Contest

Two weeks have past and the Archery contest had arrived. A total of ten schools had arrived to prove their skills in the form of Archery Martial Arts. Ina and her father entered the area wearing their light blue karate gi's. With them were Akane, Nabiki, Kasumi, Soun, Genma, Mousse, Ryoga, and Shampoo. Ina was looking around.

"What are you doing?" Sho asked curiously.

"Looking for Mia," Ina replied, "she said she would come and cheer me on."

"And I shall," Mia's voice said happily. Everyone turned around to see Mia smiling happily.

"Nice to finally meet you," Kasumi greeted Mia happily.

"Indeed," Mia stated. The introductions were done and they took their seats in the stands. Ina and her father were standing in the center with the other participants.

"Good day everyone!" the announcer said loudly, "welcome to the Archery Contest!" Everyone cheered.

"Does anyone have any idea how Archery Martial Arts work?" Mia asked.

"I'll answer that question!" the announcer shouted, "in this style of martial arts, each archer is given three arrows. The field is 100 yards, so one foot ball field, the targets are at the opposite ends of the field. Best two out of three shots is a factor of your score, but another one is how close you are to the bull eyes. You can do anything to interfere with the archer's shot, except breaking the arrow. To avoid serious injuries, we are using arrows with suction cup arrows." Everyone stared at the announcer.

"Anything else?" Mia asked.

"Nope," the announcer replied, "now let's begin!" The contest had started and the competition was fierce. Goro was easily defeating the competition, and Ina was doing the same.

"It seems that Ina and Goro will be in the finals," Soun said after the other rounds were complete. It was down to Ina and Goro. Kasumi went down to the field to wish Ina good luck from everyone.

"Everyone wishes you the best of luck," Kasumi said cheerfully.

"Tell them thanks," Ina replied but then looked depressed.

"What's the matter?" Sho asked curiously.

"Kasumi," Ina stated, "I was wondering if Akane has read that letter that Ranma wrote?" Kasumi seemed to turn serious.

"We've lost count of how many times she read it," she replied.

"I see," Ina said sadly.

"But now isn't the time to worry about that," Kasumi stated, "you have to win this match. Or at least do your best." Ina smiled and nodded her head in encouragement. Kasumi went back up to the stands and rejoined her party. Ina and Goro took the field.

"So you've made it this far," Goro said like he was impressed, "I'm surprised that you have such skill. Then again, no one so far at this contest has any skill."

"Then," Ina said as she took out her bow, "I'll be the one to show you this skill you seek." Goro took out his bow as well.

"I dought it," he stated, "after all, only one has been able to beat me. This will be a mere stepping stone for my rematch against that outsider who beat me."

"I'm not so sure that you should have told me that," Ina said with a smile, "if you lost to an outsider of the Archery Martial Arts then you can't be that good." Goro flinched at that remark.

"You're going down," he said with hatred in his voice.

"We will now begin the final match of this archery contest!" the announcer shouted, "who will be the victor?! Will it be the Dark Bow of the Abyss School of Archery Martial Arts, Goro Suzuki?! Or will it be Ina Ichisano of the Ichisano School of Archery Martial Arts?!" Akane and her friends cheered loudly for Ina. Ina and Goro stared at each other.

"This could be a long match," Soun stated. The bell rang and Ina jumped into the air right away. Goro followed her and swung at her with his bow. Ina barely dodged the attack and fired a arrow at Goro's target. It landed right next to the red bull eyes.

"Alright," Nabiki said with joy, "she's ahead." Goro and Ina charged at each other and started a serious fight. Swinging fists, feet, and bows at each other with great force. Goro ran past Ina and fired an arrow at Ina's target. It hit just a little closer to the bull eyes than Ina's arrow.

"Damn it," Akane swore, "he's in the lead." The two of them start going at each other again. Each hit being more fierce by the second. After a few minutes of miss hits, Ina slammed her bow into Goro's guts. She took aim and fired her arrow at Goro's target. However, Goro had fired an arrow right as Ina did. His arrow blocked her arrow, and now they both only had one shot left.

"It all comes down to this," Ukyo stated. Ina and Goro didn't make a move. Both have taken hits and both had only one shot left.

"I see that you do have some skill," Goro stated, "you are a fine stepping stone on the path of my revenge."

"I don't get it," Ina stated, "you aren't here for your school?"

