Chapter 8: Adaptable

Welcome, Martial ARTists!

Ranma read the sign at the entrance of the hotel. The entire place was filled with excited students, trainers, dojo Masters, supporting friends and family, and, to his dismay, the news. The tournament had been so well advertised that dozens of news reporters stood outside the entrance of the hotel, discussing the purpose of the tournament, its importance in the history of the country, and interviewing anyone who would allow it. Ranma had not expected the media coverage this event was gathering. He thought he would just sit and watch as his students kicked everyone's ass before he kicked the other Master's ass, and then they would get their own asses out of there in no time.

"What did I get myself into?"

He led the group to the reception desk and waited in line for a few minutes until it was his turn to check them in. He took out his confirmation sheet and handed it to the clerk.

"Ranma Saotome, party of seven."

He waited a few seconds while the clerk typed something in her computer. She then asked him for his identification and credit card, which he readily supplied. She excused herself and left to make copies of the items before retuning and handing them back to him.

"Thank you, Mr. Saotome. I have a reservation for you for three rooms, is that correct?"

Ranma nodded, suddenly remembering he had booked one room for Akane and him. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now that they were acting weird with each other, he hit himself mentally for not getting each one their own separate room. Akane had not missed his quick look of regret, and she knew very well what he was repenting. She had noticed his sudden withdrawal from her, and knew it was due to Nodoka's conversation with her at Tofu's clinic. However, she also knew that this was not the time to worry about a paranoid woman who surely had to smoke crack to come up with her stories. They would have plenty of time to talk about their problems once the tournament ended.

The clerk finished the check-in process, and handed Ranma six card keys.

"Each room comes with two card keys. The children in your party must be accompanied by one adult in the room. Your credit card will be used as deposit for incidentals, and room service, if requested. You will find your rooms on the 10th floor. Do you have any questions?"

Ranma shook his head, thanking her. He then turned around and handed the two adults in his team the key cards. All the members of his team were male, with the exception of Akane, so there was not going to be any trouble assigning the rooms. One of the adult students took in two students, and the other adult took in the remaining student. He handed Akane one of the card keys and they all made their way to the tenth floor.

Ranma scanned the entryway as they reached the elevator, and his attention was caught by what he thought was a familiar face in the crowd. A brown haired girl carrying a backpack stared back at him, and disappeared when he blinked.

"Was that Ukyo? What is she doing here?"

The elevator arrived to the ground floor, and the entire team got in it, not stopping until they reached their floor. They stepped out of the elevator and realized their rooms were at opposite ends of the hall. Ranma turned around to face their students. "Stay out of trouble. We'll meet downstairs in thirty minutes to have dinner, OK?"

The students nodded at their Master before they took a left down the hall, and Akane and Ranma made a right. Once Akane and Ranma reached their room, he used the card key to open it, Akane following closely behind. He placed their bags on the bed, opened his, and began taking out the toiletries he would need for the night. Akane grabbed her bag and took out her own toiletries and pajamas.

Ranma noticed this and stopped the search in his bag.

"You're not coming down with me to dinner?"

"No. Not hungry."

"Are you sure? I can bring something back for you?"

"I'm sure. Thanks."

Ranma shrugged as he closed his bag and threw it inside the closet, with a little bit too much force than needed. Akane knew he was upset at their little exchange just now, but she was not going to mention it. Ranma placed his toiletries inside the bathroom as he explored around it a little, blowing off some steam at the conversation he had just had with Akane.

"That's the most we've spoken all fucking week."

Once he felt that he was not going to scream at her, he walked out of the bathroom and found her already changed into her pajamas, and under the covers. The room had only one bed, and she had chosen the side near the back of the room. Her back was against the entrance door, to which he headed now. He stopped to pick up his card key before turning around and watching her from afar.

"Akane, why won't you tell me what's wrong?"

He lowered his head as he exited the room, allowing the door to slam shut. He walked down the hall and took the elevator to the ground floor where the restaurant of the hotel resided. He saw that his students were yet to arrive, so he found a big enough table for all of them, close to the door so they could see him when they walked in. He asked for a soda pop and sipped on it slowly as he waited for the rest of the members of the dojo. After a few minutes of waiting, his waiter approached him with a note in his hands.

"Mr. Saotome?"

"Yes?"

"I've been entrusted to give you this," the man said as he handed him the folded piece of paper. Ranma took it from him as the waiter quickly left. Ranma held the paper in his hands and looked around, hoping to find anyone familiar enough to him that could have sent him the note. He knew his parents and Akane's family would not be here until tomorrow, and he saw no need for them to sneak around him. He finally decided he was not going to go anywhere by guessing, and opened the note to read it.

Ranma,

I'm glad to see you made it here. We've got lots to talk about. Please meet me at the terrace of the hotel, tonight at 10 o'clock.

Ranma crumbled the note and shoved it inside his pocket when he noticed his students had arrived.

"Ranma-sensei!"

Ranma pushed aside his troubling thoughts for now and decided on giving his students a good pep talk to fire them up for tomorrow. They all sat at the table with him, and quickly picked up the menu to decide what they would eat for dinner. His team consisted of five men of the school, chosen because of their abilities, self-control, and discipline. He watched them discuss the menu options and thought about the personalities he had brought to compete at ART.

