I don't do kawaii. It's tacky!"
"You will design for Little Azusa after you fashion snob is defeated!" she said saccharinely. And she threw a kiss to the audience.
Geez! Ranma didn't want to put up with this any more than she had to. She had already seen how Azusa fought and didn't think there was much more to learn by watching.
"I'm takin' a break!" Ranma told the others, and didn't wait for them to respond. Instead, she turned and after squeezing her soft body between those of born-girls until she ran into a wall of harder bodies.
Not wanting to use her martial arts on them, she had to use another method to get past. "Hey, Mister, what do you think of women sumos?"
"This one got what she deserved! Our honored and ancient national sport is for men only!"
"Oh, yeah? How many think women sumos need to be outlawed?!" she yelled. "Raise your hands!"
To those that did, she ran on top of their hard heads until there was no more between her and open pavement.
Ranma was not pleased with herself. She may have sided with those jerks before she became a girl, too. And she would not be the girl now if she hadn't wanted friends so badly. How much of her old, born-guy self would she be - was she! - giving up? And if not abandoning the guy she was meant to be wasn't important enough for her, where was the line where she would in no way or form cross over? Could she even count on her old sense of what is and is not honorable?
"Ranma!"
Ranma thought about pretending she didn't hear the girl.
Until she realized it was Kasumi. What was the big sister in the best sense of the idea doing? Hadn't she said she and mom would….
Surprisingly, what Kasumi was doing was unsurprising. She was carrying totebags of what looked like groceries. It was something she did every two days or so. "Aren't you watching the matches?"
"I'm hearing the PA announcer," Kasumi smiled. "And your mother and Auntie Ohara and her family and friends will tell me what I may have missed."
"I mean, why are you missing it?"
"Oh, I'm returning the favor of the Oharas letting us watch it from their apartment by making the meals for the party!" It was something so unsurprisingly Kasumi.
"You are missing the matches, as well, Ranma." When she saw that the girl had a difficult time putting into words (or admitting) what was bothering her, Kasumi invited Ranma up to where her mother and her mother's new friends were. It would help take her mind off of the trouble.
Yes, her mother. She had to remind herself that her mother had limits on how much of her son being a girl she was willing to tolerate. Maybe just seeing her could help her regain some solid traction. Without, she could face a slippery slope.
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Coming up the stairs behind Kasumi, Ranma noticed her behind. It wasn't something she hadn't seen before, but for some reason it seemed fairly hard to take her eyes off of. Until she did.
Inside the apartment there were adults and kids of different ages. Some were standing by an open, sliding glass door, while others were sitting on a narrow balcony outside it. For there to be enough space to see down the block, the kids had to sit on the adults.
When her mom saw her, she took the small boy off her lap and got up off of a cushion. "Ranma!"
Her mom wasn't a public hugger, but she did take her hands and look her lovingly in the eyes. "I am sorry about Ukyo's match."
"That makes two of us, Mom. I don't think this tournament is gonna do it for us. But when I win, Ukyo will know she can go all out at me, no holds barred! And I'll fight back, too! I learned my mistake from the dojo. I'd like to let her just beat me up, but I can't. It wouldn't be closure."
"Yes, I understand. I think. I'm not much of a martial artist. I'm hardly a swordswoman. I am well-practiced in decapitation."
"Uh...yes. The "mercy" of seppuku. I'll remember to stay honorable." It was as awkward for her as the remark had been casual for her mom.
"Oh, dear! I didn't mean that, Ranma! I am adjusting to your, uh, curse. I will try to love you no matter what happens."
It didn't make Ranma feel better. Right then, she didn't want to adjust. She was thinking of how she could hold on, fight back against her curse! And, yet, sometimes she didn't want to. "I know you do, Mom. It's just that I'm...confused."
"Even without your curse, it is to be expected. You're a teenager."
"You need to be cleansed!" a little old lady in a kimono told her. She seemed familiar, but it was the bamboo pail and ladle that identified her to Ranma. She lived in a house between the Tendo's and the clinic. If she had to worry about getting cold water on her, she would have been more familiar with the woman with her hair pulled back in a loose bun. She was often outside of her gate splashing water from her ladle onto the ground (and was not always careful to keep it on the ground).