"No," Goro replied, "I'm honing my skills so that I can beat that outsider of the archery martial arts that beat me. You are a fine practice partner, but nothing more." Goro put his last arrow on his bow and pulled the string back.

"You intend to take your last shot now?" Ina asked in confusion.

"Yes," Goro said with an evil smile, "for you haven't seen this technique yet. Abyss School of Archery Martial Arts Great Score Move, Darkness Arrows." Five more arrows like the one on his bow appeared around him.

"What the?" Ina asked in confusion.

"This move has never failed me," Goro boasted, "a total of six arrows of darkness appear around the user. One of them is the real arrow, but the rest are fakes. You can only block one of them, and the rest will get through. Can you find the real one among the six arrows?" With his smile growing, Goro released all six arrows. Everyone stood up in anticipation of whether Ina could block the right arrow or not.

"Ichisano School of Archery Martial Arts Defender Move, Wind Guts!" Ina shouted and swung her bow horizontally. A strong gust of wind appeared out of no where and made five of the six arrows disappear and made the real one fall to the ground.

"What the hell?" Goro asked in shock.

"We haven't picked a name for our school yet," Ina said like a warning, "but our school studies the ways of the wind. Wind can make arrows fly for miles, or knock them out of the sky in an instant." Ina armed her final shot.

"You won't get that last arrow past me," Goro said taking a defensive stance.

"You won't have a chance," Ina stated, "because the wind can cut through even darkness. Ichisano School of Archery Martial Arts Final Move, Sonic Arrow!" Ina released her arrow and it soared like the wind past Goro and hit his target, on the bull eyes, a perfect bulls eye.

"The winner of the Archery Contest is Ina Ichisano of the Ichisano School of Archery Martial Arts!" the announcer shouted. Everyone jumped for joy. Akane, Mousse, Shampoo, Mia, Kasumi, Nabiki, Soun, Genma, Ryoga, and Sho ran up to her.

"Congratulations to you Ina," Akane said and gave her a hug.

"Thanks you guys," Ina said with a smile. They all laughed. Mia then noticed that Goro was about to shoot a real arrow at Akane.

"AKANE!" Mia shouted. Goro released the arrow and Mia stood in the path. However, the arrow never reached Mia. Ina blocked the arrow with her bow.

"You disgrace that art of Archery Martial Arts," she said angrily, "how dare you attack after you have lost."

"I won't take it," Goro said angrily, "first losing to that Ranma Saotome and now an beginner in the art of Archery Martial arts." Everyone froze at the mention of the name Ranma Saotome. Everyone but Mia was in shock.

"So what?!" Mia shouted, "you put Akane in danger and I'll never forgive you!" Mia rushed at Goro and kicked him in the gut hard. Goro fell to the ground and lost consciousness.

"Wow," Ina said in shock, "you weren't kidding when you said you know martial arts." Everyone was shocked to hear that.

"Mia," Akane said in shock, "do you really know martial arts?"

"Not a whole lot," Mia said with an embarrassed look on her face, "I only know what my father taught me before he past away." Everyone seemed sad after hearing that. "Please don't let it bother you though. Sorry to change the subject, but you all seemed shocked to hear the name Ranma Saotome." Everyone was silent.

"Well," Akane said with hesitation.

"I get it," Mia stated, "we don't have to talk about that now. Now that the contest is over, I must be going now." With a friendly smile and wave of good bye, Mia happily ran out of the area.

"She's not going to join the celebration?" Genma asked curiously.

"I guess not," Ina stated, "perhaps we made her uncomfortable with the whole Ranma incident."

"Maybe," Mousse stated.

"Could be that she really has thing to do," Shampoo suggested.

"Now now that doesn't matter," Sho stated, happily, "we have to celebrate this victory." Everyone shouted for joy; however, Akane seemed most happy of all.

"She's really cheerful right now," Nabiki stated.

"It's most likely because she knows Ranma is okay," Kasumi said with a giggle.

*Mia/Ranma*

Mia rushed back towards her hotel room with tears falling from her eyes.

That jerk came all this way to get even with me, she thought, and I even put Akane in danger because of it. Akane, please forgive me. Mia ran all the way back into her room and cried herself to sleep.

These turn of events were could, but what will happen next time?

Find out in the next chapter of. . . .

Ranma ½

Tragic Love

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