The youngest one of the team was Daisuke Ito. He was just 11 years old, but he had a lot of potential, Ranma knew. The kid was all eyes and ears in martial arts, but was still a long way to mature. Every time Akane was around, he could see Daisuke blush tremendously. He remembered being that age, and he knew that he would eventually get over his crush on her.

His next student was Hisoka Endo. He was 14 years old, and was very quiet and reserved. If Ranma had met the kid in the streets, he would have never thought that he was a thriving martial artist. He would rarely speak, unless spoken to, and when he did speak, his thoughts left Ranma scratching his head. As opposed to Daisuke, Hisoka was too mature for his young age.

The third student was Mamoru Hamada. He was 16 years old, and was the loudest one of all. He currently attended Furinkan High, and had heard about Ranma and Akane and how good martial artists they were. He had been saddened to find out that they had both stopped going to school at his age, but had been equally thrilled to find out they were back and had their own school. He always told them how much he admired them, and did anything and everything Akane and Ranma told him to do. His parents loved taking him to the dojo because they claimed Ranma and Akane were the only people Mamoru would listen to.

The fourth student was Shinji Oshiro, and he was 18 years old. While still attending high school, he was already considered of adult age. He had begun practicing when he was Daisuke's age, but his parents had always berated him for wasting his time with martial arts. Coming to this tournament had been the opportunity he had been waiting for to show his parents that his love for the arts was not a waste of time, especially if he was able to use his performance in this competition as a way to earn him a scholarship for college.

Finally, the oldest student was Satoru Murakami. He was 25 years old. A graduate from college, his dad ran a small business in downtown Nerima. He hoped to one day own his own dojo, and had joined the Tendo dojo because of its proximity to his home. Once he had seen Akane and Ranma's experience and teaching style, he had stayed because he liked the atmosphere at the dojo. Competing professionally was not his intention until he saw the possibility of learning the backend of running a dojo. Ranma and Akane had been thrilled to show him how the dojo was structured and what it implied to own one, so he could have his own in the future. Most dojo owners would not dare to share their secrets, but Akane and Ranma had been so open about it, it had made him stay and try his best for this competition.

After the students placed their orders, Daisuke looked around the table before speaking to Ranma.

"Where is Akane-sensei?"

Ranma knew why he was asking, and saw the small blush forming on the little boy's face.

"She's resting. You know how women need their beauty sleep."

Daisuke pouted. "Akane-sensei is already pretty. She doesn't need a beauty sleep."

Ranma chuckled and Daisuke's blush became more prominent. Ranma decided to give the kid a break and started a different conversation.

"Are you guys ready for tomorrow? I can't wait to show these wannabes who they are up against."

"I am!" said Mamoru. "My mom told me that if we win, she will let me go to the class trip at the end of this year."

"That's a nice reward," Ranma said.

"Ranma-sensei, will we get to see you fight?" Hisoka asked in a coy manner.

"That depends. If you guys win enough fights, which you will, I get to challenge the Master of the NRD."

Hisoka smiled, hoping to get a chance to see that fight, first-hand. Even though he did not speak much, Ranma knew the boy admired him very much. All of them had seen him fight when he trained with them, and they had seen Ranma and Akane spar sometimes, but Hisoka knew they both had more power than they allowed others to see.

"I wonder how many other schools are here," Shinji asked as he stuck his neck out to see the hall. More schools continued to arrive, even this late at night.

Satoru elbowed Ranma, getting his attention instantly. He leaned closer to his student, wondering what he wanted, and Satoru whispered to Ranma.

"Is Akane-sensei really sleeping, or is she worrying about the business plan?"

Satoru had helped them with the business plan since he was familiar with them, seeing as he had helped his dad with his. He had graduated from college with a degree in business, so he had the background needed to help them proofread the one they had. Ranma had not considered the possibility that Akane's real reason not to have dinner with them was that she was making final adjustments to the plan, but he doubted she would make any changes until requested by NRD tomorrow.

"Nah! She was in her pj's when I left. She's probably catching some zzz's by now."

"Well, tomorrow if she needs help, let her know she can pull me aside."

"Thanks, man. I will."

After their order, their food did not take long to arrive. They spent about an hour eating, joking, and discussing the events of tomorrow. Ranma eventually excused himself, letting them know that he had to wake up earlier than any of them had to so he could attend the Masters meeting tomorrow. They all said goodbye to him as he made his way out of the restaurant. He looked at the clock in the entrance and saw he had five minutes to get to the terrace. He got in the service elevator and patiently waited as it took him all the way up. Once he reached the terrace, he walked outside the elevator and walked closer to the edge. The hotel was the tallest one in Shinjuku, and while Ranma was not afraid of heights, the fall would surely leave nothing of the poor soul who tripped down from it.

He felt an object being thrown at him, making him turn around and stopping it between his fingers before it hit him. He saw a figure standing above the small building that held the elevator cart. He looked at the object he had stopped and was shocked to see it was a spatula.

A small, silver, spatula.

Ranma looked up at the figure as it jumped and landed about five feet from him.

"Ukyo?"

"Hi, honey. Long time no see."