"No thanks," Ranma said, stepping back.
"I know you do! You see, I'm a professional harae ritualist!"
"You don't look like a miko."
The old woman chuckled. "I used to be, in my younger days. But the stale Shinto ways are too restrictive! My system can more effectively cleanse, purify and exorcise than all the many other rituals of the sort!"
Ranma stepped back again from the water-douser. Why was she making an issue over it? It was just water, wasn't it?
"Pearl-san is hired by many in Nerima to perform her libation magic," Kasumi said.
"Magic?" That had to be what her body was warning her about. "Oh, yeah! I have seen you in different places." Usually with her pail and dipper. Man, when she graduated from being a girl and wanted to stay a guy, she had better keep an eye out for the old woman! She could surprise her and splash her anywhere! Of course, if she did her Shinto rites at the same time as the others, she would only have to be on guard for her in the mornings and evenings. If she did it the traditional Shinto ways. Which she said she didn't.
Ranma's mother introduced her to the others in the Ohara house. But Pearl-chan hovered nearby with her ladle. Finally, after staying long enough to be polite, Ranma was ready to leave.
"I packed bento boxes for you and Akane and Shampoo and one extra," Kasumi said, handing Ranma a tote bag.
Ranma thanked her and the Oharas, and was leaving when Pearl-san made one last attempt to accept her offer. Ranma was glad the apartment had tatami mats and the old woman didn't dare to get too much water on them. They are absorbent. The tatami would have had to be replaced with a new one.
"You have an unfortunate aura about you, Child!" she insisted.
"Aren't you supposed to say that to Ataru? I'm Ryuunosuke," Ranma said as she left.
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Ranma did not like magic. Besides it cursing her, it was almost impossible to fight using what she knew best: martial arts! But, still, if the old woman's magic could exorcise her magic, she should let her splash her with her "purified" water.
But something told her it wasn't as simple as that. There was a hidden catch. She wasn't sure what it was, but she didn't fully trust Pearl-san. Did she have a dark secret?
Speaking of little, old ladies she did not fully trust, she saw Shampoo's great-grandmother leave the Bathhouse Cafe. And she saw her. She didn't fly on that staff of hers, only hopped, but it reminded Ranma of Western depictions of Halloween witches on broomsticks.
"Here, Child!" Cologne thrust out the metal, meal delivery box towards her. "Here is ramen for Shampoo and her companions!" Companions? Pets could be companions.
"Why do I have to play deliverer?"
"Because it would seem extremely rude to your neighbors if an able-bodied youngster allowed an old woman to carry the heavy load." She reminded Ranma of Nabiki. "And then my granddaughter might not share the ramen with you."
"Okay! I'll carry it!" At least both the ramen and the bento boxes were close to the amount of food they would need to fuel their fighting.
"How effective has the referee been?"
"She's what you thought she was, maybe more. But you were wrong about the boredom part."
"Motivation is a complex process. Since you say I was correct in my assessment without even seeing her in action, you cannot say boredom is not part of why she has kept her talent a secret.
"In fact, I am willing to wager a Secret Technique few outside of my tribe know, if you can tell me another."
"Oh, testing me?" It was a martial arts challenge, and Ranma never turned down one - especially if she had a chance to learn a new technique! She had to think, and be honest! She had a feeling this ancient woman would know if she were making her answer up. Then it would be her that would have to give Shampoo's leader something. "umm...Let me see...what do I know about Yasushi and her gang?" Ranma then had to give a brief, sarcastic laugh, "Ha! It was never Yasushi's gang, it's Megumi who owns it. And Megumi does whatever she thinks is good for Megumi."
Cologne smiled approvingly. "You do have the Intuition. It just needs to be better trained."
Man! It seemed to Ranma she would lose even if she won. "Okay, then, I'm on the right track. Megumi is the leader. Yasushi is more powerful than she is. But it's the more powerful one that is usually thought of as the leader.
"That's why! Megumi didn't want to be shown up! It was better for her to be beat up but still be the leader of her own little group!"
The leader of the Shampoo's tribe applauded. She remained on her staff but had to stop to use her hands. Ranma stopped, too. "You have won the right to a sensei demonstration of Kachū Tenshin Amagurike."
"Why would I want to learn how to roast chestnuts? What does that gotta do with martial arts?"