She walked closer to him so that she was standing a couple of feet away from him, now. He handed her back her spatula and she took it, leaving it in her hands to play with.

"What are you doing here?"

"My restaurant is catering during the event tomorrow. What are you doing here?"

"My school is winning tomorrow."

Ukyo laughed. "Always so confident, uh? You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for me!"

Ranma took out the crumbled note from his pocket and threw it at her. She caught it with one hand and unfolded it to read the note.

"You're the one sending me these detective notes?"

"Sure am," she began. "After I found out Akane had come back from the dead, I had to get in contact with you. Nabiki is an expensive reporter, but she kept me up-to-date with what you have been doing. I'm happy that everything is working out for you two".

Ranma narrowed his eyes, not believing a word she said. "I see. So, why the mystery? Are you here to get your revenge?"

Ukyo shook her head, her face turning serious. "No. I'm here to apologize. I left when you most needed me, and I'm sorry for that. I hope you can forgive me."

Ranma shrugged. "I was never actually angry at you, just disappointed. I'm glad to see you are doing OK."

Ukyo smiled. "I hope we can still be friends."

Ranma nodded. "Of course! You'll always be my friend, Uc-Chan."

Ukyo smiled at the use of their childhood nickname. She threw herself at him and gave him a hug. Once she broke the hug, Ranma had a questioning look on his face. "What's wrong, Ranma?"

"You tell me. In one of your notes, you said that I should watch out for some guy. What's that about?"

Ukyo snapped her fingers, realizing she had forgotten the other reason she had asked him to meet here. "You're right! I wanted to warn you about the Master of the dojo that will represent the NRD."

"What about him?"

"He…well…the NRD doesn't expect anyone to win this tournament. They have strictly ordered the NRD Dojo Master rep to crush whoever wins the tournament. Knowing you, I know you will win, but I thought you should know they won't make it easy on you."

"I never expected them to. How do you know, anyway?"

"People talk when they eat."

Ranma nodded, not certain if she should believe her story as it was not very strong to begin with. "Well, it was nice to see you again, Ukyo. I need to go rest now."

"It was nice seeing you, too."

She gave Ranma one last hug before disappearing into the shadows and Ranma headed down to his room. When he arrived, he caught Akane cleaning up the traces of blood she had just coughed up.

xxxXXXxxx

The School of Anything Goes martial arts sat together on a bench, waiting for their turn to fight. Ranma had just finished going over with them the new developments of the tournament he had been told during the Masters meeting. Akane was not sitting with them, as she was waiting in line so that their business plan would be given the initial review by the NRD. Ranma recapped the surprising news the leaders of the NRD had given them this morning.

Apparently, the goal of the tournament was not to only provide the opportunity for a gym to be certified free-of-charge, but also as a means to reduce the influx of dojos in the region. The Masters had been informed this morning that any dojo that did not make it to the final fight, would be penalized for an entire year and would not be able to obtain certification by regular means during this time. If after a year, the dojo did not apply and obtain certification within six months of the end of their waiting period, the dojo would be forced to close.

Akane had been shaken by the news, but a comforting hand from Ranma had given her some peace of mind. "Don't worry, Akane. We're gonna win this thing."

The rest of the meeting had gone on to explain that the tournament was divided in five categories, based on age. Since Ranma and Akane had done their research beforehand, they had one student to fight in each category, so in that regard, they were set. The school that won the most categories would be the one to have the chance to have its Master fight the Master of the certified Dojo from the NRD. If the challenging school's Master beat the NRD's Master, the school would win the certification.

"We have this in the bag, Akane," he had told her before she had to take the business plan and his laptop, and begin the long process of getting their plan approved by the end of the fights. The first rounds would take place today during the morning, allowing naming the challenger school before lunch. After lunch, the fight would move to another location to hold the Master fight. The reasoning for this was that students were only able to use regular attacks. The Master fight, however, allowed the competitors to use special attacks and ki attacks. Due to this type of battle, the second part of the tournament would be moved to the Shinjuku stadium, which happened to be closer to Nerima. There would be a three-hour break between both sections of the tournament, to allow competitors to eat, regroup, and make their way to the stadium. Since the stadium was bigger than the conference hall of the hotel, the NRD anticipated more public to attend. The media exposure the NRD was obtaining holding this event was unprecedented for them.

Ranma stared at the big screen in the middle of the conference hall. Daisuke's division was to start the competitions, and it would continue in increasing age order until the end. As he waited for Daisuke's name to be called, he recalled the conversation he and Akane had last night. He had been shocked to see Akane's blood on the floor of the bathroom, and even more shocked when he saw her wiping even more from her mouth. He had helped her clean the mess, and waited while she had rinsed her mouth. By the time she was done, he had already striped down to his boxers and sat down on top of the covers, waiting for Akane to return to bed.

She crawled onto her side of the bed and got under the covers, not saying a word to him. His mouth hung and he crossed his arms, unable to believe she had just acted as if nothing had happened.

"That's it? You're just gonna go back to sleep like that? What the fuck just happened?"

"It's nothing, Ranma. Just go to bed. We have to be up in less than six hours."

"Go to bed? Are you serious? We're having this conversation, Akane, whether you like it or not."

Akane did not say a thing and just readjusted her pillow. Ranma, seeing this, fumed as he crawled to her side of the bed and pulled the covers off her.

"What the hell are you doing?" she reacted.

"Making you talk."

"About what? Side effects to the pills I'm taking?"

"Side effects? Do you think I'm stupid, Akane? Those were NOT side effects!"

Akane growled. "Just, go to bed, OK?"

"No! And unless you turn around and talk to me, I won't sleep and neither will you."

Akane continued to ignore him, so he grabbed her arms and did what he did best to make her talk: pinned her down on the bed.

"Akane, what's happening to you?"

"Ranma, you're hurting me," she said, realizing how much force he was putting on holding her down.

"Hurting you? What about me? Akane, talk to me! I can't help you if you won't let me."

"I didn't say I needed any help!" she said, moving her face away from his.

"Akane, you stubborn, uncute idiot! Are you thinking of dumping me? Is that what it is?" Ranma asked, unable to stop the words from coming out thanks to the influence of his mother's conversation with him. Akane's head snapped back to face his. She looked at him as if he had just asked her if she had forgotten to wax her legs. However, Ranma confused it with a look of being caught in the act. He got up from her and off the bed. He begun searching for his clothes on the floor and started sloppily putting them back on. "Ranma, where are you going?"

"To another room. I can't look at you, right now. My mom was right. You are screwing that jerk Satoshi."

Akane stood up from bed and ran to him, pulling the shirt he was still holding in his hands and throwing it behind her. "You think…you think I'm cheating on you?"

"Well, duh! Why else would you be throwing up, dizzy and shit? You're pregnant, aren't you? You gave it to that son of a bitch, didn't you? Was he good? Did you like it?"

Ranma's face almost turned all the way around his head with the slap she had just given him. He turned around and saw the tears in her eyes, and how heavy she was breathing. "Ranma Saotome! How dare you think that about me?! How can you think I would…and with Satoshi…when…you're the only one I've ever…"

She could not finish her sentence as she turned around and headed to the door. Ranma ignored his stinging cheek and ran after her, stopping her before she opened the door. "Akane, I'm sorry! I…please…stay. Let's talk about this, OK?"

"Your mind's clearly already made up. There's nothing to talk about."

"No, wait. There is…I need to tell you that…I…just…don't end this, please."

Akane turned around and faced him. He was standing there, wearing only his pants, shivering and with a red palm tattooed to his face. She walked around him and sat on the bed. He followed her and did the same, next to her. "I'm sorry, Akane. I didn't mean what I said. I'm just, confused, and scared."

"I'm sorry, too. I should have been honest with you. I should've told you the truth."

Ranma felt his heart beat faster. The truth? Was there a truth to say?

"What truth?" he asked, acting as calm as he could even though his mind was racing.

"I'm…I'm sick…a little."

"How little?"

"Little enough to not know what it is…but enough to make me look really sick, sometimes."

"So, you are sick, but you're not pregnant."

Akane slapped his arm. "No, idiot! Why would I be, unless you raped me in my sleep?"

Ranma chuckled. "How come you hadn't told me?"

"I didn't want you to freak out. The tests Dr. Tofu ran came back inconclusive, but with some areas of concern."

"Like what?"

"Low blood count, a random infection they don't know where it came from, and slight liver deficiency."

"That doesn't sound little."

"It is for now. Doctor Tofu thought I was pregnant, too. But when the tests came back negative, his mind shifted gears and has been researching what could be wrong with me. Last time I saw him, though, your mom was there. She wasn't very happy that we wouldn't tell her what was wrong with me, so she thought I was…"

"Pregnant…from another guy."

"Yes."

Ranma clenched his fist. Nodoka was going to have a piece of his mind when they went home. He had warned her, and she obviously did not listen. He could understand how his mom had thought that, with Akane showing all the signs of pregnancy, but she had not given Akane the chance to explain herself.

"Just like I almost didn't," he thought, bitterly.

Ranma grabbed her hand in his and played with her fingers. "Akane, look. We obviously both dropped the ball here, so that evens it out. But, I want you to do anything possible to give Ono everything he needs to help you. And I want to be there with you. I just don't understand why you didn't tell me."

"I didn't want to worry you over nothing. He doesn't even know if I'm sick or just majorly stressed. I saw no need to bring you down with me."

"Akane, why don't you understand? I want you to bring me down with you. I'm here for you, don't forget that."

"I know, but…"

"Nothing. I know it's been hard, for both of us…but we still have each other. Isn't that what matters?"

Akane nodded.

"Are we alright, then?" Ranma asked.

"We're better than that."

Ranma led Akane to the bed and allowed her to get comfortable. He picked up the mess their fight had left behind and took off his pants. He turned off the bathroom light and crawled in bed with her. He held her from behind and lulled her to sleep with soft kisses and promises of a better life.

"Ranma-sensei! Ranma-sensei!"

"What?" Ranma asked, suddenly remembering where he was.

"It's my turn to fight!" Daisuke said.