"You will want to know. You will want to know!" she laughed, and hopped back towards the cafe.
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As Ranma was thinking on how to get the food past the outer circle of the crowd of mostly men - it would have to be Golden Week! - and to the inner circle of girls and women, it parted. Taichi was leading some girls away from the fighting ring.
Among them were Shampoo and Akane. It was good to see them. "Admit it, Shampoo, your people don't do the kind of martial arts we do in Japan. Can you make candlemaking into a fighting style!?"
Shampoo sniffed. "Nǚzhànshì have Dark Magic - and Dark Arts!"
"Candlemaking martial arts?" Ranma had been gone longer than she thought. She missed most of the remaining about three rounds.
Akane smiled, "Ranma! You should have seen it! Akari had specially scented candles! Each one could do something different!"
"Too, too bad candle is outside in open air," Shampoo critiqued.
"And she threw the heated, liquid wax so it both slipped on it and stuck to her opponent!"
"Too, too small patches! Know where, step over. Can break hardened wax."
"And she used the fire! She couldn't be burned because she was covered with oil!"
"Even her clothes?" Ranma asked.
"No, she didn't ruin her clothes. She was wearing a bikini," Akane reported.
"A bikini?" And she missed it.
"Too, too bad she fight Origami Girl!"
"A fire user was defeated by a paper user?" Ranma couldn't picture that.
"Origami Girl fan out fire from candles," Shampoo reported. "And put wax on paper, paper then no burn." Now Ranma could picture it.
They found a restaurant far enough from the crowd to allow four, small tables to be set outside onto the narrow street. They were all occupied with spectators. But one became vacant when Shampoo brought out her chui maces. The four men thought to ignore her, until Akane brought out her mallet.
The three of them sat down to eat from the totebag and delivery box.
"Do you want to hear about Azusa's bout?" Akane asked.
"Too, too stupid! Fashion Girl use long cloth, scissors and many pin!" Shampoo said.
"She had Azusa wrapped up there for a moment and could have literally pinned her down!" Akane still hadn't lost her enthusiasm at seeing all the martial arts possibilities. She hoped to keep the memories as inspiration for a possible fighting improv. That was a key part of Anything-Goes. 'If something is being a weakness, toss it aside and try something else!'
"I take it Azusa won?" Ranma expected her to have.
"She was on rollerblades and knew moves that I don't think even people that live in skates can do. After she was wrapped up, she spun Fashion Girr- I mean, Saku right out of the ring."
Ranma sighed. "I was kinda hoping I wouldn't have to face her in the quarterfinal."
She happened to look down the street and up into one of the giant mirrors that let spectators see down onto the ring. "Isn't that Megumi now fighting?"
Akane's back happened to be to the view. "I know enough about how she fights." Her attitude reflected Ranma's own towards Azusa.
Ranma may have been wrong to minimize the threat from the kawaii klepto, and so might Akane. "When was the last time you fought her?"
"Yesterday, at the school gate," she says casually.
"Did she use…"
"...the baseball hits the bokken - It breaks!" Ayane announced the play-by-play over the district's PA system. "A wooden sword is not a bat!"
"A baseball?" Akane now twisted her back around far enough to see the mirror.
"Somebody else with a weapons-space!" Ranma guessed.
"Japanese know Dark Magic?" Shampoo asked.
"How…. When…"
"Green Thunder is attacking with a kodachi!" Ayane narrated.
"A kodachi!? A real sword!?" Akane cried. Then she was ashamed, remembering, "Oh! That's right, any wooden sword can be called a "bokken"." Kuno's tachi was only the one she was most familiar with.
Ranma wondered what the significance of the swordsgirl calling herself "Green Thunder"? Did it have any reference to the "Blue Thunder", Kuno? Or maybe it was really about his sister, the girl-vamp?
"...Megumi brings up two small balls and STOPS the blade between them! Inches from her! Green Thunder is serious!"
Yasushi should have stopped the fight, but she wasn't! Did she want the girl who betrayed her feelings hurt?!
"– But the kodachi is yanked free of the small - They're billiard balls! Thunder is attacking again!
"The balls come together again! They break this sword, too!
"The ref stops the match! Megumi wins!"