"Right," Ranma said as he stood up with him and led him to the ring. This was it, the beginning of the battle for certification and recognition was about to begin.

xxxXXXxxx

Akane Tendo typed furiously on Ranma's laptop, correcting the markdowns she had received on the first draft of their business plan. The deadline to submit the business plan was almost here, and she still had ten pages to clean up. She had not even had a chance to see how their team was doing, which made her sad. Even though she had signed up as a trainer, she had not had the chance to sit in the stands and cheer for her students. Other dojos had hired a professional to handle their plans, allowing their trainers to spend time caring and cheering for their students.

Akane knew their school could not afford a professional, and that the efforts of her students would be in vain if she could not submit the plan on time. She flipped the sheet over to the next page to continue transferring the notes on the printed draft to the soft copy on the laptop, but the fan set to keep the place cooler, blew the papers away.

"No!"

She ran towards the papers, but they had already scattered around. Bystanders helped her gather the papers, but when she counted them, she was missing one. She looked around, searching for the missing piece of paper, but did not see it right away. She began walking around the area, searching under the tables and in between the chairs. She went as far as crawling around; looking for that last piece of paper she needed to get back to work.

"This can't be happening!"

She finally stood up, upset at her mistake. She gave up hope on ever finding that piece of paper when she saw Satoru walking towards her, with a piece of paper in his hands. "Akane-sensei, you seem busy. You dropped this."

Akane sighed in relief, taking the paper from him.

"Satoru-kun, thank you very much! You just saved my life."

Satoru smiled at her. "How is the plan going?"

"Almost done," she said as she walked back to her desk, and continued to type. "Have you fought yet? How is the team doing?"

Satoru sat next to her on the bench, and held the papers in place to avoid another incident. "I just finished. Ranma-sensei sent me here to check up on you while he talks to the judges."

Akane's head snapped up and she stopped typing. "Judges? Kami! What did he do?"

"Nothing, it's nothing. He's negotiating the terms of our continuation in the tournament."

"Satoru-kun, you're scaring me. What happened?"

"Well, I was going to wait for Ranma-sensei to tell you, but I guess I should."

"Tell me what?"

"We might go to the finals!"

"What? Really? Oh, my God! That's awesome! Great job, all of you! I wish I would have been there to see it! Wait, what do you mean we might?"

"That's the thing. Another school tied with us in winning the most categories, so Ranma-sensei is meeting with the Master of the other school and the members of the NRD to decide who will go to the final round."

Akane sighed. "Ugh! Are you serious? How will they decide?"

Satoru shrugged. "I don't know. But Ranma-sensei said he had it, and to make sure you submitted the business plan. Do you need help?"

Akane stared at the papers on the desk and nodded. "I can't think straight anymore. How about I show you what markdowns we got, and you typed them up for me?"

"You got it."

After an hour, the business plan was complete, and Akane had been able to submit it to the auditors of the NRD. Feeling a weight lifted off her shoulders, she slumped on the closest chair, with Satoru not far behind.

"Thank you so much, Satoru-kun. I would've never finished!"

"My pleasure, Akane-sensei," the man said as he titled his head and pointed behind Akane. "Hey! I think Ranma-sensei is coming!"

Akane stood up and turned around to see Ranma walking towards them, with a somber look on his face. Akane felt the world crumble around her.

"He lost! Whatever deal they were having, he lost! We're done!"

Ranma finally reached them and stared at the two members of the school as they waited his news.

"Ranma, how did it go? Satoru-kun told me we tied. What happened?"

Ranma stared at Satoru and then at Akane. They need to talk, alone.

"Satoru, can you give Akane and I a minute. The team will tell you what's going on."

"Hai, Ranma-sensei," Satoru said before bowing to both of his Masters and left.

"Thanks again, Satoru-kun!" Akane yelled as he left, earning her a wave from his hand.

Once Satoru had left, Ranma spoke again.

"How did the plan go?"

"It's done! Satoru helped me finish it. They've accepted it."

"Good."

"What about you guys? How did it go?"

"We won four, lost one."

"Awww, who lost?"

"Shinji, but he's fine."

"I see. So, what's the problem? You look like we were just disqualified, or something worse."

"No. We're still in," Ranma said, but his face of discomfort did not change.

"Was the tie taken care of?"

"Yes."

Akane clasped her hands together before she placed them on his shoulders. "How did you decide? Did you flip a coin for it? Please, tell me you didn't flip a coin! You suck at flipping coins!"

Ranma shook his head, still not smiling at the good news.

"So, what's the verdict?" Akane asked, dying to find out how it had all gone down.

"They've decided that another match between the two remaining schools will decide which school goes to the final."

Akane beamed at the news. They could definitely handle another fight. She was sure Shinji would be more than willing to have a rematch, and she would let him do it, too. She felt all her work with the plan had been worth it, and she could almost see the sign of certification on the dojo back in Nerima.

"Really? That's it? You were beginning to worry me! I thought we didn't have a chance, anymore!"

"We do, but…"

"But what? Who's fighting?"

Akane saw Ranma's fist clench and his head lowered to his left side.

"Ranma, who's fighting?"

When he did not respond, she took her hand to his face and forced him to look at her. He had a face of concern he just could not hide from her, anymore. "The committee decided that the trainers of the schools will fight."

Akane pulled back, replaying the words in her mind. "The trainers?"

Ranma nodded. "Akane, if you don't feel well enough to…"

"I do. I can…"

"We can come back next year…"

"Absolutely not! We're so close, Ranma! We can't let their effort go to waste."

"But, Akane…your're ill and…"

"And you don't want me to fight, AGAIN? Ranma, we've been over this!"

"I know. Just…please, be careful," he began, thinking of how many ways he could tell Akane he was worried and beg her to be all right. However, he knew she knew all that. He had made himself clear for a long time. She knew what she had to do, and he knew that what she needed right now was his support.

"I will be, Ranma."

"Please don't kill the guy. I don't think our liability insurance has kicked in, yet."

Akane blinked rapidly, absorbing what he had just said. She began laughing aloud, happy that he was going to be supportive of her fight.

"I can't make promises, Ranma," she said as she began walking away towards the ring. He jogged to reach her and held her hand as they walked together.

"You can promise me something else, though?"

"What is that?"

"Please, don't kiss this one."

Akane laughed again, and Ranma soon joined. They found the other members of their team and decided to head out to eat. The trainer fight for the tiebreaker would take place at the stadium where the final fight would take place. The NRD had decided that in order to make the decision of which school would move on to the final round, the trainers would be allowed to use special techniques and ki attacks, to even out the territory for the schools.

"We have this in the bag, Ranma," Akane said as she tightened the grip on his hand, reciting the same words he had used with her earlier today. Ranma smiled at her and squeezed back her hand.

"Yup, this is the woman I'm gonna marry."

xxxXXXxxx

"Welcome to the ART, ladies and gentleman!" the announcer said as he explained to spectators the last-minute adjustment to the event. He went on to explain the history of the NRD and the other nonsense that Akane was not interested in listening to.

The stadium had quickly packed up with all kinds of people from around the country. Akane stared in awe as her name appeared on the big screen, as the representative of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. When word spread that the initial part of the tournament had resulted in a tie, and that to break the tie the trainers would fight, AND that the trainers would be able to use all their skills, the public interest had skyrocketed. The fight of the top Masters had already been highly anticipated, so to find out two fights of high-caliber would take place, the expectation grew exponentially.

The team had gone to shower, change and eat. Ranma and Akane had been able to find their families as they entered the arena, but had to say goodbye to them when they left for their seats. The students were able to sit at the front row of the action, and were eager to see their trainers in action. Ranma saw Ukyo in the stands with his family and the Tendos and waved at her. Akane turned around to see who he was waving at, and recalled the story Ranma had told her during lunch regarding how Ukyo was back in their lives.

Akane's concentration was interrupted when she heard her name being called to the battle arena. She stood up, almost mechanically, and made her way to the ring. Ranma, who had just finished speaking with the referee, ran towards her and met her halfway. He held her by the shoulders and recited words of encouragement she could barely hear above the cheers of anticipation of the crowd. Once he was done, he locked his lips on hers, earning them a whole lot of whistles and catcalls from the crowd.

"Oh, my!" Kasumi said from the stands.

After he finished kissing her, he placed his forehead on hers and smiled. "Kick his ass, Akane."

"I intend to," she responded.

He pulled himself from her and ran back to his seat at the sidelines, next to Nobu Morioka, the Master of the opposing school. As soon as Ranma sat on his seat, the Master of the other school made a face of disgust towards him.

"That was disgraceful. You're too young and immature to be the Master of a dojo."

"You're old enough to retire. Why don't you shut your mouth and watch my trainer beat yours?"

"As if! That emaciated girl doesn't stand a chance."

Ranma scoffed, fully believing Akane would take care of the fight. After Akane spoke briefly with the referee, the trainer of the opposing school was called to the ring. "Ladies and gentleman, please welcome the trainer of the Red Lion School of Martial Arts: Shigeru Kobayashi!"

Akane turned around and saw the man walking to them. He was tall and well built, despite the obvious wrinkles on his face. He wore a black gi with a red lion embroidered on his back. His hair was long and black, and he held it inside a ponytail at the base of his head. The referee walked up to him and asked Shigeru if he had any questions about the rules of the match. Shigeru looked around himself and frowned.

"Where is my opponent?"

The referee flinched, knowing Akane was close enough to hear him. The referee pointed to Akane, which caused the male trainer to frown again. "Is this a joke? Women cannot properly practice martial arts."

"Great! An old geezer!" Akane thought.

"Well, she…is the trainer. So…" the announcer tried to explain.

"Let's get this over with," Shigeru said.

The two trainers stood in the middle of the ring, facing each other as the announcer let the crowd know the fight was about to begin. Shigeru scoffed at his opponent, ridiculing the outfit she wore.

"Aren't you a little bit too dressed up for a match?"

Akane had brought with her the outfit she wore in China while she lived with the Phoenix tribe. The only thing missing from it was her swords, as she knew she was not able to use them during the fight. Even though his comment had upset her, she was not going to give him the pleasure of knowing that. When she did not respond, Shigeru continued his teasing.

"Don't tell me you were in the middle of a date, and that boy convinced you to fight his fight. He thinks he is so strong. It's a shame my master would not have a chance to wipe that smug smile off his face."

Akane frowned. She could take insults against herself, but not against Ranma. "Are you gonna fight or stand there chatting like parrot all day?"

"Insolent, girl. I hope your boyfriend still finds you attractive after I'm done with you."