"Disqualify Girl let lead-woman end fight on own!" Shampoo approved of what her nemesis had done. "Win with honor!"
"Is that an example of their cheating?" Ranma asked herself. She at least had to give Yasushi credit for stopping the bout before Megumi did to Thunder what Thunder had tried to do to Megumi.
"The shot put!" Akane cried, remembering how Megumi had heaved it at Yasushi to show off how protected her gang member was from harm. "It's not called a ball, but it is a ball! Now a baseball and billiard balls! Can she pull out of any kind of ball from wherever they come from?!"
"Can Nabiki pull out any type of camera?" In Akane's sister's hands, Ranma could see them being used as a weapon.
"Megumi has many different kinds of weapons!" She pulled out her mallet. "I only have one kind." Her special weapon was no longer so special. "I'd better see if I can have other kinds. Maybe something better than just a mallet or hammer."
Shampoo laughed at Akane's expense. "Must train long in Dark Magic before can have more than what start with!"
"Oh!?" Akane frowned at her. "Can you pull out something besides those beach-balls-on-a-stick?!"
" "Beach ball on stick" made of metal all way through. And Shampoo no tell! Shampoo let Loud Girl Akane find for herself! Secret weapon remain secret until no longer secret!"
"I'm going to find a place I can find out what's in my weapon-space in peace!" Akane said, raising up from the table.
Ranma wanted to tear out her accursed red hair in frustration! "I don't got no weapon-space or even clothes-space!" She got up from the table as well. "I'm gonna wander around and see if I can find something I can use as a weapon."
"Shampoo go with Ranma!"
"No! I've got to think by myself! Besides, Shampoo, isn't the next match part of your group? The winner may get all the way up to fightin' you in the quarterfinal."
"...Mariko Konjo of the Seisyun High School of Martial Arts Cheerleading versus Chinami Takahashi of the Neo-Picasso Style of Modern Art Martial Arts!"
"Aya! Shampoo no understand modern art! Shampoo no see cheerleading before!"
Before she leaped on top of people's heads to get a better view, she was stopped by the owner of the restaurant, "You can't use our tables without paying! Pay up!"
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Ranma chose the streets where there were no views of the tournament, only the sounds muffled by buildings. That included the PA. If she listened, she could make out what Ayane was saying. But only if she listened.
She belonged to the Anything-Goes Schools of Martial Arts. They preferred unarmed techniques based on kenpo but were open to incorporating, as the name said, anything that could help them win. And by "anything" that meant weapons if they had to. They didn't carry weapons because that freed them to use anything at hand. Improvisation kept the mind alert for opportunities!
But while it meant they didn't have to commit to the weaknesses each kind of weapon possessed, it also meant they couldn't make full use of a weapon's strength that only came through training with it. All the Anything-Goes members could do against those was to be able to bring in whatever counter techniques they could find! Surprise them!
It made Ranma uncomfortable not to be able to be spontaneous. But by the ways the rules were set up, she had no choice but to bring a weapon with her into the ring! ...Or could she have Akane (or even Shampoo - no, not Shampoo. They were going to meet in the semifinal) be her second and toss additional weapons into the ring while the fight was going on. Was that allowed by the rules? Knowing how Kodachi fought, she guessed she could. (Kodachi wouldn't like it because it would be fair, though.) Kodachi and Megumi had a lot in common.
But it still meant she had to go into the ring with something she could claim as a weapon. What would be the most useful? Again, by the improvisation spirit of her school, it would best be a weapon that brought out the weakness of the particular opponent she was to face. After all, she couldn't bring a gun to a foodfight! (Yes, she and a group of other boys had defeated a military school armed with paintball guns with just leftovers.)
Of course, what she could buy for a weapon was limited. She didn't have much money. She would really have to improvise.
...Or would she? Coming down the street from the direction of his place was Kuno. He had another one of his bokkens. Could she get him to lend it to her? She would be doing everybody a favor. He wouldn't have it to threaten anybody with it like he had with Taichi.
Or maybe if she came onto him, she could get him to buy her the perfect weapon! It shouldn't be too difficult. He was handsome.
Handsome!? Why would she think that?! "No, please! How could I forget the Something!?"
She and her loud mouth! He might have heard her voice! Where could she hide?! Which store?! The closest?! A flower shop?! No, Kuno could be inspired to be romantic! What's next?!