"TRAINERS! FIGHT!"

Akane jumped towards him as soon as she had the go from the referee. Shigeru also ran towards her, screaming as he did. He aimed a kick towards her, but Akane ducked low enough to avoid the kick and end up facing his stomach. The height difference between them was considerable; Akane's head barely reached his elbow. She tried to punch him in his stomach but he was faster than she was, and grabbed her hand. He lifted her and swung her above him and behind him until she hit the ground. Akane recovered from the hit quickly, and held his hand with both of hers before pushing herself back up and using the short distance from his arm to his face to double-kick his head. She felt his grip loosen so she jumped above him, and landed a few feet behind him, already in a defensive stance.

The man rubbed his jaw as he turned around to face her. "You're clever. I'll give you that."

Shigeru opened his arms and then slammed his hands together. The force of the special technique made a blade of wind appear in front of him, sending Akane flying backwards, almost leaving the ring.

"Oh no! If either of them is kicked out of the ring, they lose the match!" the announcer said to the crowds.

Akane flipped so that her back was against him and she created her own whirlwind to push her back towards him. When she was far away enough from the edge of the concrete ring, she did a back flip, twisted her hand on the ground, and ended up facing him again.

"I didn't think you were desperate enough already to use ki attacks," Akane spat.

"Don't flatter yourself. I just don't want to waste more time with you."

"Why don't you show me what you've got? You're making this really easy on me."

Shigeru growled at her unwanted smugness. He took a loud step towards her, and then another, and another. Akane was not sure what he was doing because he was doing so in a slow matter. Once he took the fifth step, he disappeared.

"What the hell?"

"RAGE OF THE LION!"

Akane heard the words just before she felt Shigeru scratch her back, diagonally from right to left. She could feel as if a lion had used its paw to cut her. She fell on her knees only to receive a hit on her back from Shigeru, sending her flying off away from him.

"AKANE!" Ranma screamed from the stands.

"See? Who sends a woman to fight a man's fight? Shigeru, make sure you wipe the girl's blood of your hand!"

Ranma saw as the trainer shaking his hand, as Akane's blood had indeed remained on his fingers.

"Damn you," Ranma thought.

Akane stood up from the ground, massaging her back. She then peeled off the fabric from her wounds, before the blood made it stick to her skin. She turned around and saw Shigeru, standing there with his hands on his hips. "Are you going to give up now?"

"No."

Akane ran towards him and stopped a few feet away from him. She kneeled on the ground and placed a single finger on the ground. "Bakusaintenketsu!"

The ground between them exploded and Akane took advantage of the distraction to throw herself at him. Once she was close enough, she began a series of kicks and punches, some hitting and some missing the still confused trainer in front of her. He tried shielding himself but Akane climbed on and over him, wrapped her legs around his body from behind, and using the same momentum she had, she flipped them both in the air. On their way down, Akane shifted her legs so that she was able to flip him, so that he was now falling face down. He hit the floor without even stopping himself. Akane then jumped clean over him, calling on the ice technique to create sticks of hard ice from her hands, scratching his back on her way away from him, just as he had scratched hers.

She skid on her toes for a few feet after she landed and stood up, staring at the fallen man. The ice retracted back to her hands. He took a few seconds to stand up and as he did so, he realized she had broken his nose with the fall. He wiped the blood of his nose as he wondered how adaptable her techniques really were. He turned around and saw her waiting for him to make his move. "Now, we're even," she said.

Ranma stared at the fight, praying it would soon end. He watched as Akane and Shigeru fought at close range, far range, and anything in between. He watched as they called on special techniques and random ki attacks when the other was close to winning the match. He watched as Akane was thrown around, kicked, smashed and hurt. With every move they made, his hope would reduce. His fear would increase any time she was close to being thrown off the ring.

He also watched, however, as Shigeru was receiving as much damage as Akane received. He too had been punched and kicked, and thrown around by her. At this point, Shigeru's shirt of his gi was gone, charred by one of Akane's fire attacks. Her clothes were not in better shape than his were, and she kept bleeding from a deep cut he had given her on her left thigh. The fight had gone longer than anyone had thought it would. He looked back and saw the concerned looks of their families, and students. He looked down at his feet, thinking of calling off the fight. He knew he could do it; it was an option of the rules of the match. He opened his mouth to call it off, but the voice of the Master of the Red Lion School made him stop.

"Don't you think the girl has had enough? Look at her, she can barely stand."

Ranma looked up and saw Akane wobbling and holding her head. Ranma clenched his jaw.

"Is she getting sick, now?"

Akane saw the world spinning around her. She took shaky steps back, away from Shigeru who was already coming straight at her, intending on finishing her off. She held her head as if it would help with the dizziness, but it remained. She felt her stomach cramp and the beginnings of a round of vomiting reaching her mouth. She inhaled and exhaled in leaps and bounds; she could not let her illness beat her in this fight.

She looked up just in time to see Shigeru throw a punch to her stomach, and it connected. Ranma gasped, knowing that if she was feeling ill, that punch was going to send her over the edge. Akane closed her eyes and waited for Shigeru to back down. When he did, his smile faltered when he realized she had not felt the punch.

"What in the world?"

He punched her again in her face, but her face did not move. She opened her eyes again and gave him a lopsided smile. "You hit like a baby," she said.

Shigeru was irate. He began throwing a series of kicks and punches towards her, and while she did not dodge any of them, she did not seem affected by the impacts either. Shigeru, seeing this, increased his speed and strength, but the result remained the same. While still wobbly, the hits did not seem to affect her.

Ranma leaned closer to see what was going on. The Master of the Red Lion School mimicked him, also confused as to what was happening. Their families in the stands looked at each other, shrugging and scratching their heads.

"What are you doing, Akane?" Ranma thought. He watched her turn slightly to the left, as if facing him, and it was then that he saw it.

A sparkle was coming from the spot Shigeru had just tried to hit. His eyes followed the next punch of the opposing trainer, and the same shine glowed. It looked like…

"Ice," Ranma thought.

And it was ice, thin but very solid ice on her body. Knowing her energies were almost depleted, as she had lost half of her stamina when she lost her Phoenix curse, she had begun depleting his. Every time Shigeru punched or kicked, she would focus her energy and surrounded the area he was aiming for, with a block of ice. The ice molded to her figure, so unless someone was close enough or saw the reflection of light on it, they would think Akane was taking the hits, full force.

"Good thinking, Akane."

Once Shigeru finally convinced himself that his attacks were not working, he stopped. He took a few steps back from Akane and bent his knees to rest his hands on them as he took deep breaths.

"What is she doing? I can't hurt her!"

Akane, still fighting her dizziness, extended her arms to her sides to try to balance herself. She stared at her opponent and smiled. "He's tired. He'll pass out."

However, Shigeru had other plans.

"Physical attacks may not do anything to her right now, but a special technique can cancel out another special technique."

Shigeru took an offensive stance, with his hands in front of him as if he was holding the shape of a sphere. Akane knew he was preparing for his last attack. The two Masters of the opposing schools knew this, as well.

"You can kiss your certification, goodbye, Saotome," the Master of the Red Lion School began. "It seems my trainer has had enough of that girl."

Ranma stared at the man, who looked as confident as Shigeru did.

"What is he going to do?"

"Watch closely, you runt. Your girl is going to be toasted by the ultimate technique of the Red Lion School."

Akane took a step closer to him, which Shigeru did not like.

"What are you doing, girl? Are you in a hurry to reach your doom?"

Akane took another step towards him. "Dammit! I can't focus my eyes. There's three of them, which one do I attack?"

She blinked and shook her head, attempting to help her eyes focus, but they were still showing her several images of the one man in front of her. At first there five of them, but as she stepped closer, they reduced to four, and now three.

"Just a bit closer."

"This woman is ridiculous! Does she know what that distance will do to her with my attack?"

Luckily, for Shigeru, killing your opponent was not against the rules of the match.

"Your choice, girl. I give to you, our ultimate technique. Shi Shi Hokodan!"

Ranma's eyes widened. "Shi Shi Hokodan? How in the world do they know that technique?"

"Akane! Get away! Run!"

Ranma's pleads fell on deaf ears. He knew that Akane had used the technique herself, and she would have probably easily avoid it had she not been on the verge of passing out. With her senses affected, her body weak, and barely three feet away from her opponent, the blast was surely going to cause major damage to her.

"Akane! Get the fuck away from him! Are you listening?"

The Master of the Red Lion Dojo laughed. "It's too late, boy. If I were you, I would call off the match. Spare her life."

Ranma growled. His rival was correct. He still had time to stop it. He still had time to prevent another death.

He opened his mouth to call off the match, this time certain this was the best thing to do. However, he was again interrupted, by Akane's voice this time.

"Landling, do you really think you can defeat us with that puny technique?" Akane smiled at Shigeru who had already gathered a considerable amount of energy in his hands. He watched her as her eyes had a tint of gold, and her aura began flaring red. Shigeru could only look dumbfounded at her attitude. "Is she not afraid? Has she lost it?"

"Did she just call him, landling?" Ranma thought. "She must be reverting to her Phoenix ways to protect herself. Her self-preservation mechanism is kicking in."

"What are you waiting for?" she taunted the trainer.

Shigeru screamed as the ball of energy of the Shi Shi Hokodan expanded before he threw it at her. Akane did not move or attempt to protect herself. Her hands were at her sides, and her eyes stared at Shigeru.

"Akane!"

The Shi Shi Hokodan never touched her. It floated there, an inch away from her body, rotating upon itself and flaring sparks of energy of it. Shigeru's anger rose. "Why it is stopping there? What is she doing?"

"She's bluffing, Shigeru," his Master called. "Put more power into it!"

Shigeru nodded and increased the power of the Shi Shi Hokodan. The ball of energy did not move closer to Akane, but it did increase in size. Shigeru continued to put all his energy into it, and the force of the ball increased, forcing him to skid back. Akane, seeing the massive power threatening to consume her had yet to reach her, smiled.

"You're wasting time."

Shigeru, finally fed up with her taunts, released the Shi Shi Hokodan, exploding so massively, the entire ring was covered in its energy. Ranma joined everyone in the stadium at converting his face with his arms.

"Akane, what have you done?"

A/N: Who wants to know what happens next?