Before she went into the dagashiya candy shop, she heard loud laughter coming from a izakaya. By Japanese law she was way too young to drink, but she went in anyway!
"*Ha, ha, ha!* You're right, Genma!" Tendo laughed again, slapping the panda's furry back.
"Bwaa!" the man in a "professional mascot costume" added as if his friend and the others gathered in the Japanese pub could understand the kicker to his "punchline".
"So, you can stay awake, now!" Ranma yelled at it.
"Until we pass out from the booze," Tendo said. Then he realized who was talking. "Ranma!"
"Bwarr Bwa-bwa BWA!"
"Don't gimme that! Some pop you are! I oughta...I oughta…." Be inspired! What an improv! Suddenly she became all melodramatically girly. "I ought to runaway! I ought to live with that tall and handsome Kuno! I could be his concubine!" And she moved out of the izakaya far enough to check if the wannabe samurai kid was approaching. "Oh, look! There is my boyfriend now! Yoohoo, Kuno-chan!"
"BWAARR!" The panda lost it! Half-drunk it tumbled off the bar stool and charged on its four, clawed paws at her.
At just the right moment, Ranma leaped up into the air. Then landed down onto it!
The black-and-white animal immediately spindled: It was forced to fold into a yoga posture of limbs tucked tightly around themselves, including its thick neck. If Megumi could pull out any ball, then she (if she knew about it) could pull out this panda ball.
But she would have to wait; it was Ranma's turn to use it as a weapon! Landing, she kicked it at Kuno. "Go get him, Pop! Show him the Panda Ball technique you learned from the doc a week ago!"
And he did! It was more rabid to take on the boy who wanted his son as a girl than immediately punishing his "daughter"! And it was effective! Kuno was so startled by a bouncing, ricocheting animal and so intimidated by the memory of his first encounter with the raging beast, he wasn't able to get his sword in play soon enough! He ended up losing this wooden sword, too!
"There Genma goes," Tendo said behind her. He, she and some of the izakaya customers watched Kuno being chased by the rolling fur ball. "How am I going to pay for the drinks, now?"
"*Ha, ha!* That's okay, Tendo! That was more entertaining than what you two were doing before!" A man in a bartender's apron said. "I'll reduce your tab."
The others went back inside, Ranma thought about retrieving Kuno's dropped sword to use as the weapon. It wouldn't be a very imaginative improv, but still….
The closer she thought to go to it, the more she feared the return of the Something. No! She dared not use it! If she did touch it, she might just be condemning herself to really be a concubine!
She began her search again. She may as well look inside the candy shop. She wasn't confident she would find a weapon there. To be able to use something from there would have to be great improv.
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The people on the roof of one of the corner buildings looking over the fighting ring started to become uneasy. They sensed something was wrong. They sensed it before they saw the cause. They moved away and stayed away from the foreigner with long, blonde hair and a strange, black-with-gold-trim uniform as he(?) she(?) walked to the edge. Setting a booted foot up on the rampart, the intruder casually looked into the crowd below. "There is somebody down there I can lend my demonic powers to."
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Yasusha's powers are based on my own original superheroine I called Fulcra. She had the power to move the center of mass/gravity. Like those toys that you think should fall down but don't because the center of mass is different from where you think it is, she could do amazing feats of gymnastics and acrobatics. She could also change the centers of mass of others and other things. She could make a building or people fall - or keep them from falling. It could also give her pseudo-super strength. When something hit her, her power would automatically change the object's center and thus change its trajectory and its impact force against her. In a must-do, life-or-death situation - or after training - she wouldn't have to touch the person or object. She could make the center of mass leave either her or them. Even more remarkable feats could then occur. It would seem as if she had limited control of gravity.
The story is in the middle of Golden Week, the most important vacation time in Japan. The reason Furinkan still had classes was because, of course, Headmaster Kuno said his private school was having them. Remember, he likes to cause trouble. Hopefully, Nabiki and Ryoga can "convince" him to give the students the rest of the week off.
Yes, the story has a character from another manga/anime, again. And as long as this part has a crossover, I am going to see if I can work in a cameo or two from my favorite (but so far unmentioned) manga/anime.
